Watea 96

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I've always like Fischer skis, I had the Atua and Watea 101 and skied the old Big Stix 106/Prohete a fair bit. I kind of lost interest for a few years when Fischer started with the boat hull tips and putting twins on everything. I was looking for a new ski in the mid 90 range and the Watea 96 caught my eye on STP. After reading several reviews with widely varying opinions, some said it was soft and others really stiff and still others said it wasn't playful enough. Well I saw a super sale on these skis at evo and picked up a pair of the 186 length for $288 shipped. Anyways I got them today and I am very pleased.

They are actually on the stiffer side(good), easily as stiff as my og Explosivs and stiffer than my 191 hybrid Lhasas, and have a very nice flat tail with just a bit of flip, not a twin by any means. The tip seems to have a subtle bit of taper and the early rise/rocker doesn't have too much splay and is fairly short giving a nice edge length. The turn radius on the 186 is 24 meters. They have quite a bit of camber. The construction is really nice, as usual for Fischer, and the core seems super solid after mounting them.

I'm really looking forward to skiing these, starting tomorrow, and will report back here. I really don't understand why these newer freeride models from Fischer don't get more attention. I like the shape of these a lot more than the Cham 97s I had and really appreciate the longer turn radius. If I like the way these ski I will be very interested in the Watea 106.

[skipowpow]

Funny. I was just going through the same thing after I broke my Zag Purists last week. Reviews of the 98s scared me off and I picked up a 188 K2 Sideshow for $260. Mine arrived today too an I hope to enjoy soon.

[GeezerSteve]

Nice looking ski. I have some time on 6 y.o. Watea 94s (non-rocker tip) and loved 'em. The rocker on these should make them much more versatile.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

First day, initial impressions. Discloure, I have these mounted with NTN Freedom bindings boot center mark on the line. I thought these would be a softer ski and I would use for spring touring and goofing around in the resort.

These skis are really carvy, as long as you consider the 24 meter radius, and have great edge hold. I never felt I needed more grip even when I hit spots of ice that had been compressed over the season by the groomer and then rained on. Edge hold is a lot better than the Cham 97, Explosiv, Atua, Watea 101 or G3 Reverends that I have skied.

They track very well, never felt them wander when going fast and hitting scraped off piles of loose granular snow and some bumpy, rutted and chalky snow off piste. They are pretty damp, more than my Lhasa Pows and way more than the stock layup Praxis BCs I had, about like the Cham 97s I had and less so than Explosivs or LPs. The only time I could feel them start to bounce around was going very fast through choppy piles of scraped up loose granular snow. I think this has to do with mass more than construction. A lot less tip flap than the Chams.

These seem to have a lot of energy to rebound out of turns but it's very smooth and predictable.

The tune on these skis is really nice. I usually detune edges with a mill file the rockered/early rise part of the tips and tails, on these it's already done. Not just dulled with a stone but rounded out and smooth.

I wonder if some of the mixed review of these skis is that folks mismatch skier and ski size. I'm 6' 5", 230 and I could easily see someone up to 200# using the 176 length of these skis. Conversely I don't think a 150# skier would get the most out of the 186 length.

Hopefully tomorrow and over the weekend I will get to try them in some powder.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Another full day on these yesterday. I'm really impressed with these skis.

Chalky, firmish groomer with the occasional spot of water ice on the runs with manmade snow. They handle these conditions very well, the edge grip of these skis is the best I've had in this class of ski and the fair amount of camber and stiffish core gives a nice rebound when loading them up carving.

4-8" of stiff wind buff changing to skied out crud as the day progressed. Very fun and stable charging through this stuff and bounding from turn to turn or letting them run on edge. I'm really surprised at how stable this ski is given it's weight and lack of metal, I didn't experience any deflection that was worrisome or really noticeable. Predictable in the untracked, stiff and crusty snow. I will say this ski like to be skied fast and hard, you can noodle around on it but is not really that fun until you amp up the speed and energy level. This is not the most playful ski but for me in this length I can ski it pretty loose if I want to.

