 Poster: A snowHead
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@Powder Pete, belated ta v much for the advice on boozers in the area. Have discovered a couple of decent spots since, incl the Otter's Pocket for pies, mash, mushy peas and ale, just of t' Fishergate should you be in that neck of the woods.
Pleased to see the quest continues...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Seriously there's a pub called the Otter's Pocket? 
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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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Laser SCs are for pussies.
Had i said that already?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Dave of the Marmottes, yup, queer as owt they are oop here
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Good thread on the dilemma of ski choice but no one mentioned Dynastar and for the OP poster's height, weight and skill level I would suggest the Dynastar Legend 96 in the longest length of 186 for a "second" non teaching ski. Similar 5 point construction to the DPS skis with a lot of tip rocker, for the length quite a "turny" ski at 18M radius and quite good on piste, light (no Ti) but stiffish construction and torsionally stiff for its width. I ski FIS SL, FIS GS, Cheater GS, Legend 88 for touring, Kastle MX 84 for tele and Legend 96 for typical EU all mountain days which are lift served with mixed snow, variables, bumps and off piste. I don't have a dedicated off piste fat ski as I am 98kg 6'4" and anything over 100m kills my knees on hard snow or ice. If you are fortunate a few times a season and see a big storm coming with loads of fresh snow hire some fatties to test em out and if you get big grins buy a third set...
Chatting with people this season it seems to me that mid to upper 80's is a good all rounder ski and has taken over from the mid to upper 70's skis of ten years ago. The construction of skis has improved dramatically and I personally need to get with the times when suggesting skis..
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Chatting with people this season it seems to me that mid to upper 80's is a good all rounder ski and has taken over from the mid to upper 70's skis of ten years ago
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I think that is right. That's what I tend to recommend if people are foolish enough to ask my opinion
If they are strong skiers (i.e., already have good technique) and biased to off piste then mid to upper 90s
(both assuming they only want to run one pair)
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Bought the new 180cm Brahma 82 2020 model and they're beautiful. Really got to grips with them now and having a great time. They're great on the piste, in the moguls, off piste, powder, ice, slush. They can really charge at anything with confidence and I feel comfortable that I can ski anything in them. So much lighter than a race ski and the extra width helps so much with variable conditions as well as a bit of float from the small tip and tail rocker. You really notice that small tail rocker in the moguls. They never seem to feel too much ski and the 16.5m radius makes them easy to control for all turn shapes no matter how steep. It's a perfect all round 1 ski quiver for a low snow area for me. Highly recommended - Got there in the end! I'm finding myself going more and more off piste now. It's become very addictive. Marker 13 bindings feel a bit stiff and not as smooth as i'd like though. They ok but atomic ones always felt nicer to click into. They do the job.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The Brahma 82 is a just a flat mounted piste ski! 
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| skimottaret wrote: |
| Chatting with people this season it seems to me that mid to upper 80's is a good all rounder ski and has taken over from the mid to upper 70's skis of ten years ago. The construction of skis has improved dramatically and I personally need to get with the times when suggesting skis.. |
Interesting Scott, would a mid to upper 80s still get people the right level of performance for piste shorts and longs in BASIland?
Potentially a upper 80s must be as good as you'd get for an all round on and off piste ski? If it didn't lose any on piste performance, then it'd cover a huge range of conditions....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'd say if you want to bias towards the piste get the 82. If you want to bias towards the softer snow get the 88. But yes in my opinion 80-88 is where it's at for all around performance in every condition.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Have just bought the Enforcer 88 at 179 they are really great on piste & perform well Off piste , so agree with what you are saying
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| kitenski wrote: |
| Interesting Scott, would a mid to upper 80s still get people the right level of performance for piste shorts and longs in BASIland? |
Not for me, they wouldn't. My piste skis are either 72mm (Dynastar Speedzone 12) or 78mm (Head Titan), my 'all mountain' skis are Head Rev 88 or Head Rev 90, and my off-piste skis are Whitedot Ranger 108 Carbonlights or Whitedot Preacher Carbonlights. I notice a big difference in terms of what I can do between each category of ski and wouldn't choose the all mountain category for any course I was doing. I'd go with the piste performance skis for just about everything, except mountain safety courses in which case I'd use the Whitedots. Last week I used the Rangers on two days (plenty of fresh snow overnight, upper lifts open so skiing above the tree line, but they are really horrid on-piste), the Preachers on one day (fresh snow overnight, but skiing through the trees where the shorter length Preachers I have excel), and the Rev 90s on three days, no fresh snow overnight, but a good mix of variable snow on and off piste. The Titans stayed in the ski locker. It was a fun week 
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You know it makes sense.
