 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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PaulC1984, sorry, not really a review. Just very excited. 
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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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haha, still a huge grin after trying skis is all the review one needs!!
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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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One Review:
http://www.exoticskis.com/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=302
2012-2013 Down Skis Countdown 6 (CD6)
127-107-121 r=25m @ 185cm
Manufacturer Info:
DOWN FREE sarl (CH)
Geneva
Switzerland
http://www.downskis.com
[url=mailto:gregor@downskis.com?subject=Mail%20from%20ExoticSkis.com%20Review]gregor@downskis.com[/url] (owner)
Suggested Retail Price (MSRP):
€650 retail
€349 (summer presale)
Usage Class:
All Mountain/Freeride Ski
Background:
This is a short-term review since we received our test pair of theCountdown 6 (CD6) from Down Skis in late February 2013, and subsequentlylost weeks and weeks of testing due to bad snow and weather conditions,which finally gave way to a couple quick weeks of great skiing in lateMarch before things melted down completely. We did not get a the timeon the CD6s we wanted. but we got enough days in different conditions toget a short-term review written up. Stay tuned in December 2013 forupdates on our experiences with the CD6s....(which are updated for2013-2014).
Rating (with comments):
(1="get me off these things"->10="I have to own a pair")
9+ for any soft or variable snow...mixed terrain
6 for boilerplate hardpack
8+ for packed powder groomers
Ski Designer(s):
Simen Stori (Norway) and Gregor Gieras (USA-Switzerland) and a groupof testers in Norway, Sweden, Italy, Austria, France, and Germany.
Summary:
The Down Countdown 6 (CD6) is described on the company website as:
"The “6” is ideal for those lighter skiers who want a full-grown,one-ski-quiver or those looking to complement their “2” with a more puretouring ski that has the same basic feel. We have taken the proven DNAof the “2” and tinkered with it to make an even more versatile andtouring-friendly ski. This ski can handle everything and be handled byanyone to become the one quiver ski you have been looking for. We notonly shaved off 4 centimeters from the length but also 250+ grams perski to make this a ski you can take from resort to backcountry.
Our unique, tapered tip and tail combination eliminates hooking andinstability while slicing through anything in its path. A moderateamount of shape and sidecut, coupled with a medium-stiff flex achieves abalance that makes this ski a true all-mountain, all-conditionsperformer. Ski fast in any conditions, play around on features, float inpowder, carve trenches on the piste."
I would have to agree with the CD6 description on nearly all points. They definitely have an addictingly spry, light, sporty, quick feel andhave excellent agility in tight or manky conditions, with no hint ofhooking or instability other than a slightly unanchored feel at highspeeds on hardpack surfaces (this ski is aimed at more off-pisteconditions, where it excels, and should not be considered a dedicatedgroomer-zoomer by any means). I would disagree with "...carve trencheson the piste.", unless the piste is somewhat packed-powder or softer inconsistency. I think dedicated carving skis "carve trenches", whileall-mountain skis or skis biased toward off-piste tend to merely "carvetracks". The CD6 is definitely an all-terrain ski, with a wide varietyof excellent response and athletic handling traits in all but trulynasty boilerplate conditions.
The combination of a 25 meter radius and very lightweight chassismakes the CD6 a ski you can ride for hours in all kinds of conditionsand terrain without straining, and the carbon-rich layup provides aresponsive feel without any hint of nervousness or "ping" sometimes seenin other carbon constructions. The CD6 definitely seeks the off-pistemore than frontside groomers and shows its highest performance "in snow"rather than "on snow", but is completely predictable and fun getting toand from the lifts with authority and security, making some really niceturn shapes on demand with very little effort. One thing thatconstantly came to mind with the CD6s is the remarkably low level ofeffort it takes to handle them in variable or "wild" snow conditions inthe woods, open areas, streambeds, flats or steeps. They never fightback and always give you control quickly when needed, while giving you afun ride.
If there was any new snow (good or bad quality) dumped on our GreenMountains overnight, I grabbed the CD6s as one of the two or three"go-to" pairs of skis for uncertain conditions from our test fleet,leaving the others behind...that should tell you how we felt about theseskis. The remarkably light weight was especially nice when hiking theskis to and from different places.
Technical Ski Data: (from Down's specs)
Ski Length =185
Ski Type = Flat & Square Tail
Sidecut = 127-107-121
Sidecut Length =1300mm
Radius = 25m
Recommended Mount = -9cm
Camber & Rocker = Low camber, rockered tip & tail
Weight Per Pair = 3700g
Measured weight: 1885g (one ski) 1880g (other ski)
Layup = Light Triax & Full Carbon Layer
Manufactured in Europe
Bindings and Boots Used:
Tyrolia SP120 demo bindings, Mounted -8 per recommendation from DOWN.
