Review : Elan 1010 Alu. The quiver of one?

[Meathelmet]

It seems that the humankind has been in the search of the ultimate Do-It-All-Tool for in every genre,be it cars,sailing boats,wives or hammers. Thats just about what I have been trying to find in the ski section for a while now.
As most of my skiing is being done abroad and I need to travel for it,the possibility of bringing my whole quiver for the trips are not feasible,well,unless traveling with a car.

So,in short,have tried to find the tourable jack-of-all-trades that would work in crud,crust,mank,pow,corn,tight trees,coulies and,well,whatever.
But still be able to ski comfortably around the slopes and carve the shit out of them,if necessary.
I narrowed it down to a ski around 110mm in waist,stiff,but with a soft tip,no twin and well done.
The skis that popped up but I had to write off was Mothership (too heavy),Lhasa (too big turning radius),Billygoat (too much taper) etc..

But then,out of the bushes,voila Elan 1010Alu.Managed after extensive search to score a pair of 183s and that was it.

So:



Me:
Weigh : 73kg (160lbs)
Height: 180cm (5´10?)
How many days a year: 70-90
Previous ski that you liked: im103s (183),explosiv(180),LPs (186,176 with dynas), Amplid CholestroneRCs(184)
Previous ski you did not like: K2 (seths,obsethed,pontoons),rossi BCs,armada arv´s

Skis: Elan 1010ALU 09-10

Length: 183cm
Tip width: 140mm
Waist: 111mm
Tail: 130mm
Weight in this length: ?
Sidecut :23.9m
Boots used: Nordica Speedmachine14s, Garmont radiums
Bindings used: Dukes
Stiffness: Felt stiffer underfoot than my old 103s,med stif tail and mid tip, and softish end of tip,about 10mil camber per ski and no rocker.Slightly upped tail,well rounded and flat tail part.
How many days on the skis: 12
Resort or backcountry: Both
Geographical region: Europe
Tell us about the terrain you ski: About everything.
Workmanship : About best I have ever seen. Flawless.







So I headed up to the alps (austria,swiss,italy) for 2 weeks for some roadtripping and met about all the possible snow conditions in that timeperiod,well,except waist deep blow..dammit...
I was expecting for a ski that would be the weird crossover between my old 103s and some newer fat skis.And that is what I got,big time.



First run: Slopes :

The skis felt initially a bit planky and lifeless but started to come alive after few turns. Felt extremely stable at speed (im103like) went to the edge relatively effortlessly,you could actually carve trenches like with GS skis but still would disengage from the edge just with a slight touch of ankle.Absolutely no hookiness of anykind. Even small,quick slalom slarve turns were a breese and high speed slarves were extremely effortless,without feeling sketchy.

Second run : windbuff,ice,crust,windslab :

Could really rail and hammer the skis wich felt really stable but surprisingly poppy and reactive. Really lively that could change the direction with minimal input when pointed,would hold the line.No chatter, the stiff body with the soft tip seemed really suck all the uneveness up and stabilize the ski. And you could lean on the tip well if the snow was supportive enough.


Rest of the week : 20cm pow,slush,ice,rocks,roots :


In the coming days when got more comfortable with the skis the continued to blow me away with their effortlessness to ski,being on the line with the exlplosivs, but still having enough Ooomp to force through stuff.

The skis worked well but on some refrozen spring snow in tight trees,with a 5cm breakable crust+20cm of pow on top well,they definately needed attention as the sidecut kicked in.Here you would have to stay really centered and control the edges or they would take you for a ride. The stiffness made them manageable but if you went backseat...well...
In the soft pow above the crud they floated as a stiff 111mm ski with no rocker floats,okishly. You could slarve and kick the tail out of the turn,but still you had to be aware of the snow underneath. In the deeper windblown stashes it was a blast,no chatter,deflection of unstableness if you stood on the ski. Nice![/i]



Week 2: Ice,corn,crust and pow! :



After getting dialed in,the skis were about perfect. In the ice they railed and held edge like no other fat that I have skied,crust they destroyed and even made the breakable windcrust fun as long as you realized they are not a 40m+ sidecut ski.
Then came the pow days.About 20-40cm of cold pow on top of the ice.
In the shallower spots they needed the attention a bit not to hook an edge but when got up to speed,deeper or steeper pitches they floated surprisingly well. And charged.And charged.
Only thing that I started to wish for was maybe mounting them back 1 1/2cm-2cm back.
Or even weirdly for me,I started actually thinking that having gotten the 190cm instead...
The skis are such damn easy ski to ski ,so even for a midget like me,the longer version would have been THE ski. But knowing my carma,I tend to up ending fucking in the bushes a lot,so,in the end the 183cm version is the ski.


