Armada ARGGGGGGGs

**NieveSurfeador** · 11-22-2006, 11:46 AM

any reviews for these guys... i know bossass has them, but i dont think hes used em yet. and i know hefe has them but there wasnt a review other than basically "sweet... improved spat."

anybody got any more info???

**Darkside** · 11-22-2006, 12:14 PM

Brought mine in to get mounted yesterday...if it ever snows here, I'll let you know how they are.

**dookeyXXX** · 11-22-2006, 12:21 PM

DS:

heard you got the recommendations of good shops to get skis mounted at.

I've been steered toward Porter's TC to have my recently aquired Spats mounted.

Is true?

I also have a pair of Blizzards that need to be mounted and since I can't find a visible mounting point/indicator/line on the ski, wanted to make sure I get those properly positioned.

Thanks for any tips and am interested in hearing about your pirate planks!

**Darkside** · 11-22-2006, 01:51 PM

yep, the shop guys can take care of anything ya got. Most if not all of the ARG's in N. Tahoe have been mounted at Porter's. I'll be back in there after T-giving, ask for Ben.

**dookeyXXX** · 11-22-2006, 03:28 PM

Mucho Gracias DS!

**wren** · 11-22-2006, 03:30 PM

I got mine mounted yesterday, 86.5cm from the tail, or about .5cm-1cm behind suggested. If it continues to dump at Whistler I will be skiing them saturday. I will post a review, but its probably useless, I've never skied anything unconventional before so I don't have much to compare it to.

**skinnyskier** · 11-22-2006, 05:14 PM

I got mine mounted yesterday, 86.5cm from the tail, or about .5cm-1cm behind suggested.

I just got my pair yesterday. I'm having them mounted with 9.14s. Do people think the suggested line is too far forward?

**ROCKS** · 11-22-2006, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by wren

I got mine mounted yesterday, 86.5cm from the tail, or about .5cm-1cm behind suggested. If it continues to dump at Whistler I will be skiing them saturday. I will post a review, but its probably useless, I've never skied anything unconventional before so I don't have much to compare it to.

I bet you bought 'em at North Shore Ski and Board.... I work there and we got two pairs in and apparently we sold a pair already, so I'm assuming this is the pair. Am I right?

There's still another pair if there are any takers.

**NieveSurfeador** · 11-22-2006, 05:40 PM

what are you guys selling them for $?

**dookeyXXX** · 11-22-2006, 06:21 PM

I'm muy curious about this ski.

I have a pair of AR5's, which I mounted 1.5 back from the factory line and found them way too squirrely and rather soft compared to the rest of my quiver (karma, Mantra, Titan 8, and No Ka Oi).

I plan to de-mount 'em and sell 'em.

Is the ARG as soft as their other skis?

**wren** · 11-22-2006, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by ROCKS

I bet you bought 'em at North Shore Ski and Board.... I work there and we got two pairs in and apparently we sold a pair already, so I'm assuming this is the pair. Am I right?

There's still another pair if there are any takers.

You're so smart!

And I was under the impression that the other pair was also spoken for, but the story seems to change depending on which one of you I talk to.

**Mikey** · 11-22-2006, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by dookey67

I'm muy curious about this ski.

Is the ARG as soft as their other skis?

I've shop flexed these (at jibij in Boulder). They've got the full line up there and these are stiffer than the ANTS! They are by no means soft. I was in there again this pm and flexed again to see if i was imagining it, but no - these things are stiff.

Jibij has got one pair, for $799 i think.

**summit** · 11-23-2006, 11:10 PM

I wants a pair... but I so don't want to drive to boulder to get them...

**bossass** · 11-24-2006, 02:04 AM

If all goes well I can report on early next week.

**dookeyXXX** · 11-24-2006, 01:16 PM

cool, please do.

also, it would be cool if you've skied on other skis of this ilk (Spat/Lotus/Goode/Pontoon/Praxis etc) and could give a comparison/contrast (I'm just curious as I bought some Spats recently)

**wren** · 11-26-2006, 08:09 PM

Had my ARGs out yesterday on Whistler for the Peak opening. They do not suck.

First off, this is the first time I've ever skied a non-traditional shape, so my experience is limited to regular fatties (JP vs. Julien, ANT, Made'ns, and 1st gen Pistols). I lapped the Peak probably 6-7 times though the day and even as it got tracked out I was happy to be on them. They ski the deep stuff like nothing I've ever skied. The floatation is amazing and as a result you can absolutely rip. I'm used to soft skis and these were so much more stable going really fast and laying down huge turns on the open bowls. They wanted me to find stuff that was even steeper so I could go faster.

After waiting in line for about 40 minutes we only got one run in with the sun and with the fog and snow rolling in quickly were were off to find some lines in the trees. After reading many spatula reviews about their instant pivot point I was hoping to find something like it on these. They did not disappoint. Effortless transitition between turns, at least compared to regular sidecut skis, which allowed me to haul ass towards trees faster than I normally would because I knew I'd be able to turn on a dime once I needed too. It also helped going fast cause once I reached the bottom of the bowls I knew I'd need the speed.

