 Poster: A snowHead
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| Wear The Fox Hat wrote: |
Ise, well spotted.
My Pistols are still a fairly stiff ski. They are not like Salomon SuperNoodles.  |
Yes, I tried some, I'd describe them as fairly stiff, particularly at the tip and tail.
| Wear The Fox Hat wrote: |
gregh how much time were you planning on spending off-piste? If it's 70% plus, then go for a thoroughbred off-piste ski, and make sure you get appropriate bindings, i.e. NOT Salomon/Marker/Tyrollia, etc. Either go for Rossi/Look turntables, or go for touring ones.
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I have some Looks on my Zags, they're a good binding for the application, however, some caution is required. You won't need a carving plate with these bindings so the top and heel parts of the binding are going to be directly attached to the ski. Unlike some other bindings, say Atomic for example, you now have seriously limited the range of adjustment of the binding. For me it means I could barely adjust the binding for the Salomon boots I have since the boot length is radically different from the Atomics I have.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ise, my main reason for recommending the Rossi/Looks is that if your ski comes off in powder, you can get back into it without having to use any downward pressure on the heel, you lift the bar at the back of the binding, and click it onto your heel.
But, yes, mount them flush on your skis with no plates.
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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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Wear The Fox Hat, yes, that's why I have them as well. They're also good bindings of course.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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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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comprex, ah, those I know, they're pretty popular here as touring skis, I'd forgotten about them. My local store stocks them in fact.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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DB, if you are off to Gressoney you may struggle to get more than B2's or Salomon. I hope I am wrong for this season but they weren't too many choices last year.
I have rated Monster 75 and the B2 as good all round choices if you ski 70+% off-piste but the Stormrider XL blows them away completely and utterly. And although the Monster and B2 are good in deep snow they can't live with the XL for edge grip. If you have the B2 down to try then don't buy it before riding the Stormrider. For me, if you only have one ski get the Stockli.
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| JT wrote: |
| If you have the B2 down to try then don't buy it before riding the Stormrider. For me, if you only have one ski get the Stockli. |
Absolutley, if I only used one ski it would the Stormrider XL, not quite as good as my Zags off piste but it's very, very marginal and better than the Zags on-piste on ice.
30% sale in Stöckli stores after Easter apparently.
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Are you back Alan, if so what skis did you test and what did you think?
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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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Hi gregh, yep got back at the weekend. It was my first trip to Verbier and I thought it was great.
Re: skis. Erm, not quite as wide-ranging a test as I'd planned!!
Day 0: Wandered around the resort with my list showing it to various staff in the shops. Obviously no-one had everything I wanted but I found a couple of places who had a decent selection. So...
Day 1: Volkl 724 EXP (177s - I started longer than I'd intended). I hated them. I was really surprised as I'd thought that I'd be OK with any of the skis that I'd tried. They turned very easily but that was about the only positive. I found them to be pretty unstable on piste and to be deflected way too easily off-piste. By the end of the day, I'd learnt to ski them OK but I hadn't learnt to like them. They had one hell of a rebound as well - maybe I needed to be gentler with them.
Day 2: Rossi B2s (176). OK, this was more like it. Surprisingly easy to turn on piste and very stable at speed. Off-piste they were great as well - powered through most stuff and felt very solid. I even liked them in bumps which was a big surprise. The only thing I didn't get to try them in was powder. Probably the best ski I've been on.
Day 3: Well they had been so good on Day 2 I stuck with them. For the week. Which, with hindsight, I regret a little because I wanted to try a bigger selection. However, they were just soooo nice I couldn't help myself  .
So thanks everyone, I'm keeping the list for the beginning of next season when I might try to be a little more adventurous. If I haven't picked up a cheap pair of B2s by then!
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alan empty,
Hee! Hee! Hee!
B2's win again! They won me over too. Not hardcore perhaps but definitely titillating.
I didn't like the 724EXP either, but poss for diff reasons. They needed work to get something back and I don't like working all the time.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| slikedges wrote: |
| I didn't like the 724EXP either, but poss for diff reasons. They needed work to get something back and I don't like working all the time. |
It's really weird how experiences differ. I thought they gave too much back too easily! I guess it goes to show that there's no substitute for trying the skis yourself.
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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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lol, all that typing and you tried two pairs
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I know - I feel like hanging my head in shame 
I think I mentioned that I was having private tuition on days 2-4, so having found a ski I really liked meant I was reluctant to change it during those days (particularly after the disaster of the 724 EXPs!).
Then by day 5 I was so pleased with the B2s there didn't seem much point. Like I said though, I sort of regret not going back and trying another couple of pairs. I am a failure.
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You know it makes sense.
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I had 2 days free with B2's - so impressed that I bought a pair cheap this summer. Sometimes I think that once you 'click' with a ski (esp if you have bought it cheap) stay away from other models - in your mind that ski will stay the best you have ever used - this confidence can often help you to really push your limits. Ok - may be flawed but goes back to the old sporting shooting term 'beware the one gun man' - knowing your tool inside out is a hell of an advantage.
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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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The more that I use my B2s the more that I seem to get out of them. They seem to be quite a forgiving ski to me as well, which I quite like.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Oh no , not the B2's again...!!!
