by rick_deckard » Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:36 pm
Thansk Jim. That's definitely useful because in fact when I shop for ski deals, not being able to get past reviews is a problem. In this case, it's a pro deal situation at my ski school, so I'll probably just get the 05/06 skis because the price is right.
On Saturday I was able to demo four different skis. Unfortunately, the reason I had time to try so many skis is that there were very few lessons to teach because it was snowing like mad. It started snowing at about 4:00am and we had a foot by 9:00 and got another 6" or so by the time the lifts got closed down in the afternoon because we had a full-on thunder and lightning storm going that knocked out power in the whole region.
This mean that I was testing them in powder, crud and very soft packed powder, whereas I'm looking for a ski that will be great on hard-pack, but FWIW, here are my impressions.
Skis in order of testing:
- my usual K2 Ascent 8611s, 170cm (these are AT skis).
- XRC 1400, 163cm
- Supershape, 170cm
- Monster i.m. 70, 170cm
- XRC 1100, 170cm
- XRC 1400, 163 cm (second round with these).
Me: 5'6" (170cm), 145 lbs, 42 years old, in good shape (will hike up to 50 miles in a day during the summers), but not nearly as good shape as when I did race training and skied hard lots of days a year.
XRC 1400, round 1
On my first test it was hard to tell much since I couldn't find anything groomed and the new snow was real heavy, but still deep. I did find some groomed, but didn't get a good impression of the 1400s except that 163cm seemed awfully short.
Supershape
At least in the conditions I was in, I didn't like this ski at all. Despite the radical shape and perhaps because of the wide shovel, it felt like it took a long time to get it up on edge. Once there it would lay a nice arc and perhaps in firmer conditions where I could have really cranked on it without getting boot-out, it might have been better, but if felt very unresponsive to me.
i.m. 70
This was a nice, easy ski to handle, but it was sort of like an American car - smooth ride but ho hum. They'll hold an edge, they'll skid, they'll plow through crud and they probably do fine on hardpack, but I just couldn't get excited. I had to look down to make sure I wasn't still in my AT skis and I don't see any point in getting a pair of alpine skis that feel like AT skis (I'm sure at high speed on icy slopes they would be far superior to the K2s, but I couldn't try that).
XRC 1100
Now I felt like I was getting somewhere. These skis were fun and responsive and I was blasting around everywhere and finally really enjoying myself. Still, they didn't quite have that kick back at you feel that you might get from a race ski as you finish a turn.
XRC 1400, round II
Since things had gotten packed out a lot during the previous runs, I decided to try these again. These are skis that have more of a race feel. They want to be on edge and they want you to pay attention. Lazy skiers do not apply. On the other hand, with a little love, they repay with an exciting ride that feels like it springs you out of the turns. They want to get up on edge fast and swing you right around. Just real fun to ride and a big contrast from the Monsters or my K2 AT skis.
I could have actually take the demo pair, all mounted and everything with demo bindings, but I still felt that the 163cm was too short, and yet there was enough difference between these and the 1100s that I didn't want the 1100s even though there was a 170cm demo pair.
Fun day and the rep actually left the 1400s there for me to try again in better conditions if I want, so if we get some freeze thaw and a bit of ice, I'll maybe do round III, but I think I'm pretty sold on the 1400s. I wish I could try a 170cm, but I'm pretty certain that's what I'm after.
I'll probably pair them with the Tyrolia Freeflex 14 and I'm still looking into whether or not I need a plate on top of that (I think the Freeflex is fairly high off the ski without a plate, but have to do a bit more research).