Lighter weight Enforcer for touring?

[Tri-Ungulate]

Friend of mine has 185 cm Enforcer 100s about 3-4 seasons old. Likes 'em a lot, but looking for something that skis similarly but is lighter weight for lift-served with ability for sidecountry or shorter tours. He has dps Wailer 112 Tour1s that he likes for straight backcountry, but finds them way too easily deflected/unstable for less-than-soft snow. He'll be driving them with a Dynafit setup. He's a good skier - not mega aggressive but seems to like a directional ski hence the Enforcers.

Looking for advice from the collective on a list of skis that might fit the bill. I was thinking maybe the Head Kore 99 or 105, or maybe the BD Helio Recon 105s? What do you guys think?

[2FUNKY]

Dynastar X106.

[SkiLyft]

Dynastar X106.

Proof of concept



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[white_wolf]

Volkl v-werks M5 or Ninety8 are possibilities. Kore 105 is a good suggestion but will be much stiffer than he is used to. Maybe give G3 findr/seekr skis a look too

[Tri-Ungulate]

Dynastar X106.

I thought the X106s were kinda heavy?

I like the idea of the Volkls. My go-to ski is the V-werks Katana. OTOH, not sure he's gonna want to spend that much.

[2FUNKY]

I thought the X106s were kinda heavy?

I like the idea of the Volkls. My go-to ski is the V-werks Katana. OTOH, not sure he's gonna want to spend that much.

2000grms. Don’t feel heavy to me.
“Primarily lift served with some side country and short tours”.
Fits the bill perfectly i think. Just a suggestion. I really like them in a myriad of conditions. Easy to ski yet can still haul balls on them.

[gregL]

Blizzard Scout? Black Crows Navis Freebird? 177 Enforcer 100?

[Tri-Ungulate]

2000grms.

That's lighter than I thought. I seem to remember recent vintages of the Dynastar Legend descendants being north of 10#/pair. I'm a fan, though I haven't skied on Dynastars since my Inspireds. Navis Freebird does sound pretty good, anybody have weight/pp on them?

Also thinking maybe the Countdown 104s/104Ls, but like all Down skis, not easy to get stateside.

[gritter]

I was looking for the same thing and settled on the Line Sickday 104. For me the enforcer works well for tele (doesn't need the tips to be driven hard) and holds up to faster speeds without being difficult to manage when you want to slow it down.

I haven't skied the lines yet but will post back when I have been on them.

Fwiw my shortlist was the lines, the Navis and the mantra vwerks, but I read a couple of reviews that compared the lines to the enforcer and found a good deal so that made my decision.

@2FUNKY I'm surprised by the X106 recommendation. Most of the dynastars that I've tried have had very stiff tails whereas the enforcers do not (I sold some mythic 97 this year as the tails were too stiff). Is the X106 softer in the tail?

[gritter]

P.s. countdown 104 would have been on my list and I prefer the straighter shape compared to the lines (which have quite wide tips) but they don't make make the countdowns short enough for me.
Please make some 175s geo😁

[toast2266]

If he mounts an ~1800 gram ski (doesn't really matter which one) with dynafits on a ski that's going to be used inbounds a lot, I predict that 1) he's going to hate it, and 2) it's not going to be that much better than his dps setup.

[Tri-Ungulate]

Good point, I should mention that to him. I'm pretty ignorant about fixed-heel dynamics, since as a damn hippy I'm always skiing on broken bindings. Maybe I should recommend he get a beefier binding setup as well?

Thanks for the mention of the Line Sickdays, gritter they weren't on my radar.

[HAB]

Sick Day 104 is a good call. I haven't skied the X106, but the comparison to the Enforcer 100 doesn't make a ton of sense to me on paper. I have hand flexed a pair in a shop and they're a lot stiffer, and a lot more tapered. That's not to say that they aren't a good ski, but I'm definitely not thinking Enforcer as a comparison.

I'm with Toast on any 1800g ski with Dynafits being a bad time inbounds unless conditions are great, but do think something with less taper, less tip splay, and a longer sidecut would at least be a little better than those W112s in terms of getting knocked around in less than stellar snow.

[toast2266]

Good point, I should mention that to him. I'm pretty ignorant about fixed-heel dynamics, since as a damn hippy I'm always skiing on broken bindings. Maybe I should recommend he get a beefier binding setup as well?

Thanks for the mention of the Line Sickdays, gritter they weren't on my radar.