On hardpack these things are slow. I heard about this problem on spatulas but did not expect it to be this bad. I'm usually the fastest one of all the guys I ski with and it was extremely frustrating getting passed by boarders on the flats as I was skating like mad. They are also really squirrelly on the groomers, but that was to be expected. You can feel the minimal sidecut in the middle of the ski, but you really have to be ripping to use it. With that 2mm of sidecut I have no idea what the turning radius would be, but its long. It took some getting used to, but by the end of the day I was more comfortable with it and wasn't almost bailing when gapers cut me off and forcing me to react quickly.

On the later runs in the day it was harder to find untouched lines but cutting through the semi-tracked out pow was a breeze. Definitely the most noticable difference compared to anything else I've skied. Going through some of this cut up stuff I noticed only a small difference between the untouched stuff. Virtually no tip flap made it so easy to charge through this stuff. This made me feel better about my purchase as I know I won't only be using them on the fresh, deep days but also 1 or even 2 days after the storm.

Towards the end of the day Whistler Bowl was completely tracked out with some pretty brutal moguls forming. Combined with the flat light this wasn't a enjoyable experience, but better than I thought it would be on the ARGs. It wasn't too difficult to manouver through them, and I seemed to be having an easier time than the guy I saw on Pontoons who crossed his massive tips a couple times and took a nose dive into a mogul once.

The slow speed on the cat tracks is definitely the most frustrating thing about them, but easily worth the inconvience in the pow. All in all I'm extremely happy with the skis, but would love to be able to try some 138s, spats and Pontoons, as well as EHPs, 120s to see how they compare.

**grapedrink** · 11-26-2006, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by wren

Had my ARGs out yesterday on Whistler for the Peak opening. They do not suck.

First off, this is the first time I've ever skied a non-traditional shape, so my experience is limited to regular fatties (JP vs. Julien, ANT, Made'ns, and 1st gen Pistols). I lapped the Peak probably 6-7 times though the day and even as it got tracked out I was happy to be on them. They ski the deep stuff like nothing I've ever skied. The floatation is amazing and as a result you can absolutely rip. I'm used to soft skis and these were so much more stable going really fast and laying down huge turns on the open bowls. They wanted me to find stuff that was even steeper so I could go faster.

After waiting in line for about 40 minutes we only got one run in with the sun and with the fog and snow rolling in quickly were were off to find some lines in the trees. After reading many spatula reviews about their instant pivot point I was hoping to find something like it on these. They did not disappoint. Effortless transitition between turns, at least compared to regular sidecut skis, which allowed me to haul ass towards trees faster than I normally would because I knew I'd be able to turn on a dime once I needed too. It also helped going fast cause once I reached the bottom of the bowls I knew I'd need the speed.

On hardpack these things are slow. I heard about this problem on spatulas but did not expect it to be this bad. I'm usually the fastest one of all the guys I ski with and it was extremely frustrating getting passed by boarders on the flats as I was skating like mad. They are also really squirrelly on the groomers, but that was to be expected. You can feel the minimal sidecut in the middle of the ski, but you really have to be ripping to use it. With that 2mm of sidecut I have no idea what the turning radius would be, but its long. It took some getting used to, but by the end of the day I was more comfortable with it and wasn't almost bailing when gapers cut me off and forcing me to react quickly.

On the later runs in the day it was harder to find untouched lines but cutting through the semi-tracked out pow was a breeze. Definitely the most noticable difference compared to anything else I've skied. Going through some of this cut up stuff I noticed only a small difference between the untouched stuff. Virtually no tip flap made it so easy to charge through this stuff. This made me feel better about my purchase as I know I won't only be using them on the fresh, deep days but also 1 or even 2 days after the storm.

Towards the end of the day Whistler Bowl was completely tracked out with some pretty brutal moguls forming. Combined with the flat light this wasn't a enjoyable experience, but better than I thought it would be on the ARGs. It wasn't too difficult to manouver through them, and I seemed to be having an easier time than the guy I saw on Pontoons who crossed his massive tips a couple times and took a nose dive into a mogul once.

The slow speed on the cat tracks is definitely the most frustrating thing about them, but easily worth the inconvience in the pow. All in all I'm extremely happy with the skis, but would love to be able to try some 138s, spats and Pontoons, as well as EHPs, 120s to see how they compare.

i think i had a chat with you about your skis while waiting for peak to open

**Darkside** · 11-27-2006, 01:38 PM

Thanks for the review, wren. Makes me even more stoked to get out on mine.

**dookeyXXX** · 11-27-2006, 02:36 PM

Good looking out on the review.

Like you, I'll be a first-timer on non-traditional shaped pow planks this season (Spats).

here's to hoping I don't end up like the Pontoon plower you saw!

**LilHorsey** · 12-06-2006, 04:59 PM

Got my first day on my ARGs Yesterday at Mt. Baker.

