New Praxis Ski or PM Gear Kusala Re-Press Interest and Discussion Thread

[ACH]

Acquired a pair of 186 Kusalas this season.
I regret not getting out on them.

I would be in for a pair of Pat/Prax 191 Kusalas.

[robertrs]

I got the Praxis Lhasa and like it a bunch, I am in for this if it happens.

[liv2ski]

Reading about the Kusalas, it sounds like the shape may lend itself more to the slarve turn from the tail like my previous Praxis Powder Boards than I could pull off on my Lhasa's? Can anyone comment on that? I had the most success on Powder Boards in deep pow, but using them at Mammoth was tough skiing down to a lift. I honestly don't have the skills to rip on the Lhasa's like I could PB's, as my powder skilz are weak. I need all the help I can get, so count me in if these are the Holy Grail of slarve and being able to edge a turn if needed.

[whyturn]

Reading about the Kusalas, it sounds like the shape may lend itself more to the slarve turn from the tail like my previous Praxis Powder Boards than I could pull off on my Lhasa's? Can anyone comment on that? I had the most success on Powder Boards in deep pow, but using them at Mammoth was tough skiing down to a lift. I honestly don't have the skills to rip on the Lhasa's like I could PB's, as my powder skilz are weak. I need all the help I can get, so count me in if these are the Holy Grail of slarve and being able to edge a turn if needed.

Kusala is fine on groomers but sometimes chop was a challenge. Great tree ski, maybe better for June than mammoth based on mammoths long run outs. But off chair nine, 22 and tree shots would be a blast


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[jackattack]

What’s the Billy Goat index of the Kusala?
How does it handle the midwinter PNW conditions grab bag?
Could it be the ul carbon pow touring ski I’ve been seeking?

Interest in a 186 is piqued based on the 192 Protest comparison.

[ASP]

I have a 187 protest... 3 flex veneer...

How does a Kusula fit into my quiver... haha

[liv2ski]

Kusala is fine on groomers but sometimes chop was a challenge. Great tree ski, maybe better for June than mammoth based on mammoths long run outs. But off chair nine, 22 and tree shots would be a blast


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Funny you mention June, as I was thinking if there is a season winter 2020/21, I need to chase pow days there, as Mammoth gets tracked out so fast, it just doesn't work for me.

[Norseman]

What’s the Billy Goat index of the Kusala?
How does it handle the midwinter PNW conditions grab bag?
Could it be the ul carbon pow touring ski I’ve been seeking?

Interest in a 186 is piqued based on the 192 Protest comparison.

I chew these points as well.

I doubt that the Kusala in any core weight is going to quite dethrone the BG for inbounds pow/chop duty ... but I would put it near the top for a pow touring shape in a UL carbon build.

But I haven't skied the Kusala and would love to hear the opinion of someone who has been on both.

[nickel]

Might someone be able to post some detailed shape pics of a kusala? Perused the og thread but didn't see them. Might be my fail...

[CascadeLuke]

Following along. Curious about NW chops as well and some profile pics.
Initially I’m feeling like enduro nylon #4 for my aim. Maybe veneer or carbon if reasonably priced or weight expected above 2250-2300.

[pfluffenmeister]

General PMGear Porn (Kusalas on the right):



Sidecuts:



Single sidecut:



Rocker profiles:

[Norseman]

those 12/13 bearclawr BG are my maritime pow benchmark. please compare w/ kusala, damn cacktease

[liv2ski]

Jeezus, is that a photo of pfluffenmeister's quiver? I will neverfeel like I have to many ski's again.

[Norseman]

Jeezus, is that a photo of pfluffenmeister's quiver? I will neverfeel like I have to many ski's again.

$37 says it's not even close to the full quiver

[splat]

A 191 Kusala is going to be way more floatacious than a 186 Kusala. Square centimeters dictate that. I upgraded/tweaked Bro/Lhasa designs because I'm a perfectionist and really wanted the designs to expand the experience of everyone who skied them, including me. I had the capability to make test pairs, then expand on the skis' attributes. After doing this many times, I found myself making smaller tweaks. Because big tweaks change everything considerably, not necessarily for the better. Since the Kusala was a first design and was phenomenal out of the gate, the only thing I could imagine tweaking would be adding .5 to 1 cm of height in the nose. God knows, I kept thinking I was going to go over the bars in deep pow. But I didn't. It felt like an optical illusion to see a tip that low in the snow float like it does. it has to be the best tree ski ever, given the instantaneous pivot it provides. It is that design attribute that most needs to be preserved.