My take (as someone who does plenty of short tours / sidecountry excursions) is that if you're not climbing more than ~2500 feet of vert, weight doesn't matter all that much, and a heavier, more damp ski is much better inbounds. He already has a nice backcountry setup, so if he's going for a real walk, he can take the DPS. But if he's just doing a 15-30 minute shuffle off the side of the ski hill, sacrificing inbounds smashiness to save 300 grams isn't worth it.

I'd say a regular inbounds ski (meaning not something that's notably light) with Shifts would be a good bet. There's plenty of discussion as to what ski that should be, but I wouldn't give much consideration to weight (except as it pertains to how the ski works inbounds; i.e. a slightly lighter ski might be easier for billygoating).

Edit to add: if he likes the Enforcers, just throw some Shifts on them and call it good.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

My take (as someone who does plenty of short tours / sidecountry excursions) is that if you're not climbing more than ~2500 feet of vert, weight doesn't matter all that much, and a heavier, more damp ski is much better inbounds. He already has a nice backcountry setup, so if he's going for a real walk, he can take the DPS. But if he's just doing a 15-30 minute shuffle off the side of the ski hill, sacrificing inbounds smashiness to save 300 grams isn't worth it.

I'd say a regular inbounds ski (meaning not something that's notably light) with Shifts would be a good bet. There's plenty of discussion as to what ski that should be, but I wouldn't give much consideration to weight (except as it pertains to how the ski works inbounds; i.e. a slightly lighter ski might be easier for billygoating).

This. Go for something around 2000 grams/ski that compliments the Enforcers by being quicker and more maneuverable and throw on a touring binding that clamps down on the heel. Won't feel heavy on a short tour and will still be fun when snow isn't perfect. Something like a Sick Day, Rustler 11, Salomon QST...

[HAB]

Thirded. With a dedicated touring setup in the quiver, I'd much rather have the sidecountry/slackcountry rig ski really well inbounds than be super light – and those absolutely are competing objectives, at least to a point.

[2FUNKY]

@2FUNKY I'm surprised by the X106 recommendation. Most of the dynastars that I've tried have had very stiff tails whereas the enforcers do not (I sold some mythic 97 this year as the tails were too stiff). Is the X106 softer in the tail?

They are a little softer in the tip and tail of say the LP105. The X106 is a more pow oriented easy going ski that can still rip when asked.

Sick Day 104 is a good call. I haven't skied the X106, but the comparison to the Enforcer 100 doesn't make a ton of sense to me on paper. I have hand flexed a pair in a shop and they're a lot stiffer, and a lot more tapered. That's not to say that they aren't a good ski, but I'm definitely not thinking Enforcer as a comparison.

You’re correct that they are not similar. Just giving a diff directional option and one that is a better ski all around and one that the op’s buddy would find is easy to ski but still chargey and float better in pow and have similar grip, if not better, on the firm. Plus the X due to the shape will ski shit conditions way better than the enforcer.
I also agree with the others about the pin bindings. Shifts on the x106 then pins on the wailers.

[NorCalNomad]

Just to answer the ski question since I was in the same place looking for a BC ski that felt kinda like my Enforcer.

Black Crows Camox and Navis both feel the closest to a "BC Enforcer" I've found. The G3 Roamr is kinda close. Barely ski'd the Legend X's but they are definitely close and seen plenty of guides that like em.

BD Helio 105 feels nothing like a Enforcer and has to be skied way longer since the effective edge on the Helio is WAY shorter than Enforcers. But their slower speed turn initiation and smearing vs carving when they are ski'd longer in the BC is bueno.

[galibier_numero_un]

P.s. countdown 104 would have been on my list and I prefer the straighter shape compared to the lines (which have quite wide tips) but they don't make make the countdowns short enough for me.
Please make some 175s geo

My CD 104s from a couple of years ago are 181s. They tend to ski short, and (like the fellow I bought them from), I'm considering bumping the size up. I rarely go for skis longer than ~182.

I'm not quite ready to sell them yet however. They do so many things really nicely, and it's only in hard snow that I feel there's not enough tip in front of me. Since they're mounted for touring, I don't get them out on much hard snow. Still, I don't see a down side to bumping up in size (for me). 5'9, 165 Lbs.

... Thom

[gritter]

I had the lowdown102 in a 179 and it was too long/ stiff for me to flex properly in anything other than stellar conditions or wide spaces.... Particularly when skiing at more conservative touring paces. I'm a fair bit lighter than you.