Travel Ski

[North]

I've been a die-hard 2-ski quiver guy for past travels, but recently have been planning a few trips where it would be advantageous to bring a single pair of skis. The goal would be to end up bringing only a pair of skis, a backpack, and boots and travel mostly via public transit; hauling duffels and double bags in these scenarios gets old fast.

Usage would be:
- 70/30 touring vs resort
- 'Yurp and South America
- Mounted w/Fritschi Vipec, skied with Zero G Pro Guide

Current quiver is:
177 Salomon MTN Explore 95 - Spring Touring
187 4frnt Hoji - Everyday winter touring
186 ON3P Billygoat - Resort powder
++ Other pairs that are unmounted/don't get skied often but I've enjoyed in the past: 186 4FRNT Renegade, 186 4FRNT EHP, 177 Red Volkl Mantra
-- Pairs I used to own but never got along with : 18_ Praxis GPO, 18_ Praxis MVP, Down CD102L (1st or second year)


The MTN explore seems a little thin/short for 1 ski quiver, Hoji a bit fat and R/R. If you could pick one ski to use in couloirs, volcanoes and resorts (in that order) what are you going for? FWIW the QST 106, Raven, and Navis Freebird are all on my radar.

[MultiVerse]

The Salomon MTN Explore 95 works for me in all conditions even in winter but the Navis Freebird would be my pick for a ski with more width. The K2 Wayback 104 (formerly the Coomba), Blizzard Zero G 108, Kastle TX 98 are also highly rated.

For direct MTN 95 replacements the Orb Freebird and the new Backland 95 look good.

There's also the new Elan Ibex Tactix Folding Ski for maximum travel ease.

[BFD]

I go with the roller ski bag now. Before that my favorite travel ski was the Dynafit Manaslu worked great in Asia and South America. Probably better skis now but light was right. Big fan of the Denali but no longer being made.

[sf]

If you don't mind light skis; BMT109 or ZeroG108, depending on personal style

[smooth operator]

zeroG 108, volkl v-werks katana, solly QST106 would be my pick for what you describe.

or take the mtn if you want it even lighter.

[Lindahl]

My thoughts:
http://blistergearreview.com/gear-re...choices-1718/3

[Andyski]

I’ve been using the last-gen-made wailer 105 pures for this kind of thing and have been happy so far. Not the most floaty in hippy pow, but so what?

Had a Rustler 10 before that and also liked it (better in pow than the wailer with the rocker), but didn’t get to love due to the small radius.

[auvgeek]

What didn't you like about the MVP?

[Supermoon]

If you like the Renegade and HOJI you could look at the Raven or the 4FRNT Uptrack series.

A touring layup of the BGs could be a good option as well.

[North]

What didn't you like about the MVP?

To be honest, it's been too long since I've skied them to remember. I do recall that I moved on before checking the tune, which could've been the issue. My buddy has been skiing them for the past couple seasons and seems happy.

[auvgeek]

The Zero G 108 is reasonably stiff laterally, quite stiff torsionally, and powerful tail with minimal rocker. It has a pretty traditional mount point. IMHO overall, it handles all conditions reasonably well, but it's not particularly loose or slarvy.

If it was the tail rocker or forward mount point on the MVP that annoyed you, the 0G 108 might work well. If it was the taper on the MVP that annoyed you, the 0G may or may not work.

[jacob_dbu]

Is there anything close to a ZeroG but with some tip rocker to make it a little more forgiving in deeper snow?

[North]

If it was the tail rocker or forward mount point on the MVP that annoyed you, the 0G 108 might work well. If it was the taper on the MVP that annoyed you, the 0G may or may not work.

Tail rocker and forward mount generally aren't deal-breakers (I ski a Hoji most days, and have taking it into the resort more often recently). At this point a bigger obstacle might be finding one in a 185.

[auvgeek]

Is there anything close to a ZeroG but with some tip rocker to make it a little more forgiving in deeper snow?

Maybe Wren 108 in a tour layup? Obviously heavier, but otherwise fits the criteria.

[dunfree]

uh, where in south america? depending on where/when you might something different than europe. in general I'd suggest bringing more spares/gear to south america, depending on the length of your travel.

[XavierD]

Is there anything close to a ZeroG but with some tip rocker to make it a little more forgiving in deeper snow?

