West coast daily driver resort ski?

[Quandary]

181 J Ski Masterblaster would be perfect for you. In fact there is a great pair for sale cheap in the Gear buy/sell forum! 😉

[Benneke10]

There's a Bentchetler 100 180cm in the classifieds that would probably be a great fit for you. Also look at the Salomon QST 99

[stealurface831]

another rec for Chetler 100s from me. such a fun ski. so easy to ski.

[Pinned]

Some updates:

Wanted to check out the Black Crows Atris and Blizzard Rustler 10 this weekend, but couldn't get a pair of the Atris in an appropriate length.

I ended up skiing the Rossignol Black Ops Sender Ti in 180 on Saturday. There isn't much that I liked about this ski - it's 106 underfoot but didn't really seem to float all that well. It's stiff, so definitely blasted through lots of stuff well and felt confident at speed - but that's kind of it. My technique definitely isn't the best, working on that, but I ski a relatively neutral stance - that doesn't work at all with this ski. Maybe I'm not skiing forward enough but this ski felt kind of like a rental ski - dead. I fought with them all day and just didn't find them fun.

Sunday I was able to demo a pair of Rustler 10s in 180 and they're much more of what I'm looking for. Despite being 102 underfoot I felt like they had more float than the Rossignols in the dense snow. Not much of a difference in terms of blasting through stuff, still felt stiff and stable enough for me. They are much more forgiving and playful than the Rossignols. I liked this ski a lot and felt much more confident on them.

Overall the 180 length seems about right, maybe a couple CM longer if the ski had more tip/tail splay. I don't want to go too much longer as I'm still adjusting to that length in the trees and tighter spots. A little bit wider seems like it might be the ticket, I didn't really have any trouble with the Sender or Rustler on firmer groomers - both felt plenty confident so I think I'd rather have additional float / pivot in the trees and tight stuff. Am I on the right track looking at a 105-108 ski then?

Everyone I've talked to thinks the Atris will be a more playful ski than the Rustler 10, and I am really interested in trying them if I can soon. Another ski that seems like it might be great for me is the Moment Wildcat 108. I don't know if anyone has skied those and the Atris and could compare, but I think I might just gamble it and go for the Moments since it's unlikely I'll be able to find a demo (I also like that they're a smaller, US company - always glad to support that if I can).

[Samski360]

I’m on the Atris and love them. Very intuitive ski and can handle just about any conditions. They’re not my favorite ski on hard pack, but given how well they do everywhere else, I happily tolerate “meh” performance on hard pack. Atris has a somewhat stiff tail and will remind you if you get in the back seat without punishing you.

Another ski to consider is the Salomon QST 106. I found that a similarly intuitive ski. Slightly better hard snow performance than the Atris. I did not enjoy them in bumps and skied out snow quite as much.

[9922]

180s range whichever skis you choose. However, since you are on TGR, add extra 15cm.

[UTpowder]

Finish this year on what you have. Wait for the Praxis custom sale then order a pair of Praxis 9D8s in 185, flex 3 with a veneer top sheet enduro core. Choose a graphic that you like

I like the flex 4 heavy hitter core for resort but you might prefer the flex 3 where your just getting into it.

Next year add a complimentary powder skis such as the GPO . Then perhaps Powder boards or Protests the next year.

[NW_SKIER]

Dynastar mfree 108.

[dub2]

Finish this year on what you have. Wait for the Praxis custom sale then order a pair of Praxis 9D8s in 185, flex 3 with a veneer top sheet enduro core. Choose a graphic that you like

I like the flex 4 heavy hitter core for resort but you might prefer the flex 3 where your just getting into it.

Next year add a complimentary powder skis such as the GPO . Then perhaps Powder boards or Protests the next year.

Or he could buy my GPOs for $400 with wardens

[stealurface831]

Or he could buy my GPOs for $400 with wardens

someone really should before i do. i have no need for them but i NEED them.

