 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
first post on snowheads!
I would describe myself as an advanced piste skier and a reasonable off-piste skier (can comfortably ski powder and un-pisted blacks etc.). I am wanting to progress into doing some side country skiing and eventually build up into full-on backcountry / freeride skiing.
I currently ski a 178 Black Crow Captis and I am now looking at purchasing my first freeride / touring ski. Idealy I want a progressive ski that I can 'grow' into as you were.
I am looking at the following skis:
Black Crow Corvus Freebird (183) with Marker Baron binding. The Corvus is obviously a wider ski that wants to be skied aggressively, it is worth saying that I am c. 16 stone (ex rugby player) and ski fairly hard.
or
Black Crow Navis Freebird(179), again with Marker Baron bindings.
I will be mentored through my new off-piste venture by some competent friends with lots of touring / off-piste experience
Thank you 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Skip the Marker Barons, it's almost blasphemy to put them on those skis. Get either shifts, dynafit beasts or something much lighter, if you see yourself doing proper touring in the future.
I would also skip the Black Crows freebird models if solely for freeride skiing. You'd do better on something heavier. If you want to stick to Black Crows, look at the Navis, Atris or Corvus.
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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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Thanks for a very quick reply and thanks for the feedback regarding the bindings!
As for the freebird choice, I like the compatibility with the pre-cut black crow skins
Thanks
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The BC Freebird skis are very popular here in Cham as you might expect. I ski the normal Navis in a 179 and am about 4 stone lighter than you so I would suggest sizing up. The corvus is a good choice for a chargey, directional freeride ski that also tours reasonably well. The freebird models aren't excessively light so are fine for freeride skiing, although you could go for the normal models as well. I ski the normal Navis with a Shift for single day tours and it's fine uphill (not great but fine). The normal Navis is still under 2kg a ski.
As above though, don't put Baron's on them, defeats the point of a light ski. Plenty of Shifts going second hand these days, just keep an eye out.
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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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Have you ridden the freebird versions? They're pretty light and might not be best suited to you if you ski hard. I'd definitely try before you go down that route versus the standard versions.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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...another seconded opinion to go with shifts and (IMHO) avoid beasts: complicated, dubious reliability, heavy without the alpine binding features of a shift. Many freeride skis come in light enough to tour for a few hours quite happily and stiffer than a dedicated tourer. Scott scrapper 115 for instance.
Welcome to sHs BTW 
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@WestCoastShredder, black crows ferox freebird with tecton binders or shift
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Welcome etc to the SH massif .
Back ground ~ your weight/ 186 cm , I guess advanced etc ( but hey it’s the tinternet...), and I have a v v big ski ownership problem , with a weighting to DPS, Völkl and anything exotic . Strangely no Crows yet ( probably cos, like faction , I think they may be more marketing than truth - but that’s prob the same for a lots of these brands anyway.
Skis I would look at vvv seriously are the Head Kore 105 ( actually 107 in the 189 that you need for your height, a great value DPS knock off and much better than the Rossignol Soul 7 equiv. light enough for slack/side country with either a Shift or a kingpin and aftermarket skins cost the same as precut anyway so that’s no reason to stay in a brand .
Consider also the Head kore 99 s with shifts quiverkillered and then transition with binding to a wider ski once you have more experience - ie the ski cost might only be £300 but you keep the binding and move it on. eBay is your friend .
Other skis to def have on your list are the Blizzard rustler 9, 10 and maybe 11 .
Generally , even at your weight, I would suggest that you will have more fun initially with a moderately rockered 100 ish just over / around head height . The trade off of weight / stiffness is compensated for with carbon / graphene which requires more control and a Strong stance in chop and crud.
I would also say that to go from a softer 90 twin tip to a 100+ stiffer ski will need to change some skill, style, technique so I wouldn’t go too big too early either. You don’t t want to invest in a dream rig and end up on concrete...
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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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further to the above post , also consider the atomic bent chetler 100 with the shift , and black diamonds acessonist skins ( which work really well with the shape of ski ) at 1800g per ski its more than manageable for day tours and an absolute blast in softer conditions but really copes well with everything else , another suggestion would be kastle fx 96 , which do have laser cut matching skins if that's ur thing , you will definatly not over power this ski and it can do it all , think they also do a 106 width , also Salomon qst 106 is a highly regarded allrounder too
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| Sharkymark wrote: |
...another seconded opinion to go with shifts and (IMHO) avoid beasts: complicated, dubious reliability, heavy without the alpine binding features of a shift. Many freeride skis come in light enough to tour for a few hours quite happily and stiffer than a dedicated tourer. Scott scrapper 115 for instance.
Welcome to sHs BTW |
i wouldnt say the beast 14 has any reliability issues and its safety features match them of the shift all be it in different ways Id rather break my leg on beasts than tear my acl on shifts
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It was the Beast 16 toe that was unreliable. The Beast 14 was/is super reliable and is 10% lighter than a Shift and had two climbing heights (although it's a rubber band job to get flat). Dynafit should have never dropped it but their interest is in the weight weenie market. The Beast 14 has the most accurate and consistent release of any binding I've ever torque tested.
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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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@spyderjon, +1
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| spyderjon wrote: |
| It was the Beast 16 toe that was unreliable. The Beast 14 was/is super reliable and is 10% lighter than a Shift and had two climbing heights (although it's a rubber band job to get flat). Dynafit should have never dropped it but their interest is in the weight weenie market. The Beast 14 has the most accurate and consistent release of any binding I've ever torque tested. |
I've got beast 14 on a pair of my skis and the inspire a lot of confidence (although releasing the ski brakes in a blizzard can be an absolute pig!).
