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Salomon X-Wing Tornado

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I am 43, skied since I was 7 years old. Ski for fun on-piste and off-piste when conditions are good. Fancy my own skis...

Want them to carve well, be light and easy to turn, stable when flat out without chattering and yet capable off-piste (don't want much do I?).

Considering Salomon X-Wing Tornados or Bandit B2's.

Has anybody skied these and what do you think?

Roger Lightfoot
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I am 58 years old, weigh 72Kg, have been skiing for 19 years and am rated by the SCGB as Advance Intermediate (FWIW) skiing mainly on-piste but with occasional forays off-piste.
My current skis (Crossmax 8 Pilot 170cm) are well knackered so I have just bought a pair of Tornados (162cm). I haven't tried them on snow yet but I tested a similer model (XW Blast) on the dry slope and found them to be solid, stable but lively when pushed. (A bit like me really wink ).
I will be skiing in Verbier 20-27th January and will report back.
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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?
johnw, I'll watch you there then snowHead
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marc gledhill, You'll easily spot me - I'll be the one doing face plants in the powder (if there is any) Madeye-Smiley
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
johnw, we'll all be on the lookout for you then wink

There will be powder!!!
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Johnw

I'm looking forward to hearing about the Tornados - hope you have great snow and a great holiday.

Roger
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
No personal experience but a friend of ours skied the Tornados at Xmas and enjoyed them a lot.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I'm now back from a great week in Verbier at the Warren Smith Ski Academy.

We started the week on icy pistes and the Tornados felt really stable with good edge grip/control. The transition from skidded to carved turns is gradual and easy to control and it's easy to vary the turn shape - they don't feel "locked-in" to a particular radius. They provide a good rebound from turn to turn.

Mid-week we had a dump of snow which left 20-30cm of powder on piste. I am not an accomplished powder or off-piste skier (which is why I was on the course) but the Tornados were a great confidence booster, they provided more flotation than my old CrossMax 8's and helped me control my tendency to overweight the downhill ski in powder. Towards the end of the week, we ventured more off piste into what Warren calls "variable snow" - a mixture of powder (fresh and tracked out), steeps, bumps, etc. In these conditions, the Tornados provided a stable and controllable (within the limits of my ability) platform.

In summary, the Tornados seemed to me to be a good all-mountain ski and they certainly suit my needs. However, I did have an interesting problem with the bindings (see http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=537049#537049).
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John

Thanks very much for the feedback. Skiis sound great - the binding problem is a bit of a worry though. Please would you be kind enough to let me know the outcome.

Thanks

Roger
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rogerlightfoot, skiis are great. I've talked to Salomon about the binding problem and they hadn't heard of such a thing happening. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the problem was due to ice packing in front of the rear binding and preventing it from returning to its normal (open) position. Anyway, I'm going to have the bindings checked over by Lockwoods before I ski again (10-17 March). If my suspicions are correct they will, of course, find nothing wrong. I'm going to take the camera with me on the next trip so that if the problem recurrs, I will have photographic evidence! Also, I'll take a small screwdriver to remove the ice if necessary. I'll let you know what happens snowHead
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Thanks for the update.

Home for just a couple of weeks and then skiing again - don't you have a job to go to?!

Roger
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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.
Quote:

Home for just a couple of weeks and then skiing again - don't you have a job to go to?!

Yes, but I make sure that it doesn't interfere with skiing wink
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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
johnw wrote:
Quote:

Home for just a couple of weeks and then skiing again - don't you have a job to go to?!

Yes, but I make sure that it doesn't interfere with skiing wink
John w , what height are you? You are the same weight as me , but the tornado's you bought were 162's when your prevous ski's were 170's. I have a shop holding a pair of 162 Tornado's @ an amazing price of £275 , but i currently ski on 170's. How did you find the transition to a shorter ski.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Rob

Which shop please? Perhaps you would be kind enough to email me roger AT thelightfoots.co.uk.

I used to ski on 170's but skied in 160 Bandit B2's earlier this year which were great.

Thanks

Roger Lightfoot
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Salomon X-Wing Tornados isn't a joke ski name made to sound as manly and exciting as possible then Puzzled
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hoppo, Oddly within the same range, there is the "Sandstorm" how did that get signed off as a name for a ski?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
SMALLZOOKEEPER, could be worse - my skis are named after a crap band from the 80's and Mrs Hoppo's are named after an STD... Toofy Grin
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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?
Kadgagoogoo and Clap? Sounds like a cop series! Twisted Evil
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, Five stars and Burnin' Luvs Toofy Grin
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Hoppo wrote:
Salomon X-Wing Tornados isn't a joke ski name made to sound as manly and exciting as possible then Puzzled


Ooh I skied on these in Murren and so did my SO, we then switched to some Salomon carvers (not sure of the name). I also skied on B2s in Tignes . . . I liked all them, but I think my Favs were the B2s (girlie 166 version)



Am I now finally climbing out of the Apres zone? wink
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IncogSkiSno wrote:
Am I now finally climbing out of the Apres zone? wink


Toofy Grin It looks that way, resort advice the other day, now posting in the equipment threads! Next thing we know you'll be going on one of the bashes.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
IncogSkiSno, I'm just happy watching you climb in and out of those leather knee high boots of yours. Toofy Grin
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
hey guys , simple question. How was skiing on 162 Salomon tornado's compared to crosspilot's 170's for someone who i think is roughly the same size and ability as me.
maybe if i had posted 1000's of posts my question would have got a better response , but as i ski/mountain bike most weekends in scotland and time is not spent on CHATROOMS I dont have time.
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RobCrock, sorry - I lead the snowHeads sort of off-piste for you Embarassed

Welcome to snowHeads, by the way snowHead
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no problem hoppo , got the skis on hold for 2 days and was hoping for some advice before parting with hard earned cash. Great price , off to val' d'sere in 3 weeks , so was hoping for a bit of advice as i fancied a ski with a wider waist that could cope with both piste and some off piste . Was in val last year , march the 3rd , so much snow my 65 wide waist ski's were not coping ........or maybe it was me.... great site by the way and there are loads of great info from informed posters.
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RobCrock,

Can't help with your specific ski but maybe try and get afeel for what wider skis are upto in the equipment zone. Look for the Snowbase drop-down menu at the top of this page. Only skied the X-wing Fury myself and i've posted a review
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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.
RobCrock, sorry for the delay in replying - didn't see your post until this morning Embarassed . Tornado 162 vs. Crossmax 170?
First the shapes:
Tornado 124, 74, 106; radius=12.9
Crossmax 107, 69, 102; radius=15

Although the Crossmax is longer, the Tornado probably has a greater area and is wider underfoot. This bears out my impression that the Tornado floats better in powder.
The Tornado is a lighter ski than the Crossmax (which had the very heavy Pilot binding system) and despite, being advertised as a high performance ski, is easy and forgiving to turn. Their wood core makes them much livelier than the Crossmax with lots of rebound and they are "carvier" with a smaller turn radius.

FYI I am 170cm tall although I think it is weight and skiing prefererences more than height which affect the choice of ski length.

The only downside that I've found to the Tornado vs. the Crossmax is that it doesn't like going fast in a straight line - the tips tend to wander at high speed. I get round this by putting them slightly on edge so that they do a very big radius carve.

If you're a reasonable intermediate skier like me, who spends their time carving and skidding short to medium radius turns on piste with the occasional forays off-piste in powder or "variables", then the Tornado at 162cm will suit you.

If you spend all your time skiing the back country or straight lining it down a piste, then there are better choices.
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