Top 5 skis of all time

[MTT]

Feel like you’ve got to give a shout out to the K2 Four.

“But in March 1996, Bode Miller, a little-known 18-year-old downhiller from New Hampshire, showed up at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine for the US Junior National Championships. A contrarian by nature and keen student of ski technology, Miller decided he would compete on the K2 Four, a shaped ski produced by his equipment supplier. The result astonished everyone: he won three of the four events and came second in the other.”

I was thinking about these. I had K2 Four 88’s. Spent about 4 really good seasons on those. I don’t think I was as impressed until I bought Dynastar Legend Pro Riders in 2005. I still have a pair of those in 194

[CallMeAl]

I'd throw in the Line Ostness Dragon and/or white 1260s in there.

IMO the modest commercial success of those skis paved the way for many American indie brands that are around/still popping up today.

[MTT]

What ever happened to Ignious ?
I heard them mentioned recently

[frorider]

No Rax skis on the list? I am disappoint.

[Bandit Man]

The 1st gen pistol came in a 204??

I think i had those in 179, bought em at the ski swap somehow new the year they came out with my lawn mowing money.

First Gen Morrison came in a 204 and 193. It was an X15 with metal, IIRC. The first Gen Seth Pistol came in 189, 179, and 169 lengths but ran long. I had a pair of 189’s that I bought from Andy Mahre. Too bad they didn’t make me ski like him. He also sold me Marker DIN 20 bindings that belonged to his dad.


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[Flexon Phil]

K2 VO Slalom
Kastle MX88
Elan SCX
Volant Chubb
Blizzard Bonafide (first year)

[One (+) Sentence]

If we are talking top 5 influential skis of all time, I’d say:
- the first skis with metal edges developed in Austria in the 1920’s
- The 1990’s K2 Four (although the Elan SCX was really first)
- Volant Spatula proved the concept of rocker
- After that take your pick of any number of early “fat” skis introduced in the late ‘90s through early ‘00s (Volkl Snowranger, RD Heli Dog, Chubb’s, etc. But I’d probably cast my vote for Rossignol CUT 11.5)

[Bunion 2020]

Bunion (if you are who I think you are) had a pair of these from Banhof Sport in PC.

Whoa......

They actually came from Snug Sports in PC. RD Heliski pair 1-D (183 cm). Grabbed them from the basement when we were liquidating the shop and mounted them as tele skis. When I retired them they went to the Blue Room off of Wardance. They seem to have vanished from there. Who would you be BTW ?

And apropos of nothing also had a pair of Lacroix Softs (200 cm) from the DI in Sugarhouse that I bought ( 5 bucks) for rock skis. My Solly 747s went right on the old hole pattern and fit my boots, skied them for about 3 years at Big Sky and really enjoyed them.

Now back to your regular programming

[ill-advised strategy]

First Gen Morrison came in a 204 and 193. It was an X15 with metal, IIRC. The first Gen Seth Pistol came in 189, 179, and 169 lengths but ran long. I had a pair of 189’s that I bought from Andy Mahre. Too bad they didn’t make me ski like him. He also sold me Marker DIN 20 bindings that belonged to his dad.


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You’re right, the whole pistol thing didn’t come first. I was thinking of the first pro model, the blue one. My bad.

[whyturn]

Protest
Lhasa fat with kusala rocker
Billy goat 2014
Kusala
Pontoon



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[Mustonen]

Protest
Lhasa fat with kusala rocker
Billy goat 2014
Kusala
Pontoon



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Hahahahahahaha….

What?

[Mustonen]

I dunno ymmv.
I know everybody hates on the PR and S7 but the hate is because they were everywhere and they were everywhere because they worked well for shitloads of people.

Difference between cult classics and the PR/S7 is one has significant market success and the other doesn’t.

[skisurfmirth]

Does the Rossi Sickle belong in here?

I haven't been a good enough skier for long enough to have a solid bet on this, but that ski (and the Spatula) both changed my life.

For those of us that skied on (or continue to shred on) they sure do. Fantastic ski. Favourite all time.


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[grinch]

Protest
Lhasa fat with kusala rocker
Billy goat 2014
Kusala
Pontoon



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That'd be some fun testing. The ultimate

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[sf]

As a lot of you has mentioned; best ski and most influential ski isn't necessarily the same thing. I picked 6 skis, all of which made me a better skier, but only the last three can be said to have made a difference to skiing as a whole.

Obviously this is going to be 100% subjective; but at least I've skied most of these pretty extensively.

- ON3P Billygoat 14/15 (? can't remember. RES, but not asym)
What a ski. Stable in chop, but nimble in the trees. Floats pow, but cuts chop. Neutralizes crusts, but.....I don't know. Best ski.

