 Poster: A snowHead
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2014-2015 Amplid Rockwell 182cm
128-96-118 r=14.36m @ 182cm
Manufacturer Info:
Amplid GmbH und Co. KG
Hammerer Hof
83730 Fischbachau
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 8028 1713
Telefax: +49 321 2125213
http://www.amplid.com
Suggested Retail Price (MSRP):
$629 usd
Usage Class:
All-Mountain
Background:
Amplid was founded in 2005 by Peter Bauer and Anian Thrainer to buildbetter snowboards and skis. They are comitted to selling fewer, butbetter products that make skiers and riders happy, and their suppliersare all within 400km of their headquarters. Their designs aremanufactured in Elan's high-tech facility in Slovenia, as are manyhigh-quality smaller brands concerned with quality and consistency.
Rating (with comments):
(1="get me off these things"->10="I have to own a pair")
8+ for packed powder groomers
9+ for variable snow conditions less than Super-G speeds
8 for boilerplate hardpack
8+ for powder
8 for bumps
Manufacturer's Description:
"With the Rockwell the days of the old-fashioned ski quiver arenumbered. Jekyll & Hyde Geometry jams the floatation of a fat ski,the cranky reactive sidecut of a groomer specific slalom ski and thefreestyle performance of your favourite park planks into one ski.
Reverse sidecut in the Rockwell’s early-rise nose and tail minimisesski drag in deep snow increasing stability and adds a loose slashy feel.Get creative on any terrain in any conditions.
Size-up ~5cm from your normal park ski length for the perfect Rockwell. ."
- Amplid website 2014
Summary:
The description of the Rockwell from Amplid is right on. The Rockwellsimpressed us from the first two turns, and continued to deliver asurprising level of high performance no matter what kind of terrain orsurface we threw at them. Quite simply, the Amplid Rockwell should be areference standard for how good an "all mountain" design can be. Theyturn like a much narrower ski on hard surfaces, yet float nicely in softconditions. They are more finess and technical style skis thanhard-charging planks, and reward a technically proficient skier, butcould be easily enjoyed by intermediates with nearly zero effort. TheRockwell design has an eager, turny, smooth personality when you roll itup on edge and pressure it, complete with an impressive automatichook-up starting up front... pulling the entire ski's effective edgeinto the carve as deep as you want, letting you gently release andtransition to the next turn with power and authoritative surface contactwith high-G, high-edge angles, or snap it out with some quickacceleration to jettison you up and out to the next turn in a bright,poppy manner...even on hardpack. It can passively ride across variablesurfaces with very little input from the pilot with a quiet, confidentfeel and zero deflection, or drive agressively through the same terrainwith an energetic, agile, authoritative behavior, and tha's a raretrait in most all-mountain designs. Bumps are downright fun andeasy,and the Rockwells feel surfy and slashy in powder conditions, beingtotally fun in the process. Legit-deep powder will find you wishing youhad more than 96mm underfoot, but then again, this is an all-mountainski, not a specialty model. All in all, the Amplid Rockwell is reallyimpressive, and a bargain at its retail price. Good luck finding a pairin North America.
Technical Ski Data: (from mfr specs)
Overall Length 1820
Running Length 900
Sidecut Depth 14
Size 182
Sidecut Radius 14.36
Tail Height 51
Tip Height 61
Tip Length 470
Tip Radius 400
Tip Width 128
Tail Length 450
Tail Radius 400
Tail Width 118
Waist Width 95
Rockered tip, tail with camber underfoot
5 Point tapered tip and tail sidecut design
P10 Superlight Core
Sintered GE 7.2 Lightspeed base
Designed in Germany, Manufactured in Slovenia
Bindings and Boots Used:
Tyrolia Attack 13 Bindings
Salomon S-Max 120 boots.
Pre-Skiing Impression:
The multi-colorblock topsheet is stunning and grabs your attention awayfrom the superbly finished assembly of the Rockwell's pieces. Matingends and edges are essentially flawless, and the finishing work istop-shelf. The ski has a remarkably light feel to it, with a moderateflex tending toward the soft end of the spectrum. Tips and tails weresofter than the midbody. Dampening is best described as moderate, andtorsional strength is moderate at either end. Based on the hand flex andfeel, the Rockwell seems like a ski with a soft snow bias (we guessedwrong...read on below).
Test Conditions:
Eastern corduroy, packed powder and hardpack groomers, boilerplate,ungroomed packedpowder with small bumps, shin-deep to knee-deeppowder conditions,both smooth and bumpy. Windpack, crust, chalkywind buff, freshandold powder.. We only got a few days testingtime on the Rockwells, but the variety of snow conditions waswell-varied (lucky for us!)
Hardpack and Boilerplate
The Rockwell surprised me from the first two turns on our Vermonthardpacked groomers. By hardpack, I mean a surface where only slightcuts are left in the surface when executing a turn at speed. TheRockwell's rockered, tapered tips and tails shorten the flat runninglength of the ski like other similar designs, and when you roll it up onedge slightly, the forebody locks into the surface and generates apulling sensation, drawing the rest of the ski into its underfootsidecut automatically, distributing the ride pressure along the ski'slength right through the tail with impressive authority for such aneasy-skiing design.
