SLX Love

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SLX Love

Postby jbotti » Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:02 pm

The Elan SLX has been mentioned and talked about some on this forum in years past. It’s a ski that HH has skied and very much liked and it’s also been mine and Max’s go to slalom carver for the past several years. I have a good sized quiver of slalom carvers which includes the Head SS I.speed, stockli laser SX, head ISL non RD and the Elan SLX (along with some slalom race skis). I have the choice to ski any of the others every ski day, and I consistently take out the SLX. It is a great bumps ski and when things firm at my home mountain, the SLX is my go to ski all over the mountain and it’s always a joy and easy to ski. My original pair has easily 75-100 days on it and it has been softened from skiing bumps and getting bent in bumps. And the flex is just perfect for firm off piste skiing.

I also just broke out a new pair to ski on groomers this past week. These skis have a perfect flex to arc great turns on piste. They just rock on hard snow. The mount point on the Elans is way in front of what we see from Head and Stockli, and it’s inches more forward not centimeters. When I get on my Head slalom carvers after skiing the SLX the mount feels too far back (but they feel fine if I have not just skied my SLXs). But I also don’t think that you can put the Heads or the Stocklis this far forward because of their construction (they seem to ski best 2-3 cm more forward). And I think this is why Max and I love the SLX so much.

Elan does not have great distribution in the US and what distribution they do have seems to be in their all mountain and big mountain skis (the ripstick line of which I am not a fan). But you can find the SLX and it’s a slalom carver that PMTS skiers should consider. I find them super easy to ski with a perfect blend of high end performance and ease of use.
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Re: SLX Love

Postby Roundturns » Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:43 pm

I just got a new old pair, 2016 model. 170cm. Listed as new on eBay but they definitely had been skied. Some base burn and edge knicks. Anyway, I got them for under $300 shipped and they are great fun on the groomers here in SW Pa.

I remember your previous positive comments on the SLX and was confident they would be really solid for my purposes. Hard pack conditions are 80% of my ski days.
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Re: SLX Love

Postby Eiszapfen » Tue Mar 08, 2022 1:29 pm

Thanks for the review jbotti! As I mostly ski hard pack the recent years I am thinking about getting a good slalom carver. I really need to try the elan.
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Re: SLX Love

Postby jbotti » Fri Mar 25, 2022 5:44 pm

I skied my new SLX the past 4 days while I was getting coached by HH. The new SLX is softer in the tips than the old one. As I was working on carving on steeps I was bumping into the softer tip and I was definitely wanting a slightly stiffer ski (mainly in the tips).

I think the new SLX is incredibly user friendly and a great learning ski with a very high performance envelope. It will rock awesome arcs and its super fun and very easy to ski.

Max and I have both softened the old SLX's by bending them in bumps and after they break in, they are great bumps skis. I think the new ones require no breaking in and the flex is already perfect for off piste skiing. I skied our ridge with it in some serious crud (having been through freeze and thaw with some un-skied pow that had gotten very set up, bumps that were quite hard and the next one soft and tons of ball bearing type balls of ice and crud all over the slope) and they held up great.

The only place that I noticed the softer tip and wanted more was on steeps when I was edge lock carving.
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Re: SLX Love

Postby Eiszapfen » Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:54 pm

What length are you skiing the slx in?
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Re: SLX Love

Postby jbotti » Sun Mar 27, 2022 2:24 pm

170cm.
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