- Superbro
This ski defies logic. It's ridicolously stable, has great edgehold, but relative to those traits it's forgiving and will accept being thrown sideways. At least as long as the snow is reasonably even.
Granted, I've never even tried them in the environment they were made for, pure groomer ski for me.

- BMT94/109
I've spent a lot more time on the 94s than the 109s, but they're pretty similar in most ways. Light enough for longer tours, enough mass and torsional stiffness to handle rough snow. Both float better than their waist suggests, longish sidecut makes them able to handle crusts better.

- Bonafide 1.gen
Skied these at the end of my tele-days. Probably never got as many days in on them as I should have. Very solid ski while still being accessible to most people. Floats surprisingly well. The 1.gen Flipcore models should probably be on a "most influential" list, no?

- Rossignol Ravyn / S6.
These were the skis I really learned tele on. The ultimate all-round ski? Floated, carved, easy going etc. Rossi should probably get more praise for the way "the masses" could progress their skiing on the S5-S7s.

- 4FRNT EHP 2.gen
Hoji changed how a lot of people skied powder, both with his movie segments and ski designs. A bit dated today, less float than waist suggests, but crazy nimble and a fantastic slush-ski. If they bring it back with just a tiny bit more tip surface and sidecut - think 30m vs 40m - I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

[SnakeMagnet]

At the end of the day...

The best skis are the skis that made you fall in love with the sport. That's why you're here, right?

But if we have to be singling one out, the scx made sidecut popular with the masses, and none of what we ride on today would exist without it.

[Bandit Man]

Not sure if this was already shared, but I thought it was interesting how many of the skis debated here made their list, too.

https://www.skiessentials.com/11-mos...is-of-all-time

[Marshal Olson]

Most influential, imo

- head standard - first metal skis
- k2 extreme - mostly for marketing reasons
- Atomic powder plus - still holds up
- Volant spatula - you know why
- db tabla rasa - first lightweight high performance skis

[kid-kapow]

I think there is a pretty convincing argument to be made that a snowboard should be on the list of the most influential ski of all time. Sure, it comes as a single and is kinda besides the point too, but the influence of snowboard shaping, construction (cap) and culture on certain aspects of skiing could hardly be overstated. I have no good suggestion which model should be nominated though.

[Marshal Olson]

Most influential snowboard, at least on skiing? I’d vote: Burton Craig Kelly Air

[Dexter Rutecki]

I think there is a pretty convincing argument to be made that a snowboard should be on the list of the most influential ski of all time. Sure, it comes as a single and is kinda besides the point too, but the influence of snowboard shaping, construction (cap) and culture on certain aspects of skiing could hardly be overstated. I have no good suggestion which model should be nominated though.

IMO all snowboarding did was hasten the development/adoption of fat skis, they would have made it to the market and widespread adoption if snowboarding never existed. Ski manufacturers were experimenting with radical shapes in the 80's and 90's (radical being a relative term) for reasons that had nothing to do with snowboards (yes, fat skis were directly influenced by snowboards, but there were experimental race skis that were wide at the shovel and tail and those also impacted the development of 'fat' skis). Just as I wouldn't argue that a ski (the first ski?) should be on the list of most important snowboards ever, I don't see why a snowboard would ever count as an influential ski. If you go that route then you also have to have a skateboard on the list, and then a surfboard, etc. Doesn't make sense if you ask me, and again, skis were headed in the direction they have gone independent of the cafeteria trays.

[alpinevibes]

Not sure if this was already shared, but I thought it was interesting how many of the skis debated here made their list, too.

https://www.skiessentials.com/11-mos...is-of-all-time

I'll add to this, with a slightly more TGR-inspired list of classics:

https://www.milanomontagna.it/en/fre...um/milestones/

(good notes on each if you click the blue box "More Details")

Full museum: https://www.milanomontagna.it/en/freeride-ski-museum/

[nickinbc]

Wonder what the best selling skis of all time were?

Of course that would be difficult to work out with some ski names staying the same for years as the construction changed and others changing name with little change except the topsheet.

[Eluder]

Wonder what the best selling skis of all time were?

Of course that would be difficult to work out with some ski names staying the same for years as the construction changed and others changing name with little change except the topsheet.

Soul 7 and Black Pearl 88 have to be high on the list. Nothing we would champion sells at top levels.

[chicken feathers]

Most influential snowboard, at least on skiing? I’d vote: Burton Craig Kelly Air

I was stoked to rescue this one from the trash. At some point I'll pick up bindings and boots and take it out.