 Poster: A snowHead
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If you've seen Phil Stanton's post you'll know that we had two cracking days around Avoriaz/Linga on Friday and Saturday. Definitely the best days of the season so far. 'Twas slightly a surprise on Friday (and we had an early start) so the Sophster and I just went out on our slalom skis. Soph was skiing very nicely, managed to remember which leg to apply the knee brace to and seemed perfectly happy on her old Volkl P50 SLs.
I was out on my Nordica's and by jove, they were surprisingly competent for a ski that really isn't intended for free riding 50cm of freshies. Slightly tiring however but really make you work and really make you concentrate. Marvellous.
Saturday we thought we'd make life easier on ourselves and rented some Legend 8000s. Comment from Eric Baud, the proprietor, "you'll either love them or hate them".
I am afraid to say that we both had rather more fun on our own skis. At one stage the Legends were roundly described as "fat, flappy things". I know there are many SHs who like them, so I guess Eric was right. They just did not agree with Soph or me. They did make the pow pow easier, but at the expense of on piste stability and performance. A fast run down the Arare race piste had me struggling to keep up with my chum.
That said, they did make it easy enough for Soph to enjoy a fantastic run down the vallee de la manche. Possibly the best conditions I've ever done it in. Pity you couldn't see more than 8 turns in front of 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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David Murdoch, Ha ha..the 8000's are old hat...you should have got a Mantra or something a bit beefier. Get those DP Pro's in 180 and see how they run. No need to go much longer.
You really shouldn't be comparing 8000's with a Dobermann....
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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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JT, he he, DP Pros maybe this weekend...
Why not?
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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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David Murdoch, those SL-Rs are real race skis. Any all-mountain ski is going to pale in comparison in on-piste stability and performance!
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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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I prefer the 8800's to the 8000's, very stable at speed and better off piste than the 8000's. Ok on piste too, unless it's very firm. Haven't skied the Nordica's.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The Hot Rod Jet Fuel or Afterburner would be better comparison skis for the SL-Rs. They get much closer to that performance on-piste, and with the extra width deliver more float in pow.
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ssh, for sure, unquestionably, it's an unfair comparison - but what I found interesting was that the SL-Rs were much better as an all round ski than I expected, much, much better - whereas the 8000s were a big disappointment. They really gave me little confidence. And they sounded odd.
My old 9Xs, were, for me, a much better all mountain ski.
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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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| David Murdoch wrote: |
And they sounded odd.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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DM, 180, not much more...you aren't the tallest..and I think you'll love 'em...can't wait to hear what you think
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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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David Murdoch, two reasons why 8000s may not have suited you: a) you're only about 3' tall and hence probably weigh about as much as the contents of Kate Moss' bra   and b) you're an excellent skier  .
Of course the 8000 will perform worse on-piste than your Slalom skis - they're designed with a definite off-piste bias. But as you're fairly light you don't need most of the off-piste support that the 8000s give, and being a great skier you can control the slalom skis in terrain that would flummox most of the rest of us. By the same token, the last day I had off-piste with Phil Smith he was on his SL race skis and of course doing a great job, whereas the only ones of the rest of who were coping with the conditions reliably were on 88mm skis or wider. I'd agree with Spyderman that the 8800s are better off-piste than the 8000s, particularly for the less svelte of us, but I really didn't think they worked much on piste, whereas the 8000s did OK. Both are well superceded now though in terms of edge hold (but are still better than B2s  ).
I'd agree that something like a Stockli ski would be a better balance for you all round (with way better edge hold), but I think the DP Pros (which suit me down to the ground) may be again quite a bit more than you need (they don't really turn on a sixpence, to say the least), and they do need skiing fast (but that's no sacrifice eh ). You'd probably find more enjoyment though from something narrower, like the XLs.
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| Pity you couldn't see more than 8 turns in front of you... |
[yorkshireman]Looxury...aye...most of the time at LG we could only see the turn we'd just made!!![/yorkshireman]
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GrahamN, [laughs_out_loud]hee hee[/laughs_out_loud] 1. you are too kind. 2. hmm, me inside Kate Moss's bra. The mind boggles and hopes that Soph isn't around to read that. Actually it's me getting into her pants, not the bra, that I'm thinking (?!) about. Anyway, according to the red tops she's a "spotty drunk", so Soph's almost certainly not all worried... 
I'm not sure about the Stocklis. I quite like the idea of something that only does big lairy turns in deep snow. I really think I just want to try them. I think you're probably right that I don't need anything quite so wide, as I think both Soph and I are quite light on our feet. But it might be quite fun to have at least ONE preposterous pair of skis (clearly the SL-Rs aren't at all preposterous...unlike B2s <ducks>)
Dear Admin, can we please have a smiley for "ducks behind sofa as though confronted by a posse of stair climbing daleks"?
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