BD Route 105 would fit this. Looser and better float than the ZeroG 108

[North]

uh, where in south america? depending on where/when you might something different than europe. in general I'd suggest bringing more spares/gear to south america, depending on the length of your travel.

I'd like to hit Farellones, lakes region, Frey, Mendoza, and Cajon De Maipo in no particular order. Although conditions permitting, that could be a nice loop. I've been to Farellones and Chillan, so I'm familiar with the gear situation in SA. In all my years of skiing I can count the number of catastrophic gear failures/losses on one hand - the tradeoff to hoof around a spare set of sticks isn't worth it to me.

A do-it-all ski is always going to be a compromise on the margins of performance. In this case, I'm not interested in eeking every bit of performance out of the skis; "Good enough" would be the mantra. For these trips, the smart decision is likely:

1) Get something with predictable performance on firm/steep at the expense of powder performance
2) Sacrifice weight savings to get a more durable ski

The first one is always hard for me to adhere to, the second not so much.

Raven - skeptical for #1, otherwise I'd probably go that route
My MTN Explore - fails #2, and is too short for resort skiing
Volkls - Above my pay grade at the moment, skeptical of #2
ZG108 - safe choice, but limited sizes this time of year
Black Crows - hard to decipher whether or not the skis are markedly better than anything else or just clever marketing. They are mega trendy and would likely be easiest to sell at the close of the season in SA though

Thus far QST99 hits both marks and seems pretty available. QST106 less of a compromise on #1, less available.

[North]

BD Route 105 would fit this. Looser and better float than the ZeroG 108

Haven't heard much about that one - wish there was more feedback out there. Could be a good option.

[sf]

Could check the Volkl 100Eights as well. Or 90eights. I think Blister did a review of the 108s. Reasonably light from what I remember

[XavierD]

Haven't heard much about that one - wish there was more feedback out there. Could be a good option.

I had a full day testing them with mixed chop, pow and some hard snow (PNW) followed by an afternoon tour (mounted with Tecton Demo Bindings). I was very impressed. A much more well rounded ski than the 95 (tail was too stiff IMO). It’s not as precise on firm snow as the 0G 108, but never felt sketchy. It defelected a bit more in chop snow too, but was way more friendly in tight places and float is way better. Breaking trail sucked less.

I think it will be my new go to travel ski unless I don’t plan on touring.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Figured I'd post this here since its relevant:

I've had a mixed relationship with my Zero G 108's. Some days I think they are all I could want in a ski. On others they feel a little clunky, lacking in pop but also not quite loose enough. Skied them a week ago at A Basin to try to figure it all out once and for all. Did a couple East Wall powder laps and skied a whole bunch of funky Zuma Cornice snow. I think my problem has been more of a boot-ski length problem. My F1's (with SSL 2.0's) aren't quite enough to power the skis cleanly through certain kinds of snow. Just barely. But overall the combo was great. Felt better and better as they day went on. The shape is near perfect for me on steeps. I'm worried that making the skis looser would also make them less secure. The shape is less fun on moderate terrain (not bad, just kind of dull), but I have other skis for that, just like all you other whores.

Just bought some some 178's Zero G 108's in gear swap which I think will be a better match- just a little less length to force around when they need forcing. 185's will be for sale. If I used bigger touring boots, and possible bigger bindings, the 185's would be spot on. Kick turns on the 185's are actually easy because of the rearward mount. But I'm addicted the ease of movement and surprisingly good downhill performance I get with my F1's.

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[North]

Was searching for a different thread and ran across this - figured I'd update.

I ended up with an older model 188 QST 106 (orange topsheets) mounted with Vipecs. A 181cm would likely have been a smarter choice, but my recollection is that they were unavailable at the price I wanted to pay.

Thus far I've skied the QSTs in moderately tight trees, and on big alpine faces in corn, pow, and firm. In all cases they were very intuitive and confidence-inspiring. I have yet to ski them at a resort, but would happily do so - they seem ideal for that purpose. This spring, I chose the QST106s over my MTN Explore 95s whenever possible (shorter objectives, big faces).

Drawbacks are the weight and length are sub-optimal for big missions and tight/steep couloir skiing, but Cody skied his on Joffre so fuck it. The new Xenic shares the Vipec heel plate, so I'm considering inserting the toe pieces and using Xenics on big days. Would be a pretty small/light set of spare bindings for trips as well.