Oh man it's been snowing a bunch here in western NY....just like I remember.
This past weekend Ron visited and we had a day at Greek Peak and 1 at Bristol. Greek Peak conditions were golf balls, hard pack, granular snow and tons of people on the one black/blue run they had open.....I skied the Head SS and Ron had his new C11's. Excellent 1st day on the snow, training day.
The big day of the weekend was Sunday at Bristol. I went to the mountain to ride the Watea 84's. Having skied the Head 82's last season, I was anxious to make a comparison. I was thrilled with Michaels review and couldn't wait to make my first run. Ron brought his Watea 94's.....we were meaning to work out the bugs.
Well, the conditions were ideal for us. The terrain was black for the first 700 vertical and blue for the remaining 500. It was 19 degrees, soft boot high snow. We arrived at 2 hours past opening so the entire run was 1-2 ft high soft bumps with hard pack in some areas.
Watea 84: From the first glide off the chair, the skis felt centered, stable and tracked straight. I did have the bindings mounted 1 centimeter forward and would highly reccommend it. My ski is the 176 length. As I headed for the top of the run, I started some carve turns using tipping and counter moves and this ski comes up on edge so easy....and holds that edge well. It really skis way smaller than it's grith is. It's very quick under foot, light but solid. The shovel and tail felt stable and the tail released with enough energy when I wanted it to. As soon as I started into the soft snow, I knew I had made the right decision by purchasing this ski. The shovel complies and turns exactly where you point it, it's soft enough that it doesn't throw you in the back seat when hitting the uphill side of the bump. This ski is SO easy to bring around during turn initiation. I think anyone from intermediate to expert skier could really enjoy the versatility of this ski. Even on the hard pack between the bumps, the edge held solid. This is a much easier ski to ski in these conditions than the IM82....much more forgiving and more compliant.
Today: I went to the mountain solely to ski the Wateas again. Temperature 22 degrees, 2" of fresh snow on the mountain and not many people there. I worked on short swing turns along the broken piled up snow on the trail edge and medium turns out on the hard pack. For a ski with a 18 meter turning radius, you'll keep asking yourself....someone must have miscalulated that radius....they turn that quick and easy.
This ski again performs outstanding in both these turns and one notch above the 82's. But, when I found some space to unleash some demon speed, the 84's showed a slight weakness.....the shovels chatter at high speeds where the 82's keep asking....is that all you got. Realistically, I didn't buy the 84's for those kind of speeds....that's what my Head SS are for.....but that really was the only area the Head 82's took a leg up.
Next I hope to be able to get into some knee high snow sometime out west this season and got a feeling the Watea 84's will be nearly the perfect package.
Sidebar: Watea 94's....Ron and I swapped skis on the same run mentioned above. I was flabbergasted how nimble a ski with a 94 waist and 130 shovel can be. Ron also has his binding mounted 1 centimer forward. This was a 178 length and I thing it's turning radius is around 21meters....and for sure, you would not know it. I had to look down a couple of times to make sure I wasn't back on my 84's. The 94's were so smooth in the crud, easy to maneuver in the bumps and came up strong on edge on the hardpack. Again, one dynamite ski. For those of you in the 170 lb plus range....this is an outstanding choice. If I was skiing some sick waist high snow....it would be my choice.
If you get a chance, give them both a ride....you won't be sorry.
Gary
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