Hi all,
I wanted to start this post by pouring one out for my Epicski homies. A lot of great resources lost there on those forums.
Anyways some of you may remember me from there. I'm looking to add a second ski for soft snow days, here's a little bit about me
5'9, 200ish lbs, East coast southern VT, shitty type 3 skiier (I can do any type of terrain in control but no one is staring in awe at me ripping a zipper line or anything)
What I'm riding right now: 2016 Blizzard Brahmas (180cm) this is the heavy-ass version before they started adding carbon.
The Good: They are the most stable things ever, a nice frontside ski that's nice to carve and go mach 11 on. Gets the job done on most terrain. It feels powerful, and I like that. Fun to charge on.
The Bad: This is the heavy version of a heavy ski so not a whole lot of playfulness, and the heavyness/stiffness can make it a lot of work in the tight new england trees. Also we had a 3 ft pow day and these things did not float in any sense of the word at all (as expected)
What I'm looking for: I'm looking for something that's good on the softsnow days. I take ~2 trips out west every year (Snowbird and Squaw this year) and would like to bring something with a bit of float. Also I would like something to take into the trees after a storm for some freshies here.
Stuff I have ridden in the past 5 years and what I thought of it.
2017 Volkl Mantra (184cm): Demoed at Copper and Loveland
The good: I can't believe it's not camber! Maybe it was the tune on it but it felt like a katana that just wanted to cut clean arcs everywhere, this thing shined on the frontside and I had a lot more fun on it than I thought I would. It was kind of turney but in a good way
The bad: Didn't really want to slarve or smear for tree skiing.
2017 Rossi Soul 7 (188cm):Demoed at Copper
The good: sad to say not a whole lot.
The bad: maybe it was an off day, and maybe the 188cm was just too much for me, which I found a bit surprising. It just felt like I was turning a boat and I was struggling in the bumps. This ski just felt like a whole lot of work.
2018 Salomon QST 99 (177cm): Demoed at Steamboat
The good: Very accessible, liked to smear and slarve and navigate through steamboat's morning side quite well.
The bad: Probably the least stable ski I have ridden. I think the 177 may have been too short for me. The second I opened it up or encountered some crud the ski did not inspire confidence.
What I'm looking at: Front-runners so far seem to be the Blizzard Rustler or Nordica Enforcer in either 100 or 110 for both. For the Enforcer I have a couple of concerns for the length offerings 177 might not be enough ski but 185 maybe too much? Just thinking of the differences between my QST and Soul 7 experiences as well as wielding a 185cm ski in VT woods. The enforcer seems to have a lot of what I like in the Brahmas I ride but wider with an aggressive rocker and lighter. The Rustler seems like a decent option and I know the 180 length would be good for me.
100mm vs 110mm waist: I'm not sure if 110 would be too much optimism for east coast living (with a couple trips). Likewise I'm not sure if 100mm isn't increasing the variety enough. I plan on keeping my Brahmas as a daily frontside option for most days. Any thoughts on this?
I wanted to start this post by pouring one out for my Epicski homies. A lot of great resources lost there on those forums.
Anyways some of you may remember me from there. I'm looking to add a second ski for soft snow days, here's a little bit about me
5'9, 200ish lbs, East coast southern VT, shitty type 3 skiier (I can do any type of terrain in control but no one is staring in awe at me ripping a zipper line or anything)
What I'm riding right now: 2016 Blizzard Brahmas (180cm) this is the heavy-ass version before they started adding carbon.
The Good: They are the most stable things ever, a nice frontside ski that's nice to carve and go mach 11 on. Gets the job done on most terrain. It feels powerful, and I like that. Fun to charge on.
The Bad: This is the heavy version of a heavy ski so not a whole lot of playfulness, and the heavyness/stiffness can make it a lot of work in the tight new england trees. Also we had a 3 ft pow day and these things did not float in any sense of the word at all (as expected)
What I'm looking for: I'm looking for something that's good on the softsnow days. I take ~2 trips out west every year (Snowbird and Squaw this year) and would like to bring something with a bit of float. Also I would like something to take into the trees after a storm for some freshies here.
Stuff I have ridden in the past 5 years and what I thought of it.
2017 Volkl Mantra (184cm): Demoed at Copper and Loveland
The good: I can't believe it's not camber! Maybe it was the tune on it but it felt like a katana that just wanted to cut clean arcs everywhere, this thing shined on the frontside and I had a lot more fun on it than I thought I would. It was kind of turney but in a good way
The bad: Didn't really want to slarve or smear for tree skiing.
2017 Rossi Soul 7 (188cm):Demoed at Copper
The good: sad to say not a whole lot.
The bad: maybe it was an off day, and maybe the 188cm was just too much for me, which I found a bit surprising. It just felt like I was turning a boat and I was struggling in the bumps. This ski just felt like a whole lot of work.
2018 Salomon QST 99 (177cm): Demoed at Steamboat
The good: Very accessible, liked to smear and slarve and navigate through steamboat's morning side quite well.
The bad: Probably the least stable ski I have ridden. I think the 177 may have been too short for me. The second I opened it up or encountered some crud the ski did not inspire confidence.
What I'm looking at: Front-runners so far seem to be the Blizzard Rustler or Nordica Enforcer in either 100 or 110 for both. For the Enforcer I have a couple of concerns for the length offerings 177 might not be enough ski but 185 maybe too much? Just thinking of the differences between my QST and Soul 7 experiences as well as wielding a 185cm ski in VT woods. The enforcer seems to have a lot of what I like in the Brahmas I ride but wider with an aggressive rocker and lighter. The Rustler seems like a decent option and I know the 180 length would be good for me.
100mm vs 110mm waist: I'm not sure if 110 would be too much optimism for east coast living (with a couple trips). Likewise I'm not sure if 100mm isn't increasing the variety enough. I plan on keeping my Brahmas as a daily frontside option for most days. Any thoughts on this?
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