 Poster: A snowHead
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Trying to decide between the following skis.
Amplid Hill Bill
Volkl Gotama
Faction 3.zero
Majesty Dirty Bears
Has anyone any experience of any of these?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Well I have a pair of Line Chronic Cryptonites and am looking for a wider set of skis for going into the deeper stuff. Fairly Good skier (done 1 full season and 30+ weeks before that, heading out for my second season this December) and spend as much time off piste as I can.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyone actually ridden any of these?
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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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Haven't skied any of them, so take this with a pinch of salt, but in my opinion:
The Gotamas and Dirty Bears would make great replacements for your Lines - go everywhere, do anything skis. The Dirty bears don't have any rocker, if you're looking for a powder ski this would be a significant turn off for me (plus, even being a ski geek, I've never heard of the brand - I'd have to wonder why there's been little chat or hype about them, compared to other small indies).
The other two would complement your Lines nicely for deeper days. Personally I'd go for the Factions, based on their solid reputation and larger turn radius (less hooky in pow/crust and better grip on steeps). Also the Amplid graphics are kinda hideous.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've been toying with 3.Zero's too.
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If you didn't mind 2010 skis, you can get em for £240 as well.
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Thats the ones I'm looking at (assuming you are looking at the ones on their site?)
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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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adamj11, hmm, not sure, got a link? I saw them on some random French site.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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adamj11, Gotama very similar to Czar but with more side cut, a very good go anywhere ski at any including high speed; loves bowls; but skis like a Volkl so lots of energy and technique needed- not fire and forget.
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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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Okay, a little research later and I've narrowed down to a slightly different selection of skis that are in my price range.
2012 Line Influence 115
- the widest ski in my shortlist at 115mm underfoot, from what I have read it seems to be a ski for the hard charger and going fast, which is fine by me, only question is how it will handle on piste as no matter what I get I will have to ski on piste at times on it.
2011 Faction 3.zero
- Well reviewed, decently priced, seems to be what I am looking for, only issue is that it is that bit more expensive than the Lines or the Gotamas and the shipping to my location is a bit more expensive.
2012 Volkl Gotama
- The narrowest ski in the shortlist, very well reviewed and a lot easier to handle on piste than the others from what I understand, also the cheapest ski in my list, unsure whether to spend more in order to get the extra width offered by the other options or whether to get the more practical ski as realistically epic powder days are not always on offer in Europe.
2012 Volkl Katana
- The most expensive ski in my list, very well reviewed and as with the 3.zeros it looks perfect for what I want, only issue is the aforementioned price, as a seasonaire I'm not exactly flush with cash and unsure if the added price would be worth it over any of the above.
Basically all the skis I've looked at are well reviewed and am looking for some first hand reviews if possible.
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If the 3.zero is basically the same ski as the old 13 with the addition of a bit of rocker it'll be pretty tasty - I got quite into using parlor's retired 13s as a daily driver a couple of years ago when I decided they were too much fun to just use as a loaner ski.
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You know it makes sense.
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Katana is drastically different than the others - it's a real hard charger (Line is just marketed as one, it's much more skiable).
I thought you were doing seasons? So surely you are able to ski every powder day? Plenty of epicness to be found in Europe in my experience, and regularly too, though wider skis make lesser snowfalls more fun (more float = not sinking to the bottom and skiing the old base rather than the pow).
Also remember you don't have to wait for powder to ski offpiste, and you can often find powder a while after a storm if you're willing to hike.
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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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I hike regularly but found my current skis wide enough most of the time but just on a few occasions I was jealous of some friends on the wider ones.
The only issue is the ski on piste back to resort and between lifts and the likes.
Are the Katana's really like that? Doesn't come across it in reviews while the Lines do.
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Poster: A snowHead
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adamj11, the Influence I'd suggest is the better everyday ski. Whilst it's wider (really not by much though) but it has a much more friendly sidecut. Also it's not fully rockered. I narrowly chose the Black Crows Corvus in 185 over it though mainly due to it being a bit narrower and not having a rocker which I like in a general ski for everything. Also the hot pink bases!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Okay a slightly different question now wrt lengths.
I know that as these skis are partially rockered I will need to add 5-10cm to my normal ski length, but how much longer is too long when dealing with the rocker.
For example I normally ski on skis between 178 and 180 cm in length and therefore the 179cm Line Influence skis that are available to me would be too short, but would a 194 length be too long?
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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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How tall/heavy are you? At 5 foot 9 and around 75kg, my pow skis are 190 and I wouldn't want them shorter. No problem pivoting them on a dime if/when the situation arises, but more stable at speed and more float.
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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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To be honest, you seem quite unsure of what you want, and what you're looking for.
I think you should wait 'til you're in resort, see what past season stock shops are trying to shift at the start of the season, and try a couple of things out to see what works for 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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I know roughly what I want but just as I've never skiied a rockered ski I was looking for some feeback.
As for trying in resort, when you earn £90 a week it's not really practical to buy skis in resort, even with seasonaire discount.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Not in your selection but you may want to look at this:
http: // rockymountaingearguide.com / k2-aftershock /
not necessarily for the conclusion but the pathway it took to get there. Given the guy's credentials I thought it might be worth some consideration.
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| adamj11 wrote: |
I know roughly what I want but just as I've never skiied a rockered ski I was looking for some feeback.
As for trying in resort, when you earn £90 a week it's not really practical to buy skis in resort, even with seasonaire discount. |
If you have the money to buy now, why can't you just keep that money 'til you're in resort? For last seasons stock and seasonnaire discount you should be able to beat the 'in resort mark-up.'
There's LOADS of reviews on TGR and Blister, etc, I think you need to read some and get more a feel of what sort of characteristics you want in a ski (beyond just fat and rockered) - they all ski differently.
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adamj11, Have you had a look at the K2 Sidestash? I was looking at some similar skis to you and read some really good reviews as a ski that you can use everyday without worrying about it on the piste but wide enough to deal with all but the deepest powder?
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FAQ
, If your going to be spending a good proportion of time on piste you'll be looking more toward the gotama or the dirty bears with smaller waists for easier turning, if your going to be spending more time by far in powder off piste then you might like the extra float from the wider waisted Amplids or Factions. As you don't state a terrain preferance or ability level in your post you may not get very helpful responses. I'm guessing your a decent skier by the type of skis your looking at.