I understand that people like what they like and have done their homework but I will say it again.
don't buy the B2 without trying the XL Stormrider. I have recently been on this ski in Engelberg with the conditions
of recent snow. So, good deep snow was available and the XL is a fabulous ski in deep and steep, is strong enough to track through anything and a blast down the icy 4 o'clock run with an edge grip to die for. IMHO opinion the B2 and the Monster 75 cannot get anywhere near it as an allrounder.
And in the resort it was marked up 25% off..!!
I didn't buy it but I know I should have ...but since Engelberg is my next holiday and they have a dedicated Stockli shop I can just about forgive myself.
By the way, Engelberg is a crap place so don't go anywhere near it....!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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JT, what's the XL like in bumps? This was the one aspect of the B2s that I was very impressed by (particularly since in a 176 it is relatively long by today's standards).
I couldn't find anywhere convenient that had Stocklis in Verbier - the one shop I knew did was a bit of a hike from where we are staying. Maybe next year. Maybe in Engelberg
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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, have you seen this?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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alan empty,
I haven't had moguls as such all year and by that I mean a well bashed run/piste but in chopped up snow they were very good. They provide a very stable platform to launch off of and are quite stiff. But although they feel very substantial as a ski they don't feel heavy underfoot and pivot very well for jump turns. So I would not be worrying if I had bumps in front of me.
These are now my favourite ski and I skied in them in 174. They have a 74mm waist so I think they would be quite manageable.
I don't bash through moguls or go looking for them anymore and have not come across any dedicated mogul fields for ages now but I would be happy to take the XL's anywhere on the mountain.
Sorry, I can't be more help but if you go to Engelberg you will not be looking for bumps and the only place I saw any was at the entry to the Laub which was like the entry to Mont Gele for the first few turns..!!
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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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marc gledhill,
I haven't seen this but I can vouch for it as IMO it's all true. A real all -mountain ski with no compromises in the edge hold which, I think, is where skis in this catergory tend to falter somewhat. Not this baby..!!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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JT, I meant the fact that they were now in the sales 
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marc gledhill,
Sorry, missed that..! But it appears that this ski is discounted all over the place. 30% after Easter in some places in Switzerland, 25% now in Engleberg..!!
I wonder if they are replacing it next year or it is end of season stuff.
I will have to think very very hard about this..!!
I love travelling light but it is a very good ski..
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JT and all
I'm new here and have just bought some Stockli Stormriders XL from Snow and Rock with Salomon 912ti bindings = £340! When I went in there I had my mind set on one of two - Head IM75 and Rossi B2. The sales guy said that the Stockli's were head and shoulders above the other two - as it had the on piste performance of the Head and the Off piste performance of the B2. However as it isn't a well known brand in the UK they weren't selling well - that's why there's a 50% reduction on the skis.
In the end I went for them because - they're hand built, wood core, sandwich construction, racing edges, behave like a GS ski on the piste and can blast through the powder (so he said). It's gonna be a year till i try them out and I can't wait...
BB 
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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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bucking bronco, welcome !!
He sounds unfeasibly knowledgeable for a Snow and Rock guy But he's right, that's how I found them after testing them a few weeks back. (here)
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bucking bronco,
Welcome,
Most people stumble across Stockli's, as I did in Cormayuer, I think, of all places...!!
I went to the hire shop and said I wanted an Extreme and this tech didn't have any but said try this Stockli instead, it's a better ski.
Yeah, right! but I tried it and he wasn't wrong, it was a good ski and did exactly what he said it would so I wasn't afraid to try the XL this year that I had heard very good reviews of.
I have tried the B2 and the M75 this year and liked them both but as you may have gathered, I think the Stockli XL is a stonking good ski which you will love. If you have tried those two and rated them them then the Stockli will not dissapoint you at all. And then you get the edge hold which really sorts the men from the boys in this catergory.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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ISE
Interesting what you wrote with regard to the different flexes due to the wood core - I'll ask all about that when I take my boots to get the bindings fitted. The skis were banded together in pairs rather than loose like some other makes/models so I hope they've done the right thing.
My chief concerns at the time of purchase were that they're not a popular brand with Brits and I'd only ever seen them on Ski Sunday, also I'm moving up from a really soft and easy 170cm Scream 8 that I've completely outgrown to a stiffer longer ski - turn initiation on tight moguls, narrow chutes and couloirs were my main concern but heck I could always just practice my jump turns!
JT
Yep, I've tried my mate's B2's and they were really nice although I did get a bit of chatter off them at higher speed blasts down the pistes. Hopefully the XL will do what it says on the tin - awesome off piste and f**king quick when you need to blast down the piste en-route to the the lift to the next powder field.
cheers
BB
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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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bucking bronco,
They will do exactly that, a real blast down the piste and it handles steep and deep easily enough, no problem getting them up and around if you have to and a firm platform to land on or jump off of. Not had them in mogul fields but I am not a dedicated bump skier anyway but for everything that I want to do off-piste they do really well and then when you are hacking down the 4 o clock run and its icy, they are there as well.....Hurrah, perfect..!!
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FAQ