Salomon S-Max 120 boots.
Pre-Skiing Impression:
The CD6s came out of the bag nicely finished, with a great matte finishtopsheet and simple, clean graphics that grow on you more and more asyou live with them. If you want a flashy, screaming-skulls andtechnicolor explosion look on your skis...look elsewhere. They have adefinite "high-tech" look. Hand flex is moderate or medium stiffnessthroughout the ski, with a fairly round, even pattern front to back. Torsional stiffness feels neither soft or stiff to hand-flexing, butprogressively stronger from tip to mid-body, with fairly stiff torsionalstrength at the tail.
Fit and finsh were excellent, and the pair was nicely matched bothphysically and graphically, with only 5 grams weight difference betweeneach ski. The first impression upon seeing the skis was "...this is aski that can go anywhere. It's not a special-purpose design." Tip andtail taper and rocker profile was moderate, with a definite bias towardfront-end float and relatively tight tail finishing shape.
Test Conditions:
Eastern corduroy, packedpowder and hardpack groomers, ungroomed packedpowder withsmall bumps, shin-deep to knee-deeppowder conditions,both smooth and bumpy. Windpack, crust, chalky wind buff, fresh andold powder, weeds and brush...lotsa trees).
Test Results:
Based on the few weeks we had to test the Down Countdown 6 skis, Ipersonally found them to quickly become my favorite choice when the snowwas variable or the terrain tricky. The other ski that had this effecton me was the Praxis Concept, but in a different way. The PraxisConcept is a wider, more "platform-like" ski, while the Down CD6 is moreof a "precision-like" ski. The Concepts are more floaty and drifty,while the CD6s are more surgical...but having the same result of makingtraversing odd or variable conditions ridiculously easy...it justdepends on what feel you want underfoot that day. The folks at Downhave had a couple seasons to refine their models since launching theidea and original designs back in 2006, getting several years ofprototype testing from 2009 through commercial release in 20011. Thefeel of the CD6 gives the impression this ski was designed and refinedto behave exactly as it does. That might sound odd, but that's theimpression I get from this ski.
Hardpack and Boilerplate:
I define "hardpack" as a surface that allows cuts less than a fewmillimeters deep when you carve a ski hard into it, but definitely shows"ski tracks". I define "boilerplate" as a surface that essentialyshows no marks when you carve strongly across it. The CD6 behaves likean all-mountain ski with a shorter radius than its 25 meterspecification would lead you to believe since it starts and finishesturns so easily. It's not a dedicated hard-surface carving tool, butleaves excellent turn shapes on hardpack with very few calories burnedby the pilot, It's quck and easy to change direction on demand. Turnradii can be adjusted during the turns with very little effort. Thefaster you go, the more you notice the very lightweight nature of theskis. While never "squirrely", they feel less and less "planted" on thehard surface as you approach speeds that get the attention of skipatrolers nearby. This is normal with nearly all lightweight skis, andas any racer will tell you, a nice, heavy ski setup (ski, binding,plate) can give a sense of security at high speeds on hard surfaces. The CD6 feels very light compared to most skis in its category, andwhile there is always control at speed, I felt they were less and lessplanted on hardpack as speeds climbed up and up. Vibration dampeningwas moderate, neither too little or too much, and the quickresponsiveness of the CD6 made it feel very lively on hard surfaces.
On boilerplate, the CD6 showed its only real weakness: it does notcarve like a race ski...it feels like a very light all-mountain ski ortouring ski when you get it on bulletproof surfaces. It does not loosecontrol or directional integrity...it merely signals it is notenthusiastic about holding hard-pressure carving trajectories acrossboilerplate. It looses a bit of grip in the forebody at the rockerpoint, and the tail can give way gradually if pressed too hard at toohigh a speed on intensely hard surfaces. If you switch from GScarving-mode to a more punchy SL style on the boilerplate, the CD6behaves more confidently, with plenty of energy and edgehold underfootto get directional changes finished with little effort. We could havetuned the CD6 to track better across boilerplate, but would have lostthe great pivoting and slarving ability by flattening the base bevel toomuch and going sharp tip-to-tail. Overall, hardpack behavior was verygood, just not race-like or unusually great for a ski in this category.
