 Poster: A snowHead
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I got sent this email with the top 10 worst skis ever from realskiers.com, the review site, and I thought it may stir up a few memories for some, .....Olin MK1 I vaguely remember looking at in the late 80's in a shop in Aviemore I think?
10. Salomon BBR 8.9 - Created to facilitate "new sensations," the Y-shaped BBR 8.9 mostly inspired puzzlement, despite a mighty PR push by Salomon that included both a media blitz and a direct-to-consumer travelling demo to whip up skier enthusiasm. Good skiers regarded it as fatally underpowered and the concept failed to catch fire, fizzling after a few seasons.
9. Lange Ceramic - The ski trade has long depended on the aerospace industry for its materials research, which has led to the successful adoption of aluminum, carbon and Kevlar. Then there's ceramic fiber, concocted to handle the enormous heat of atmospheric reentry - not normally a requirement in ski design - and stiff as an I-beam. Lange's brief flirtation with ski making included a model so loaded with ceramic fiber it had the bending properties of a toboggan. But it was inflammable.
8. Hexcel Blue Ice - Perhaps weary of its skis' reputation for getting deflected, Hexcel produced a model called the Blue Ice with a Bildner double edge (literally, one edge on top of another) and a honeycomb core of un-deflectable, utterly inflexible aluminum. Skiers who experienced it once - only the brave ever tried it twice - were left scarred for life.
7. Kästle Carving Thesis - Kästle committed corporate seppuku with the 4-model Thesis series, all built with hollow tubes for cores. Claiming they were made in response to "North American dealer input," no one has yet found a single dealer who requested an expensive, ugly, dreadful ski that in defiance of its name couldn't carve its way through cream cheese.
6. Lacroix Soft Carbon - You have to admire the chutzpah of Lacroix in making a ski with all the coveted traits of a rental ski at a price so far above that of a first- rate race ski that it created cachet. The money-to-burn crowd ate it up, never realizing as they slid through mogul troughs at 3mph that the skis beneath them had the structural integrity of a dollar-store lawn chair.
5. Olin MK I - Olin made the MK I in an unsuccessful effort to revive its plummeting fortunes by inspiring memories of the Mark I, the flagship model that had won the brand an instant following. The most glaring flaw in this strategy was a unique design feature: vents in the sidewall, right under the foot, that immediately clogged the instant the ski was tipped into any substance in the snow family. The ski would deflect violently in mid-turn, but in Olin's defense, only if used on snow.
4. Graves - Beware the ski made entirely from one component. Just as Goode demonstrated the folly of an all-carbon ski, so Graves proved the limitations of an all-glass model. Touted to last forever and with a lifetime guarantee to back it up, their durability was a double-edged sword: you were doomed to ski them forever. Heavy as a Mack truck but as pliable as a slingshot, they were an agreeable powder ski but only compared to the other skinny skis of their era.
3. Elan Stiletto - Just when most mainstream brands were adding wider skis to their lines, the contrarians at Elan concocted the Stiletto. At 45mm wide underfoot, it required a bridge over the center section to provide enough surface area to attach a binding. The urge to be dramatically different drove Elan to sail well past the border that separates what can be made from what should be made.
2. Durafiber XR2 - Almost everyone who skied Durafibers during their heyday in the 1970's remembers them with misty-eyed fondness. Their snow feel was unlike any of other skis of the epoch. So why are they on our podium of odium? Because their QC was abysmal. Not only were no two pairs alike, no two skis, ostensibly forming a pair, flexed alike. Put on a true surface, their warped bases would rock like a cradle. Yikes.
1. Kästle B-52 - No ski failed quite so miserably at the business of making a turn as the unforgettable, omnidirectional B-52. Its rectangular tip skidded over the top of any would-be turn, when the bolt-straight midsection took over the sideways drifting duties until the paddle-shaped tail could wash out. The one thing this ski positively could not be made to do was remain on edge through any part of a turn, so naturally Kästle sold it as a carving ski. For this stunning achievement in design and marketing, we award the B-52 the honorary title of Worst Ski Ever.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Zorrac, is that a US site as while the brands are all familiar, they seem to resonate in a more north American way.
Roger Moore used to ski on Olins in "Spy who took viagra with me" iirc.
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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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@under a new name, right Bond, right skis (Olin MKVI), wrong movie  The Spy Who Loved Me was the white submarine Esprit. The ski rack one was copper coloured in For Your Eyes Only, in Cortina.
Do I win some anorak points?
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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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No 10 is BS. Yep they look a little odd but I couldn't resist buying a pair for a a silly low price last year and they are the most fun I have had with my cloths on.
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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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@Raceplate, nice one. Yes you do.
Extra point for naming the American jailbait he boffed in the back of the Esprit.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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These:
Skied on them back in the 80's and never found a good setting, and snow sprays up the slit, most disconcerting!
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| Zorrac wrote: |
| Not only were no two pairs alike, no two skis, ostensibly forming a pair, flexed alike. |
I believe this was true of Vielhaber skis too, the manufacturer could only afford a press big enough for one ski at a time.
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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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@under a new name, Yes its a US site, and very American, but I just thought it may be interesting.
One I do remember which was a bit odd where some dynastar skis with weights at the ends, and a mate trying to convince me that he had purchased the best thing ever....
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| Zorrac wrote: |
@under a new name,
One I do remember which was a bit odd where some dynastar skis with weights at the ends, and a mate trying to convince me that he had purchased the best thing ever.... |
Now they were the dog's danglies 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Zorrac, amazing, I have an old set of every ski on that 'worst' list in my garage. No wonder I've skied like Mr Bean. On Kastle B-52s I straightlined from the Grande Motte to the terrace of the Folie Douce, wiping out several table-dancers, before calmly ordering a Dubonnet, shaken not stirred
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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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Those pointy turquoise Salamon spoon looking things from a couple of years ago must be on the list, they look awful, don't know how they ski but look bad.
Worst skis I ever bought were a pair of Fischer RC7 GS (I think) 203 skis circa 1990, had a radius of about 200m and no flex....not fun in the moguls! 
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@Markymark29, They are the ones at No10.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Sun 17-01-16 13:07; edited 1 time in total
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You know it makes sense.
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| Markymark29 wrote: |
Those pointy turquoise Salamon spoon looking things from a couple of years ago must be on the list, they look awful, don't know how they ski but look bad.
Worst skis I ever bought were a pair of Fischer RC7 GS (I think) 203 skis circa 1990, had a radius of about 200m and no flex....not fun in the moguls! |
I would describe the look as unusual rather than bad. For 99% of us mere mortals who don't ski everyday of their lives, they also ski well.
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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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i would suggest (not ever having used them) that Bentley skis are all show and no go. For a lot of dough. Why would anyone buy a car branded ski at ridiculous prices, when there are loads of skis made by ski manufacturers.
anyone shed any light???
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
For 99% of us mere mortals who don't ski everyday of their lives, they also ski well.
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Have to say my wife loves her BBR sunlite or whatever the ladies version is called. Easy to carve and that big shovel and pin tail makes it very easy to ski off piste.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nah. The ones I had on my first ski trip to Livigno. I couldn't get them to work. Kept making me fall over.
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FAQ
