Author Topic: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot  (Read 7812 times)

Ron

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #90 on: September 24, 2010, 11:25:08 am »
Jim/John/Perry, heres a review of the Chariot (178) from Epic



The late April day at Jay Peak, Vermont provided temperatures hovering right around the low thirties and a mixture of all types of precipitation across the mountain.? On the summit it was snowing lightly, although slushing may be a better term for it.? What was falling was certainly sticking, and sticky... and there were three to four inches of it on the ground by the time I got there.? Underneath were the remnants of the last thaw/freeze cycle, which were still very much in the freeze side of things.? Turns up top were anything from soft and buttery where the new slush hadn't been hit yet, to hard and scraped off where the masses had already travelled.? As you progressed down the mountain the base got softer and softer, and by the bottom the new precip. was just rain, although thankfully it as mostly just misty, without really very many big drops to speak of.? The combination of warmer temps and the misty conditions actually created some really fun snow, with two inches or so of heavy slush to carve through and nothing to worry about sliding on underneath it.
 
My first impression getting on the skis [aside from how stunningly beautiful they are of course? ] was realizing that I had potentially mounted them too far forward.? With the two mounting lines on the ski so far apart (almost 8cm by my measurement!) I took a shot in the dark and mounted my Salomon z12 demo's at +3 cm from the back line.? Standing on the skis I felt like I was farther forward over the tips than I would like to be, and once or twice while skiing them I had to catch myself from being thrown too far forward when coming out of a turn.? Luckily the demo bindings I used are adjustable fore and aft so I may just be able to slide them back to where I want them, but if not they will be getting re-mounted onto the back line before next season.? Not being much of a park skier I don't really ride any truly center-mounted skis, but I couldn't imagine going any farther forward on these than I already am, and there's almost another 5cm to the front line!?
 
Once I got the moving I was really surprised by how stable they felt, even compared with other 100mm skis that I have ridden.? Smashing through the various degrees of slop that I encountered on my way down the hill they very rarely got deflected, and really felt right at home carving small to medium turns on steep, open terrain no matter what was underneath them.? They felt secure underfoot and "popped"? nicely from one turn to the next no matter how hard they were pressured or how much edge angle was used.? It seemed like the more I had to give and the further I bent them through the turn, the more they were ready to give right back.? At 5'7 160 or so I didn't really find a stopping point, as they continued to get more lively and responsive the more energy I put into them.? Another situation where I got a more stable and solid feeling from them than I have from other similarly waisted skis was on landings.? The meager late season conditions didn't allow for anything bigger than a couple of 2-3 foot drops and some berm-launches, but every time I left the ground the transition back down was noticeably incredibly smooth.? There were one or two instances where a ski caught up and hooked away during a landing in a way that I don't feel it would have on a ski with less side-cut, but I'm ready to chalk that up to pilot-error / learning curve.? There's certainly less room for error in ankle positioning than on some wider, straighter skis but I think the immense surface area under the tips and tails somewhat helps to alleviate this and helps provide that stableness as long as your feet are reasonably underneath you.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2010, 03:10:26 pm by jim-ratliff »