Also, special attention has to be given to correctly lengthening it. Between a slight nose rise and going to 191, the Kusala be can positively tweaked without going overboard. If you want to retain a shape in going larger, you can put it in cad/solidworks and pull it out to the longer shape and get a wider waist so it (191) truly corresponds to the 186 cut. Or you can do a couple different things to maintain the radius cut, which is the primary factor that makes its reverse camber function the way it does. The lengthening has to be done correctly on this ski much more than it was done on the Lhasas, which was mostly wags. It was in the correcting of the 191 Fat Lhasa dims that I really saw how incremental changes are best in tuning the design performance of any ski. The tail rocker increase we made in the 191 Fat was way too much, imho. After examining the more recent 191 Fat closer, I found the shovel contact point was also a cm or two behind where it was meant to be to provide carve by merely rolling into the edge. That observation allowed me to understand why one pair of my Byas skied so much better than another pair from a different batch. This analogy doesn't really apply to the Kusala but, rather, it emphasizes how intricately influential small tweaks can be in terms of performance and also how the interaction of these small details can be the difference between a ski and a truly great ski.

[grinch]

I remember lusting after a bya. That seemed like a ski that would work in a lot of conditions. Rocker and numbers looked fun a f. Cant remember camber and tail rocker

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[splat]

Bya killed it. I skied a pair of carbon blems for three years. Nothing else. It's a great mid-fat ski with a long wide shovel for every condition.

I was cruising around the pmg fb page looking for dims but to no avail. I did find this pic, though.

[Norseman]

not sure if this link will work:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160427...pmgear.com:80/

Dims (edit: already covered up thread, whoops)

Kusala 186cm
133-124-129
EE 1380mm
Tip H 75mm
Tail H 20mm
Rad 30m
Mount 1000mm from tip





Bya 184
130-96-115
EE 152
Tip H 78mm
Tail H 20mm
Rad 26m
Mount 1000mm from tip

[splat]

Thanks, Norseman. I coulda gone looking for the engineering files but am lazy.

But there's Pierre's magic juju....if you can read the type.

[ACH]

those 12/13 bearclawr BG are my maritime pow benchmark. please compare w/ kusala, damn cacktease

As long as you don't mind it being from a SW CO perspective.

One guess where those BG's came from.

[pfluffenmeister]

Jeezus, is that a photo of pfluffenmeister's quiver? I will neverfeel like I have to many ski's again.

$37 says it's not even close to the full quiver

Guilty as charged.
Picked up a bunch of skis this year.
Questionable whether they were needed, but some were smoking deals and others were ones that I've wanted to ski for awhile but keep on getting one year older.

those 12/13 bearclawr BG are my maritime pow benchmark. please compare w/ kusala, damn cacktease

As long as you don't mind it being from a SW CO perspective.

One guess where those BG's came from.

Unfortunately didn't get out on them this season (just bought from ACH) so can't offer a comparison.
But the Kusala is super adept at handling mixed conditions.

[jgb@etree]

Bya 184
130-96-115
EE 152
Tip H 78mm
Tail H 20mm
Rad 26m
Mount 1000mm from tip

184 seems a little short, but I'd still really love to get my hands on a pair of Bya's. Anyone looking to sell/trade?

[buckethead]

yo J!
been a while. hope you had a good winter. never made it to magic in 19/20...hopefully cross paths there next season.

has anyone posted the approx price for the 191 kusala?
a little fat for my routine needs but those tight woods vids suggest they could a good home in the east.

[nickel]

So I'm pretty sure I know what the gear whores in here are gonna say but my 192 protests are pretty outstanding tree pow skis as well as loving the open spaces. Why might I desire a Kusala and/or what are its complementary features?

[2FUNKY]

So I'm pretty sure I know what the gear whores in here are gonna say but my 192 protests are pretty outstanding tree pow skis as well as loving the open spaces. Why might I desire a Kusala and/or what are its complementary features?

I’ve followed the Kusala and swooned over them since their inception, just never able to grab a pair. I own 188 and 192 protesteses and after reading so many reviews on the Kusala and talking to some who have had both mentioned skis, I cannot see how they would be better than the other. They carry a lot of the same traits, rule trees, slay pow, etc. I really am trying to talk myself into this collab as the Lhasa Fat collab KILLZZZ it.