06/07 ANT Review

**gamma** · 01-06-2007, 06:24 PM

Finally got a chance to ski my 06/07 ANTs...

Mounted with : NX21
Boots: XWave10
Height: 6ft
Weight: 225lbs

skiied em once in the backcountry and once at loveland (1/5)...

Have to say, as many others have said, these skis are totally sick.

They love speed and have a ton of control and power in deep snow. I experienced NO tip dive, even when I leaned way into my boots to power the shovels. Shorter turns in crud or groomed are more work, but u can kind of slarve them if you have to. I noticed 0 slop or problems with the NX21. They work great with powder skis and feel just like a pair of soloman bindings to me.

I skinned with them as well. They worked well. A Little heavy, but not so much that skinning was unbearable.

Also today I checked em out vs. the 05/06, the same ski. Noticed no real difference in flex whatsoever.

**pechelman** · 01-06-2007, 06:58 PM

where'd ya mount them? (as it seems there're all over the place)

**gamma** · 01-06-2007, 07:21 PM

boot center is prolly 2cms back from the line, maybe 9cms back from chord center or so?.. there was a lot of confusion with the mounter.. i just asked him to mount them 1-2cms back vs normal....

**Darkside** · 01-08-2007, 04:32 PM

I just mounted up my 06/07 warranty pair, since I've got ARG's for deep days, I went from the 9ish cm back from center I had on the last pair to 4cm back of center...haven't taken them out yet, but I'm sure they'll be killer.

**gramboh** · 01-08-2007, 04:41 PM

Just wanted to chime in as I've ridden my 05-06 ANT (mounted -9 from core centre with S900's) a few days now. I am 5'10 and 210lbs, junior/highschool race background.

First day was ~20cm fresh at Sunshine Village after Christmas, and I also skiied them at Solitude last Thurs/Fri (10inches fell Thurs, a bit more on Fri). I was intimidated by the size as I've only skiied one ski over 100mm before, and it was a soft K2 AK Launcher. But as everyone says, do not be afraid of these, they have a nice stiff flex but are easy to ski. They are easy to skid/slarve to dump speed in soft snow, I find them great in the trees once you get a bit of speed. They are confidence inspiring and plow through crud, good stable platform for landing etc and they are surprisingly light for the size. The only downside is of course small radius turns/bumps at low speed where they require work to toss around compared to a smaller ski (duh).

I recommend the -9cm from core centre mounting point if you are using them in a variety of conditions including powder.

**pzink** · 01-09-2007, 12:32 AM

I agree with the -9 from center mount. I have them there and would have been unhappy if i had mounted them forward of that.

**Opentoclose** · 01-09-2007, 03:33 AM

05/06 ANT Review

Mounted with: S916
Boots: Cross Max 10.0
Height: 6'1"ft
Weight: 220lbs
Mounted: -9 back from center

First skied mine on New Year's Eve, day on hard pack, wind buff and the park.
They felt amazingly stable in big GS turns on the hard pack groomers. Also were good on steeper wind buff snow and didn't get bounced around in the chopped up stuff. I could force them into some short turns in small soft bumps, but there was really no need because you can just blow through this type of stuff like its not even there.

I certainly didn't buy these for the park, but figured, what the hell. My first lap through hitting everything straight they felt good taking off and landing. On a couple hips I could feel a little more on my feet than usual. The next lap through I spun a couple of 1s and 3s with my 30 something steeze - oops I think I just rhymed. They weren't too difficult to spin, but I had to be a bit more intentional. Also, what little I skied them switch felt very comfortable. Even at -9 there is a decent amount of tail for such antics.

The first soft snow I got them in was last Saturday. I could ski neutral to forward without concern of any tip dive and felt comfortable in tight trees.

I was recently on an AK Enemy 188, 118/90/108. I liked its versatility to ski everything from park to all mountain, but always thought it was soft and got bounced around at higher speeds. The Ant is my first 100+ waist ski.

My favorite thing about the Ants is their bomber feel while hauling ass through anything. I'm stoked on them as my everyday ski until late spring, or on days that I know conditions are going to drive me into the park a lot.