100mm Waist Skis

[Eluder]

What do you like and why?

Where and when do you ski it?

[pfluffenmeister]

Kastle MX98
damp, powerful, stable; probably some other stuff too.

daily driver / no new snow / <4"

[swissiphic]

Armada Declivity. 128/98/118. 184cms. Bought it specifically for spring missions and winter alpine couloirs and steeps. two layers of metal, very damp, so far feels like medium flex, stiffer underfoot....quite predictable and listens/waits for user instructions for the turn. quite pleased so far testing the limits of the ski...early season back country snow of breakable rain crust, facets, frozen avy debris, hard crust, mashed powtatos...allowed me to survive almost unskiable snow...that's all I ask. Gotta stay forward and active though, the tails can kick your ass. so far seems to prefer stiffer boots...i'm on dynafit mercury touring boots and use the extra forward stiffening tongue. Won't need them for nice pow though.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Cham 97. Regular version, very stiff from tail to in front of binding, damp, easy turning but stable and floats reasonably well. Ski them almost everyday in the winter for lift serve. If it's more than 6-8" of new will bust out the Lhasas.

[Kopi_Red]

Rossignol E98. It's a stiff, damp, great carving ski. I use it at the resort when there's no new snow or there's less than 4" of fresh.

[SupreChicken]

Praxis piste jib. Park/bumps/no new snow in a while. 184. 99mm underfoot

[selle]

Rossi S3. Easy to ride and very fun! Mounted with Dukes... I ride it almost every day.

[DJ2]

Nordica Hell & Back, anything from boot-top deep to damn-near-ice.

[ACH]

This seasons Volkl Mantra...
Demo'd last Winter and found it to be a very versatile ski.
Volkl has extended the ELP rocker into this model, though it is subtle compared to other models.
Rails turns like my Race Tiger GS, super damp and stable, but you can instantly whip it sideways into a full speed smear,
then bang the edge, right back into a carve...
I generally don't ski powder on a 100 so I don't have an expectation there.
However, I expect that they will live up to their past performance level in crud.
I am transitioning to these this season from the Cochise...

[creaky fossil]

Cham 97, not HM. All conditions. Don't have a pow ski, it's my pow ski and my hardpack ski too. Solid like a race ski underfoot, owns the crud, great float in fluff though if you like a high-riding tail it may not be your pony.

[TahoeJ]

Bonafides... not just hype, they're great skis. I use them whenever it hasn't snowed or has just snowed a little.

[thaar]

I want to add a ~100mm ski to my quiver as well and have narrowed down my list to the following: Line Supernatural 100, Volkl Mantra (last years model), ON3P Wren 102, and Moment PB&J. I'd love to try the Kastle MX98's but I have a hard time spending that much on a pair of skis.

[N1CK.]

Last year 180cm bonafides, awesome ski. Would bang again.
This year 185cm 9D8. High hopes.

The new mantra and the supernatural 100 are very interesting, I'd like to demo for kicks.

[Skiwurrel]

Armada Declivity. 128/98/118. 184cms. Bought it specifically for spring missions and winter alpine couloirs and steeps. two layers of metal, very damp, so far feels like medium flex, stiffer underfoot....quite predictable and listens/waits for user instructions for the turn. quite pleased so far testing the limits of the ski...early season back country snow of breakable rain crust, facets, frozen avy debris, hard crust, mashed powtatos...allowed me to survive almost unskiable snow...that's all I ask. Gotta stay forward and active though, the tails can kick your ass. so far seems to prefer stiffer boots...i'm on dynafit mercury touring boots and use the extra forward stiffening tongue. Won't need them for nice pow though.

Hmm I kind of want to try this ski, especially being jp's last model. If it is stiff and the tip is dialed it could be nice for freeride? Evo said it has the "comp" base is this the standard or better then past armada bases?

[gregL]

Evo said it has the "comp" base is this the standard or better then past armada bases?

Like everyone else, the copywriters at evo read Armada's literature from SIA/ISPO/Zuzupopo and try to make sense of it during the summer - they do their best, but typically don't have access to ski designers and engineers when they're writing the descriptions.

Armada, like most manufacturers, uses a cheaper, denser extruded base (S7) on many price point and park models, and a more expensive sintered base, probably with some graphite content, for more expensive freeride and competitive park skis (Comp). In all probability these are the same bases Atomic uses for the Atomic and Salomon skis but they call them something else.

[schindlerpiste]

184 MX98. 2 sheets of metal and squaretail. Everyday UT. ski <6" new snow. Most stable ski on the market.

I thought that the Bonafides were nice, until I skied these.

[Below Zero]

Kastle FX104. Flat tail, rockered tip. Not a plank, Not a noodle. Yeah, they are expensive, but they just rock. I suck at describing skis, so that's all I'll say. I've also skied Bonafide, Hell & Back, Wailer 99, and Sin 7. The FX104 just had a different feel than the others I ski them on hardpack days and pow days.

[pureantigravity]

Blizzard Bonafide (any year). Damp, light, stable. Versatile, fun, easy. BMW of skis - a sports coup good for < 5 cm days. Not good in crud or chop. Good on steeps, not icy steeps.

[lordf]

184 MX98. 2 sheets of metal and squaretail. Everyday UT. ski <6" new snow. Most stable ski on the market.

I thought that the Bonafides were nice, until I skied these.

I wish I had gone for them over the FX94. A great ski for anyting off piste or when its soft and you need a ski to abuse. But they have a speed limit on piste or on the harder stuff. I found this when I forgot I wasn't on my GS skis and saw the tips coming back at me. They now have tip rocker, I can see why Kastle added tip rocker to the later versions of them as it really does improve them.

[Eluder]

Blizzard Bonafide (any year). Damp, light, stable. Versatile, fun, easy. BMW of skis - a sports coup good for < 5 cm days. Not good in crud or chop. Good on steeps, not icy steeps.

what do think makes them not good on icy steeps or crud?

[pureantigravity]

what do think makes them not good on icy steeps or crud?

The Bonafide tips and tails have no backbone and the core is too 'clappy'. They get tossed around too much in frozen chop. On icy steeps the tip/tail does not offer much support. Just not enough muscle for anything backcountry or offpiste. Perhaps someone

[ghosthop]

I thought the new stockli SR's blew the new mantra out of the water, price is bullshit just like the kastles

I really like the moment tahoe over the pb&j, tahoe feels a little more specific as a ski to break out when the mountain has been skied out than a one ski quiver like the pb&j

[panchosdad]

Cham HM 97, just got it in March, used in bounds some and primarily for touring. Floats well for its width and does as well as can be expected in things like breakable crust and wind slab. Big rockered tip and flat tail. Wouldn't say its a great hardpack carver, but it's decent.

[Fun Consultant]

Rossignol Experience 100, skied the 98 for years as a daily driver, didn't think they could make it better. Well, the changed rocker and tip profile make it a bit more forgiving without a loss of power. Ski it in 5" or less or when I don't know what the day is going to bring when I head out the door and they make it in a 190. No speed limit. BTW I'm 6'3 210. Hope that helps.

[54-46]

184 Faction Prodigy. Super quick in bumps and trees, stable enough for me on groomers; easy to ski switch when I ski with my kid. Not really a charger; more playful.