"Power skiers", what are you skiing?

[2FUNKY]

193 Billy Goat?? I thought the longest length was 191? Was that pre RES?
I know the Super Goats are 193.

[Conundrum]

My favorite "charger" ski of all time was the BD 192 Zealot (green, not blue). Really underrated by folks with duct tape and aquaseal on their clothes.

[Core Shot]

6' and 220.

Current rotation for me.

192 cochise, blue with orange bull. used to be my dd. Still lots of luv.
190 Salomon Qlab. Very strong ski that can be finessed. Under appreciated imo.
189 kastle bmx105hp. Probably the ski i am grabbing the most lately. Great travel ski.
193 R11. So versatile. Also a great travel ski.

Interesting reading about 20/21 gear. Seems that manufacturers are settling into this 102 to 106 trend, ie the new cochise, mantra 102, enforcer 104 type ski.

Got 4” on ya, but same weight
Blue bull is also my DD
It’s not exciting, but it’s consistently predictable in any conditions. Like an old legend pro with more versatile side cut
Have a qlab I need to sell, speed limiter problem. Can’t ski as fast as me, tip too soft

Need to try the kastle.

[XXX-er]

My favorite "charger" ski of all time was the BD 192 Zealot (green, not blue). Really underrated .

Oh fuck we can't ski that ski, those BD's were made by the fucking chinese !

aktualy my old tenant who I would consider a power skier rocked a pair of Zealots

[Island Bay]

6’2’’ 215lb human here

soft snow
194 el dictator (low tide)
189 bmx105 (high tide)
softer and surfier than below, quickier edge to edge, plenty long, more rebound and pop/life.

fast snow
185 wailer 105 T2 w/ special sauce (low tide)
191 monster 108 (high tide)
bombs away vert eaters. Stiffest and dampest Skis.

bad vis/bad snow
184 monster 108
More manageable than fast skis, make bad snow ski really good, and remove unseen issues in very flat light

all similar length and width. But different feels. And also means I never have the “wrong” ski.

Touring
188 RMU YLE 118
softer and surfier. light boots and pow. Pretty much only 1-and-done dawn patrol or lunch lap tours these days

El Dictator. Did you hold on to those since forever, or find a pair through good fortune? How do they feel compared to heavy metal chargers like the Monsters?

Nice quiver.

[Marshal Olson]

Monsters are like skiing on battering rams (or maybe heat seeking missiles)

el dictator is like skiing a trampoline.

[Island Bay]

Cheers.

Love my Monsters. Always been curious about the El Dictators

[Marshal Olson]

Skiingwithcharlie was kind enough to let me raid his pair from retirement status. If you are ever thru LCC, you can borrow em.

el dictator is a really fun ride. Pretty unique really. Long overall length, long edge length, huge radius. Pretty heavy. Pretty smooth ride. But quite soft compared to other big skis (like monster), so it actually carves pretty small radius turns with some input, and has tons of rebound, as it’s really easy to bend the ski into a turn. But compared to a monster, the tip gets pushed around in funky setup snow, where a monster would just smash the snow. But it mobs soft chopped up snow with great suspension.

a very fun and pretty unique ride.

[Island Bay]

Skiingwithcharlie was kind enough to let me raid his pair from retirement status. If you are ever thru LCC, you can borrow em.

el dictator is a really fun ride. Pretty unique really. Long overall length, long edge length, huge radius. Pretty heavy. Pretty smooth ride. But quite soft compared to other big skis (like monster), so it actually carves pretty small radius turns with some input, and has tons of rebound, as it’s really easy to bend the ski into a turn. But compared to a monster, the tip gets pushed around in funky setup snow, where a monster would just smash the snow. But it mobs soft chopped up snow with great suspension.

a very fun and pretty unique ride.

Very kind of you to offer. If we find cheap flights from NZ, then yes please :-)

You can have a spin on my Pro Riders if ever in the Antipodes.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Got 4” on ya, but same weight
Blue bull is also my DD
It’s not exciting, but it’s consistently predictable in any conditions. Like an old legend pro with more versatile side cut
Have a qlab I need to sell, speed limiter problem. Can’t ski as fast as me, tip too soft

Need to try the kastle.

I didn’t think 190 q labs were that great. Plus they’re like 185.5 cms. Ski short for sure.

[waxoff]

I didn’t think 190 q labs were that great. Plus they’re like 185.5 cms. Ski short for sure.

Being a big fan of the 190 QLabs myself, but have never experienced tips being too soft, I just gotta ask. Are you guys on the gen 1, with boot center line near -6? I'm -1 from the "new" line, i.e. TC -9 and love em there. I tend to encourage anyone disliking them to try a more rearward mount. I prefer a centered stance, so it's not that I wanna use a lot of shin pressure.

Btw, the 190's are 188 along the base, 187 cm straight pull, but yeah, not 190 fer sure.

[Fred Pabst]

Being a big fan of the 190 QLabs myself, but have never experienced tips being too soft, I just gotta ask. Are you guys on the gen 1, with boot center line near -6? I'm -1 from the "new" line, i.e. TC -9 and love em there. I tend to encourage anyone disliking them to try a more rearward mount. I prefer a centered stance, so it's not that I wanna use a lot of shin pressure.

