G3 Empire 115

[milkman]

Anyone have any demo time on these? On paper they look like a fantatic ski for the PNW and a great replacement for the Highball. Looking for a daily driver for Whistler to mount with alpine clamps and was considering these or a DPS Wailer RPC (hybrid).

[selle]

There's a german review by knut to be found here: http://www.powderguide.com/magazin/a...de-c3-105.html

Google translate should help... The bottom line is: very stable ski but still playful, rather light for its size, but still a bit heavy for touring...

[milkman]

Great. Thanks! I didn't see that review yet.

[GoldenBC]

I skied these for the majority of last year. 185 cm mounted at +2.5. Skied at Kicking Horse and Rogers Pass. Mounted with Guardians. Skiing Lange Freeride 120s
5'6" 155lbs aggressive style but likes to have fun and surf on the way down as well. Enjoys cuddling after sex.

Very, very solid ski. Stiffer than green 192 zealots most of the way through. Don't be dissuaded by this though. The full, subtle rocker allows it to be playful. When you find the balance point, like all full rocker, it is solid and predictable. It charges through crud and is uniquely fun to rail on groomers. Pow floatation is exactly as expected with skis of this dimension. The full rocker and stiffness is a nice change compared to a lot of the rockered softies out there (see: no buckling). I mounted 2.5 cm ahead of AT boot center and they were still stomping machines.

My only qualm with these skis was the tip shape was a little too dramatic. I would prefer some mellower sidecut/narrower up front. In wind blown conditions or other grabby snow the tips were very prone to hooking. That being said, it is one of those skis that prefer being skied a certain way (with lots of energy and always working it). It performs this way well, I just enjoy a ski that is a vessel for sliding how I want rather than something demanding specific actions.

Great ski though. Quality appears top notch. Another friend had them as well and thoroughly enjoyed them.

[milkman]

Thanks for the review. Sounds mostly like what I'm looking for (minus the hooky tips in wind blown). Whistler gets it's fair share of wind blown and grabby snow....

[lepistoir]

"An all-purpose weapon for everything deep snow scolds himself. And gets very clear and earned my "I want" predicate temple."

Sounds just right for something cool.


Couldn't pass them up at $250 at backcountry so we'll see if I feel like mounting them up this fall or if I find another replacement for my mainstay pow-touring skis: Lhasa 191
I'd been looking at them a long time and wanted a little more stiffness and thick-pow/windpack punching power over my flexed-out Lhasas. Anyone have another suggestion for the 105-115 waist range with some burl and still lighter than the G3s that has modern tapered/slarve-ready shaping?

[hoarhey]

how much do the g3's weigh?

[jamesp]

Anyone have another suggestion for the 105-115 waist range with some burl and still lighter than the G3s that has modern tapered/slarve-ready shaping?

G3 has new carbon models coming out this year.

[swerve]

Heres G3's info about next years skis.
http://n2a.goexposoftware.com/events...5205423926.pdf

[1000-oaks]

^ Impressive weights on the new carbon G3's, but what idiot approved BLACK topsheets. Dragging 10 lbs of snow stuck to black topsheets up the hill doesn't make G3's carbon line any lighter than burly fiberglass skis with white topsheets, might as well save your money.

185 cm mounted at +2.5. <snip> In wind blown conditions or other grabby snow the tips were very prone to hooking.

Think loading the tips by mounting 2.5cm forward might have had something to do with the hookiness?

[JTrue]

^Impressive weights on the new G3's, but what idiot approved BLACK topsheets. Dragging 10 lbs of snow stuck to black topsheets up the hill doesn't make G3's carbon line any lighter than burly fiberglass skis with white topsheets, might as well save your money.

Agree about the top sheet, weights are for the shortest model, so a little misleading, but still light. Got some estimated weights of the Synapse line that I also posted in the ski weights thread.


Based on pre-production skis, also a 101 in the lineup, not sure of weight as I didn't inquire about it.

G3 Synapse 092 Carbon 175 2700g /pair
G3 Synapse 092 Carbon 180 2770g /pair
G3 Synapse 109 Carbon 180 3085g /pair
G3 Synapse 109 Carbon 185 3250g /pair

[lepistoir]

^Impressive weights on the new G3's, but what idiot approved BLACK topsheets. Dragging 10 lbs of snow stuck to black topsheets up the hill doesn't make G3's carbon line any lighter than burly fiberglass skis with white topsheets, might as well save your money.

It is difficult to understand why they aren't all white like the carbon empress. There's some fetish about showing off the carbon, like the looks matter more than the weight. Great skis for on top of your car.

A full pound lighter sounds supa dupa nice. Wondering how versatile the 115 is for tackling anything and everything (but mostly pow) with its full reverse camber. Seems like the Carbon Synapse 109 is better suited for doing everything except the deep and thick (get the pon2oons) and the long, high and firm (get the zenoxide c3 88).

[jamesp]

Last year you could order G3 skis with a white top sheet also, not sure if they will do the same thing again, hopefully.

[TheDon]

That carbon 115 looks intriguing. Anyone ski it yet?

[TheDon]

Bump for interest in this Carbon Empire 115, anyone hop on it yet?

[TheDon]

Still haven't heard much chatter about the carbon versions...?

[kalisto]

bumping this because I ran into the same dead-end when looking for skis.

Ended up getting the carbon empire 115s thanks to G3. Only had a few days out on them in some deep heavy snow, but man are they fun...

Torsionally stiff when flexing by hand, which everyone complained about with older g3 skis. Mounted up with rad 2.0s. Super light, still ski fast.

If anyone's got some questions. post them up.

[1000-oaks]

Haven't been on either, but interested to hear how the carbon Empire 115 compares to the BD Helios 116, which thankfully is only 1/3 black.

About to mount a pair of the glass E115's with CAST for inbounds/ sidecountry.

[neck beard]

Torsionally stiff when flexing by hand

What is your method for that?

[rob stokes]

Got a pair of 185 carbon 115's in the mail as we speak. Gonna have kingpins for a still surprisingly lightweight pow/short tour ski.

[rob stokes]

Cancel that, there were sat outside my front door as we spoke!

[kalisto]

What is your method for that?

pretty ghetto. Standard tail on floor between something stiff and a foot. grap tip by hand and rotate.

Only had 2 days in deep snow with them (plus a ski out in icy crud), so it's hard to gauge how stiff they are on edge.

Have a pair of these, and helio 105's... Will probably be on these more than I originally though. Playful, but not too soft.

[rob stokes]

More rocker than I imagined. Lots of splay and little to no flat spot under the foot. 185cm measures 184cm straight pull and they weigh in at about 1760g per ski which is a bit less than manufacture claims.

Edited to add mount point is pretty traditional, think it was -10.5 from centre but can't quite remember.

[JSang]

How do these fully rockered skis perform on the skin track. I would think that when skinning up steep packed skin tracks, you would lose grip due to less surface area of the ski/skin contacting the snow, versus a more cambered ski.

I am leaning towards the Helio 116 but BD is out of stock on the 186 and it seems to be easier to find a deal on G3 skis. Considering Synapse 109 or Empire 115

[kalisto]

I'm on Helio 105s and empire 115s, and my friend is on a pair of synapse 109s. The 109s have a lot more rocker than I would have thought. I would expect it to be similar to the Helio 105, but it's not really... at all.

I definitely feel like I get better grip with the helios vs the empires, but I also have the scala skins from G3 on the empires (which I wouldn't do again).

For an all around ski leaning towards powpow, I'd go Synapse 109. For a deeeeep pow ski, go empire. Helio 105 is a great do it all sort of ski.