Scott Powd’air and Fritschi Freeride Pro Review

A snowHead

I recently decided to get a decent touring set up for this winter, which doesn’t compromise too much on downhill performance and is adaptable enough to be used for lift served skiing too. Being fairly experienced (20 weeks +) but new to touring, I’m probably in the same boat as quite a few others (given the recent surge in alpine crossover touring kit) so hopefully my thoughts may help someone out snowHead

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I decided to go with the Scott Powd’air in 183 with Fritschi Freeride Pros, colltex/Scott precut skins and Fritschi axiom crampons. The main reasons being they were available for a price I couldn’t possibly refuse and I’m a fan of Scotts, already owning a pair of Aztec Pros and Crusades.

First Impressions:

Light but not super light. I think this is down to the binding as much as the ski and you could easily shave a kilo off with dynafits. However, they are noticeably lighter than the Crusades with Vists by about a kilo I guess. The max camber is fairly small (3-4mm per ski). Not as stiff as the Crusade and with a more even flex along the length of the ski (similar stiffness to tip and tail).

The Good Bit:

On this trip, all of our snow was lift served and conditions were as good as they possibly could be: freezing at the base and 1 – 1.5m of fresh snow. In deep snow on steepish slopes of 35˚ – 40˚ or so, the Powd’airs were excellent. The high carbon content gave them a light, springy, lively feel but with plenty of reserve power. Short and medium turns were effortless. Faster ‘GS’ turns required a bit more concentration on weight distribution to keep the skis on track but they remained stable.

The flex felt very natural and the skis didn’t need to be consciously driven forward like the Crusades in deep snow. Best of all, they retained liveliness and power, despite the emphasis on weight reduction throughout the design. All in all, excellent.

Since they’re described as 20% piste, I gave ‘em a quick blat. They hold an edge in good snow, they didn’t flap and are surprisingly powerful. Done.

Now for the bindings. I’ve seen a few posts commenting on the stack height of the Freeride Pro and how it affects contact with the ski. In deep snow on steeper slopes I couldn’t tell the difference between them and my alpine bindings. However, on shallower/open slopes and big fast turns, I felt myself being thrown into the back seat a tad and I could definitely feel the effect of the extra stack height. A day or two more on them and I’ll be used to them so no big issue hopefully.

I’m off on one of offpisteskiing’s courses at the beginning of February that’ll hopefully give me the chance to test their uphill performance, as well as the skins and crampons. Watch this space for part 2... snowHead

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Scott Powd’air and Fritschi Freeride Pro Review

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