PROs: Easy.Stable.Predictable.Active.Relatively light.Good edge hold.Enjoyable.

CONs: Requires active driving in certain snow.Float not comparable to rockered skis.Hard to find.Not having the Cool factor.



Verdict: On a 4-to-10 scale: 9. This ski about the best ski I have ever been on.Period.There are better dedicated skis out there,no question about that,but having the almost perfect characteristics in the same ski is...well...awesome. For people looking for the Quiver of one,here it is.
Test it or get it.

[Beyond]

Nice review. Next year's (called Olympia, pic on the 2010-11 thread) will have same dimensions and metal, be little lighter (milled out core), and have a moderate front rocker, same tail. Review said it skied very similarly on hard, little easier in cut up and bumps, maybe a hair softer overall.

[Boonshackle]

Anyone else notice the B-Squadesque topsheet design?

[BushwackerinPA]

whats really interesting is how similar the Katana and this skis are. The katana is even easy off trial in tight places but give up some in open areas.

[Poop~Ghost]

top sheets look like the old Liberty skis... not a good model to associate yourself with!

That said, Elan has never been a goto ski brand for me... but your review sounds like I should give them a look.

I'm still trying to keep my quiver at 2 skis: touring and inbounds, makes my decisions much easier.

[Meathelmet]

whats really interesting is how similar the Katana and this skis are. The katana is even easy off trial in tight places but give up some in open areas.

Friend just skied the katanas and 1010s in 190cm, and said that they are very similar skis,with couple of small differences.
He felt that katanas felt a tad better doing biiiiiig turns,elan felt better in mid and short/jumps due the tail.
But he allso said that he felt that even if katana felt a bit damper ski,he still felt that the 1010s had more stability,pop and grip.

Twins but not indentical,as he put it.

top sheets look like the old Liberty skis... not a good model to associate yourself with!

That said, Elan has never been a goto ski brand for me... but your review sounds like I should give them a look.

I'm still trying to keep my quiver at 2 skis: touring and inbounds, makes my decisions much easier.

I dont know for what company the elans graphics and marketing department works for...probably for some of their competitors.
No marketing and resale for the ski,no info,etc...Hell,Glen Plake skis for Elan,why the hell dont they use HIM to market the ski and brand it around him,even if he would not ski it???!!!
And the gfx depratment....Uuuh: so,you have this Über sexy sandwich ski,metallic,shiny and sexy looking and that is your best shot??!!
Hell,it take a lot of effort to fail if you have that kind of starting point,but they succeded in that...
How about loosing all the gfx,and just leaving the Aeroflot logo that Elan uses in their Ski Jump skis? Nothing else.

Sexy,metallic skis and Glenn Plake saying "These Rule!".
There you have it,Elan.Feel free to use the idea.


Seriously poop,the 1010s are very light for being that kind of burly skis,so when traveling,you dont need to take the two pairs of sticks with you anymore...
Just one pair of 1010s with dukes = Sorted!

[creaky fossil]

Meathelmet,

just wanted to say thanks for this review. I picked up a pair of 183s after the end of the lift-served season gambling on their performance being close to what you've said here. I was looking for pretty much the same sort of ski and was between the Katana and the 1010. I'm about the same size as you, maybe 5-10 lbs lighter. Sounds like I'm gonna love 'em.

[verbier61]

useful, thanks! why not with dynafit bindings?

[Meathelmet]

useful, thanks! why not with dynafit bindings?

Well,noticed that I had started to ski more carefully and conservatively when skiing with dynafits... Dont know why?Decided I need to ramp up with the speed again!

So I ,basically,I wanted a charger ski with burlier bindings that still would be capable of day long tours,if neccessary. I have done 2000m+ tours with 125mm skis,dukes and alpine boots,so the weight wasnt a issue in that sense.
If I would have gone with dynafits,I probably would have choose a pair of even lighter 110mm sticks,like DPs112s or something? And then it would have been more of a specialiced ski instead of a jack of all trade..



Creaky Fossile: I would be surprised if you wouldnt! But I know the shorter turning radius (=hookiness) and unforginevess of the ski on certain kind of snow might surprise some skiers in the beginning.

[creaky fossil]

I just got back on the InterWebToobz after 3 months off. Wanted to post my review after getting about 6 or 7 days so far on the 1010s. We're having a really good snow year but I've still been able to ski the 1010s on lots of varied conditions because in between our snowblasts we've had thaw-freeze cycles and there's plenty of funky crusts and reefy conditions happening even with a banner snowfall year.

