Review: Surface One Life (189)

[deft_funk]

I started checking out the forums a little while back when I was looking for info and reviews on a few different skis, this one included. There were a few threads about the Live Life 2's, which are basically the same ski with a different name but no dedicated One Life review, so I figured I'd weigh in. Let me know if I miss anything and I'll add what I can.

The ski: Surface One Life 189, with the abrupt 3 stage tip and tail rocker, cambered underfoot, 140/112/132. The "3 stage rocker" is an 8 deg. bend according to Surface's website. Mounted boot center at -2, I checked the top sheets and the markings seemed spot on - I know that was a concern in some of the earlier versions.

About me:
Male, 22, 6' 160 lbs, 6 years skiing the first 5 of which were just tele. Picked up an alpine setup last fall to mix things up (192 Blizzard The Answer, the year before they got any early rise). I like chutes, trees, some straightlines and big fast sweeping turns when things open up, playful airs, some drops, and skiing switch although I'm not that great at it. I also really like bumps from time to time.

I got the chance to try a few rockered/early rise skis this winter and was looking for something that would kill it on powder days but also eat up crud and be comfortable cruising around looking for pow stashes when things were skied out - basically a most-day ski. I first tried some '09/'10 Katanas in a 190 and loved the little bit of early rise. I liked the stiffness and length for going fast but they didn't feel super playful and the no-camber seemed kind of dead on groomers. I also got on some 179 Hellbents that I didn't like much at all. They were way too floppy and had the same dead feeling the Katanas did but exaggerated. I did like how quickly they turned in the trees and the float in anything untracked. The One Lifes popped up on evo during the march madness sale and looked like the perfect combination of what I was looking for.

I have maybe a dozen days or so on these, about half resort and half backcountry. First thing that I noticed was how far forward they need to be skied. They're quite stiff and will let you know instantly if you get too far back, but there's so much rocker you can really crank down and forward even in blower pow. They're a very different feel from my Blizzards but it was a quick adjustment to skiing much more centered no matter what the conditions. This may be just me adjusting to the rocker - the Hellbents were a similar balance point - but it's definitely different from the early rise of the Katanas.

To sum things up, I really love this ski.

They chew up powder and float really well. You can stay way forward and just pop right up, the same goes for hucking - haven't done more than about 15 feet on them but the sweet spot seems to be pretty big and they just surf right back to the top as soon as you land. They are really quick to turn and great in anything tight, nimble and responsive. The easy surfing in pow extends to riding switch in a big way, just sends you right to the top and felt great with a -2 mount. I'm sure some would like them perfectly centered for optimal switch but they felt great to me.

The strange shape of the rocker isn't noticeable in anything deeper than a few inches, and really rides up and over crud, avi chunder or other nasties that would otherwise nail the tip of the ski. They are fun on groomers due to the stiffness and camber underfoot. The tips and tails are so high that I was even pleasantly surprised with their performance on bumps - I didn't notice them catching tips/tails and the very short area in contact with the snow lets them turn on a dime, making soft moguls quite fun. Ice, not so much but that's not what these are designed for.

It also seems this ski likes to go fast, the faster you go the more stable and impressive it is. One my first days out was at Moonlight and opened them up coming out of the headwaters chutes, they were so confidence inspiring and just mowed through the slough piles and tracked up snow like nobody's business. I attribute it to the stiffness and the way the rocker really rides up and over stuff without feeling at all like the tips of the skis were smacking around.

Like a few others have mentioned, the topsheets and sidewalls do chip up fairly easily but the bases seem bomber. I got 5 or so days on them at Big Sky/Moonlight, nailed a few rocks but no core shots and I was impressed at how little damage they showed. When I first got the skis I noticed a tiny bit of a gap (less than a millimeter) between the base and the edge in a few spots that looks to be filled with glue, but it's barely noticeable and I am waiting to see what Surface says about it. I'm really not too worried and assume it's just a slight variation from the manufacturing process, but I wanted to mention because this is a review. It doesn't affect the ski in any way and hasn't enlarged even after nailing one of the spots with a rock. I'll post when I hear back.

All in all, a super fun and playful ski that can also rip, it instantly became my daily driver and I have no intentions of replacing it anytime soon.

[deft_funk]

Update from Surface - they said the tiny gap shouldn't be a problem, but should it become one they'd be happy to replace them.

[john.duke]

What was your binding/boot set up with this review?

[COskier]

Me:
150lbs
solly 916 mounted at for boot center at the center of the running surface, solly ghost boots
21 years old skiing since I was 3, grew up skiing summit and WP, moved to gunnison to ski Crested Butte 3 years ago.

I picked up a pair of these last fall as well and in pow and soft snow they rock. The only other similar ski I have been on are the JJ's and while the jj's do feel more stable on harder snow and arc traditional turns better the OL have much less tip flap and are stiffer throughout. I dont know if this is really what happens with all rockers skis but when you get the OL in pow you can press down on them and instead of the ski diving it literally pops out of the snow, and not just a little, enough to clear saplings and logs. I agree with the forward stance though if yo u get backseat they work you and become a lot less fun but if you stay forward they rip and turn on a dime but can also point some shit. However on hard snow I just never felt confident letting them rip, too short of contact area imo. But in soft snow i think i a going to be hard pressed to find a more playful ripping ski. my complaints are that the bases just do not hold wax very well if at all, they go really slow. I also blew an edge but thats my fault for jumping onto some rocks. Overall, awesome soft snow ski that can do just about anything. Im going to get a better hard snow/all around ski next year though

[COskier]

oh one more thing, in tight, steep spots the tips and tails can hook up and make it difficult to slip or maneuver but it never became too much of an issue for me. These skis, besides their jibby reputation actually worked great at a resort like crested butte this year when all i did was lap the extremes.

[deft_funk]

What was your binding/boot set up with this review?

Salomon Ghosts and 912's mounted on MFD Alltime plates. Hopefully get a bit burlier binding next year but I'm light enough to go with a DIN of 11 or 12 and I picked them up from a friend who wasn't using them.

COskier: I agree that the bases are kind of slow and don't hold wax particularly well.