Declivity X thoughts and question

[Chrispmoto]

Hi, been skiing the longer ones for last few days here in Revelstoke, ABSOLUTE RIPPERS!
Smooth, stable, damp, and hold a turn like no other (perfect snow right now tho). Could still see my carves under the chair for hours!!! I was amazed how you could feel the ski finish off a nice, powerfull
round turn, feels so cool. They are also great for lauching (soft) moguls/bumps, and landing on the backside of another one, I love doing that. The flex is really nice, feels like the ski actually has "suspension" landing jumps and turning.
A bit of a handfull in the trees however, almost scared me at least once. If you go slow, not too bad, but when you push, the ski just wants to fly, which is a bit freaky.
Also, on our last deep, (1.5 feet!) moister day, the one word I kept thinking to describe the ski was "demanding". Which taxes my knee a bit more than I would like.
Me, 52, 6'4", 220. Broken a few major bones over the years, femur, neck, knee. Part of me really wants to buy these things as they are so awesome on deeper, softer days, but part of me (the 52 year old) says to get something not quite as wild.

What would one step down in a ski be? Still smash thru crud and pow, but not quite as a handfull in the tighter trees...Just a bit more playful would be great.
Or, do I just man up and grab these for the quiver ??!

Thanks guys!
If you have any questions about the skis....go!!!

[kootenayskier]

I haven’t skied either, but from the specs and reviews the G3 Sendr 112 could be the step-down you’re imagining?

[garuda]

Maybe a 192 blizzard rustler 11. I have one day on mine so far and they seem energetic, fairly playful, floaty but capable of charging.

[m2711c]

Praxis rx

[Chrispmoto]

Thanks guys.
Didnt really dig the Rustler. Have tried them a few times, not a huge fan. Felt too busy pinning it back to the chair (the last couple hundred vertical feet).
The other ones mentioned, they dont sell in my town.
One thing a shop guy mentioned today, which blew me away, and honestly have never considered, was going down a size, from 192, to the 185's.
I skied them today again, played with the mount point, and at 1.5 forward, they did pretty fine in the trees if I just backed my speed down a bit, which didnt bother me at all to be honest. Lost a smidge of stability moving the mount forward, so tomorrowI will back move back a slight amount.

What do you guys think of going down a size? Crazy ??
Thanks.

[Shorty_J]

I've been sizing down as I age.

You don't have anything to prove... buy the size you enjoy the most.

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[mr_pretzel]

At 6,4 220 I’m not sure you want to size down too much since the balance point of the skis will become smaller and going over the bars always sucks.

I would give the mindbender 116c in a 192 a shot.
The armada tracer 118 and ON3P billy goat would also be good fits.

The ON3P being the most stable of the bunch, but it doesnt have the same traditional tail that the declivity has.

[XavierD]

192 QST 118 and 189 Billy Goat.

I thought the big declivityX ripped. Skied then at +2cm from the line and didn’t have too much issue in trees as long as it was soft. The original mount point was at +2cm but they decided to move it back to the current location for some reason. I pretty much never go forward (and have gone back on multiple skis) but really liked this ski at +2cm)

[Lord Thomas]

To the OP. I'm in kind of the same boat, 52yo, 220lb, and body falling apart. The ski I use for what you are describing is a Bibby 190, but it can be a little unruly in really tight spots. I'm sure the newer/current version would be better. Mine are 12/13's. I would suggest looking at something in that size class that's full reverse camber. Not everyone likes full reverse but they can be made to do all the things you described. I'm fortunate in that I get a chance to climb on 20-30 skis a year and, in my opinion, sizing down is OK with the right ski, not so good with others. The bigger Nordy Enforcers might also be worth a look.

[TBS]

Consider a GPO

[grinch]

^^this. Love my gpo in revy. Still the best one ski quiver. Good combo with my billy goat too. Gpo at -1 can rip a groomer, bumps, trees and handles the chop. Good tail to push on snd yet still pivot at will with the tip taper for trees or bumps

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[skibrd]

6-4 215lbs

I really like the 193 Mindbender 116 C. Grabbed a pair of KASTLE BMX 115s lightly used yesterday, I’ll have them out tomorrow


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[mr_pretzel]

192 QST 118 and 189 Billy Goat.

I thought the big declivityX ripped. Skied then at +2cm from the line and didn’t have too much issue in trees as long as it was soft. The original mount point was at +2cm but they decided to move it back to the current location for some reason. I pretty much never go forward (and have gone back on multiple skis) but really liked this ski at +2cm)

I saw on instagram that Tof Henry skis his 192s at 85cm from tail, that’s +2cm from factory recommended(-10 vs -12 from true center)

I wonder why they moved it back? Anyone know someone from Armada?

[mr_pretzel]

Skied the 192 yesterday on blackcomb in some chalky, some windbuff, some ice and some hard snow.
I’m 6,1, 165lbs

Mounted at +1 from recommended (84cm from tail, -11cm from center).
Ski has a pretty symmetrical flex pattern with some flex in the tip and tails, but a large very stiff section in the middle of the ski.

This ski is fast as fuck.

It holds a super strong edge on groomers, and carves large super G sized turns really well.

In the windbuff steeps the ski again has really good edge hold, but the tail is very easy to release into a slarve. This is definitely the strong suit of the ski and Tof Henrys influence shows.

The ski has a light swingweight and is easy to flick around. In consolidated chop the ski does bounce around, probably since it is very stiff underfoot.

Again since it is quite easy to slarve, moguls aren’t too bad and you can slither your way through.

This ski likes to run fast, wants to be pointed down the fall line, but not in a demanding way, easy to make the ski do what you want. Not good for crowded groomers as you pick up speed alarmingly fast.

Tail feels solid on landings.

Excited to ski it in pow and see how it does. Predicting it will feel quite traditional based on the tiny bit of consolidated pow I got into.

[bry]

Thanks for this, Pretz! Been pumped about this ski and several others for next season.

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