Moment Meridian 117 Review

[Tailwind]

I have a set of Meridian 117’s in the 187cm length. Setup with Pivot 14’s. Mounted at the rec line. Scarpa Freedom RS’s with Powerwraps. I have 6 days on them, the first one spent dealing with a bad tune but the tune is figured out and I’ve had them in most conditions at this point.

Other setups I currently have and like:
186cm Renegades with Kingpins for touring & 190cm Squad 7’s (2013)


I am 6’2” 165lbs. I tend to ski fast and I bought these hoping they would be a good for a playful ski for someone who normally likes charge’y skis. I was also hoping that they would be a little more lively than the other setups I currently have. The squads are getting beat down so I was hoping to replace them with two skis. Likely with Supergoats in addition to the Meridian.


The bottom line is that I like them a lot but they are a unique ski. I’ll break this down later but they are stiff (they are stiff than the Renegades and they make the squads feel like noodles). For a very agile ski they have a high top end, but the ‘sweet spot’ is pretty small. It’s a ski that reminds you that you need to be doing your squats and situps. When I’m skiing well and feeling strong, they’re pretty incredible. I had one of my better runs of the year on them, 20+ foot drop to an untracked 45 degree face and a few big ripped turns out and they felt perfect. I did a similar line a few hours later when I was more tired and had a much harder time keeping my weight in the right place. When I’m tired, they actually feel to short… It’s strange but when I am tired and I get a little sloppy it gets harder to stay where I need to be. They don’t want you to drive the tips and do really poorly when your weight is back.

I am really happy to own a pair, but I am also not planning on using these for mellow turns or anything early season. Fast playful and a little ridiculous is the name of the game.

Powder:
I’ve had two days of about 12” of fresh snow. I expected them to be good in soft snow but they really blew me away here. They float well, they need a bit of speed, but they get to the surface easier than the Renegades. They have the ability to do large Super G turns but when you want you can throw them into some pretty sharp turns. Compared to the Renegades they feel more playful and more willing to mess around.

Chopped Up Powder:
As long as you’re skiing well, they do great. The ‘sweet spot’ is smaller than both my other setups, but as long as your weight is slightly forward of centered they will ski fast. I have been intrigued by the idea of a 194cm version… I love the quickness and playfulness of the current version but just want a little more forgiving setup. I’ve skied the 196cm Renegade and liked that so a quicker version of that would be fun.

Groomers
Once again surprisingly good… as long as they are a little soft. ‘Icy’ stuff makes these only have 1 turn shape they like (long) we’ve had a few melt freeze cycles and they don’t do great during the freese. Anything a tiny bit soft on top is a lot of fun. Of the Squads and the Renegades these are the worst on icy stuff but the best on soft groomers. They are chatery and weird on icy stuff, but smooth playful and lively on softer groomers.

Where they are not great:
Moguls - if your form is 100% they do fine, the moment you get off your line you get tossed. They wear out my legs quickly even on soft moguls.
Hard 3d snow - nothing does great here but the combination of the stiff flex pattern and fully rockered shape had me getting kicked around a lot. Weird Wind Crusts, frozen chopped up powder or anything like that really works you over because the balance point is smaller.
Icy stuff - as outlined above.

Sizing - They ski short… I wanted something playful and quick and because of that I’m happy with the length but I definitely wouldn’t want anything shorter.

[mr_pretzel]

I’d love to try this ski and thanks for the review, but your font color sucks

[jdadour]

Anyone else have some experience with the Meridian 117 187cm? Ski the Bibby 190's right now, and curious how the Meridians compare as more of a pure powder ski.

[pman]

Interested but can't read any of it in black

[Tailwind]

Interesting... mine shows up as black font on a white background. I’m newer here. Any tricks I’m missing?

[jdadour]

The text shows up for me, so I am reposting the original post. Hopefully it shows up now:

I have a set of Meridian 117’s in the 187cm length. Setup with Pivot 14’s. Mounted at the rec line. Scarpa Freedom RS’s with Powerwraps. I have 6 days on them, the first one spent dealing with a bad tune but the tune is figured out and I’ve had them in most conditions at this point.

Other setups I currently have and like:
186cm Renegades with Kingpins for touring & 190cm Squad 7’s (2013)


I am 6’2” 165lbs. I tend to ski fast and I bought these hoping they would be a good for a playful ski for someone who normally likes charge’y skis. I was also hoping that they would be a little more lively than the other setups I currently have. The squads are getting beat down so I was hoping to replace them with two skis. Likely with Supergoats in addition to the Meridian.


