196 rockered Lhasa Pow ongoing review

[MagnificentUnicorn]

So as the result of SFB's and Slaag's feud I scored a good deal on some new 196 rockered Lhasa Pows, thanks splat! Anyway today was the first day on them. I mounted 107 cm to boot center from the tip, 2 cm forward of the mark splat put on the ski. These are flat underfoot with subtle rocker in front of and behind the boot with the normal Lhasa early rise tip and slight raised tail, they seem stiff as fuck, maybe splat can provide some context. So far I think they really pivot and smear better than my original 191 Lhasas and are quite a bit stiffer. I think I like the mount, it gives a nice amount of tail while still being floaty in the 6" of new we have over a not to hard breakable crust. They want to run. Very damp and stable. I'm going to further detune the edges because I want them a bit looser, I'll post more as I get more days on them.

I'm not sure I can do these skis justice, I'm not Max Arsenault, splat says these are the same skis he's on. I only take small airs, but do like to ski pretty fast. I'm almost 6' 5" and 225# so these aren't too demanding for me.

[splat]

The stiffness difference is the result of using the same amount of carbon fiber but rather than one piece top and bottom, we used two layers that weighed half as much. I didn't want the rocker to flap on the hardpack and layering two layers of carbon with the one layer of glass above and below the core was a way to stiffen them somewhat incrementally, Aaron. Layering composites increases stiffness by x%. Max's has the same rocker but more layers of either carbon or glass and are waaaay stiffer. Yours weigh 5.1 lbs. per ski. Max's additional glass layer version (4 layers of glass and 2-4 layers of carbon per ski) weigh 5.7 lbs per ski.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Okay, the tips don't flap at all. The do seem heavier than my 191s but not in a bad way.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Another day in some cream cheese and denser pow over crust and windboard. Also some high speed groomers with 4-6" of fresh. Given the space the skis are amazing. Way more stable than my 191 Lhasas and can smear turns pretty well in 3D snow. One partner asked if I was going to make more than three turns per 1000' of vert. I still like where I mounted the bindings, very supportive off small drops and through compressions and whoop de dos.

I was having a little trouble getting them to come around in tighter spots and funkier wind affected textured snow. When I got home I put a true bar on them and found the bases on the fore body of both skis to be edge high and fairly concave. I have them at the shop for a base grind and edge tune and will see if this loosens them up more.

[shafty85]

Is the plan for all future Lhasa Pows going to be rockered? Or keep them more early rise?

[splat]

The athletes loved the rockered version so much, we did them in a less stiff layup. But people's preferences vary, so we've been making a variety of rises and rockers to try to satisfy as many of those preferences as possible this year. Got some special 179s, 183s and Kusalas coming out soon along those lines. They were supposed to be done already but I got hammered by an allergic reaction to fiberglass and resin that has slowed me down. Kinda hoping through all these variables, we'll run across silver bullet that makes everyone happy.

For the 186 Lhasa, for instance, I'd like to add a mm or two in the tail, allowing them to have that tail slarve in crap snow that makes them so sweet, yet giving them a little bit of tail bite for all those poor bastard tailgunners that get their asses handed to them first time out on icy slopes. But the semi pintail is still too narrow to want to rocker it or there would be even less tail than there is now.