2018-19 Praxis Skis Info and Resource Thread

[grinch]

I'll chime in on all the protest chat.
Such an amazing ski. Ive had both a 177 and a 187 in the map core. Stock skis build, no veneer no carbon. Ive had other praxis with combos of enduro veneer carbon, ul/c, ul/c veneer, 2, 3, and 4 flex, heavy hitter core, map/c.
For reference i find the 182 length is my best length for an on the hill pow ski no matter what ski. Low tide or twin on the hill id take shorter 175-180. Touring pow would be 180 and low 170's for mountaineering.
With the protest 177 w 3 flex was awesome. Could rage high speed and then immediately transition to short turns in tight. Legendary in funky conditions like wind pressed, zipper surface crust, half rain half snow. That surface area and design is magic. Pretty much the same with the 187 w 3 flex. Both were extremely capable. I often thought a 4 flex wouldnt have any bad traits. With the 3 when i'd smash into heavy chop piles i thought the 4 would blast through better. The 3 can fold a bit and snap back. Not crazy at all but enough that i thought about a 4(i think i was 180lbs at the time). A tweener size of 182 would be best for me @ 5"7' but i think i preferred the 177 over the 187. Both had minor drawbacks. I felt slightly out over the tips on the 177, especially at speed(im more of a directional, long turn shape skier). The 187 felt like i had a touch more tip and tail in tight spots when a quick reaction was necessary. Both minor complainys that rarely arose on the 177 and 187, but if i was designing a unicorn. I'd recommend not being to overly concerned on the length for yourself. Go with your normal pow ski length and maybe alter that slightly for where you'll be skiing it. We have a lot of tree skiing so i give a slight nod to the 177 over the 187. For flex i seem to be in the 4 flex zone for most of my skis but i found the protest handled better at speed in a 3 than my other 3 flex skis. Maybe a 3+ or 4- would be my unicorn.
For builds, it seems everybody has there preference. Im not a carbon guy. No slalom turns, slow twitch muscle sit in the pocket of a gs turn and try and make smooth transitions. My favorite builds thus far is the heavy hitter and veneer for on the hill. Mega damp crud and funk buster
50/50 i'd pick an enduro core with veneer. I might even build that as a dedicated touring ski. Enduro core and veneer is still reasonably light and still quite damp.
Dedicated touring, especially narrower skis i've really liked the ul/c with veneer. My exp in particular was incredible stable. I skied it quite a few times on the hill with dynafit ssl's and tlt 6's. It was awesome everrywhere. Super fun carving up groomers. Blown away. Bit overwhelmed when it was super deep but mine were 173 and the waist is only 88. That'd be a super fun ski in a heavy hitter with veneer with alpine clamps for an easy going trench layer.
Got carried away there^^
Back to protest, if you're over 190 you probably want to consider 4 flex. My dream protest would be a 182, 4-, heavy hitter, veneer. I just cant see any other ski doing everything that ski is capable of

Sent from my SM-G950W using TGR Forums mobile app

[dschane]

My exp in particular was incredible stable. I skied it quite a few times on the hill with dynafit ssl's and tlt 6's. It was awesome everrywhere. Super fun carving up groomers. Blown away. Bit overwhelmed when it was super deep but mine were 173 and the waist is only 88. That'd be a super fun ski in a heavy hitter with veneer with alpine clamps for an easy going trench layer.

Good info., thanks. I'm looking for a spring ski and am leaning towards a 173 Exp, enduro with carbon, #4.

[galibier_numero_un]

Oh ya! With a chance to demo errything!!
Thatll be a sick ski, safe bet too. And my bsl

Sent from my SM-G950W using TGR Forums mobile app

Mid 290's ... the only BSL that's relevant

... Thom

[K1mJ0ngTr1ll]

MVP'S are fucking sick. Go HH+C with veneer. You will not regret it.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Sorry but HH+C?

MVP is definitely leading as of now as I have a ton of soft snow options.

[AEV]

Heavy Hitter con Carbon

[K1mJ0ngTr1ll]

Heavy Hitter con Carbon

Gracias

[buildakicker]

Anyone have a favorite veneer on their praxis? I'm thinking maple...

Pinning it using TGR Forums mobile app

[grinch]

I had an ambrosia maple and a birdseye maple. Both were great. Added durability and dampness and still saved weight at the same time

Sent from my SM-G950W using TGR Forums mobile app

[pfluffenmeister]

Anyone have a favorite veneer on their praxis? I'm thinking maple...

Pinning it using TGR Forums mobile app

I've got three:

Maple 189 Kusala; the fairly light colored wood has nice figure and provides great contrast with the black line art.

Curly Tineo 191 Lhasa Fat; the darker color wood glows in the sun, the figure of the wood is extreme and it is also book matched making for pleasant symmetry. Less contrast for the black line art.

Bubinga-baby! 192 Protests; book matched with almost no top sheet art they really showcase the intricacies of the exotic wood grain and really glow in sunlight. Plus bubinga is very hard.

