2001 Outdoor Retailer Show On Snow Demo
A Ski Report by Linda Peer and John Lee
Photos by John Lee
Linda goes first:
After years of complaining that I couldn’t
find ski reviews for people my size, do I finally get the job?
Here’s my resume: 5’3”, 117 lb., female. Experience:
over 100 ski days a year, early seasons on manmade snow and bumps
at Hunter Mt. in NY, and in Utah from December on. Backcountry
most weekends, from gentle tree runs to bowls and couloirs up
to 45 degrees. Why would I be good for this job? I love moderately
steep terrain, although anything above 45 degrees scares me (yes,
I measure.) I love powder and crud and I love to ski in different
ways: tight turns, jump turns, wide carved turns, etc. Ski ambition:
To be able to ski anything, including breakable crust, and make
it look easy.
Snow conditions: Thursday it snowed maybe
5 inches over crust and hard pack. Friday warmed up a little
and the crust softened. There was cut powder, crud, and there
were even a few turns at a time of uncut powder to be found in
obscure corners of Jupiter Bowl and in the trees. I tried each
ski in all these conditions, in some bumps, and on something
steep. I wanted to know not only how they ski in conditions I
like, but how they ski in the conditions one has to ski just
to get around a mountain.
My current gear cache includes Scarpa T2 and
T-Race boots, Rainey super loop bindings and K2 Flight-X alpine
skis (shape: toe 109mm, instep 75mm, heel 99mm; length 173cm)
and K2 Piste Stinx telemark skis, (96, 67, 86; length 170cm).
That’s what I’m used to. I skied the T-Race boots for
the demo.
Linda on a pair of 110 Cross Rides
 |
I enjoyed all the skis I tried and concluded
that here are lots of great skis out there. All you need to do
to be happy is select the skis that best suit the terrain and
snow conditions you usually ski, and whose properties you like
best. For instance, I loved the most aggressive skis. Riding
them was like fire on the mountain. But because my ambition is
to ski everything and make it look easy, they are not the skis
I would buy for myself. If my ambition was to ski fast, though,
they would be it. Also, I would choose a different ski if I had
one pair than if I had two or three. Here is what I demoed:
K2 Super Stinx,
(shape: 107-70-97; length 174) with Voile 3pin bindings (I have
always found these bindings hard to get into, but the security
of the three pin setup back country is worth the effort. Imagine
trying to fix a cable on a really cold day.). Skied on the headwall
under the McConkey lift.
I was perfectly at home on these skis and
bindings. They are more aggressive than my Flight -Xs. They’re
stable and fast on hardpack, good in crud, and they come around
fast enough on a steep slope. They were excellent in a few inches
of powder over a hard base but I would not choose them for very
deep, soft powder. This is a great all around ski for someone
who likes a good deal of side cut.
Yostmark Classic Noodle, (99,76,87; length 177 cm) With Voile Classic bindings
(this binding stepped in, and out, nicely) in Jupiter Bowl, under
the lift and in the trees.
This ski is designed for deep, soft powder, as well as crud and
other soft snows. Because the Noodle is very different from my
skis I kept them for over two hours and really worked them out.
The Noodle is not happy on hard pack, or even crusty stuff under
a few couple inches of snow. They danced in powder, though, and
were bouncy and fun in crud. As a matter of fact, they ware so
much fun that I hid out in Jupiter Bowl for a while and just
skied them. For me this would be a specialized powder ski. I
would love it backcountry if I knew I was not going to run into
wind crust, breakable crust, or ice, but if I was going to the
tops of peaks in uncertain conditions I would want a more versatile
ski.
Atomic TM20,
(106, 66, 90; length 170 cm), Chili Bindings (I tend I get too
far forward on these bindings, but I get used to them.) skied
on the headwall under the McConkey lift.
This would be a great Eastern ski or resort ski. I would love
having it in NY and New England. The only thing I would not want
it for is deep powder. It handled hardpack, crud, bumps and a
few inches of powder beautifully. I was immediately comfortable
and confident and it was great fun for quick little turns and
for big carved turns. It was the most aggressive ski I demoed.
It seduced me into some really fast runs on ungroomed intermediate
and advanced terrain and a fast run through some little trees,
and they felt like fire on the mountain.
Tua 110 Crossride
(110-76-100, length 170cm) Superloop binding (which I ski all
the time). Skied on the E. face of Jupiter peak. Tua says the
Cross-Ride skis are “alpine flex skis built for those who
want the added power and durability of a beefier board…”
The 110 Crossride is stiffer than the Sumo, and a little narrower
under foot. This ski was a real vanity stroker. I took this run
first and my companions said the guys on top were going on about
how well I skied. The top of Jupiter Peak is steep and there
was cut powder, crud and blown powder over avalanche debris on
the slope. The Crossrides were great on all of it. They were
also fun, fast, and stable on more packed slopes. They were not
as aggressive as the Atomic TM20s or the K2 Super Stix, but for
the soft snows and steep terrain I like best I prefer the Crossrides.
Atomic Tour Guide
(96, 67, 86, length 175 cm), with Chili bindings, skied on the
headwall under the Pioneer lift. This is a wonderfully light
ski for the backcountry, especially in the 175 cm length. Considering
it’s lightness, its ability to handle all conditions was
a real surprise. Although the Tour Guide is not aggressive, it
was stable and fun on hardpack, in bumps, and in crud. This is
the ski I pushed the hardest, in that I skied a steep (some of
it over 40 degrees) double fall line with trees and lift stanchions,
so I did not dare to miss a turn. The skis were stable, came
around quickly, and I felt confident and secure. I would recommend
these as a backcountry ski or as an all around ski for someone
with one pair of skis. I thought they were really impressive.
