 Poster: A snowHead
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Note: edited on Wed 30 March to include a second day on the Preacher in powder and a day on the 178 Director (pre-prod model).
169 Preacher on hardpack
Today I skied the 169 Preacher and I think I'm in love.
A wee bit of background to put my completely non-technical review into perspective. I'm a small woman (1.65cm tall, weighing in at 56kg) and I'm halfway through my twelfth week of skiing spread over 2.5 seasons. I spent my first four weeks skiing standard rentals and then bought a pair of Icelantic Pilgrims from .Dot (151cm long, 90mm width, 13m radius) for a ridiculously good price at the end of the 2008/2009 season. I still consider myself an early intermediate and lack good technique for really challenging terrain. I've done only two days of full-on off-piste in Chamonix, both of which were my best days on skis ever and my intention is to transition entirely to off-piste skiing by the end of this current 6-week stay in Chamonix.
Thus, my aim is to find a beefier ski for off-piste and keep the Pilgrims for piste days when skiing with piste friends.
Last night, when I put Preachers up against the wall alongside the Pilgrims I stared at them for a long time, wondering if I was about to bite off more than I can chew - they made the Pilgrims look like snowblades  But I do try to live by the "no guts, no glory" creed and figured that a day on them could not possibly be any more difficult than my very first day on skis.
In the absence of any easily accessible powder conditions in Chamonix today, I headed over to Brévent very early this morning so that I could ski hard pack that would then turn soft and eventually to slush, thereby giving me the opportunity to try the Preachers in a small variety of conditions.
I will not deny feeling slight tension as I clicked into the skis, wondering if I was going to repeat my early days of 'Bambi on ice' style. It's not falling that worries me, it's the indignity of limbs going in all directions 
The first thing I noticed was the weight, although much larger than the Pilgrims, they felt only marginally heavier. Due to the extra length, I heaved them into the first few turns in true beginner style but quickly found this completely unnecessary - these things turn with ease and transition quickly from edge-to-edge at both low and high speeds. Ski the feet, not the skis, and the skis will follow - a mantra I learned from one of my early instructors and which I had to remind myself of after those first few ungainly turns. Halfway down the first run, I found that to get that quick edge transition I had to lean forward far more than I do on the Pilgrims. Long arcs, where you just lean your body over and angle your ankles, were simple and the same applied to short high-speed turns.
I don't know what I was expecting but I was not expecting the first run to be as easy as it was! I did, however, have a moment quite early on when the tips almost crossed, so I adjusted to a wider stance to accommodate the extra width. I skied the first few runs in this John Wayne style but dialled down to a narrower stance that was more stable but still accommodated the width.
The Preachers love speed (in comparison to my tiny Pilgrims) and where I did struggle (completely due to poor technique) was in slowing down. I had to really use my full body weight and push down hard on the edges in an ungainly hockey stop to halt them. But my breaking technique improved over the course of a few hours and became less drastic.
I had no problems on the early morning hard pack other than having to work harder to get the edges in than I would on the Pilgrims. So, a pleasant surprise - hardpack is my least favourite of skiing conditions (maybe because most of my skiing has been on mid-fat skis).
After a couple of runs down the reds, I veered off the side of the piste onto the hard, windblown crust and this was surprisingly doable too, although I should have done that section with more flex in my legs (there was a bit of bouncing and teeth rattling going on). I'm always amazed at how my legs stiffen when I'm unsure of what's going to happen under foot - a bad habit that I'm working hard to break.
As conditions became softer and I grew more accustomed to the extra length, everything just became easier. Skiing slush was far easier and more enjoyable than skiing slush on the Pilgrims (trust me, skiing slush on the Pilgrims is easy and great fun). I was able to adopt two techniques in the slush: power through the slush on edges or float(ish) over the slush on bases - both worked.
I also tried a couple of bumps. Not moguls but bumps to get some air - nothing huge mind you. And the Preachers handled these, landing with a lovely solid thump. Again, leaning forward on these skis is the key.
On a normal day, I can ski for about 3 to 4 hours before I start to feel burn in my legs. With the Preachers, I started to feel this after only 2 hours. I put this down to the larger size and my poor technique. If I push it too far (usually around 6 hours of skiing), turns become almost impossible. I reached this point after 4 hours on the Preachers and headed back down to the valley, slightly disappointed in the short skiing day but feeling happy and satisfied that I had had a lot of fun. And very, very pleased that I loved the Preachers because I have been coveting them for a while now 
Overall, I was amazed at how easy it was to ski the Preachers and I had a huge grin on my face the whole time I was riding them. All I can say to the Whitedot team is, you guys rock - you have made a truly beautiful ski! 
To be honest, I did not ski the Preachers with the style they deserve (I think I must have looked like one of those 'all the gear and no clue' types) but a couple more days on them and I'll be up to the standard I currently have on the Pilgrims.
