 Poster: A snowHead
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This last holiday, I decided to shell out 25 euros and try some all-round skis from Précision, as did a friend - this was a bonus as the very helpful ski tech Vincent showed us how to change the bindings so we could swap skis without having to go back to the shop.
here's a brief review of each, with a bit of a baseline so you can see the comparison.
Me and my regular skis
5'9" (177cm) , 11.5 stone (that 160 lbs or 73 kg, more or less).
I've been skiing for 8 yeas, and for most of that have been using 170cm Rossignol CutZ 9.5 skis. Very early carvers, they're most definitely a ski aimed at early intermediates - quite floppy. Last season I bought a pair of 165cm Pocket Rockets for a trip to Fernie, in anticipation of lots of off piste action. Given the poor snow, I split my time evenly between the two sets of skis and could notice a difference in the effort required to get the PRs over onto the edge - well, you would since the waist on ther PR is 92mm, compared to about 66 on the Rossis!
This season, I decided to take only one set of skis to Val d'Isere and stupidly assumed that the PRs would be ok. Given the poor snow, ths may not have been the best choice as the off-piste was a no-go area and the snow on piste was wearing thin rather quickly
Again, I noticed immediately that it was hard to get the PRs over onto the edge, but I did find thatonce over they would carve beatifully. I didn;t suffer from a lack of speed at all, keeping up with the rest of the gang with no problems at all. Aside from getting onto the edge, the only slight problem I found was a slight tendency to wobble when trying to keep a fairly straight line - soon solved by making long arcing turns in the tuck rather than going straight.
We spent about half an hour in the ski shop discussing skiing style, preferences in terms of speed off or on piste etc, and cam up with a list of suggested skis. I'm not a particularly agressive skiier on the whole, I tend to fil my pants when the speed gets too high - I prefer to cruise with looong, sweeping arcs, although I enjoy trying for short turns onm steeper slopes (to keep the speed down!). I am beginning to play off to the side of the piste from time to time, I'd guess an 80/20 split at the moment. All the skis tried were around the 170cm mark, with most being slightly shorter.
Rossignol B1
Quite looking forward to this as b2s have an excellent rep. The b1 was suggested rather than the b2 given my 80/20 split, if you're woindering.
It was bloody awful. I really struggled to initiate turns, although once I'd started I was ok. Didn;t get on with it at all and couldn;t wait to get off it.
Dave was on Rossignol Zenith Z3, which are purely piste skis. I tried them last year in Fernie and was impressed, and Dave seemed to really like them. After this we swapped skis during demo runs.
Runs: Collet to Fontaine froide, down "face" and back to the village, up Rogoney and back to the shop.
Head Monster (75? not sure of exact model)
I was suppsoed to take out the Head c160, but they were out on test. Dave was supposed to take out the K2 Omni 5.5, but again they were out on test. Vincent suggested the monster for me, and "happened" to have some apache crossfire available - I'd stayed away from them due tot eh description as a 50/50 on/off piste ski, and the huge price tag, but we took them out anyway, with instructions on how to sawp.
Much more impressed with these skis. Easy to turn, tracked my line well, nothing which caused me to worry
Runs : Up Solaise to Glacier express, down to datcha, back down Piste "A" for lunch.
K2 Apache Crossfire
We swapped skis after lunch and I got the apaches. how nice? really sweet ski. Easy to get onto the edge, held the carve well at speed, hardly noticed the landing as I jumped off the piste, cut through thr crud as though it wasnt there. very nice in the pushed powder, and although I did lose the edge completely on the sheet ice that is more likely to be my technique than the skis. Great in a straightline.
Runs: Up Bellevarde, down Collet and santons back to the vilage
Dynastar Legend 4800
Again, bloody awful. Reall sruggled to initiate turns, although not as much as with the b1. Dave enjoyed these much more than I did - he's more of a piste cruiser, and having skiied for twice as long as I much more of an old school unweight-and-edge skiier rather than a toe-to-toe roller as I try to be. Again, I lost the edge on ice and went down heavily on these skis.
Runs: Up Bellevarde, down Collet and up and down Grand Pré, (swap skis with dave then swap back) then up Fontaine froide and down Verte / Diebold to La Daille
K2 Omni 5.5
Another very nice ski, not as nice as the Apache Crossfire, but whether the AC is 200 euros better is debatable. Again, I found it was fine both on and off piste, holding the carve and cutting through crud nicely.
Runs - up and down Grand Pré twice before swapping back.
Overall
Well, it was nice to try so many different skis in one day. Dave has stated that his 7 year old 179cm K2s will be replaced in the sales this year - you could see a huge improvement in his confidence and his skiing when he was on the shorter carvers - I wouldn't say he was carving everything, but he wasn;t skidding as much and rather than being left a short way behind as normal was keeping right up without too much hassle at all
Personally, though, it taught me a great deal - although skis do matter, the skiier is just as much of an influence. I can't say that any of the skis impressed me enough to go out and buy a pair, and the following day's skiing back on the PRs comfirmed that opinion - despite being so wide, they're felxible enough to geta nice edge in when I get them over. I shall be sticking with the PRs until they die, and at that point Ill demo skis again. if I had to buy something tomorrow it would be a close run thing between the 2 K2 skis: the Apache Crossfires were super, but at 499 euros with bindings (500 without, for some very odd reason!) the omni 5.5 are almost 200 euros cheaper and the difference between them is not huge.
if anyone has any questions, feel free...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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nbt, thanks for the review. 
If you wanted a pair of K2s, all you need to do is come to the EpicSki Academy - as has happened at the previous Academies, K2 have given us a pair of skis to raffle (all proceeds go to running the website)
The winner can have a pair of any current model from K2.
I think the raffle tickets are $5 each. (but you have to go to the Academy to buy the tickets)
We give away other gear too, I haven't seen the full list for this year, but I believe it includes helmets, poles and bags.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I have the Head monster 175 with the intelligent chip have done a couple of kilometres at snow domes and I'm impressed. Going to give them the 1st week of proper skiing (snow permitting) this week so I'll let you know what I think then
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