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Val Thorens Ski Test 2008

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
At the event that shall not be named, we were lucky enough to have two days of ski testing from a number of manufacturers including; ZAG, Elan, Black Crows, Icelantic, HSFC, VIST, Amplid, Faction, Radical and Liberty IIRC.

Many thanks go to the guy 'n gals from these companies who stood around for two days freezing parts of their bodies off to help us noodles try out some of their toys. A special mention for Kiwi1 too, he effectively ran a whole week of ski testing for the brands he was in charge of. Oh yes, they also supplied free booze.

As I'd taken delivery of a pair from the High Society Freeride Company just before the trip, I wanted to make sure I'd bought the right pair. HSFC make three skis in lengths of 171, 179 and 187. Unlike other manufacturers though, all the dimentions of the ski change with length - so they get fatter as they get longer and the turn radius also gets bigger. I'm also told that this results in the skis stiffness increasing with length.

So, the 171 is 82mm underfoot, the 179 is 92mm and the 187 is 104mm. With me so far?

I'm 5' 11" 90KG (14 stone to you) skiied on and off for 20 years - although you wouldn't guess it - and was coming off a pair of Dynastar 8800's.

I wanted a ski to use in just about any conditions, so thought the 179 would be the one to fit the bill. However I was persuaded to go for the 187 and had bought them without testing rolling eyes

I skiied the 187's for the first two days before the ski test. Conditions were fantastic for the time of year - cloudy with soft snow in late April snowHead although the viz was pretty poor at times. I set off wondering how I'd cope with a snowboard on each foot; the answer was suprisingly well. They seemed very well mannered giants, a quick run down to the lifts showed they initiated nicely - probably needing less effort than my old 8800's - and it was just a question of perhaps altering my "timing" in turns a little to compensate for the greater width of the skis.

Sadly I only managed to test them for about 100 yards on a blue groomed run, before I had to cut back under the lift to try out a small, easy looking, off piste pitch we'd spotted on the way up. How I suffer in these tests.

That was about the story for the morning, a nice introduction to the skis and the resort with a mix of groomed runs with soft snow and a bit of off piste on easy pitches with a nice covering of 6-8" of slightly heavy snow. The skis ate it all up. There was an off-piste "clinic" that afternoon when we got into slightly deeper, steeper and heavier stuff and I felt like a pig in sh....clover! These puppies make the job in hand much easier Cool

The next morning saw me in the bumps "clinic" again wondering how I'd cope. Again it was cloudy - OK it was pretty thick cloud and we were in it! So the clinic was more a case of trying to put in short turns down a steep run which may have had bumps on it. I couldn't see them, but they must have been there 'cos I kept getting air at unexpected times, and again the skis coped very well - I even enjoyed myself. A quick 20min sarnie for lunch, and we were back out for a few more bumps and a bit of guiding round the off piste in the afternoon. A great day with the planks seemingly making everything easier for me.

Next morning was the ski test proper - and it had snowed overnight. Only a little but it ramped up the grin factor. I grabbed a pair of the 179's; the ski I thought I should have had and set off. On the lift these mid-fats now looked like my old slalom skis Laughing .To compare we ran the same few off piste sections we'd done over the last few days, but now they had boot deep fresh over the heavier stuff from the day before - hero snow. After an hour or so I had to return them and went back to Kiwi1. I gave the skis scores of 8's and 9's accross the board on the test sheets, I loved them.

Grabbing the 187's and heading, again, over the same runs I realised how much extra stability I got from the 104mm underfoot. These were even more fun!

Over the next few days I had the joy of even deeper virgin tracks down the Lac De Lou (top to bottom), a massive slush fest in Motteret (maybe 2 feet deep in places, I kid you not - think damp face shots and try not to get smutty) and some very hard packed on and off piste stuff towards the end of the week. In short, I loved the 187's and am sure thet were the right choice from the range. The only thing they weren't nice to ski on were flat hard pistes (pretty skittish) and cut up frozen crud, but that could have been down to me.

For all those other holiday skiier doubters out there; skis over 100mm are not hard to ski, they can carve, they can hold an edge and they will make your forays into the mixed snow conditions so much easier. I'm a convert, but sadly I now have to call everyone "dude" and wear baggier pants.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
nice one, you going for these as your one and only ski, or going to drag the slaloms along with you in future??
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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?
Mosha Marc wrote:
.......I wanted a ski to use in just about any conditions, so thought the 179 would be the one to fit the bill. However I was persuaded to go for the 187 and had bought them without testing rolling eyes

Cool Laughing
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
kitenski, having skiied this year at Tignes in mid Feb and Chamonix in early March when everything was pretty fully tracked out, I'll be taking one only, but deciding which before I go depending on the weather.

But it'll be the HSFC's as default I think.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
spyderjon, bloomin' salesmen eh? rolling eyes
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
So when to we get the ski testing rather than the advertorial? wink
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Mosha Marc wrote:
kitenski, having skiied this year at Tignes in mid Feb and Chamonix in early March when everything was pretty fully tracked out, I'll be taking one only, but deciding which before I go depending on the weather.

But it'll be the HSFC's as default I think.


off piste is all about skiing what you find, IMHO, it's not often you get fresh tracks tbh, so a ski that works in all conditions sounds ideal! Leave those pesky little pencils at home Wink
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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!
kitenski wrote:
Leave those pesky little pencils at home Wink

Or ski all over the mountain with them...? Wink
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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.
fatbob, I'm putting together the results from the test now. Give me a couple of days.
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
fatbob wrote:
So when to we get the ski testing rather than the advertorial? wink


Laughing

Advertorial for what though? wink
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