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Ski Test Winter Park 2006
Ski Test November 2006 - Winter Park, ColoradoReview of Skis by Atomic, Fischer, Head, Saloman, and K2 About Me
I prefer hard edging skis, I really like to feel my ski's edges dig into the snow. I like skiing fast, and I prefer a long steep groomed run over one with moguls or powder. TermsSmearing Ability- By “smearing ability” I’m talking about a ski’s ability to turn when skied parallel. Edge Hold- This is pretty self explanatory, if a ski holds real well on edge, then it gets a high number, if it doesn’t then it gets a low value. Turn Initiation- This is the ease with which it’s possible to start a turn on edge. Maneuverability- This is my overall impression as to how maneuverable a ski is. A ski could initiate turns poorly on edge, but if it smears real well, or its very light weight (so it can be manhandled into turns real easily), then it gets a higher maneuverability rating. Acceleration- Acceleration describes the ski's ability to speed up. Speed/Chatter- This category rates how comfortable the ski is at speed. If it becomes unresponsive, or starts chattering, then it will get a lower rating. Groomers- This is a measure of overall groomer performance. Powder Impressions- I’m doing something kinda weird on this test, I’m writing out my overall impressions of the ski first, listing the categories I’m the most concerned with, with the exception of off-piste performance. Because at the time of this test there really weren’t any off-piste areas available (so I didn’t get allot of powder or ice chunks to ski through), I’m not going to act like I’m giving an objective rating for that. I’ll make an educated guess as to how I think they’ll be, and list any concerns I might have, but I don’t want it to be confused with an experiential testimony. I feel fairly comfortable doing this, because in my opinion, the real test of an all mountain ski is its performance on groomed runs. I’m happy with an all mountain ski if it carves hard on groomed runs, and it has a wide enough waist for flotation in powder. SkisFisher- AMC 79Fischer AMC 79 Details and Pricing
Length Tested: 170cm The Fisher AMC 79 was perhaps the most fun for me to ride in this test. It took me about 50 feet to realize that this was an awesome ski. As soon as I got it off the lift I immediately thought “holy crap, I’m going to like this ski.” Being the die-hard frontside carver that I am, I really enjoyed its edgeholding power. It would just grip and go. I seriously felt like I was cheating God when I was on these things, because every one of my movements was amplified so well and I was getting so much more then I was giving. I felt like the sweet spot for the ski was absolutely huge, and I purposefully put myself in the backseat to see how the ski reacted, and it still did reasonably well (I don’t advocate bad form, but face it, sometimes it happens). This skis gave me allot of confidence to try stuff well out of my bag of tricks, perhaps too much… if I hadn’t felt as confident as I did, I wouldn’t be in as much pain right now. This ski accelerated like a Dodge Viper, I actually had to force it to go slow. Because of that little quirk, I would only recommend this ski to an expert level skier, or an intermediate that knows how to use their edges real well already, I would not want to learn edgehold on this skis, its simply too fast for that. My only criticism of this skis is that it isn’t quite as maneuverable as many other skis, but with its 18 meters of sidecut, this is to be expected.
Off-Piste Impressions: With its waist at 79mm, that provides a descent amount of float on soft stuff. I think that the ski’s stiffness combined with its low amount of sidecut (18m), will make it perfect for breaking through crud without getting too unstable. Conclusions: This is a GS ski cleverly disguised as an all mountain ski. Head- Monster I.M 77
Length Tested: 176cm I felt like this ski had a really narrow sweet spot, and I had to be in good form all the time for this ski to perform well for me. This might be a function of length though, I did ski it about 5cms longer then I would have preferred, but I doubt this little extra length affected my ride too much. I found it also to be a little noisy at speed, but not enough to be distracting. It smeared well, but it didn’t edge especially well for me. It would edge when I told it too (unlike the Teneighty Gun I tested), I just had to be a little bit more emphatic about it then I like to be.
Conclusions: This was a descent ski, but for the price tag, I wasn’t impressed. It seems like there are about a dozen skis out there that do better then this ski for less. Salomon- X Wing TornadoXW Tornado Details and Pricing
Length Tested: 164cm I was really impressed with this ski, it was fairly stiff (not as stiff as the Metron B5 and the Fisher AMC that I tested), but not overly so. It was still a little stiffer then the Apache 5 Com, and had a little bit more power, but it almost reminded me of a good edging version of K2’s Apache Recon. It was downright silent at speeds up to the lower 40’s (I didn’t ski it faster then that). I found that I was able to smear very comfortably, and remain in control real well, so it didn’t have to run on its edges all the time. I didn’t get to ride Salomon’s X Wing 10 (XW 10), but the Tornado is just a slightly stiffer version of it. They have the same sidecut, and lengths available. The XW 10 has a composite core, that makes it significantly lighter, and easier to throw around, but a little softer also. I think the Tornado was approachable enough by aspiring intermediates, but the XW 10 would be downright friendly to anybody.