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@rob@rar, out of interest how "old" are the Revs?? The Titan is pretty soft isn't it from what I recall, I got told it was too soft for me on my L2 for performance stuff... Have you tried anything like the Brahma 82??
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| kitenski wrote: |
| @rob@rar, out of interest how "old" are the Revs?? The Titan is pretty soft isn't it from what I recall, I got told it was too soft for me on my L2 for performance stuff... Have you tried anything like the Brahma 82?? |
Rev 88 (I think that's what they are called) are pretty old, 6 or 7 years? The Rev 90 are younger than that 4 years maybe? Although neither have been skied for that many weeks. The Titans are softer than the Dynastar, but I wouldn't call them soft per se. They did me fine for L2, not so much for L3 where I began to feel I was over-powering them in longs. Didn't feel that with the Dynastar, which are stiffer overall and especially in the tip.
I don't know the Brahma, and not sure I've skied anything like them. I know what I like and tend not to try many skis outside of those categories.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@rob@rar, Pure speculation, I wonder if newer skis are stiffer/more performant than 4-8 year old ones? I really should get to a big ski test!!
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I don't know the Brahma, and not sure I've skied anything like them. I know what I like and tend not to try many skis outside of those categories.
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Once again thinking out loud, have things changed sufficiently that we should be reconsidering our thinking based on what we used to know?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| kitenski wrote: |
| Interesting Scott, would a mid to upper 80s still get people the right level of performance for piste shorts and longs in BASIland? |
Not for me, they wouldn't. My piste skis are either 72mm (Dynastar Speedzone 12) or 78mm (Head Titan), my 'all mountain' skis are Head Rev 88 or Head Rev 90, and my off-piste skis are Whitedot Ranger 108 Carbonlights or Whitedot Preacher Carbonlights. I notice a big difference in terms of what I can do between each category of ski and wouldn't choose the all mountain category for any course I was doing. I'd go with the piste performance skis for just about everything, except mountain safety courses in which case I'd use the Whitedots. |
Rob - I have the Dynastar SZ12 as well in 166. At first I was worried they were too short (I am 176, 67kg), but after a few days I really enjoyed them, and have now done about 14 days on them.
How do the Head Titans compare? I’ve been considering picking a set up in 170 at the end of the season.... Are they good for those on piste days when there’s a bit of extra choppy snow days around before it’s been properly packed down? Somewhere between an all mountain and piste performance ski?
I also own Rossi 84ai but am thinking of changing next season as 176 length is just a bit much for my ability/build etc. I can ski them fine, but wish they were around 172 ish.
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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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@kitenski, I personally wouldn't rock up to a professional L3 or L4 exam on 80+ skis but would happily advise a client to do their L1 or 2 on low 80's skis that they own, are used to and can ski well. My advice to clients looking for a single quiver "all rounder/all mountain" width has gone up as in my limited experience of testing skis is that the mid waist size skis have gotten much better on piste. In my opinion ten years ago it was tough to find a ski much over 78 underfoot that didn't suck on piste but these days with lighter and torsionally more stiffer skis are now pretty good on piste and skis like the Deacons, MX84's etc are quite good edge to edge.
imv it is too simplistic to focus on waist width when comparing all mountain skis. Most clients when looking at getting into 50/50 all mountain skis tend to go wider but are more hesitant to decide to go longer than their on piste skis...
Side cut makes a big difference to surface area and skis like Robs Rev 90's (i had a pair) have big shovels and tails and offer a lot more float.
The 5 point designs like the DPS and the Legend 96 are amazing all mountain skis, tight side cut radius and shorter edge engagement on piste but long and floaty off piste. I love my Legend 96's and prefer them to my 88's that are stiffer and have a more traditional camber for instance.