I'm on the fence about changing the mount this ski to alpine or buying another pair and mounting alpine. It is a lot of fun make both alpine and tele turns but I can see the potential of this ski if I were to mount with Sollys or a tech bindng.

[Fred Pabst]

Just bought a pair of the Watea 96 186cm on fleabay for $199.99 with free shipping. There are still like 10 pairs left. I too have owned a few pairs of Wateas. I'm not sure why there is no love for Fischer. Looking forward to getting on this ski. And the obligatory TGR question...mount point?

[MagnificentUnicorn]

On the line.

[GeezerSteve]

I recommended 178cm Watea 96 to my (lighter) bud Ted. He loves them, skis great on them. Very cool ski. Fischer makes great skis.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I wound up mounting some Ions on my Watea 96s and they are my general purpose touring ski. I pick up a pair of Motive 95ti for $233 shipped from STP around new year. They're similar but stiffer, damper and heavier. My lift served daily driver.

[Fred Pabst]

On the line.

Thanks AW

Funny I had the old Watea 101 192 cm black and white one mounted on the line. Always thought they were a little back but never got around to remounting. Later(now) I had the white/wood grained version with the hull splitter tip. They were mounted on the line also but when compared to the old, they were like 2 cms more forward. I can't say the old hill splitter tip did anything positive or negative. Good skis but so long twintip

[telemon10]

Thanks AW

Funny I had the old Watea 192 cm black and white one mounted on the line. Always thought they were a little back but never got around to remounting. Later(now) I had the white/wood grained version with the hull splitter tip. They were mounted on the line also but when compared to the old, they were like 2 cms more forward. I can't say the old hill splitter tip did anything positive or negative. Good skis but so long twintip

Interesting. I had the white/wood grain 101s in 182 and mounted them tele on the line but found it way too forward. Moved it back 2cm where it was much better. Loved the ski, but too heavy for touring, which is what I mostly do, so moved on to Voile V6. Those skis were bomber though -- 3 years of skiing tele on them and they looked almost new.

[Fred Pabst]

Interesting. I had the white/wood grain 101s in 182 and mounted them tele on the line but found it way too forward. Moved it back 2cm where it was much better. Loved the ski, but too heavy for touring, which is what I mostly do, so moved on to Voile V6. Those skis were bomber though -- 3 years of skiing tele on them and they looked almost new.

Isn't that typical to tele mounts to be behind the line, at least I thought I'd read that somewhere.

Voile does make some nice looking touring skis.

[GeezerSteve]

Isn't that typical to tele mounts to be behind the line, at least I thought I'd read that somewhere.

That's very old school, when tele was mounted pins on chord center, a traditional Nordic mount. That fell out of favor after plastic tele boots came out, and for years most tele skis have been mounted similar to alpine position, i.e., B/F on CRS on tradition camber skis, boot center on alpine center mark for rocker tip skis.

[Fred Pabst]

Had a chance to ski these for a couple of days. Conditions were pretty decent for us this year. Mostly groomed packed pow/hard pack, a little bit of natural snow trial bumps dodging rocks and twigs, and some low angle pow at Sugarloaf. Was good till el nino fuked us again yesterday. Anyway, 6' and 220, mounted on the line with pivots. 186 cm. My first thought when I got these out of the box was they look kind of small and light compared to what I normally ski. They don't ski small. They are precise turning, carving machines. Hold an edge very well and are fun and easy to ski at all speeds. Huge amount of camber, a low rise tip that didn't flap at speed. Pretty stiff so no back seat skiing. I know the Bonefide seems to dominate this class, never skied it to compare, but I do also ski the Cochise. I bet it skis better than the new Mantra. I'd say for $200 you can't go wrong. 2 thumbs up.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

The Motive 95ti is everything the Watea 96 is but stiffer, damper and more stable, great ski. I think I prefer the Watea if I'm going to be skiing slower(touring) or mostly soft snow(touring again).