And while my original intention was to keep the Pilgrims for piste days, I'm now toying with the idea of selling the Pilgrims and using the Preachers for both on- and off-piste. That's how much I loved them! I think I'll take the Preachers out a few more days before I make that decision. Of course, if everything works out, there may be a pair of 178 Directors arriving in Chamonix in a few days' time for me to demo, which may change everything!
I was skiing on my own, so have no pics of the Preachers in action. Instead, here's a pic of them on the chairlift. Still impressive, even at rest.
169 Preacher in fresh snow
So, I took the 169 Preacher out for a second day, this time in shin-deep fresh snow. And this is where my poor technique became glaringly obvious. While I absolutely love skiing powder on the Pilgrims (and happily did a day on Lavancher in thigh-deep powder on them), I really struggled in a mere 20cm on the Preachers.
I could not turn them in the fresh snow no matter how much I cursed and swore. All I could do was straightline them (fuuuhh… scary, fun, scary, scary!) or do really long, wide arcs. I tried everything in my limited arsenal to do shorter and tighter turns in powder on these big boys but only ended up with both skis going in different directions. You know that awkward spider-legs stance you see terrified beginners adopting on steep slopes? Yup, that was me on the Preachers in deeper snow. Luckily, I am really flexible, so I incurred no injuries from the undignified on-slope gymnastics other than a sorely bruised ego. Hmph.
It pains me to admit this but the Preachers are too much for me on anything but hardpack, can you believe. I have neither the strength nor the technique to do them justice. To be fair, they are an expert ski and I am an intermediate skier whose ego far outstrips her skills...
178 Director (pre-production model) in fresh snow
After much haranguing of various people (thank you to all involved) a demo pair of 178 Directors landed in Cham and I took them out on a day of about 15cm of fairly heavy fresh snow.
First impressions were really good. They were barely heavier than my own Pilgrims even with the extra length and the demo bindings. I found it much easier to do tight(ish) turns in powder on the Directors (which I found nigh on impossible to do on the Preachers in powder) but still had to work really hard to keep even pressure on the skis to avoid diverging skis syndrome in deeper snow. I suspect I won't have this problem on the shorter 168 Director.
The nose rocker is great in powder and does what it says on the tin. I skied with a forward stance but did find that when I picked up too much speed with this stance, the skis bucked a bit, as if I was too far forward. I probably was.
As the day wore on and the powder packed down, I played with pseudo-carving, short and fast turns and lazy arcs. All I can say is, yummy! This was my first time on rockered skis and, to be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between them and the traditionally cambered Pilgrims (a more experienced skier will probably be able to write a book about the difference). The nose rocker did flap a fair bit on the harder snow but another reviewer here on sHs mentioned that this will be addressed in the production model.
So, it comes down to the choice. As much as I loved the Preacher (even when I was cursing them in powder), the Director is better suited for light touring but the 178 length is too much for me (Carl, those were prophetic words you uttered this morning, damn you). I know that I want these skis but what these demo days have shown me, in no uncertain terms, is that instead of spending money on more skis right now, I should spend money on more lessons! I have another 5 weeks here in Cham and as long as the snow holds, I'm committing the budget I had set aside to buy skis for lessons both on- and off-piste. And ownership of a shiny pair of Whitedots will have to wait until I can bloody ski them properly.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Wed 30-03-11 16:13; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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And there I was thinking this would be a review of a lightweight woman...
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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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altis try Boris' bar for that type of review
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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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Nice review I'm no great skier either and I loved them when I got a chance to demo some Preachers in Scotland. The Redeemers were too much for me and the One was just really, really stiff but I would like to try the Director as well 
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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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lynseyf, I think the one may have been softened this year..? I can't remember if I had read that it was this years you didn't get on with, it's certainly possible.
Zero-G, thanks for the review. This is only the beginning for the inevitable quiver Are you getting a shot of the Directors too? Or the Redeemers...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Zero-G, What a great review! Very informative and great fun to read too. Nice one. 
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scotia, there may be some 178 Directors heading this way early next week for me to demo. If I can try them out, then it is only a matter of deciding between the Preacher and the Director. Decisions... decisions...
As for the Redeemer - they are out of my league for now. When I can ski the kind of terrain for which they are made, they will be mine 
lynseyf, you have summed up what it took me too many paragraphs to say - I am by no means a great skier but I was able to ski the Preacher with relative ease.
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Zero-G, just handed over a pair of 178 Directors that'll be making their way to Cham tomorrow.
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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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Excellent! Just in time for the very light snowfall predicted for the next two nights - looks like Tuesday is going to be a good day
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Zero-G, whilst the 169 Preacher is always going to be a slightly heavier ski than your 151 Pilgrims some of the extra weight (and fatigue) you'll have felt will have come from the SP120s. Demo bindings are inevitably a deal heavier than standard alpine, I think SP120s are maybe a full kilo a pair heavier than the equivalent Peak15.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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