Off-Piste Impressions: Conclusions: Compare this ski to the Apache Recon, it’s a good edging, forgiving yet high performing ski. Salomon- GunSalomon Teneighty Gun Details and Pricing
Length Tested: 174 This is one ski that I actively sought out. I kept going by the Salomon tent every time I completed a run and asked “Is the Gun back yet?” Out of shear persistence, I finally got a hold of it after whichever jerk-wad was finally through having fun with it. I’ve been playing with the idea of getting a mogul specific ski, and I thought the Gun was it. I skied it a little bit bigger then I really wanted to, 174cm, I would have rather skied it in its 164cm length. Despite the fact that I had something attached to my feet that felt like it was two feet longer then my slalom skis (I’ve got a pair of Salomon Equipes in 160cm) I was struck by how light they were. I felt like I could throw then all over the place. Its friendly flex and reasonable maneuverability would make it really approachable by a very broad range of talents. I do have to say, that this was the best smearing ski I’ve been on in a long time. It was immediately obvious that this ski was made to be smeared all over the place, it edged… when IT wanted to. Because I couldn’t get it up on edge real well, I didn’t feel like it accelerated very quickly, and it was hard to get it to slow down once you were up to speed. I had a little trouble in the moguls due to its length, but I’m very confident that I would have felt comfortable on its shorter version. If you’re looking for a ski that eats moguls alive, tears up crud, and can dance on powder, then this is your gun.
Off-Piste Impressions: This ski was fun to ride, playful and nimble, but don’t expect to get it up on edge. K2- Apache 5 ComK2 Apache 5 Com Details and Pricing
Length Tested: 167 Honestly, I wasn’t expecting too much out of this ski when I took it up the lift, but I was quickly surprised. This ski carved beautifully, but didn’t feel like it was pushing me. I could lean on this ski’s edges for days. I felt like it responded to everyone of my movements real well, and every time I put power into them, they gave me an equal amount back. This is a contrast to the AMC 79, where I felt like I was cheating by getting so much out of every move… but the 5 com is about 400 bucks cheaper. This ski had a nice relaxed flex, but I didn’t think it was too soft. It started whimpering a little around 35-40mph, but the slight chatter I felt didn’t seem to effect the ride, I definitely felt well in control at those speeds.
Off-Piste Impressions: By far the best carving ski for the money I’ve ever been on. Atomic- Metron B5Atomic Metron B5 Details and Pricing
Length Tested: 162cm Last year I missed an opportunity to ski on the Metron B5’s, and I’ve been regretting it massively until now. So, this season, I went straight to the Atomic tent and asked for the B5, and the rep asked me “What length?” and I thought, “Holy crap, I can choose lengths.” I went a little bit on the short side, 162cm, but considering these skis had an 11m turning radius, I felt like my decision was the right one. Right out of the gate, these skis started powering up, and I let them. They accelerated beautifully, not quite as quickly as the AMC 79, but unlike the AMC I felt that I was in complete control of every aspect of my line the entire time. I dialed in the speed, the course, and they took me there. I definitely felt the huge 131mm shovel, and it initiated turns like nobody’s business, and was hands down the best in this test at turning easily. With such a tight turning radius I expected to feel the tail clamp down unexpectedly every now and then while I was turning, but didn’t feel a thing like that. I’ve always heard that you either love or hate Atomic skis, I think I’m definitely going with the former.
Off-Piste Impressions: I think that with 76mm under foot and a 133mm wide shovel, this ski will have enough float to support the user in moderate powder situations, but I am worried about the 11 m turning radius on crud. It’s been my experience with my skis that have a similar radius, that when they go over ice chunks, it makes the skis want to turn on everything, and they get really unstable. A ski with a more moderate sidecut seems to be more stable in those conditions. Conclusions: If money is no object (this is the most expensive ski I was on during this test, I would expect shelling out around 1,500 bucks for a pair of these with bindings), then this will be an awesome ski. I think this ski was my favorite in test, with the Fischer AMC coming in a VERY close second. Skis reviewed last year that are still currentIn this section, I’m bringing back some of the skis I reviewed last year that are still current, and for the skis that have changed slightly, I’ll tell you what’s new. Unlike this year, I was able to test last year's skis in powder and crud conditions, so I'm keeping the ratings from last year's test on those skis. Nordica Hot Rod Top Fuel
123-78-104 Nordica Hot Rod Nitrous
123-78-104 Nordica Hot Rod Modified
119-74-104 Nordica Hot Rod Eliminator
119-74-104
Dynastar Legend 8000
116-79-105 Whats New: Just a graphics change for 2006-07 K2 Apache Recon
119-78-105 Whats New: This year, K2 integrated its bindings into the base of the ski better, to improve edge to edge handling. --- Volkl AC4
125-82-110 Whats New: This ski was completely redesigned this year. Its stiffer, and heavier, but advanced users will find that its more maneuverable then last year’s version. I do think the revisions this year have made it slightly more unfriendly to beginning users then last year’s version. Copyright 2005-2006 Troy Knapp Related Pages |
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