Which ski to choose?

A snowHead

Soooo... I just signed up for the PSB. I didn't think I would get out this season but I couldn't resist given all this talk of skis so I'm forcing it through! Now I'm going to see what I can find on the mountain. I'm going to skip the Fischers, but will be keen to try the others. I'll report back on them all here after the trip.

A snowHead

Also - bindings!

Look pivots all the way? Would those still work well with the Stocklis? I tend to think the Pivots would match the Bents or the Armadas really well, but not sure if that's still the case for the Ripsticks or Stocklis.

Any other (non-touring) bindings worth considering?

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

Given the earlier discussion about ski width suitability, I think this covers it nicely:

http://youtube.com/v/cqe76kRf-uw

Re Bindings - The Look Pivot is a great choice - but if looking for an alternative: http://kneebinding.com/KB-HomePage.aspx

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I had those in mind for my gf, as she will be coming back from an ACL injury. But that's a year away. Also the Tyrolia Protectors look to have similar tech, with dual sided release and some horizontal movement as well.

I'm thinking the increased stack height might not be the best for me though, based on reading reviews. People seem to say that it takes away from the feel and liveliness of the ski. I've also seen very mixed reviews for the knee bindings. Maybe the protectors will be better?

I think the question I have here is whether the pivots would go well on the stocklis and elans, versus say a Marker Griffon/Jester or Tyrolia Attack binding. If I end up with the Bents, Armadas or Line then I'll just go straight for a pivot.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

J ski master blaster is a very well built ski, (from the founder of Line skis) which seems to fit your criteria, however its not a "lightweight" ski. I think the latest version is up from 96mm to 99mm underfoot.. Mine are tele set up.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Yeah I'd very much like to try the masterblaster given it's heritage, or another J-ski. If/when I do another US trip I'll look into sorting that out, seems a bit harder to find them over here.

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

I was able to test most of the skis I was interested in on the PSB. Here's my mini ski review:

Stockli Stormrider 95 175cm: These were the first skis I tried, and I had them on two different days. The conditions weren't great, but mostly hard pack, a bit icy, and some crudded up snow off the sides of the piste. The skis were very capable, they held an edge well and took me over whatever I pointed them at without any issues. But I also found them kind of boring. They were very damp and planted on the snow, but they didn't have any life to them really. The skis were two season old rentals, so perhaps they had lost some energy, but in general, while they're very capable skis, they're not for me.

Elan RipStick 96 180cm: I tried these in the same not-great conditions, part of the ski test on the first day. The first thing I noticed is that they were very light. They also held their edge well, but they were WAY too soft for me. It was like there was nothing out in front of me. So I got off these pretty quick.

Armada Declivity 88c 176cm: These were the next ones I took out on the ski test day, in the same conditions as above. I absolutely loved these skis, they were amazingly fun to ski and a huge difference to the two above. Super lively, excellent rebound and pop, great on edge, easy to manoeuver, and just generally they wanted to jump off the snow at every opportunity. Any small bump in the terrain became a potential jump. They also stayed on top of the crud off the side of the piste very well for their width, I was surprised how well they did there. I'm absolutely going to buy a pair of these, and I wish I had them for more time.

Atomic Bent 90 175cm: Same conditions on the first day again. These were fun skis as well, much more playful than the Stockli and Elans, although I still rank the Armadas above them. These had very good energy and rebound (not quite as much as the Armadas though), and were also great at staying on top of the mixed condition snow off the side of the piste (probably the same or maybe a touch better than the Armadas here). They can hold and edge when asked to, but also release it easily when you want to smear them or do skidded turns, and were quick to move around as well. Another good ski all round for me.

Atomic Bent 100 180cm: These were also nice and I had them for a bit longer (rental rather than ski test), but in the end I preferred the 90's. it could have been the conditions which were mostly hard-pack, although I did take the 100's into some powder off-piste as well. They did well overall, easy and fun to ski, also energetic and poppy (not as much as the 90's though), and they had loads of float. I'd say noticeably more float than the 90's. But I think they were also a bit slower to maneuver and felt like they had a bit less energy and pop than the 90's. So it's a good ski, but for me personally I'd probably take the 90's over the 100's.

Kastle MX 83 175cm: Because the conditions were so hard-pack, I decided to take these out for some carving, even though they weren't on my initial shortlist. Quite different to the others above, and again a very capable ski, but a bit boring for me. They stay very planted to the snow, get around with no fuss, but they don't have much playfulness to them. Great edge hold though, best of the bunch probably. Just not my style of ski here.

Atomic Bent 110 180cm: I thought I'd take these out on a flyer as well, and I absolutely loved them. I ended up keeping them for 3 days of skiing, one hard-pack, one where I did some off-piste and found some powder, and then we got a big snow day on the last day out. These skis were so much fun, super playful, energetic and lively. They wanted to pop off everything. Excellent float as well, and very easy to move around. I didn't feel their width hampering their maneuverability much, they felt thinner than 110 (while keeping their float). I also tried moving the bindings back by 2cm as I'd heard about others doing this (they're quite close to center mounted), but actually I preferred the factory line. They lost some of their playfulness when I moved the bindings back, and there's enough float there that I didn't feel like they were lacking in deeper snow. And on the hard-pack.. they did surprisingly well. Obviously not a carving ski, but they held their edges just fine and I never felt out of control even when hitting ice patches (the skis did slide just like most of the others here, except the Kastle which had noticeably better grip than the bunch here, but it was still very manageable). I'm planning to buy a pair of these as well for deeper snow days, to compliment the Armada 88c's.

Some other thoughts:
- I'd like to try the Bent 110 in the larger 188cm size. Maybe I'll do this before committing to a purchase.
- I was also curious to try the Armada Declivity 92 Ti's, the next width up in the range, but I didn't get a chance. From what I've read though, they're quite different - much more damp and less lively than the 88c's, so probably not as good for me.
- I also would have liked to try the Elan RipStick 96 Black Edition. Maybe this would have been better for me, but I didn't have time on the ski test day.

Cheers, I hope this helps others considering the same skis.

After all it is free

@Luften, Great to hear your thoughts. 88 and 110 will cover most.

Good insight @Luften, with value having tried them in a short space of time to help validate.

I really like that 90mm-ish waist width as a general use ski for covering so many on mountain snow depth etc. Of course both direction up/down in width bring favour to harder softer snow, there's no surprise in that focus if it's where a predominant demand exists.

Interesting your view on poppy/lively skis as I generally prefer more damp, but just shows how personal wants can influence ski evaluation, well brought out in your assessment to help others here.

I've some Kastlè XX90 (bought new old stock) that for some could seem dead/damp in general use. They remain very true to response at any normal usage and utterly confidence inspiring even if caught off balance from malfunctioning skier input Very Happy

but being out skiing in less populated weeks Jan/March maybe at day's end, with very few skiers on piste, then with the choke off and throttle wide open they have a consistency, bite and benign malevolence at full speed that's just superb. I like finding a ski lay-up construction that combined with fairly undramatic geometry will give such a wide performance scope.

As you've done, finding something you really like the attributes of and run it all over the mountain is the definitive all mountain ski, for each individual. That can have a very different focus though from one of us to another.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Appreciate the write up @Luften!

Surprised no one has mentioned Black Crows Camox. I've not skied them yet, but supposedly they handle like a slightly more directional / heavier version of the Bent 90 / 100. Also an all wood core.

Help!!

Which ski to choose?

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