Pure rockered skis are one trick ponies and only really any good in soft snow.
Being a geek I have a simple formula for the "float" on my skis, Float factor = Length * (tip width+waist width+tail width)/3 a turny ski with a low side cut radius tends to have wider shovels and tails...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| kitenski wrote: |
| Once again thinking out loud, have things changed sufficiently that we should be reconsidering our thinking based on what we used to know? |
For me it's not just construction that counts, although that's very important, but geometry. I find a wider ski slower is slower from edge to edge than I am used to, and often I end up getting too much on my inside ski early in the turn. Happened more than a few times last week when skiing on piste on the Rev90s and the Whitedots.
I eventually make the adjustment to my movements to avoid getting too much on to the inside ski, but then I'm left with a ski which is slow from edge to edge, encouraging more pivoting that I would like to do. This was much more pronounced on the Whitdots than there Head Revs. This isn't a problem, it's a natural consequence of skiing a ski outside the environment it was designed for. On the days when we had fresh snow, particularly Friday when it was very heavy, I was most grateful I wasn't on the Titans as that would have been far too much like hard work!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| anjunabeats wrote: |
| How do the Head Titans compare? I’ve been considering picking a set up in 170 at the end of the season.... Are they good for those on piste days when there’s a bit of extra choppy snow days around before it’s been properly packed down? Somewhere between an all mountain and piste performance ski? |
They are a bit softer than the Dynastars, and IMO the extra width of the Titans doesn't make a a big enough difference to warrant having the Dynastar and the Heads in your collection (I only have both pairs because I keep the Head skis in France and the Dynastar skis at home in the UK, the result of formerly having a Pro deal with Head, and now having a Pro deal with Dynastar). If you want something to complement the Dynastars I'd go for something a bit softer and high 80s or 90mm underfoot, with a bit more in the tip and tail, which is more like a mid-point between a piste performance ski and a off-piste ski. I think the Speedzone 12s and the Titans are too similar to have both, although they are both fine skis.
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I tried a load of skis at New Year - Enforcer 100 and 90, Fischer Ranger 102, Volkl Mantra and plumped for the Blizzard Rustler 10 in 188 as the pick of the bunch.
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Volpi mantra are epic
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| kitenski wrote: |
| Once again thinking out loud, have things changed sufficiently that we should be reconsidering our thinking based on what we used to know? |
For me it's not just construction that counts, although that's very important, but geometry. I find a wider ski slower is slower from edge to edge than I am used to, and often I end up getting too much on my inside ski early in the turn. Happened more than a few times last week when skiing on piste on the Rev90s and the Whitedots.
I eventually make the adjustment to my movements to avoid getting too much on to the inside ski, but then I'm left with a ski which is slow from edge to edge, encouraging more pivoting that I would like to do. This was much more pronounced on the Whitdots than there Head Revs. This isn't a problem, it's a natural consequence of skiing a ski outside the environment it was designed for. On the days when we had fresh snow, particularly Friday when it was very heavy, I was most grateful I wasn't on the Titans as that would have been far too much like hard work! |
When I've been skiing a narrower ski and go back to my R108s I have to widen my stance to avoid getting stuck on the inside ski. It's just as you say, if I try to move as quickly from edge to edge as I was doing on the narrower ski I come unstuck. I find a wider stance fixes the problem but sacrifices a bit of the fluidity. I don't ski with feet particularly close together normally, its just the R108s require me to be slightly wider than my natural stance. That said, I don't find them nasty on piste - it's only when the pistes are really firm that I genuinely regret bringing them out! My Redeemers though, they are generally nasty on anything but very soft pistes!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I just got some Enforcer Free 104s to replace my very old knackered ones as I was alternating between narrow SL skis and 120mm long powder skis which was fine when i knew what I'd be doing but not ideal for taking out on mixed days.
I've used them on soft pistes, scraped icy pistes, 20cm light fresh snow and a whole variety of off piste conditions including porridge and icy balled gullies. They really do seem to cope with everything very well. The 17.5m turn radius feels pretty nimble when carving and the stiffness is great for blasting through crud and soft bumps.
I'd be happy having those as my only ski.
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FAQ
