Hart Phoenix

[meput]

Was in a shop at Killington yesterday and saw the Hart Phoenix. Anyone with any experience with these? They were ~66mm underfoot and 12m radius in a 158 length. I was in the shop getting a pair of iSS's for me and was wondering about the Hart's for one of my daughters.

[meput]

My daughter made off with the new iSS's so she would not need the Hart's. It still is an interesting looking ski if anyone has some experience with it.

[ibMED]

The new Hart skis have a very good reputation as a premium priced ski. Production is outsourced - European manufactured, by Blossom in Italy, I believe, and twins to Vist skis. Last year I skied the Hart Pulse which is wider underfoot and more of a high speed cruiser than the Phoenix. Sold them to HelluvaSkier as I'm more of a turner. He really likes the ski when not training for racing.

Phoenix should be a pretty good PMTS ski, but, at the premium price they sell for, they should be demo'd first. Hard to go wrong with a Supershape as it's a versatile ski. It's my understanding that Hart skies can be direct purchased from Hart's website at nice discounts.

[meput]

ibMED,
Thank you for your thoughts. They are similar to mine in that they looked like they might be a good PMTS technique ski. Unfortunately I am not near enough to the shop to try a demo pair (if they even have a demo pair), therefore this forum discussion . Besides, it would be hard to beat a pair of iSS (if only I could prevent my daughters from taking my iSS's ) .

meput

[ginaliam]

The shop I work in sells these and we had demo's in the 174 and 180 cm lengths (with vist speedlock binding-a pretty sweet premium set up).

The 158 is meant for a pretty small person and is not designed as a shorter ski. Most adult men would ski it in the 174 or 180 lengths (that is, if the want the benefits of this ski). So I'd be wary of going that short in order to get the PMTS coveted 12m turn radius-it skis better in the 14-16m radii at a longer length.

That said, it's a ripping carver-great on groomers and hard pack (and ice), pretty good in spring soft snow and east coast crud. OK in bumps if it's under a very strong skier who doesn't jam the tips in the troughs.

Folks who demo-ed and bought this ski all put a premium on front side carving, most had some past race experience, all were strong skiers. A person I work with is a bigger guy, strong arc to arc skier and uses the 180 in all conditions and does it well-he loves them.

They're also great looking skis and really well-made.

The Pulse is a softer (but not soft)and easier skiing ski than the Phoenix. Both have decent pep-but the Phoenix has more.

Hart makes some good skis, but they're not cheap. The Phoenix with a decent binding is in the high 600's (shop spring prices) and with a premium binding like the speed lock it in the mid 700's. It's worth putting a racier binding w/ plate on this ski.


If you like the Phoenix, be sure to also check out the elan speedwave 14--very similar skis in terms of feel, energy, and ability requirements.

hope that helps

[meput]

Ginaliam,

Thank you for your nice review of the Phoenix. It is exactly the info I was interested in. I appreciate the fact that the ski may be better in the longer versions, but unfortunately some of us are size challenged (I am 5ft 4in, on a good day). I would feel very uncomfortable on a ski over 170 cm. It has been 40 years since I skied longer skis (190 & 197's). Add age and being a knee cripple, I tend to ski 165 cm or shorter. My current carver is the iSS 165. My original thought was for one of my daughters who is smaller than I, hence the interest in the 158.

Thank you for you reply,
Jim

[ajax]

I skied a 180cm Hart Phoenix today and I loved it. Not as much as my Supershapes, but close, much closer than I thought it would be. It's just a really smooth ski, easy flexing ski but was surprisingly stable at high speed. There is less shape in the tail than the SS so it might be better in the bumps. I'm not the best in the bumps so I can't really say with authority though.