by GHagen » Sun Nov 25, 2018 2:59 pm
I have been a big fan of the Blossom White Out, it has been the best one quiver ski I have ever been on. I ski the 170. I have roughly 110 days on the ski. This year I skied it for the first 7 days and I was skiing OK--not great for me, but I thought it was just early season. As the snow at Loveland got harder before
the recent dump, I went back to my Head i.sl not RD 165cm skis and had a fantastic day..I could not figure it out, and repeated the magic the next day on the i.sls. To go even further on the slalom experiment, I pulled out an old pair of Head SLRD 165 cm (2004-2005) that never had much use and I always disliked them. I had another great day, even better than the i.sl not RD . I did one more SLRD day with great results and the snow started to soften in the afternoon. Thinking I had my groove back, I got on the White Outs expecting a familiar feel and good results on the softer snow, I was quite surprised. In a word the White Outs felt flimsy, awful. What was going on? After a couple of runs, I said enough---I have been betrayed by my favorite skis. Back on the SLRDs, I was golden again even on the softer snow.
Last Friday was a true powder day and I only brought the White Outs and hated them. Even on the softer snow my skiing was not good.
In the Summer, I had purchased another identical pair of the Blossoms as a hedge against their changing the ski or dis-continuing them. Upon a side by side comparison I discovered the old skis had lost 75-80% of their camber. The edges were great, the bases were fine, the bindings and top sheet Ok. But the skis were essentially flat to flat---camber gone.
Even though I have always been one to say that it is more the skier not the ski, I am convinced that these skis are toast and have been for a while. I have been waisting my time skiing skis beyond their prime. It will be interesting to get on the new pair next week. I hope I like them as much as when the other pair was new.