My info: Geezin' 50 yrs old, 5'10", 150 lbs, skiing forever, ski racer-style (prefer engaged edges and a more forward, compact stance), prefer crud/cutup/chowder to all snow conditions (including powder), ski everything. I don't avoid bumps, I enjoy them, but I GS the shoulders and never get into the zipperline/troughs game.

What I like in a ski: Metal sandwich, please. Dampness. Power. Good boost from the tail. Firm hold on packed snow & ice. Carvability. Float. My favorite ski of all time is my daily ski, a 2005 Head Monster 88, 175 cm.

Skis I have liked: 2005 Head Monster 88, Fischer Watea 94, Elan 666, 2006? Gotama (black topskins, huge tail turnup).

Skis I have wanted to burn after 3 turns: Black Diamond Havoc (dead planky feel, horribly base-high finish, no energy), Rossignol Powder Bird (flappy, gutless, hated 20mph+).

I'm not a gear whore who buys tons of new shit every year, as my daily driver 2005 ski shows. Also I haven't been chasing width like many folks here. I get pretty fucking good float at 150 lbs, don't need the same width that Average Americans need. But I wanted to try something that felt like the Monster 88 with a bunch more girth, so I went looking for something that was like that ski. I ended up with 2 candidates, Katana and 1010, and couldn't find Katanas discounted anywhere, but 1010s were on sale as early as late March in 2010. I had skied an Elan 666 for several days a while back and really liked its feel, so I gambled on the 1010 without any reviews... as my earlier post above said.

I found the 1010 to be a whole lot like the Monster 88 in every way, just on a bigger scale. It feels like a big GS ski and holds like one on firm snow, I can rip hard snow like on race skis as long as I wait a bit in the turn transition.

In cruddy snow the 1010 has everything I want: a damp, slicey feel that will allow me to ski crud as if it's a Deer Valley corduroy groomer. The 1010 allows that, as long as I'm moving quickly enough and not sitting in the tailgunner's spot trying to ride the back half of the ski.

In deep lighter snow the mount position (sole center on mount line) feels like it might be a tiny bit forward, especially at lower angles and slower speeds, might be interesting to have a binding that allows some rearward adjustment for smoky powder days, but we don't get many of them. Also it's not that hard to adjust for that with a little ankle flexion.

The 1010 is a ski that will turn or run flat, though I can see how some might want less sidecut in wetter deeper cutup snow. If you like to butter all your turns like you're smearing icing on a cake, this probably isn't going to be your favorite ski.

In conditions of ugly reef below softer newer snow, the 1010 was predictable but like most skis with some torsional stiffness, it was happier if you set up a turn radius and rode that out, rather than trying to play with your edge engagement. Make round turns and you're golden.

Overall this ski likes to run. It feels better at higher speeds, though it's not exactly brutal at slower ones... just more sluggish. Once moving it's energetic and relatively playful, provided you're standing on it well and being relatively aggressive. You can ski it more relaxed but you won't get much out of your turn. It works better when you work the ski, but it doesn't really care too much if you want to be passenger rather than pilot. You'll still have to stay centered though, as the tail has enough pop to jet the ski forward if you're lazy... right into ACL-popping land.

For my purposes and what I like in a ski, the 1010 not ironically earns a 10/10.

[Beyond]

FWIW understand that the Olympus (this year's version, think next is same) has alternating cutouts in the front core, with some kind of Dynastar style foam, for reduced weight. People who've skied both say they handle a lot like the 1010, but a touch softer and lighter, little easier a lower speeds or tight places without giving up much at higher.

Also, will second the part about mount line. Every Elan I've skied needed to be remounted back about 2 cm.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Nice review. Did some kid ask you about those in the lift line not long ago?
I really like the look of the 190 Olympus, but the price of the 1010. I bet if you hammer a few moguls with them, they'd have some tip rocker like this year's.

[creaky fossil]

Nice review. Did some kid ask you about those in the lift line not long ago?
I really like the look of the 190 Olympus, but the price of the 1010. I bet if you hammer a few moguls with them, they'd have some tip rocker like this year's.

Naw, nobody's said boo to me.

I pranged an old Olin GS race ski on a mogul a long, long time ago, like maybe 1981, giving it tip rocker. I bent it back. I'm sure you could do likewise to any metal sandwich ski in some of the bumps of Griz Chute or Angel Face. That's why I avoid troughs, hard on knees and hard on skis.

Bob Ward's seems to have good prices on the 1010, 999 and 888 right now. If I was flush I'd buy a pair of the 888s to use when my Monster 88 die.

[stuckathuntermtn]

nice.
Okay, if it was you I woulda given you a chance for a nuts kick, lol.