Travel Ski - solid, but somewhat tourable?

[SkiWiedmer]

Moment Wildcat 108

Yes, I second this.
Skied mine at the end of last season for about 7 days and they were everything I wanted/needed.

But as others said, look into Moments' full line up. Skis are fun as shit

[yellofin]

Yes, I second this.
Skied mine at the end of last season for about 7 days and they were everything I wanted/needed.

But as others said, look into Moments' full line up. Skis are fun as shit

15 days on mine with tectons
Very impressed and capable in all conditions
So light they are easy to carry on the long walk to the train

[cmsummit]

Just picked up the '19 Corvus and some Shifts for this exact purpose.

[Island Bay]

Found a pair of Fischer Ranger 102fr at a bargain. They look and feel really good, and I'll whack some Pivot 18s on them for the NZ winter.

If I like them enough, they'll get the Cast treatment.

Update/mini review:

After years of Covid travel issues, I can finally give some feedback on the Fischer 102fr as a do-it-all ski. Which is now a somewhat moot point, as they discontinued the model... Anyway, I got to ski them a lot in conditions ranging from hard groomers, to 4" of powder on smooth crust, incl perfect corn, nasty frozen sh!t, and perfect groomers.

First thoughts were that the tips felt and sounded flimsy and brittle, but they actually stayed very composed going really fast in good old NZ variable. Coming off Pro Riders and Monster 98s, I thought the tips looked over rockered, and I still think they could have shortened the rocker a bit, but I was pleasantly surprised. They also planed up very nicely in the shallow powder, allowing me to open it up over lots of lurking dangers.

In corn they were predictably excellent, and you could do big, big turns at speed, and drift them easilily too. Effortless and fun.

That was my main takeaway points after skiing them at Craigieburn, which throws anything and everything at you. A bit like travelling and touring.

Finally, I skied them for 4 days at Treble Cone, on a groomer massacre trip with Ms Island Bay. Big, wide, empty, perfect groomers. A very good way to feel out how far I could push them, and you can push them quite far - until the shorter sidecut makes things a little tricky. But before reaching that point, they were very good fun carving deep trenches and dragging your arse. Letting them run really fast and expecting them to hold like big skis with two sheets of metal and long sidecuts soon revealed that - surprise! - they are not. But not bad, and definitely a lot of fun. (No dramatic sudden folding of the tips, just a gradual loss of composure/hold.)

To sum up,
Pros:
- very versatile
- sensational carving ability (for a 103mm ski) when conditions were good and you weren't going ProRider fast
- excellent soft snow capability
- overall good fun
- pretty damn solid for a relatively light ski

Cons:
- definitely do have a speed limit, albeit a high one
- not jaw droppingly good at anything
- not great edge grip on steep, icy traverses
- felt a little bit like a dentist's ski compared to my normal skis

On balance, I feel that they'll be very good travel skis, and I'll do the CAST conversion. If I could magically change things, I'd shorten the tip rocker, and beef up/dampen the tips a bit.

Edit:
Me, old fool 6'1 x 180, who somehow gets on with so-called demanding skis. Ski relatively empty spots that encourage/allow going fast. Cochise 130s and Pivots.

[Shorty_J]

Katana V werks or Blaze 106 if you're on more of a budget.

The blaze feels a lot like the normal katana 108 but a little less damp. But still not bad for the weight.

If I muster up a trip to the Euro BBI I would love to take a blaze 106 with a Duke PT... 1 ski to do it all.

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[Beder]

I got the Elan Ripstick 106 for a Euro trip. The 188 actually measures 184.5. Came with pre-cut skins, to be mounted with ATK FR.

[rfconroy]

Spent some time on the bibby tour this past season, it is a very well rounded ski. I would be VERY hard pressed to find a one ski quiver for just about everything.

So if the Wildcat 108, or 116 are not on your list, they should be.

For clamps, go Cast. Anything with a standard tech toe (with the exception of the Tecton) skis like shit on hardpack, and while shifts and Duke PTs can work well, a pivot is going to ski better in the resort.

[waveshello]

Had anybody been on the Armada Declivity 102ti? It seems comparable to other skis in this category.

136-102-126, r18.5, 2050g

The new shape is very different vs. the original JP Auclair Declivity, but the construction is similar and that ski was pretty smooth/damp for it's weight.

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