The bottom line is that I like them a lot but they are a unique ski. I’ll break this down later but they are stiff (they are stiff than the Renegades and they make the squads feel like noodles). For a very agile ski they have a high top end, but the ‘sweet spot’ is pretty small. It’s a ski that reminds you that you need to be doing your squats and situps. When I’m skiing well and feeling strong, they’re pretty incredible. I had one of my better runs of the year on them, 20+ foot drop to an untracked 45 degree face and a few big ripped turns out and they felt perfect. I did a similar line a few hours later when I was more tired and had a much harder time keeping my weight in the right place. When I’m tired, they actually feel to short… It’s strange but when I am tired and I get a little sloppy it gets harder to stay where I need to be. They don’t want you to drive the tips and do really poorly when your weight is back.

I am really happy to own a pair, but I am also not planning on using these for mellow turns or anything early season. Fast playful and a little ridiculous is the name of the game.

Powder:
I’ve had two days of about 12” of fresh snow. I expected them to be good in soft snow but they really blew me away here. They float well, they need a bit of speed, but they get to the surface easier than the Renegades. They have the ability to do large Super G turns but when you want you can throw them into some pretty sharp turns. Compared to the Renegades they feel more playful and more willing to mess around.

Chopped Up Powder:
As long as you’re skiing well, they do great. The ‘sweet spot’ is smaller than both my other setups, but as long as your weight is slightly forward of centered they will ski fast. I have been intrigued by the idea of a 194cm version… I love the quickness and playfulness of the current version but just want a little more forgiving setup. I’ve skied the 196cm Renegade and liked that so a quicker version of that would be fun.

Groomers
Once again surprisingly good… as long as they are a little soft. ‘Icy’ stuff makes these only have 1 turn shape they like (long) we’ve had a few melt freeze cycles and they don’t do great during the freese. Anything a tiny bit soft on top is a lot of fun. Of the Squads and the Renegades these are the worst on icy stuff but the best on soft groomers. They are chatery and weird on icy stuff, but smooth playful and lively on softer groomers.

Where they are not great:
Moguls - if your form is 100% they do fine, the moment you get off your line you get tossed. They wear out my legs quickly even on soft moguls.
Hard 3d snow - nothing does great here but the combination of the stiff flex pattern and fully rockered shape had me getting kicked around a lot. Weird Wind Crusts, frozen chopped up powder or anything like that really works you over because the balance point is smaller.
Icy stuff - as outlined above.

Sizing - They ski short… I wanted something playful and quick and because of that I’m happy with the length but I definitely wouldn’t want anything shorter.

[Coño Frío]

Anyone else have some experience with the Meridian 117 187cm? Ski the Bibby 190's right now, and curious how the Meridians compare as more of a pure powder ski.

I’ve skied the Bibby 184 the past 4 seasons (just sold to buy the Wildcat 190), also own the deathwish 184, and the armada TST 192 - I had the Meridian 107 in a 181 for a season (sold em last season), I actually loved the ski (once I got it dialed) but I had trouble fitting it into the quiver.

I prefer the TST on man-made or firm groomers. Whenever we got any fresh I found myself reaching for the Bibbys, the perfect resort pow/chop-destroyer that is also fun on soft groomers.

When I did take out the Meridian’s in pow I was surprised at how fun they were and how well they floated for a 107 width. There were times in tight trees and a couple times in technical terrain that they shined as the full rocker is a breeze to slide into the crux. Also super easy to link carved turns on steeps by just laying over the edge.

Besides Not too fun on firm flat run outs (obviously not what they’re made for) I could see these a a quiver of one for out west.

I don’t really get the idea behind the 117 Meridian mostly because I assume it’s not as versatile as the 107 and if it’s deep enough to want a 117 ski why not go with the Bibby?

[jdadour]

I’ve skied the Bibby 184 the past 4 seasons (just sold to buy the Wildcat 190), also own the deathwish 184, and the armada TST 192 - I had the Meridian 107 in a 181 for a season (sold em last season), I actually loved the ski (once I got it dialed) but I had trouble fitting it into the quiver.

I prefer the TST on man-made or firm groomers. Whenever we got any fresh I found myself reaching for the Bibbys, the perfect resort pow/chop-destroyer that is also fun on soft groomers.

When I did take out the Meridian’s in pow I was surprised at how fun they were and how well they floated for a 107 width. There were times in tight trees and a couple times in technical terrain that they shined as the full rocker is a breeze to slide into the crux. Also super easy to link carved turns on steeps by just laying over the edge.

Besides Not too fun on firm flat run outs (obviously not what they’re made for) I could see these a a quiver of one for out west.