Btw, the 190's are 188 along the base, 187 cm straight pull, but yeah, not 190 fer sure.

I seem to remember something about the mount point line changing? I have the last iteration of the 190. Mine are mounted on the line, which I never thought of needing to move. I know people seemed to have issues with the lack of front half of the ski, ie center mount. I'd say they are not the greatest ski, they totally don't make sense, heavy as fuck, and maybe one of the stiffest hand flexing skis out there. I have had a lot of good days on mine. Carve or pivot, fun in trees, not the greatest pow ski, cut the crud pretty well. Not ready to move on yet, though the enforcer 110 is calling a little bit..

[jackattack]

I didn’t think 190 q labs were that great. Plus they’re like 185.5 cms. Ski short for sure.

Being a big fan of the 190 QLabs myself, but have never experienced tips being too soft, I just gotta ask. Are you guys on the gen 1, with boot center line near -6? I'm -1 from the "new" line, i.e. TC -9 and love em there. I tend to encourage anyone disliking them to try a more rearward mount. I prefer a centered stance, so it's not that I wanna use a lot of shin pressure.

Btw, the 190's are 188 along the base, 187 cm straight pull, but yeah, not 190 fer sure.

the unicorn skied my pair, mounted at -9.

they're rad skis with the lab core or whatever the race layup is called. I just thought they lacked enough length in the front half of the ski to manage chop and balance out the tails. I can imagine for guys above 6' that feeling was amplified. super fun skis if you're engaged all the way through your turns. the relatively short sidecut would sometimes feel squirrely on straight-line runouts and I fought that tail in PNW mank on a few occasions.

I have a pair of x-drive 8.8's from the same era as my low tide groomer ripper. they have a lot of the characteristics I liked about the q-lab but I'm not asking them to be a one-ski quiver.

[waxoff]

they're rad skis with the lab core or whatever the race layup is called. I just thought they lacked enough length in the front half of the ski to manage chop and balance out the tails. I can imagine for guys above 6' that feeling was amplified. super fun skis if you're engaged all the way through your turns. the relatively short sidecut would sometimes feel squirrely on straight-line runouts and I fought that tail in PNW mank on a few occasions.

^^Agreed^^

Yeah, those beaver tails are pretty massive and sure gets noted. I trimmed mine extensively so now they release so much better. They sure are in a class of it's own, but a fun personality (even frontside) with a great backbone, but nowhere near as neutral or predictable as LPR 105!

[MagnificentUnicorn]

^^Agreed^^

Yeah, those beaver tails are pretty massive and sure gets noted. I trimmed mine extensively so now they release so much better. They sure are in a class of it's own, but a fun personality (even frontside) with a great backbone, but nowhere near as neutral or predictable as LPR 105!

The original 188 Armada Invictus 108 very similar to a LP 105 in stability but more lively and better in pow. I owned both. The invictus was noticeably longer than the 190 Q Lab. I don’t know how the newer lighter Invictus skis. I’m digging the 188 Corvus and am excited to ski the 193s after I swap with CL.

[phatty]

The original 188 Armada Invictus 108 very similar to a LP 105 in stability but more lively and better in pow. I owned both. The invictus was noticeably longer than the 190 Q Lab. I don’t know how the newer lighter Invictus skis. I’m digging the 188 Corvus and am excited to ski the 193s after I swap with CL.

I'm still on my QLab 190 and love them. I love the tails, personally.

MU, I've seen you mention the invictus a few times and it's interesting to me. How would you compare to QLab? I'm also looking at Corvus, too.

[esseff]

Monster 108.............I'm sure someone said it but four pages is beyond my attention span.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I'm still on my QLab 190 and love them. I love the tails, personally.

MU, I've seen you mention the invictus a few times and it's interesting to me. How would you compare to QLab? I'm also looking at Corvus, too.

The invictus has a stiffer tip and is less turny than the Q lab. The tail is pretty stiff. I think the Corvus feels like the Invictus with no camber. I think they’re both incredibly stable and damp. I’m not sure about the newer Invictus, it’s lighter but still has two sheets of titanal.

[stuckathuntermtn]

Being a big fan of the 190 QLabs myself, but have never experienced tips being too soft, I just gotta ask. Are you guys on the gen 1, with boot center line near -6? I'm -1 from the "new" line, i.e. TC -9 and love em there. I tend to encourage anyone disliking them to try a more rearward mount. I prefer a centered stance, so it's not that I wanna use a lot of shin pressure.

Btw, the 190's are 188 along the base, 187 cm straight pull, but yeah, not 190 fer sure.

This happened to me. I'm probably at -10 on mine. I got the same measurement too.
In some ways, they are a bit too turny, but in other ways they crush everything. Which is probably part of why I've been getting so tired so easily but oh well, I'll just learn to ski more better.
I don't know what a similar ski still being made now would be if you want that small turn radius.

[rip]

Monsters are like skiing on battering rams (or maybe heat seeking missiles)

el dictator is like skiing a trampoline.

My biggest 'problems' with monsters are having trouble looking far enouth ahead when skiing them and also seemingly minor terrain undulations becoming senders due to rate of speed