[stealurface831]

Finish this year on what you have. Wait for the Praxis custom sale then order a pair of Praxis 9D8s in 185, flex 3 with a veneer top sheet enduro core. Choose a graphic that you like

I like the flex 4 heavy hitter core for resort but you might prefer the flex 3 where your just getting into it.

Next year add a complimentary powder skis such as the GPO . Then perhaps Powder boards or Protests the next year.

this is the correct answer.

[GoldMember]

someone really should before i do. i have no need for them but i NEED them.

C'mon, you know the correct answer; N+1.

[Lord Thomas]

Somebody mentioned the fischer fr 102 above. That would definitely be one to demo if you can. Super fun skis and you shouldn't have much problem with the 184, they ski short.....PLUS, you can get it with a full pink topsheet - next fastest color to red. I think pink catches bigger air than red as well, will have to check on that.

[jacob_dbu]

another rec for Chetler 100s from me. such a fun ski. so easy to ski.

I did not like my Bentchetler 100's. Like it was almost too soft up front with too much tail and camber back there. Maybe it was the tune, but I found them hard to turn due to the locked in tail combined with lack of support in front.

[Pinned]

Just posted this in the Moment thread but I decided to go with the Wildcat 108 in the 184 length. I don't really want to spend all winter demoing skis and I'm stoked on supporting a small brand. They were super helpful when I called them up and I feel like these are the right choice for me now and will continue to be an awesome ski as I progress.

Picked up a pair of Look Pivot 14s as well.

Looking forward to it all coming in.

[GoldMember]

I did not like my Bentchetler 100's. Like it was almost too soft up front with too much tail and camber back there. Maybe it was the tune, but I found them hard to turn due to the locked in tail combined with lack of support in front.

Sounds like you may have benefited by moving the bindings back a bit?

[KillerMonkey]

Just posted this in the Moment thread but I decided to go with the Wildcat 108 in the 184 length. I don't really want to spend all winter demoing skis and I'm stoked on supporting a small brand. They were super helpful when I called them up and I feel like these are the right choice for me now and will continue to be an awesome ski as I progress.

Picked up a pair of Look Pivot 14s as well.

Looking forward to it all coming in.

I dont think you can go wrong wtih the wildcat 108 at mammoth. Youre going to be skiing a lot of sun baked sierra cement so you want something a little more powerful to push around.

[Benneke10]

I did not like my Bentchetler 100's. Like it was almost too soft up front with too much tail and camber back there. Maybe it was the tune, but I found them hard to turn due to the locked in tail combined with lack of support in front.

Where did you have them mounted? What length did you have? I demoed the 180 which felt telepathic but not amazing for going fast thru chop. I also tried the 188 which was more stable but didn't have the same level of crazy pop and playfulness

[Pinned]

An update:

Had a few days at Mammoth before the Wildcat 108s I ordered arrived and I also ended up demoing Line Sir Francis Bacons in a 184.

The Lines were super fun early on a powder day - really loose and surfy. Easy and fun on soft groomers back to the lifts. They were very playful but I definitely noticed them getting to be a bit unsettled later in the day as the snow got tracked out and choppy. I don’t think these would be the ideal ski for me with heavy Sierra snow, but I’m glad I tried them out.

Got the Moments mounted and got out this past week/weekend for the first time on them. Probably not the ideal conditions for a wide ski - hasn’t snowed in a couple of weeks so things were a bit firm (found some softer spots and wind buffed snow though). These skis definitely require more speed and more deliberate inputs than the Lines or the Blizzard Rustler 10s that I rode before. The Moments also have a bit longer radius than the others I’ve been on which felt natural after a few runs. I should have probably had the tips / tails detuned a little bit as they did feel like they got hooked a few times in bumps / moguls / trees - so I’ll do that before skiing them again and hopefully that makes things slightly looser / surfier. They’re very confident and composed but not hard to ski at all, looking forward to getting them onto some softer snow in the next week or two. I think I made the right choice, thanks again to everyone for the feedback and suggestions!