Skis and Gear Discussion > Current Reviews (this and last season)

New Ride - Elan Waveflex 12

(1/3) > >>

Gary:
Sat , with the thought of my wife trying out the new Elan Waveflex Insomnia, I also for giggles demoed the Elan Waveflex 12.

Conditions: 3-4" of fresh snow. As the day went on, scraped off and piles of granular snow. Natural and groomed snow conditions, temp 28F, soft blue bumps

Alice: currently on Kastle MX78, 152, turning radius 13 meters, not sure what Insomnia was. This ski was 74 underfoot , same ski length demo
Gary:currently on Kastle MX78 168, turning radius 16 meters, test ski has 14 meter radius, 74 underfoot. Same ski length demo

Alice said the sidecut made the ski feel twitchy to her. She thought that it got pushed around more in the crud where the Kastle plowed through it.

I felt the ski was on rails when brought up on edge, much easier to find the edge than the 78. The ski also had less kick back in the tail making the Elan more accommodating in the bumps.
Short turns were very easy. At high speed GS turns, they were solid at high edge angle...fun! Soft snow given the shovel width made them very easy in the 4" of fresh, also more easy foot to foot. They also skied well two footed and I noticed the response with migrating foot pressure was quicker with the Elan. (probably due to the skiecut)  Going between the edges of soft snow back to the groom or scraped off, the W12's were very very solid when on edge. I did notice the difference underfoot between the Elan and the Kastle and like Alice, I noted too that the Kastle powered through the crud better but was noticeably more vertically rigid than the Elan.For me,  the Elan was easier to arc. The Kastles were also easier to drift or float in the crud than were the Elans.

The ski I demoed was on sale for $475. It DID NOT have a Gary Tune...still the ski performed extremely well...I purchased end of day on Saturday. I brought the skis home and put them on my ski bench. 1 & 3 are my go to edges...I found one edge on one ski both side and base to be off.  A good wax, scraped and brushed in...they were ready for Sunday.

Sunday, with almost identical conditions..actuall y even better because the snow was drier, the newly prepared skis turned even more crisp and moved more smoothly turn to turn.
I also noticed how the early rise edge (outside edges of the skis) seemed to allow a smoother transition in turns when I was using both uphill edge of the uphill ski and big toe edge of the downhill ski. Really made transitions in the bump and pow feel a bit smoother. It also helped smooth out the transitions on the hardpack.

I'm taking it out west to Banff to see how they perform. The bindings are very cool as both toe and heel pieces slide completely off the ski with the click of a lever. This way I can pack the skis as a 3rd pair....ya I know...decadent... ;D. Should be fun for sure.
Best, G

LivingProof:
G,

Best wishes for the new carvers!

Our home mountains are somewhat similar, and, I hear your liking for a ski with a more narrow radius and great grip. This year, I've been doing both my Supershapes and Hart Pulse skis (similar to your Kastle 78's), depending on the day. They are different skis, but, both make me smile. The Shapes are just great for short  radius turns on very hard snow. The Pulse's are more GS like skis. If I had to one, I just may favor the more narrow radius. The feedback from a tight short turn is just so much fun.

You are correct with respect to plowing through crud and loose granular as the Shapes are twitchy in this stuff. We have been experiencing this too much in the last 2 weeks. A thought is to change edges and ski with the rocker side to the inside in crud.

All in all , a great fit into your revised quiver.

 

Svend:
Hey Gary,

Can't wait to see how those new boards handle the big Canadian Rockies.  Only five days 'til they hit the snow out there.  Talked to a friend there today -- Louise got 80 cm this weekend; Sunshine about 60 cm.  Conditions are fantastic.

Congrats on the new babies! MX78's up for sale yet?

Gary:
Hey Mike and Svend...

Mike does that mean we need 3 skis in our quiver...hopefully not...maybe more like eastern skiing vs western...and winter skiing vs spring skiing......gesh... too much to think about.

Mike sounds like you experienced the same thing I did in our wonderful and mutual granular crud...actually some of my favorite snow WITH the right ski. Still, going in and out of that, the Elan really does hook up easier than the Kastle. It may just boil down to learning to be more patient with the Elan in that piled up crud. I found when I did that, the handled a little bit better.

For sure Svend...they're ready to go...however given the potential for snow I'm seeing right now for next week...My Rev 105's are all revved up for "Operation Get Some"! Here's hoping it dumps and the Elans can only touch a day or two the Rockies snow!

Not sure what I'm going to do with the MX78's....jury still out!

G

Perry:
Gary,
Just curious what you liked about the Elan c/w the MX78.  My SS mag is very old - bought used and has some base divots that require constant care so looking for an Eastern ski.  Wanting something 78 or less.  Looking at some Head Supershapes at 175cm.  Have you ever demoed the Kastle RX12?

I don't need a pure carver, I want a ski that CAN carve but doesn't have to.  My old RX 8 would do what every I asked up to the 66mm waist limit for float.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page