Get Down with Down (skis)

[Boissal]

Buddy of mine just scooped the last pair of 2019 CD104L in 187cm right from under my nose while I was waffling and emailing Geo about things. Serves me right...

Anyone got time on the 102 carbon? Late winter to spring touring and ski mountaineering ski? I tend to like width for our snow conditions in NW Montana hence my looking at that one or the 104L over the 90

Re: LD102 vs CD104L, I'd pick the CD104L 95% of the time. It would take very specific conditions to get me back on the LD102 after having skied the CD104L, it's much more versatile and works well for pretty much everything. Perfect daily driver compared to the LD102 which takes some time to figure out and will slap you in the dick hard if you don't handle it right. I loved the super long radius of the LD102 for holding an edge at speed and making much bigger turns than the length of the ski should allow (179cm it too small IMO, 185ish would be better) but the crazy stiffness is tough to manage. The tails are short and really snappy and the shovel is a bit short and low which makes for an unforgiving ride, if you're not super balanced you get tossed around (backseat mostly) and there's no recovery when there are no tails to push back against. The CD104L skis like a toned down version of the LD102 with a more modern shape. It's easygoing and playful if you want to ski that way but it can also be pushed as much as your thighs and self-confidence will allow and as far as I can tell it has no speed limit. I works beautifully in the steeps too, I skied a few lines this season that I would consider my most hairball to date and never once did I worry about the skis even when the snow turned bulletproof and the exposure was making me rethink most of my priorities.

Ideal Down quiver for me would be LD90 for the steeps in hard snow (we don't have those in the Wasatch), CD104L most of the time (including huge days, no-fall zone gnar, and most pow days), and CD114L when things are deep or really funky (wind hammered mostly).
Wait, that's exactly the Down quiver I have! And this year I skied 1 day on the LD90, 35-ish days on the CD104L, and 15-ish days on the CD114L. If I could keep only 1 ski it would be the CD104L. Then I'd probably make a deal with the devil to somehow get a 2nd pair of ski and that would be an old Lotus120 in 190cm (Pure3 from BITD when DPS made skis, not identity statements).

When I had LD102 and CD114L as my 2-ski quiver I was on the big guys about 55 days and the small ones 5 days, all in the spring. It was a really fat year though but the fact that I gravitated to a 190cm 115 underfoot ski for pretty much the entire season (again, including big days, steep days, tight couloir days) is, to me, indicative of the fact that the LD102 is a specialty ski that tends to get squeezed out of the lineup in the Wasatch. Not sure how that translates to what you deal with in NW MT though...

[arild]

Soooo. A few pairs of the SD105, 187 left. I ordered myself a backup pair, at €320 including shipping, how could I not? A few LD102 in the 179@ €289,plus ship, CD104 in 181, as well. My down quiver is getting pretty loaded. More 202s,please,Geo and SiSt.

[Norseman]

Wait, that's exactly the Down quiver I have!

[tgapp]

welp. i wasn't planning on buying a pair of cd104L's today, but $360 shipped is too good a deal to pass up. now i gotta go ask for forgiveness from the wife...

[waxoff]

Somebody please grab the remaining 189 CD114L. The temptation is getting mighty hard to resist... Just got Shifts installed on the 187 CD104 i picked up a few weeks ago. Waiting for some inserts so I can shim the toes.

[Boissal]

Somebody please grab the remaining 189 CD114L. The temptation is getting mighty hard to resist... Just got Shifts installed on the 187 CD104 i picked up a few weeks ago. Waiting for some inserts so I can shim the toes.

I almost bought a pair last week but I needed to make it a two-fer with the 187 CD104L and the last pair sold from right under my hesitating nose. Guess I'll have to wait for the fall group buy.

[pyromaniacman129]

Non L cd114 are unreal fun skis with any sort of fresh. I'd imagine the 114L are pretty damn great too.

[mr_pretzel]

Soooo. A few pairs of the SD105, 187 left. I ordered myself a backup pair, at €320 including shipping, how could I not? A few LD102 in the 179@ €289,plus ship, CD104 in 181, as well. My down quiver is getting pretty loaded. More 202s,please,Geo and SiSt.

Hehe sorry about the 202s.

I really want the SD115 to come back, or something similar in that width. Wish more people were interested in this ski. Would also take a SD105 in a 193 or something like that

[pyromaniacman129]

I also have a pair of sd105 202s I may be willing to part with if anyone is interested. Time to thin all the shit in my garage down.

Id be super interested in a sd115 around 196-198cm

[arild]

I agree with pyromaniac. Pretzeldude, you'll have the 115m in a 197 and like it, damn you!

[galibier_numero_un]

Non L cd114 are unreal fun skis with any sort of fresh. I'd imagine the 114L are pretty damn great too.

My CD 114s kicked my Praxis Qs to the curb ... more of an equal but better for me sort of thing. They're nearly as predictable as my 2014 Billy Goats in 3D chop.