Mixed Conditions:
Mixed snow types and surface consistencies is where the CD6 shines.The first day I took the CD6s out, it was a mix of ancientfrozen-thawed-refrozen base with some wet, heavy snow skied out in alldirections, topped with a few inches of fresh, dry snow. Tricky was theword of the day, and the Down CD6s felt like I was dancing over the oddand variable depths, densities and underlaying material in all kinds oftight, open, smooth or bumpy terrain. The lightness was immediatelyapparent and addicting, requiring very, very little effort to start,hold or finish turns or directional changes. Scrubbing speed was veryeasy, as was dodging oddities in the terrain or surface consistencies. Contrasted with some skis which float-and-stomp their way over suchconditions, the CD6s encouraged precision targeting in, over, next-to oracross anything in my path. One of the nice things I found with theCD6 was the ability to really enjoy precision placement of each skiexactly where I wanted it without worrying about it deflecting,washing-out, twitching or otherwise misbehaving. I could put the skisexactly where I needed them to be, then apply as much or as littlepressure as needed and get exactly the behavior I wanted over andover....all with very little effort. The CD6 does not need or want aheavy-handed pilot, and rewards a precise technique with excellentfeedback not only underfoot, but along the entire length of the ski. There is a great feel and high-degree of non-intrusive communicationfrom these skis in wacked-out or variable terrain or surfaces. Fun funfun. Did I mention they are lightweight and responsive?
Bumps:
Bumps were easily navigated either bouncing along their tops, orslithering in the troughs. The component layup of the Down CD6sprovides a lively and controlled rebound and gradual resistance tocompression which makes it easy to get them in and out of bumpy terrainquickly. No hint of tip or tail hangup, even in somewhat heavy snowconditions in bumpy terrain. They have excellent agility and ability toreset after mistakes without feeling like you're being taken for a ridewithout your consent. I had some of my best runs in knee-deep powderbumps in the trees with the CD6s.
Powder:
We were lucky enough to have some epic Nor'Easter powder dump weatherduring the last couple days of testing, with tons of runs in 18-20inches of fresh pow at Magic Mountain, Vermont (one of our favoriteold-style ski areas left in North America). Despite their 127-107-121 dimensions, the CD6s feel like they float like wider, fatter skis because of their flex and rocker design and light weight.I found they could surf the top layers of snow easily, yet you coulddrive them down into the snow a bit to slow down, dropping your depth asneeded, and bring them back up to the surface with slight weight orpressure change, doing a nice porpoise impersonation as needed before,during or after turns. "Adaptive" is the word I would use to describethe Down CD6 powder behavior. Since they are 107mm underfoot, they donot have the massive floatability of dedicated specialty powder skis atwarp speeds, but they would make anyone totally happy on any powder dayyou might run into. You can throw them sideways (thanks to the taperedtip and tail and moderate rocker) to scrub speed or avoid obstacles,smear a bit at the entry to some tight spots, drift them or set theminto a tracking mode with minimal effort...always producing a highconfidence factor at all but the craziest speeds....and do it all daylong...that's a big plus.
Analogies: (this ski is like...)
A sporty, lightweight aircraft.
Things I Would Change About This Ski:
I don't think I would change anything about this ski, other than try aproportionally wider version...scaled up to about 120mm underfoot to seehow it would behave. Perhaps a version with a slightly beefier flexand torsional power for hard surfaces...but then again...maybe not...
Short Answer When Someone Asks "What Do You Think About This Ski?":
This is one of the most fun, light-feeling all-terrain skis you willfind...and at preseason prices of €349...a huge bargain. It's not forheavy-handed, bullish skiers who might overpower it. The CD6 rewards abalanced technique and craves quick-footed terrain. Fun, fun fun andvery little effort for high-performance skiing.
Advice To People Considering This Ski:
Seriously consider the CD6 with AT binding setups and head off-piste fortouring, but get yourself a good heel-locking model for downhill resortruns for lift-serviced frontside fun. Alpine bindings would be greattoo...but you will miss some of the great sidecountry behavior this skican deliver.
Self-Description of Skiing Style, Ability, Experience, Preferences:
5' 11", 180 lbs. 53 year-old expert, "old-style" race inspired, "footsteerer" with fairly sensitive edging feel. Loves to hold long arcswithlots of pressure on the downhill ski (you know the type), butalsoloves the feel of both skis on-edge leaving tiny railroad trackedgetracks. Loves powder when it's not tracked out. Trees and oddterrainangles are fun.
Pics:
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I'm not the only one sitting here refreshing the tracking page on DHL am I?
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Chrisssyg, that's all I've been doing for most of this week.
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Mine are at Heathrow delivery depot and have been since Saturday at 8am  Was hoping to get them this weekend as I'm away all week but no such luck. What have you ordered Rishie ?
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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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Countdown 114s. They should be delivered to spyderjon tomorrow. Fingers crossed for you. What have you ordered?
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exoticskis, thanks for the review too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've got some Countdown 107's. Mine have been delivered at home but I'm 100 miles away for the week, I'll be rushing home on Friday that's for sure!
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FAQ