I don’t really get the idea behind the 117 Meridian mostly because I assume it’s not as versatile as the 107 and if it’s deep enough to want a 117 ski why not go with the Bibby?

Your final question is my exact conundrum. Bibby 190 vs Meridian 117 187cm. Im curious if the Meridian pow performance is that much better than the Bibbys. And if these are supposed to be more of pure powder ski than, why not make a 192cm.

I got the Bibbys in some waist deep steeps at Mammoth during our Miracle March this year, and they floated and pivoted great. Once you know how to push them around, I think any perceived notion of them not have the best pow performance is mostly non-existent.

[doebedoe]

... I think any perceived notion of them not have the best pow performance is mostly non-existent.

I love Bibbys. I thought they were the tits of pow performance for the first two years I had them. Then I skied Protests. Bibby's don't come close in untouched.

[jdadour]

I love Bibbys. I thought they were the tits of pow performance for the first two years I had them. Then I skied Protests. Bibby's don't come close in untouched.

Exactly why I'm intrigued about some more pow specific than my Bibbys. Im sure your right! Just need to feel it for myself. Actually have the Protests at the top of my list of considerations as well.

[Tailwind]

I have not been on the 190cm Bibby. But I can say that im fairly certain Meridian will feel looser if that’s what you are looking for. The Meridian was much looser than my squad 7’s.

All of that being said, after I bought the meridians I decided to split my powder skis into two categories so I bought some Pescados and I’m going to add something like a Supergoat. The Meridian is really ‘middling’ meaning they were playful but not to playful. Stable but not to stable. It was hard for me to say where it was perfect if that makes sense.

I think the Meridian will be better in powder than the Bibby... but not quite pow specific. Something like a Protest would be better.

[Self Jupiter]

How similar are the 117 Meridians to the Rens?

Has anyone AB’d Rens and Protests? I show up on every TT thread to ask this question. I am addicted the the frictionless Ren feel, but dang 196 is long and does make my legs tired. Skis great.

[Coño Frío]

I got the Bibbys in some waist deep steeps at Mammoth during our Miracle March this year, and they floated and pivoted great.

In my mind, based on skis I've actually skied, the Bibby is the tops "resort" powder ski, and by that I mean it's super fun in untracked pow in the morning (not best in class but super fun) and it really shines in the afternoon when the pow is chopped up and it still crushes every pile. I thought I'd like a more pow specific ski for truly untouched snow but every time I tried one (the 192 Rocker 2 122 in AK and the 188 Armada Bubba in Japan) I wished I had brought the Bibby's instead. I've come to the conclusion to not fix what's not broke and not let perfect be the enemy of the great (note the double-cliche).

[jdadour]

In my mind, based on skis I've actually skied, the Bibby is the tops "resort" powder ski, and by that I mean it's super fun in untracked pow in the morning (not best in class but super fun) and it really shines in the afternoon when the pow is chopped up and it still crushes every pile. I thought I'd like a more pow specific ski for truly untouched snow but every time I tried one (the 192 Rocker 2 122 in AK and the 188 Armada Bubba in Japan) I wished I had brought the Bibby's instead. I've come to the conclusion to not fix what's not broke and not let perfect be the enemy of the great (note the double-cliche).

Well said, and I feel ya on that last point. Just exploring the idea of something more pow oriented, but not convinced its necessary yet. I think the more pow oriented ski may be easier to ski, but if one knows how to ski the Bibby well in pow then whats the point? And you'd be giving up too much once things get tracked out. I've gotten very well acquainted with mine over the past few years, and they are just so intuitive now.

But buying more skis is so fun.....

[Tailwind]

I have the 2016-2017 Renegades with Kingpins in a 186. Between the two the Meridian is a little quicker and even a bit looser in powder. It also doesn’t cut through chopped up snow quite as well... Meridians tails just feel really different the skis just flex really differently. Funny enough I know they seem similar but they really aren’t.

[Self Jupiter]

Cool, thank you. All the renegade talk around here has dried up so it’s increasingly hard to compare them to modern designs. Still personally my favorite pow ski, I ride the 196 inbounds on big days.

[kc_7777]

Just got some 181 cm Moment Meridian 117s on SAC for $449. I've owned 187 Hojis and 186 Rens in the past. I too love the "Ren" feel in pow, but at 5'7", 160lbs I prefer skiing a 181 vs 186. The Meridians (147-117-137) overlaps with my Icelantic Nomad 115s (150-115-140) but I want more rocker in my quiver.

Will post review when I ski them.

K