I've always been thinking that skis (make, model, shape etc) really wouldn't make much of a difference for my skiing, (as long as they could be classified as shaped "carving" skis, with a reasonable radius). During the past 4-5 years, I've been on 3 different skis, all "modern carving" one's, in the medium to upper range of the manufacturer's models. Furthermore, on occasion, I've rented various other skis.
At the same time, I've been reading gear reviews (btw, the very best reviews I've found are here, on realskiers.com), and been pretty impressed by the fact that the reviewers can have so clear a picture of the characteristics and differences of different skis.
Anyway, during a spontaneous visit to a local sports store, I yesterday saw a pair of Atomic 9.12 SL's being on sale for a *very* good price. Since I've been on different models of Atomic skis the past 4-5 years, really enjoy (trying to) doing carved short turns in the fall line, and since I've noticed that almost all reviews have given very high scores for this ski, I took the plunge and purchased them.
Today I had the opportunity to ride them for some 4 hours. The conditions on my local little hill (former garbagedump!), 10 min from home, were quite special, since their grooming machine had broken down a day or two ago. Thus, the slopes (all 3 of them!
were ungroomed since a couple of days, and the pists were full of moderate, but quite hard bumps/moguls. In between the moguls it was either hardpack or ice.
Initially, when arriving to the hill, and noticing the state of the slopes, I was quite disappointed, for a couple of reasons: one, I really wanted to try the new skis on well groomed, hard surface, to see if my short to moderate carved turning ability would be any different. Secondly, I have not had very many opportunities to do bump/mogul skiing over the years, and this season, nil. Third, I've always found bump skiing troublesome, having been unable to "flow gracefully" down anything but a few linked turns. So, from my perspective, it was not the perfect conditions to try out the new skis. But I went for it anyway.
The first 5-6 runs, I spent on the nursery slope, just to get to know the skis. Even though my previous skis had pretty much shape (106/65/97), I could immediately notice the difference provided by the yet greater shape of the new ones (115/65/100). Even in these slow, initial medium radius turns, I could immediately notice that the new skis were much easier to turn "radically". The second thing I noticed was (please don't laugh!
that the *sound* of the new skis cutting the hardpack/ice, was quite different from the older ones: I can't really describe the difference in sound, but I guess it would be correct to say that the pitch of the new ones was higher (ok, you can stop laughing now! . The third difference, still in the nursery slopes, with moderate speeds, was that in straight runs, the new skis felt incredibly stiff; every minor bump caused quite a lot of vibration.
The next thing was to head for the main slope (the bumpy & icy one). This slope is fairly steep, at least for me, black diamond, I'd guess somewhere around 35-40 degrees in parts. I've always had trouble on this slope, when the snow is hard/icy.
I was quite amazed when I already during the first run noticed how well the new skis engaged on the hard surface, and how quickly I could do really short turns, with only a small amount of skid or "brushing"! In fact, after a few initial runs, I felt quite confident to do this bumpy run pretty much straight down the fall line, making quite short turns in between the bumps, where the surface was really hard. And I was really amazed by how much more in control I felt with the new skis! Unfortunately, I didn't have my old skis with me to really experience the difference, but I'm quite sure that I wouldn't have been able to do this slope under the current conditions anywhere nearly as fast and in control with them!
So, even though the conditions this day were quite special, I'm happy to say that these skis really make a difference for my skiing! I'd be interested in hearing from the folks on this forum, if they have any ideas on what characteristics of the skis that makes such a difference: sidecut vs stiffness vs.... ? Oh yes, btw, I've always kept all my skis well tuned, sharp edges tuned to the manufaturer's spec angles etc, so that shouldn't be the difference....
For reference, here's the data on my *old' vs. new skis:
OLD:
Atomic Supercross sx 9, 160 cm, 106/65/97, radius 14.5 m (if I recall the radius correctly)
NEW:
Atomic 9.12 SL, 160cm, 115/65/100, radius 11,5 m
Cheers,
Tommy