Author Topic: Rum&Sun - ski advice after not purchasing in forever  (Read 644 times)

jbotti

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Re: Rum&Sun - ski advice after not purchasing in forever
« Reply #15 on: November 02, 2010, 10:37:57 am »
I would definitley put the Icelantic Shamans on my list as well. Possibly the Nomads as well. Clearly my list is not definitive and it reflects my vews. I agree, giving Fred a bigger list is better than just mine.

Perry

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Re: Rum&Sun - ski advice after not purchasing in forever
« Reply #16 on: November 02, 2010, 11:17:03 am »
I am not a ski expert - esp for powder!!  That said, I would recommend one, two or even three days of demo.  See if you can narrow down to 3 - 6 skis.  Now the hard part; how in the world if you get to demo on a good powder day, do you have the discipline to use some of you time to exchange skis.  If you can find a slopeside demo place, with the skis you want to demo that would be idea. That might be very tough.

It does come down to personal preference, style, body movement yada, yada.

The advice here will help you narrow down.  Over on Epicski, I have found that dawgcatching gives excellent reviews and he skis at Bachelor (would that snow be similar to Mammoth?)

Have fun finding your ride - PS - look at the ski logik including the Bomb Squad

Ron

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Re: Rum&Sun - ski advice after not purchasing in forever
« Reply #17 on: November 02, 2010, 12:07:12 pm »
for a non-rockered ski, the nomad SFT is an excellent choice, keep in mind the actual dims are 146-111-136 not the 105 as published but the 181 is a super versitile fun ski for sure. It was basically my everyday ski last year. however, since I lke the ease and relaxed way you can ski rockers I would look for a rockered tip with some slight rockered tail. If you ski trees and off-piste a lot, you will come to value the rockers ability to float up a bit and not sink in. A lot of off-piste terrain, especially tree'd up stuff has buried debris; branches, roots, rocks and log stumps that when the cover isn't uber deep become dangerous. The rockered tip will make that a little less of an issue. I remember a great day last season where we had 18" of fresh over a thin base, my friend was on his Seth's and was able to surf over a lot of the exposed and just under the surface bramble and stuff where I did not (and subsequently had several face plants). Easy and less work is good in my book and the rockered profile (rocker is now a catch all term) makes it super easy to pivot on (which is also good in my book) and literally turn on a dime.- which is very good! :)  if you take any air, even 5' drops, you will also appreciate a wider platform when landing.  one note regarding crud and rockers, I found skiing wet piled stuff a blast on Hellbents, so it really depends on what you like but I found they crushed crud. I imagine skiing frozen crud may be more of an issue with deflection.

here's a couple more to look at- remember, there are a lot more to choose from!

ON3P Billy goat 186
Atomic Bent Chetler or Blog (110) although the bennie is 123, it has low camber and is more than adequate on soft groomed (not that you want it for that)
Icelantic Nomad SFT 181
Dynastar 6th sense slicer (98 underfoot)
Rossi s3 (184)
Rossi s7 for sure 188
Armada JJ 186
The atlas is a good ski but not a particularly quick turning ski,  the Kastle 108, same, not known or designed as a quick turning ski


jim-ratliff

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Re: Rum&Sun - ski advice after not purchasing in forever
« Reply #18 on: November 02, 2010, 01:27:58 pm »

Fred:

A contrasting point of view (and collection of skis) lest you think that everyone on the forum has a garage full of skis.  I too have recently found the thrill asscociated with skiing off trail and in trees, although not nearly as steep of terrain as John and Ron.  So here is my ski "collection". I am 5'11" and 190 lbs and 62 years old.

Head SuperShape Magnum.  70 mm waist, 176 length.  This is my east coast ski, trees, trails, bumps, whatever.
Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot.  101 mm waist, 178 length.  This is my Utah/Colorado ski, trees, trails, bumps, powder, whatever.  This is an upgrade from an 84mm waisted ski to match spending a higher percentage of time off piste, but still expect at least 1/2 my time to be on groomed trails.

"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."

Gary

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Re: Rum&Sun - ski advice after not purchasing in forever
« Reply #19 on: November 03, 2010, 08:15:23 am »
Fred....over the past couple of years I've been watching videos of people skiing big lines in powder, trees, drops....great stuff and I noticed then that whatever they were skiing had lots of absorption. I learned later that they were on this new thing called Rockers..What I gleamed watching them ski was that absorption meant easier on the body, shovel staying above the snow with less concern about what it's hitting or going over and calm and easy look to skiing them.

So...knowing that my 78 width underfoot Kastles can handle all up to boot high (and then some) very relaxed and easy to ski, I wanted something for the off piste, pow days, tree skiing...So after some brain racking, I purchased the Armada JJ's and started to learn where and how Rockers excel.? Let me say I'm still learning about the ski...example....sk iing it traditionally with weight moving from the shovel to the tip....not so good. It's really designed to ski from a tall centered stance but it really excels here. To carve, drift, float, pivot in the tight trees from the center of that ski,.....truly amazing. I also recently read that the rockered tails of this ski can actually be used like air brakes or in this case snow brakes. By applying heel pressure and sinking the tails into the pow, the skis will slow right down. Having not tried this yet, it's nice to know I can use the tails as another ski tool.
I'm only telling my story cause IMO, the rocker ski in backcountry skiing, trees, drops, where you slash, carve, drift pivot...all these things....make it a delight and so much easier. I find myself less tired and truly don't worry about what my tips are hitting...they just have climb action traction...up and over they? go and the skis absorb all sorts of terrain.

If you're looking for a good side or backcountry ski, be sure to at least try a rockered one.

Best, Gary
« Last Edit: November 03, 2010, 08:39:18 am by Gary »