THE SKIS: DP 178 LOTUS 120 FLEX 2
Obligatory no-camber shot.
Bases. Facebook won't let me upload the picture of the topsheets...
Comparison with 170 Deep Powder (Powder Plus), which have a disgusting amount of camber (this will be relevant later).
THE SKIER: GOSEY
Slowly improving upper-intermediate skier.
5'8, 165 lbs
Likes: Big, open turns; soft snow (especially windbuff); railing groomers; taking some air (when I'm healthy); bumps (when my knee doesn't hurt)
Dislikes: Tight trees; skiing slow; super-firm rhythmless bumps
Comparable skis used: 170 Deep Powder mounted -1 w/ Salomon 997 14 DIN. Absolutely loved the heavy weight for destroying crud. Did NOT like the excessive camber for issues with going over the bars in deep stuff, but the camber was useful for helping hold an edge on firm snow. This is a great ski for me, and I'll probably keep it around for when I don't feel like being nimble. I also own a 179 stiffish (softer than what I believe to be a true "stiff") PMgear BRO and love its ability to hold an edge despite the relative lack of camber (great for slarving similar to that of the lotuses). They are my everyday ski. I took a comparison picture, but again I can't host it.
I skied Marshal's 190 Flex 2's at the Mini last year. I noticed the same issue of the outside ski slipping away from me and attributed it to the ski's being too stiff for me. I did notice definitely that the 178s are significantly quicker and more "powder puppy"-like, but I mean c'mon, they're 12 cm shorter.
Boots: Solly X2 (plug boots), recently modified by Larry (aka THE MAN) down to what I'd guess would be about a 100-110 flex. I can actually flex the boots now, which helps.
THE TECH SHIT:
Mount: + 1.0 cm w/ Salomon Equipe 14 DIN 997
Base prep:One coat of molybdenum graphite wax followed immediately by a coat of warm (25-32 degree?) toko orange wax. Marshal adroitly pointed out how dry these skis were upon arrival, said to be due to the hardness of the base, which wards off rocks. I have two days on these skis and will put another coat of warm wax on them tomorrow, then another coat after another 2 days, then resume regularly scheduled programming.
Edge prep: 5 passes tip to tail w/ coarse Gummi stone. Edge bevel unknown.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
1. Ohmagawd, these are the prettiest skis I have ever seen!
2. Damn! These are LIGHT!
3. There really is next to no camber. It's barely noticeable if there is any at all.
4. The mount point looks pretty far back...
TEST CONDITIONS:
Location: Loveland Pass, Loveland inbounds, Vail
Snow: Mixed bag, certainly. Everything from sun-softened butter to windchalk to death cookies to powder bumps to tree bumps to bulletproof bumps to 10" of fresh.
Terrain: I started out on Loveland pass on a fairly wide-open, south-facing chute that funneled to something a little narrower. Then I moved to a short steep pitch of a groomer at Loveland and then to the Ridge. Today I skied pretty much everywhere at Vail, actively excluding whatever terrain was bumped out (I skied Outer Mongolia, some Northwoods, some Avanti, some Blue Sky, and others).
THE REVIEW:
Day 1: Loveland Pass and Loveland
My first run was a moderate pitch with highly variable snow. There were parts that were scraped to Bejesus and back, but most of the snow was either soft and chalky or smooth and buttery. The skis absolutely destroyed it. The chalk involved a bit of a breakable crust that has been known to make me struggle in the past. I COULD NOT MAKE THE TIPS SINK. It took several turns to get used to the lack of camber, as I noticed almost instantly the "slarving" tendency of the skis--you throw 'em sideways a touch and they finish the turn, partly on edge, partly sliding perpendicular to the fall line. What I loved was how aggresively I felt like I could ski these--where I normally would have been going over the bars in variable snow, I was just in more control on the Lotuses. I could keep my shins slammed against the front of the boots without any worry of getting pitched forward. The other thing I noticed very quickly was how easy it is to vary the turn shape--You could wait for the minimal sidecut to turn the ski but it would take a long time, and I felt like it was difficult to do, either due to the ski being stiffer than what I'm used to or due to the lack of camber. The skis were extremely nimble. I felt like if you set up a slalom course in this kind of chalky snow, I'd be able to slarve through it at a pretty good clip, totally in control the whole way. Or a GS course... or a super G course... or... you get the idea.
I would definitely agree with what some others have said about the 190: the ski is noticeably more responsive at speed. My statement about "nimbleness" goes times 2 when you get above maybe 30 mph--you think "turn", and they do it, however you want them to. I came out of this chute (2 runs) thinking "THESE SKIS FUCKING RULE!"
I went inbounds to Loveland for a groomer test--true hardpack. They slarved on this stuff as well, which was a little unnerving for me when I tried to just roll my ankles, pressure the tips, and wait for the sidecut to bring them around. I felt like the outside ski got away from me some (this was a consistent theme) and thus like the ski is slightly impaired in a true race carve (although this may very well be user error and others would be better to consult on this matter). If you do a slarve with 10% slide and 90% carve, there's no trouble. But trying to lay railroad tracks on firm snow is not exactly advisable, in my experience. But that's not what these skis are for...
I followed Blurred to the Ridge for a death cookie test. I (me, not the skis) failed that test, so I was forced to continue the test today at Vail.
Day 2: Vail reports 10" on top of 7" yesterday
My first few runs were the liftline under Born Free. I found myself grinning like an idiot on the chair, looking at how much bigger my tracks were than everyone else's (), indicating that these skis are stable at moderate speed (probably 25-30 mph--as much speed as I could get up while making big turns and trying not to die), even in deep snow on crust. It was 50 degrees last week, forming a gnarly suncrust under the foot or so of blower that fell in the last two days. I could feel the edges of the Lotuses bite this crust while slicing through the blower on top, NEVER having the slightest inclination of diving. This rockered tip works, fellers.
I headed back to Avanti for some more porpoising (a very good term to describe the smaller turns on the Lotuses) and a test in the bumps. A lot of the snow was true crud by the time I got back there--about half of it on groomers, the other half on bump runs. The lotuses ate it all up. It felt like they were carving into the bumps while still staying afloat (if that makes sense). I was able to charge through the crud, pretty much NEVER having to lean backseat to avoid certain turmoil. This was definitely not the case on my Deep Powders. Again +50 pts for the rockered tip.
I went to Northwoods for some humiliation, and this time was good for putting in perspective how much more responsive the skis are at speed. In those tight, steep trees atop highly irregular bumps, I was almost stopped at the end of each turn, and I found it a lot harder to initiate a turn (harder than I would have expected based on the differential in other skis). The light swing weight helped a great deal here, allowing for easy pivoting and "jump-turn"-like turns to gain a little momentum. The gnarly firm bumps under the chair on the way back were pretty much pure punishment, and that I attributed to the lack of soft snow. There were a few short steeper pitches of deep crud that I would classify as none other than "fun as hell" on the Lotuses. Normally I have to backseat like hell in order to have fun, but I could ski as fast as I wanted and still feel centered on the ski.
(Cont'd below)
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