 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi snowheads
I'm looking to buy an all mountain ski, my research and recommendations have brought me to the above two skis. I've skied for the last 23 years, couple of holidays each year (approx 21 days on snow a year). I'm about 6' and 58kg and will be looking at a length of around 170cm. Has anybody skied both sets, what are your thoughts?
The XXL is 80 in the waist and the VXL 86 in the waist. Most of my skiing will have a 75/25 piste/off piste split which is making me lean towards the XXL and 80mm waist, however general concensus seems to point everybody in the direction of fatter skis. Do you think the VXL 86 waist will be too much considering my on/off piste split? I'm also told the XXL is abit more forgiving than the VXL, is this correct?
I will get the chance to demo both of these skis in St Anton in March but it would be nice to get some thoughts on them and see if I'm thinking along the right lines.
Cheers.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Both are excellent skis but are very stiff and need to be skiied hard.I love this type of ski.
They are not very forgiving and are not a typical punter ski.
If you like to power your turns and carve hard they will pay you back in spades with a wicked kick in the turn.
As for Offpiste 80 is fine and a good compromise if you have good technique, 86 is better but would still give you a fair amount of edge to edge speed/control as opposed to an out and out wider freeride/twin tip ski.
One thing though at 58kg you are quite light given your height so look at options that may be a little lighter.
FWIW my 'go to' piste skis are an old set of Atomic B5 Metrons which are the stiffest heaviest ski ever made  They still do it all on piste and give enough float to be a good all mountain compromise.
I tend to take whatever is going to suit best based on the expected forecast.
Hard and fast pistes like we've had for the past month and the Metrons get the nod,but any sign of some fresh and I take somenthing a tad fatter.All mountain skis are great but always a slight compromise IMO.
As you said it depends on where you are going to be skiing in the majority.
The current Atomic Nomad Ti series maybe an option also but a tad lighter maybe.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks hedley,
I had heard that neither ski was the most forgiving and I'm pretty happy skiing aggressively and will ski the Stocklis reasonably hard. Rightly or wrongly so I have no desire to ski on anything over 90mm for the type of skiing that I do and I do wonder whether 86 underfoot will be too much for me on piste. My last skis were 78 at the waist I think so I don't want anything that will feel to hard to handle or that feel like too much of a step up at my weight.
The search for an all mountain ski for me, I realise, is going to lead to a compromise in some either on or off piste performance but I really can't justify owning more than one pair of skis for the amount of time that I spend on snow. Most of my skiing has been done in Europe of late but in general it's always been a couple of weeks in North America and one week in Europe a season, hence me looking for an all mountain ski that is useable in a variety of snow conditions. I will have a look at and do some research on the Atomic Nomad Ti series, thank you.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Take a look at the Dynastar Sultan 85's too (lost count of how many times I've written that on here..)
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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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Pumori, One of my favourite skis ever was the Stockli 76 Rotor. Brilliant carving on piste and very easy off piste. Not sure if they still do it but it would be perfect for 75/25. My brother has a pair of Jams, good on piste but not as good as the Rotors. I also have Dynastar Mythic Riders 88mm and nowhere near as good on piste. If you are 75% on piste I wouldn't go above 80mm and if you like Stockli I would see if you can try some Rotors.
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BobinCH, thank you. I've been thinking about the skis mentioned in this thread and researching them more and I still keep coming back to the Stocklis. I wasn't aware of the Stockli Rotor but a quick look at their website tells me that they're still in production. Do you know if the Rotor are as stiff as the Stormriders?
I reckon if Sport Jennewein stock Stockli Stormriders then they'll stock the Rotors too, which will give me a good chance to demo the full hit and make a comparison, I'll drop them a line tomorrow and see what they say.........
Regards waist width, I still want to stay around the 80 mark. The Jams and VXL at 85 and 86 respectively still seem too wide to me for what I want but I'll try and test them none the less, at least things will be clear in my mind then. The thing is there's no point pretending I'm going to be spending all day off piste and going for a fatter ski than I need. I will ski off piste but realistically it will be only 25% of the time and more than likely it will be of variable condition and quality at that, so there's no point me struggling (possibly) on piste with a 90+mm ski, I think it will be far better in the long run for me to keep working on and improving my core strength and ankle flexion along with my off piste technique on 80 waisted skis, thats what I'm thinking anyway 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Get the 80 mm ski.
Then eat some pies 
Seriously, at 58 kg and 25% offpiste you don't need more float.
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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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Pumori, They're softer than Stormriders which makes them easier to ski everywhere. But looking at the new range I see a whole bunch of new Rotors but no 76. Maybe ask your ski shop which are closest to the old 76's.
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You know it makes sense.
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horizon, agreed re the 80mm ski but pies for breakfast, I'll try  . BobinCH, think I'm going to try and take the Rotors in an 82 and possibly an 84 for a demo around St Anton, one thing is for sure, it's gonna be fun 
Thanks once again DB, plenty of choice in the Rotors to go at and I'd been poking around and looking for more info on the Stormriders and there's quite a few posts kicking about on epicski that are making me think that the Stormrider isn't as stiff as I/we first thought, I do think the 178 length would be too much for me at my weight though and am heading in the direction of a 170 to test in the Stormrider. I'm going to give Stocklis UK partners/distributers a call today and see what they think about a lightweight wanting to ski their skis and see what they recommend. I'll drop back by later and let you know what they say. Also DB, thanks for the heads up re the Head skis, never skied on anything made by Head before and to be honest I've never even looked in their direction before, I have a look at those two later when I get a quiet moment in work.
Thanks for all your input, help, ideas and pies everybody. 
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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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FAQ
when I'm not working I'm running or climbing, I don't carry weight and it won't stay on anyway 
Thanks for the advice, any particular ski you think I should be looking at?