But I'd have thought a significant reason for their demise was
a) they don't allow you to ski in alpine boots unlike the Shift
b) as several here pointed out - at the original price point you could just quiver killer for lightweight pins and a framebinding and get the best of both worlds for the same money. I guess when dynafit had to cut the prices they weren't profitable?
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
a) they don't allow you to ski in alpine boots unlike the Shift |
The shift doesnt allow you to tour on an alpine boot though,
I cant see any reason why id be skiing in a shift in anything other than the touring boot id initially purchased the shift to match up with. Which then comes back to the fact the beast is £125 from sport conrad, cheap and just as good as the shift for the majority of skiers not back flipping in to Corbet's
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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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| Mother hucker wrote: |
| Quote: |
a) they don't allow you to ski in alpine boots unlike the Shift |
The shift doesnt allow you to tour on an alpine boot though,
I cant see any reason why id be skiing in a shift in anything other than the touring boot id initially purchased the shift to match up with. Which then comes back to the fact the beast is £125 from sport conrad, cheap and just as good as the shift for the majority of skiers not back flipping in to Corbet's |
I have beast 14 on my R108CL and it would be quite nice to ski them in alpine boots sometimes when resort skiing. Not a big deal but if i had the flexibility, I'd use it.
Clearly at 125 quid the beast is way better vfm but they are liquidating stock aren't they? Dynafit wouldn't make them to retail at that price.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks for all your replies guys. Off to my local touring / freeride shop this weekend with all your comments in mind!
I will keep you posted with the results!
Thanks for the warm welcome too 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Im missing an ACL due to the Beast 16, they are a bad overcomplex design and iced up constantly on me. cheap for a reason, wouldn't touch em with a barge pole. Why buy something pulled from the market.
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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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| skimottaret wrote: |
| Im missing an ACL due to the Beast 16, they are a bad overcomplex design and iced up constantly on me. cheap for a reason, wouldn't touch em with a barge pole. Why buy something pulled from the market. |
Very easy to blame bad luck on the gear. What's to say an alpine binding wouldn't have done the same? In fact, the evidence suggests that release at the heel (tech binding) is more likely to save the knee than an alpine binding which is designed to prevent fractures.
Not disagreeing on the beast 16, as above, the 14 is far superior.
I just bought a second pair of beast 14s over the shifts for my new set up; even when the shifts were on offer for £220. Part of my decision came in the ability to lock the toe out on them, as I ski quite regularly in places where falling is not an option, and so would be skiing around on the shift on a silly din. However, shifts are mostly plastic. They also seem a complete pain to set up, need constant readjusting, and there have been regular anecdotes of pre-releases on the TGR thread.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Mon 24-02-20 22:25; edited 3 times in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@JackSkier, "bad luck" In my instance the toe piece mechanism froze up and didn't fully engage the toe pins, the ski came off but didn't release causing a twist. have broke a few sets of alpine bindings but fortunately the failure mechanism was that the ski released in all occasions. Sh**t design.
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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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| skimottaret wrote: |
| @JackSkier, "bad luck" In my instance the toe piece mechanism froze up and didn't fully engage the toe pins, the ski came off but didn't release causing a twist. have broke a few sets of alpine bindings but fortunately the failure mechanism was that the ski released in all occasions. Sh**t design. |
Not sure, Jon would be, but think Beast 14 toe is used on some other dynafit bindings and is well regarded?
Think all the positive comments on here are about Beast 14.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Mother hucker wrote: |
| Quote: |
a) they don't allow you to ski in alpine boots unlike the Shift |
The shift doesnt allow you to tour on an alpine boot though,
I cant see any reason why id be skiing in a shift in anything other than the touring boot id initially purchased the shift to match up with. Which then comes back to the fact the beast is £125 from sport conrad, cheap and just as good as the shift for the majority of skiers not back flipping in to Corbet's |
Shift does if you get a crossover boot like the cochise, lange XT free etc. Seems a good option to me.
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[quote="mishmash".
"Strangely no Crows yet ( probably cos, like faction , I think they may be more marketing than truth - but that’s prob the same for a lots of these brands anyway. "
Tish tish coming from such a dedicated DPS rider I would have thought marketing oversell is right up your street.
....Anyway you didn't mention the zero Gs
I am still riding Salomon MTN explore 95 with dynafit speed turns (the only ones Jon could fit ) which I preferred to the Navis freebirds although most of my skiing is on Faction prime 3's with shifts as they plow all on days where it is more about the down. I find the shifts good as I use my downhill langes when not on a mission and Scrapa RSs for side trots
There is a bunch of other ephemera cluttering up various cupboards including beasts for which i have three skis QKed for (all way huge boards before skis went on a diet) unlike others I am not a keen exponent of the beasts in either the 14 of 16 toe configuration
I would think if west coast shedder is a recent ex ruby player he should have a good set of pow pistons and so should go heavier as more and more we are seeing big swings in the weather resulting in short periods of powder lying as powder, sparser coverage and more frozen slush.
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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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| Super Tennents wrote: |
| Mother hucker wrote: |
| Quote: |
a) they don't allow you to ski in alpine boots unlike the Shift |
The shift doesnt allow you to tour on an alpine boot though,
I cant see any reason why id be skiing in a shift in anything other than the touring boot id initially purchased the shift to match up with. Which then comes back to the fact the beast is £125 from sport conrad, cheap and just as good as the shift for the majority of skiers not back flipping in to Corbet's |
Shift does if you get a crossover boot like the cochise, lange XT free etc. Seems a good option to me. |
Keep the boots you have and go with barons then as opposed to buying new boots and bindings. You wont be doing any significant tours on shift and the boots you mentioned.
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FAQ