Some other skis with a similar rockered tip and tail with some camberunderfoot can feel insecure, drifty or washy, but the Amplid Rockwellhas a carving ski behavior beneath its agile and easy exterior. Thegrip underfoot and along the contact length is one of the best we havefelt in a ski with this design and dimensions, allowing the pilot to setthe ski into an arc, apply increasingly intense pressure withconfidence-inspiring security as you tighten the radius or increasespeed. Release the ski and roll it onto the opposite edge and theRockwell automatically feeds itself into the next arc with very littleeffort, never fighting the pilot or requiring any extra input. Itresponds really well to letting your body weight and inertia influencecentrifigal force to create the edge-setting behavior...no need tomuscle the ski at any time.
High speeds on really hard surfaces can reveal the shortened runningsurface of the rockered design front and rear and make the ski feel abit loose, but vibrations are kept at a minimum, and edge contact isconsistently available...keeping control within reach at all times. TheRockwell displays carving behavior better than nearly any other skiwith a similar all-mountain design, which would make it a great EasternUS all-mountain choice. It is not a race ski, but experts will love theway it sustains high-g, high-edge angle carving antics with confidenceand control. The 14.6 meter radius is plenty turny and agile underfooton hard surfaces, yet stable enough for early-morning groomer speeding.
Mixed Conditions:
Mixed conditions show off the design of Amplid's Rockwell really well. This ski is most at home ripping through a wide variety of snowconsistencies and terrain types at a variety of speeds. While theRockwell can flex through its optimal range of motion quickly if you area heavyweight or force it agressively (it is not a hard-charger, butnot a fluffy ski either), it has a huge range of performance availablein mixed surfaces for intermediates to seasoned experts. The Rockwellhas one of the most versatile collections of capabilities in mixedterrain we have seen in all mountain design, and continually impressedeveryone.
The design of the rockered tip and tail height, length and taper, inconjunction with the flex behavior of the ski create a compliant ridewhen traversing mixed materials, rarely, if ever, deflectingoff-course. The tail never seems to hang up in tight situations likebumps or trees, remaining agile and capable of being thrown sidewayson-demand to scrub speed or change direction on-demand, yet remainsstout and reliable for pressure and support when needed.
The lively, energetic feel of the Rockwell makes it fun andadventureous, always responsive to input and never balky or sluggish. The Rockwell achieves that hard-to-find balance of floatation and driftwith precision power delivery and directional integrity when needed, andwe applaud Amplid's designers for it. The icing on the cake is the lowlevel of effort needed to get the Rockwell to go where you want, whenyou want. Amplid has renewed our faith in what an all-mountain ski canreally do when designed properly with the right ingredients.
Bumps:
The Rockwell can rip through the bumps fast or slow with greatconfidence with its tapered, rockered tip and tail never deflecting orhanging up. The fairly soft forebody absorbs impacts very well,reducing the beating experienced by the pilot, yet the midbody andforward portion of the tail provide an energetic rebound platform tolaunch yourself toward your next target with a lively personality. TheRockwell iis not a specialty bump ski, and will not thrill bump addicts,but for people who encounter or seek out bump fields in theirall-mountain travels will find they can attack or run passively...whichis super handy and useful in a ski.
Powder:.
Amplid describes the Rockwell as having a "loose, slashy feel" inpowder, and we would agree. It takes to powder snow with a playfulpersonality, showing its turny sidecut behavior in the trees for quickagility, yet can plane and surf really well for a 96mm-waisted ski atslow or higher speeds. Some skiers might find the Rockwell's turnradius a bit too eager in pure powder conditions where they might beused to a more straight and surfy ski design, but you can control itsturny behavior easily by using less force and weighting and more finessin soft conditions. For wide-open snowfields at high speeds, there aremore floaty and stable powder skis in the Amplid lineup, but forpowder-filled trees and glades, we thought the Rockwells were excellentfun.
Analogies: ("This ski is like...")
A Swiss (well... German-designed) army knife with a well-honed, high-performance tool built in for neary every situation
Things I Would Change About This Ski:
Nothing...other than a 164cm length for small or lightweight skiers.
Short Answer When Someone Asks "What Do You Think About This Ski?":
One of the best all-mountain designs we have ever tested. Great feel,great performance nearly everywhere on the mountain and requires verylittle effort to pilot. The lower-than-average retail price makes it abargain. A real bargain. Hard to find in North America.
Advice To People Considering This Ski:
The Amplid Rockwell is worth the hunt to find a pair if you are lookingfor a really effective all-mountain design with a huge range ofhigh-performance on many kinds of surfaces and terrain. E-mail Amplidto see if they can identify a source.
Pics: (click images for larger versions)
 Amplid Rockwell TIp Rise
 Amplid Rockewell Tails
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