Hard to choose though.

[glademaster]

Anyone have a favorite veneer on their praxis? I'm thinking maple...

Pinning it using TGR Forums mobile app

Cherry. Don't listen to the people who say it isn't durable; they can't ski without smashing their skis together, or sit still long enough to not bang their skis against each other on a chairlift.

[skuff]

Another vote for cherry

[Quandary]

Depends on whether or not you are also going with a stain. If you are going with a stain as well as the veneer, particularly a colorful stain, the maple will be the best "canvas" for the stain as it is the lightest colored wood. If you are going a purely black stain or no stain its more which wood do you prefer the most. Individual taste, they all look great.

[buildakicker]

That cherry looks sweet. Where are the stains on the website? I only see veneer or printed top sheets.

Pinning it using TGR Forums mobile app

[N1CK.]

L-R
Birch, Ash w/ transparent red, Ambrosia Maple

[grinch]

L-R
Birch, Ash w/ transparent red, Ambrosia Maple

All amazing. This shows that graphic selection can really make veneer the shit. 3 beauties right there

Sent from my SM-G950W using TGR Forums mobile app

[N1CK.]

thanks. The trans red Protests came out SO good, especially with the grain showing thru the logo, and in snow it's ridiculous.
Keith started doing some variations of transparent finishes after mine. He can do almost anything we can dream up.

I think Skuff's cherry MVPs are my favorites in a long while tho....

[dschane]

Bubinga is killer and tough but infrequently offered (as far as I can tell). I have been very happy with maple on several skis. But, to try something new, I went with birch this year. I think the only issues (chipping) were with the bamboo veneer and he nixed that option 1-2 years ago (I think). Never had a pair, so take that statement with a grain or two of salt.

[skuff]

All these veneer topsheets, stained or otherwise, are beautiful. Don't think you can go wrong with any choice you make.

[galibier_numero_un]

All of this got me to looking at wood varieties. I assumed that ambrosia maple is a form of spalted maple. I learned however, that ambrosia is a result of the fungus carried by the ambrosia beetle.

Wormy Maple or Ambrosia Maple

These two names are essentially the same. This occurs in maple species that fall into the “soft maple” family. the lumberman’s term for this product has been wormy maple. The appearance is actually caused by Ambrosia beetle that carries a fungus on its legs that causes the discoloration. The holes are due to the beetle boring through the living wood.

How will this affect a skis' performance the next time I huck a 40' cliff (as in never)? I'll never know

I'm waffling between birch and ambrosia maple for a Tsunami top sheet at the moment. The time is drawing near for me to pull the trigger ;-)

... Thom

[glademaster]

Here's a side-by-side of the Cherry and Oak veneers. Both naked with only the text from the "Redwood Surf" graphic printed on them. These two skis, along with the pair of Praxis I have with the "Buck's Beach" graphic are the three most beautiful skis I've owned. Not that anyone cares, but that's my favorite graphic top sheet Keith offers, partly because here is no branding on it.



EDIT: The Cherry topsheet skis that photo have 50-60 days on them. Durability issues with the cherry veneer are user error, not the fault of the topsheet.

[Quandary]

I'm waffling between birch and ambrosia maple for a Tsunami top sheet at the moment. The time is drawing near for me to pull the trigger ;-)

... Thom

As dark as the Tsunami top sheet is I would think Maple would look the best. After looking at countless pictures of stained veneers it seems to me that the heavy stain prints on the darker woods look very muddled.

[HAB]

Anybody done a Pompei graphic over veneer? Might be too dark for the wood to pop, but could look cool?

Other options on the short list:

Powdah Snek White
Cubes
Stained Glass Mountains
Tsunami

Powdah Snek White over cherry is my current frontrunner. Anybody else have suggestions for a graphic that looks good on veneer, to complicate my decision making?

After talking with Keith, I'm settled on a 187, -1 UL veneer Protest, flex 3.

[Shu Shu]

Powdah Snek White over cherry is my current frontrunner. Anybody else have suggestions for a graphic that looks good on veneer, to complicate my decision making?

After talking with Keith, I'm settled on a 187, -1 UL veneer Protest, flex 3.

I'm a bit of anomaly, as I love the super busy topsheets on veneer, I am close to going with a skinny Q with the Circus Art Tatoo. Here is the Praxis Art Tatoo on maple ambrosia. I have the Tsunami also on the Maple ambrosia looks great.

[Quandary]

Powdah Snek White over cherry is my current frontrunner. Anybody else have suggestions for a graphic that looks good on veneer, to complicate my decision making?

After talking with Keith, I'm settled on a 187, -1 UL veneer Protest, flex 3.

The snake in a color on the cherry would be a good look.

I have a Stained Glass Mountains over maple RX on order.

[N1CK.]

you know HAB, if you chose a transparent color and Keith did the snake in black, the snake would print as a relief, so the wood grain would show through.