I'd love to see a 114L come out in a 182, but I think I'm dreaming.

... Thom

[cat in january]

Lots of activity on Down skis. I have been eyeing the LD90 for a few months and with stock down to two pairs, I pulled the trigger.

[North]

Damn those CD104Ls are tempting. Need new spring sticks to replace my 177 MTN Explore 95s which are a tad short for me. I ended up on some 187 QST 106s for most spring outings this season - fun for blasting down faces but a bit overkill for corn skiing and in tight spots. I'e been eying Ravens, Bcrows Camox FBs and Solis, but the Ravens are all gone and BCrows seem to be made of gold.

If I didn't have PTSD from my experience with the LD102L (same vintage Thom has described) I'd have pulled the trigger already.

[galibier_numero_un]

Damn those CD104Ls are tempting. Need new spring sticks to replace my 177 MTN Explore 95s which are a tad short for me. I ended up on some 187 QST 106s for most spring outings this season - fun for blasting down faces but a bit overkill for corn skiing and in tight spots. I'e been eying Ravens, Bcrows Camox FBs and Solis, but the Ravens are all gone and BCrows seem to be made of gold.

If I didn't have PTSD from my experience with the LD102L (same vintage Thom has described) I'd have pulled the trigger already.

I wish circumstances allowed me to get on my 104Ls this Spring, but I'd trust Boissal and mall walker more than me (due to # of miles traveled on Downs) ... that the 104 series is totally different. I certainly found this to be the case with the 104s.

... Thom

[North]

Pulled the trigger on 104Ls - too good of a deal to pass up, Boissal's feedback and mall walker's comparison of the regular 104 with the Solis were compelling enough. Hoping I can take them out for long days and couloir skiing (QSTs too heavy/long for this) but still have a backbone for reasonably aggressive skiing (Explore 95s too short for this).

[mr_pretzel]

No Down this year

From their Instagram
"Down?? Yes we are alive!!!!!

After a very challenging last winter for all of us it has been decided DOWN will not launch a full lineup this season.

The pandemic has hit DOWN financially hard like many others in the ski industry. From small ski shops to local ski areas to guides to...the list is long....2020 is one to forget (from a business perspective). So after 10 plus years working night and day to keep this small independent ski company alive it is time for a pause to focus on family, health, and hopefully a lot more skiing! We will also use this extra time to revitalize, refocus, and rethink DOWN and ensure we are continuing to deliver on our mission.

I know this will come as a disappointment to our very loyal DOWN supporters but after a TON of thought it is the right thing to do this winter.

So are you going out of business? No!!! We are actually working on some limited edition releases for this winter...but at our pace not the normal industry cycle Please stay tuned here and sign up for our newsletter.

Where have you been? Sorry. Our response time to emails and social has been a little off over the past weeks as this difficult decision weighed hard but we are back so give us a few days to get up to speed.

How can you help? We will be relaunching our soft goods site soon so buy a few Ts...or buy skis???? We have a few left overs from last year at great deals. Grab them fast or tell a friend!! If you don’t see what you want drop us a mail and we will see what we can do

So this is not a goodbye but we really want to thank all the people that have and continue to support DOWN. Much love and here’s to a great winter!!!! #getdown #thankyouforthesupport #winter2021"

[dschane]

Bummer, and thanks for posting.

[galibier_numero_un]

Hopefully, this will be a positive break for the guys. The good news being that they're smart about their infrastructure investment - outsourcing manufacturing and keeping the variable costs low.

... Thom

[waxoff]

I too cross my fingers for Down's return.

In the mean time, I finished the 187 CD104 adventure setup. I snagged a pair of sub $300 Shifts from Snowinn in May, stock was limited so I had to settle for 110 mm brakes. A tad wide but they'll do for now. Toes installed with inserts and shimmed 6 mm. Shim material is a bit on the soft side (3x2 mm plastic/nylon cutting board) and the nubbin had a tendency to sink into it. So I enlarged all the mounting holes in the shims to 10 mm and used stacks of flat M5 washers as spacers. Mount feels rock solid.

[cat in january]

I have a brand new pair of lowdown 90 19/20 year skis for sale. https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...is-26-0-liners

[paj]

Are there plans for another group buy this spring/off-season?

[sk8rat6587]

I was literally just wondering about these guys. Hope all is good and they are able to continue producing skis.

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[pyromaniacman129]

Same. Need to replace my 3 season old cd114s. Top sheets are starting to delam


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[dschane]

I hope so -- it's usually in July or so. I think it's a matter of whether materials/supplies become more readily available as the vaccine shitshow rollout proceeds.

[North]

Finally mounting my CD104Ls. Instructions couldn't be clearer on where to mount. What I don't understand is why they've included a crisp transverse line on the topsheet that doesn't seem to correspond to any useful measurement. Doesn't match stated mount point, doesn't match true center. Do I need remedial tape measure training, or can I continue to ignore this line completely?