Like the previous reviewer, I don't have any experience with other non traditional skis to compare.

Mounting them was kind of a hassle, I ended up making a jig for my rossi turn table bindings with a sawed off picket fence post. I mounted them 6cm back from center.

The quick rundown:

Everything you'd want and expect from a ski like this: A+

The not so quick run down:

handling on groomers was better than I expected. I gave up really fast on trying to use the "mini sidecut" under foot to carve long radius turns, however I do think it is probably helpful for stopping on short notice, wich they are fully capable of. I ended up doing high speed slip'n slides to get where I wanted to go if I was on hard pack. Easy enough. Cat tracks were the worst. You can't just kick back and relax like a normal pair of skis, you've always gotta be on it.

Soft snow was as you would expect it. Hero shit. The snow wasn't that deep and there was the occasional death cookie lurking below. Even at really high speed when I'd hit one of those things there was virtually no deflection. Early in the day I was kind of hesitant to send it off of anything cause of the shallow fresh on the crust. This also turned out to be no problem for the skis. There is so much ski to land on, it didn't even matter. As the other guy reported, moving around at high speed in tight quarters is much easier than with traditional fat skis. Litterally you can be skiing along full clip into a wall of trees, throw it sideways at the last second and handle it. Later in the day it got warmer and eveything started to chunk up. Again, no problems at all... they ski in whatever direction you point them with little or no deflection.

I did have a chance to handle a pair of Pontoons the week before I took my ARGs out. I noticed they seemed significantly softer both torsionally and lengwise than the ARG. I could draw up all sorts of speculation as to what that could mean for someone on the snow, but I think any of these kind of skis on the feet of a capable rider would produce similar results: Stoke factor 10.

**funkendrenchman** · 12-06-2006, 05:06 PM

The ARGs sound like a more expensive Spatula so far....

**natty dread** · 12-06-2006, 05:19 PM

I was gonna type the same thing, then I saw your post.^^

**Professor** · 12-06-2006, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by funkendrenchman

The ARGs sound like a more expensive Spatula so far....

Isnt that what you expected? I had always assumed these were simply Spatula "Part Deux"

**Boomer28** · 12-06-2006, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by funkendrenchman

The ARGs sound like a more expensive Spatula so far....

that is why I'm haning my hat on the Praxis this year....

**bossass** · 12-06-2006, 06:24 PM

I guess I should weigh in on this.

Skied mine 11/27-28 at Baker. Yes, the nipple deep days.

Basically the same shit to report as the other two posts. Their performance on hardpack compared to Spats was better, although still shitty, if that makes sense. I def. had a couple of those moments where the downhill ski tries to shoot perpendicular to the way you are actually travelling. Edit:Fucking return button. So you do have to be on it, but i think my difficulties can also be blamed on my poor physical shape and it being my first two days of the season (jelly legs).

I did not find them slow on the groomers. Zak Davidson, Armada spancered, did complain of this as well though. I think it's probably because I gave them a good waxing before skiing on them. With some high flouro shit. The slowness makes sense though, with the minimal base area in contact with the snow thing. Wax them good I say.

I don't think this is just an expensive spat. It's far lighter and equally if not more stiff (haven't flexed a spat in while, can't remember how they flex). I have 916s on mine and they still felt very light underfoot. Easy to swing around and super nimble, while being super stable. It was hard to get going fast enough those days to get them up on plane. One because the snow was tits deep and two because I don't know my way around baker and I know it's easy to get yourself above a huge cliff there, and we hit some BC lines, so we were accessing snowpack as we moved along as well. I got them going fast a couple times though and they kill it on top of the snow. Skiing so fast and not even having to think about what you are doing. It was like willing them to turn, so effortless. I'm sure I looked thoroughly mortal, but I felt like Hugo. I love that shit where you hit a five footer, but travel like 30 feet because you are going so fast. These skis do it well. The tips are wider than spats, but a big difference too is shape. They seem to be fattest under your heel instead of under your boot midsole. I could be wrong on this, I never measured, but just eyeballing them it kind of looks this way (freaked me out when I mounted them, I was afraid I mounted them backwards for a second.) I was skeptical of how they'd ski, but Armada obviously made some effort to get these dialed and it payed off.

If you're paying retail, it's hard to deny the Praxis skis. I still might try to get some. It's hard to deny getting some spats at a low cost versus these at retail too. I haven't skied toons, but I'd take these over toons based on my observations. The Pontoon seemed like a great idea, but I don't really care about making a ski like this better on groomers. I can carve my park skis on days when it doesn't snow. I also don't like what i hear about the tips slapping together alot (not an issue at all with the ARG) and sketchy durability (I hit some rocks and shit I thought would surely take some Ptex, but I had to look hard to find a scratch on the bases.)

Bottom line: ARG is my new favorite ski. Not a final favorite as on paper I think the Praxxis and DP 138 are heavy contenders. I think they will get ignored a bit due to the grey area they fall into for pricing considering other skis like Praxxis and DPs. But if you can score a pair, I highly recommend.