The results are in All Mountain Skis sub 100mm tested with Carv

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Weathercam, rather curious, how many pairs of skis get sold in the uk every year? Although it does occur to me that such an event won't be that hard to organise as the Mfrs are doing this sort of thing all the time.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@under a new name, this event is run by the Ski Industry Great Britain so all the manufacturers present are UK agents/distributors, so now a massive ball ache bringing the kit from UK with arranging carnets etc so many UK retailers present to test then order gear etc

Fingers getting cold now typing this on the lift!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Weathercam, if you get a chance, hacking a touring ski like Volk Rise Above down a piste to get a Carv score would be interesting

You'll need to Register first of course.

@kitenski, I'm back now, plus couldn't have done that too easily without a major faff, as Carv sensors/insoles are in my downhill boots and touring skis on test were pretty well all mounted with pins though there were a few with Shifts, so to get them into my touring boots like I say would have been a major faff.

Just back from up the hill and was consistently scoring 140's peaked at 143 which was my best prior to the test, but I did have that magic run where it all felt so good and my score of 146 reflected that.

Interestingly when I went up this morning, went to start Carv and there was a problem with the sensors after having charged them last night, as it's best to recalibrate them, but one sensor was not playing, eventually after pairing all was ok, but moral of the story do it at home before you venture out, especially when it's -10 !!

Hopefully this afternoon will write things up !

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Weathercam, it's like Oktobertest on heat! snowHead

After all it is free

Article now written up from my perspective, @KenX, taking a slightly different line.

https://stylealtitude.com/best-all-mountain-skis-2023-2024.html

Again the test showed up, given how quickly conditions changed, especially on the piste, and how difficult it actually is to test skis consistently well.

Feedback, I'm pleased to say from two industry insiders is most complimentary, as to what we tried to achieve.

I'm just back from being up the hill with the Salomon S/RACE GS 10 and managed to beat my previous score, but am still one point of the best score I achieved in La Clusaz with........

Just had a good response back from Atomic following on from the test saying how using Carv gives a really good comparison between the skis tested, mind you they would say that as the Redster Q9.8 came out top, and in their words is a "carving weapon".

I've now also looked at other reviews and it's good that we're all in agreement as to how good the ski is.

This is a more detailed one

https://www.skiessentials.com/2023-ski-test/skis/2023-atomic-redster-q9-8/

And I'm still trying like mad to get the equivalent of that magic run when the Redster just skied to perfection, with my GS skis rolling eyes

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I get what you're trying to do but in practice to a delta of less than 10 on a score around 140 across 4 categories is fairly meaningless to the lay reader. And maybe the best validation is back to what felt best - in your case the Redster.

I think maybe calibrating the Carv score from say 0 for a poo-poo skidder to 40 for Ted Ligety or whatever pro it is scored on would help in clarity.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@Weathercam, reading your write-up, it's a shame you didn't take your reference ski out for a run at the end of the day. That would have given you some idea of how much the deterioration of the pistes was contributing to the lower scores of the later skis. Easy to say in hindsight, of course Very Happy

.

snow reports

And my take from a different perspective:
https://www.stylealtitude.com/all-mountain-skis-review-2024.html
It was a real eye-opener how well skis in this category can perform on-piste, my Volkl SC carvers only give me a 3 point higher score than the best all-mountain skis tested!
In my mind, a one-ski quiver IS attainable and not the Holy Grail!

I like the idea of injecting some objectivity to ski tests. The protocol maybe needs tweaking as was mentioned above.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

I think it's a worthwhile review and interesting addition to see the relative scores derived from that measurement in supplementing subjective overview.

The quantative, subjective mix does provide a different slant on things. Obviously we can (and do) argue about many aspects of this topic on here, but you @Weathercam, & @KenX, were there, standing on the skis, pushing them down the piste and forming your own opinion to deliver that to us.
It makes a reasonably comprehensive fabric on which we can view these skis, along with reason why you two thought that was the case.

I feel it's of decent value and thanks for the efforts you put to offer what I see as balance in reporting that.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Ed_sec, - thank you. Sounding pretty good and definitely on the list (as is the 104 Tour version!).

Help!!

The results are in All Mountain Skis sub 100mm tested with Carv

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions