*Current* Lotus 138 compared to the *current* Praxis Powder Board?

[TAFKALVS]

I guess I should clarify. Low density, with a soft smooth base? Awesome. Low-density with a hard or rough base - (say 12" new over moguls where occasionally the snow is thinner or scraped off? Not fun, get a "rocking chair" bucking effect from the reverse camber and the skis don't consistantly hook up on the hard stuff.

Low density bottomless? Just not enough tip float unless you're really moving. The skis get stuck/feel sluggish compared to a ski that has a wider tip and more rocker up front.

For reference, I am 5' 10 and when I had Praxis Pows weighed 170lbs. Also, I had 195 pows which are the slightly older shape. I smash my shins into the fronts of my boots, always.

Here are a few videos of me having fun on them. Please forgive the poor camera angle and potentially shitty skiing exhibited. I do what I can.

[hoarhey]

in my opinion, just get protests.
I had to look up the vagabonds, they are 107 mm underfoot.
So fine for a soft snow, or even not so soft snow ski for trips to the west.
protest will work nicely for cat skiing and big pow days in the resort.

I didn't find powderboards to be my cup of tea, hated them inbounds.
had protests and those did enough of what powboards did.

for me, I'm skiing protests for bc skiing only.

For resort, I'm skiing GPO's which at 116 mm underfoot are pretty good.

have not sked Lotus 138's, so no comments there.

[whyturn]

The narrow arg, protest, renegade , pow and I imagine 138 all tend to sink more due to shape. Submarine Feeling is unique but they are quick
Usually pretty stiff so groomers are more like rails. I prefer traditional pow skis either no camber big tip or rocker big tip and flat tail. Can accelerate but also quick. Exception being spur and billygoat. But I ski more resort and hunt and peck for pow so take it grain of sand

[Lindahl]

No experience with Powderboards or Lotus' but I felt like the Renegades (or Kusalas, actually), accelerated and moved smoother in the snow than Billygoats. The Billygoats and other more traditional skis float up quicker initially, but that can create a 'lurchy' feeling when transitioning between different powder densities and depths (and airing into snow). I would think powderboards and lotus' would be similar due to the reverse camber?

[PlayItLeo]

Thanks Leavenworth Skier...

I'm on the EC and don't really expect to use them much here.

Maybe I'm the outlier here, but I use my pows all the time in 3-4" of new snow here on the EC. To me, they feel so much more loose and surfy than my ~100 underfoot skis in shallow pow - where the 100 -110 ski bottoms out, the pows float on top and make the snow feel deeper than it is. They're also the most ridiculously awesome tight EC tree skis money can buy. I don't find them as bad as people say on soft or cut up groomers, and I'm more than happy to put up with them in those conditions in exchange for the blissful feel of that one weightless, drifted, surfy turn that you think about for the next few weeks/months.

I've never skied 138s, but I'd bet either way you go, you'll end up using a r/r ski way more than you thought you would on the EC.

[Bandit Man]

Did any else catch that the OP is willing to spend $$ to get to Japan or Cat Skiing Interior BC from the EC but the best skis he has are blowout Vagabonds?!?! Really?!

[TrueNorth]

Did any else catch that the OP is willing to spend $$ to get to Japan or Cat Skiing Interior BC from the EC but the best skis he has are blowout Vagabonds?!?! Really?!

Ha ha, I confess to being a JONG, but let's edit that quote a bit:

Did any else catch that the sheldonm is willing to idly speculate about going to Japan or Cat Skiing Interior BC from the EC but the widest skis he has are blowout Vagabonds?!?! Really?!

Actually I have cat skied interior BC (one day, on rented skis), and gone to Japan (sadly without skiing). I'm not going to defend Vagabonds because I haven't skied them yet, but I do know that an awful lot of other TGR folks are going to be on STP blowout skis this winter!

[El Chupacabra]

Buy some 138s. They're my favorite pow ski ever - if it's untracked inbounds, and more than a couple inches, I'll be on them every time.

[LiveLarger]

Buy some 138s. They're my favorite pow ski ever - if it's untracked inbounds, and more than a couple inches, I'll be on them every time.

This!

[TrueNorth]

Thanks for the advice, guys... I picked the red ones!

[CaliBrit]

Ahhhh red. Like from China. Got it.

[TrueNorth]

Ahhhh red. Like from China. Got it.

Yup... I got the ones designed and tested in USA, assembled in China using materials and tooling sourced from US, Europe, China, and probably other places (from the same supplier base as pretty much every other ski maker), sold by a US retailer using another bigger US retailer for warehousing and order fulfillment. But I'm Canadian, so it's all foreign to me.

[CaliBrit]

Yup... I got the ones designed and tested in USA, assembled in China using materials and tooling sourced from US, Europe, China, and probably other places (from the same supplier base as pretty much every other ski maker), sold by a US retailer using another bigger US retailer for warehousing and order fulfillment. But I'm Canadian, so it's all foreign to me.

Someone sounds a bit defensive.