Voile Mt. Surfs,
165, (110, 88, 103) Voile HardWire bindings (These are one of
two interesting new bindings from Voile. The HardWire replaces
the heel cable with stainless steel rods and sealed compression
springs. I noticed their lateral stability.) skied in Jupiter
Bowl under the lift and in the trees.
I skied these the same place as I skied the
Noodles, two runs with the Noodles, three with these. At the
top of the headwall there was snow over some kind of crust, then
crud lower down. The Mt. Surfs held at the top much better. They
came around fast, possibly partly because of the short length,
and felt rock solid. They were fabulous fun in the little bits
of powder we could find. Once again, they dance in deep snow.
They were stable on the hardpack and in the bumps. Because I
want a ski for deep powder, these were my personal favorites.
When I returned them I tried to convince the Voile guys that
they should give them to me, without success.
John, photo by Linda Peer
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Now John Lee:
I wanted to compare the “aggressive”
skis from each manufacturer, mainly because that is how I like
to ski. I enjoy pushing myself, and if possible the ski I am
riding. The conditions that I enjoy skiing are steep cut up crud
and, of course, powder. The ski demo for this year’s Outdoor
Retailers Show was held at Park City Mountain Resort. The resort
received 6” of new snow the morning of the demo, so there
was some wind blown and cut up crud to find up high on the mountain
3 lift rides away from the demo tents.
The manufacturers presenting skis were Atomic,
Alpina, Black Diamond, Fischer, Karhu, K2, Rossignol, Tua, Voile,
and Yostmark. I didn’t attempt to systematically approach
the review process. I picked the skis that I wanted to ski. Even
then I didn’t get to test all of those. The skis I did end
up testing were these:
K2 Super Stinx
190cm mounted with G3 Targa bindings.
Karhu Ryder, 190cm, mounted with G3 Targa bindings.
Tua Cross Ride 112, 190cm mounted with SuperLoops.
Atomic 10.ex, 190cm mounted with Chilis.
I wish that I had had time to ski the Voile
Mountain Surf and the Black Diamond Mira, Rossignol Mega Bang
and K2 Work Stinx. These skis are on my radar, but riding three
chairs just to get to terrain and snow that I could enjoy leave
enough time to change out skis and do a decent test on all that
I wanted to try.
Karhu Rider:
Among the 4 skis I tested the Karhu Ryder is a little out of
place. The other skis are powerful and are a real joy at high
speeds. Karhu overhauled their entire line though, and I didn’t
know what to expect. My first impression wasn’t so good.
I was skiing on hardpack groomers. The ski will carve, but only
when given a soft touch. Their dimensions are very similar to
my Olin Selkirks, so the turning radius of the skis was comfortable
to me. The tips chattered at moderately fast speeds. This ski
was not intended for hardpack.
Linda and I climbed above the lifts onto Jupiter
Peak. We skied the east face of the peak, a nice steep 500’
couloir filled with a base of cut up crud and new windblown snow.
The Karhu skis were a blast in these conditions. The swing weight
of the ski is very light so the skis came around very quickly.
The soft flex of the skis sank into each and provided enough
rebound to nearly levitate between turns. Not a snappy ski by
any means, but a very light predictable and responsive ski in
powder with lots of float.
The softness of the ski prevented me from
skiing at the kind of speeds that I enjoy on either harpack crud
or powder, but this ski would well suit someone looking for a
light fat powder touring ski.
K2 Super Stinx
The K2 Super Stinx was the fist ski I demoed. They were mounted
with G3 bindings. It was my first chance to ski on the G3 or
the SuperStinx, and I was excited to try both. The Super Stinx
is a soft ski, though not as soft as the Rider. The sidecut is
much more pronounced than the other 3 skis I tested. The ski
felt soft, but the considerable sidecut and good torsional rigidity
allowed me to ski really fast on harpack groomers. Todd Kipfer
and I were both on these, and we were cruising side by side.
Since he was throwing off vortices of snow I can only imagine
that I was too. Cool. The skis seem to have a very small sweet
spot. While you are in the zone - the ski is very responsive,
and it’s edges hold very well. The transition out of the
zone; however; can be uncomfortable. The ski does not ski flat
too well, especially when in chunky crud on a hard base. I found
that the tails liked to catch, and would rail you into compromising
situations - I had an encounter with a shrub that I did not expect
would be so close. I like it when I am in control of the skis
- not the other way around!
With this experience I was a little hesitant
to push off into the steeps. My experience with skis with this
much sidecut is that they can hook on you. The Super Stinx was
a champ though. The conditions were cut up crud under the McConkie
lift. The entrance easily topped 40 degrees, and the run tapered
off to middle 30’s. I skied fast and hard with jump turns
in the entrance and big fast turns though the rest of the pitch.
I’ve never been a fan of detuning the
tips and tails of skis. I usually see to that by hitting enough
rocks to make this procedure rather pointless, but perhaps these
skis could be smoothed out by a little attention with a file
to the tails. I expect that the sweet spot would remain small,
but coming out of the sweet spot may be a little less traumatic,
and the skis would ski flat a little easier.
Tua Cross Ride 112 112-80-102, 190cm.
Every time I ski is a learning experience, and this was not exception.
After picking up a pair of 112’s Linda, Todd and I rode
a chair behind Ned Ryerson (Tele Ned). Todd recognized Ned, we
all introduced ourselves, and skied the next two runs together.
My first impression of the 112 was how well the skis gripped
on Hardpack. They carved up the hardpack, and once engaged, the
edges would not release until requested. The tips would not chatter,
so the screaming blue groomer was good test of the 112’s
edging skills.
A chairlift ride with Ned and a lesson on
a mogul run followed. Skiing with a famous tele instructor tends
to take your mind off the ski and focus on technique, but I did
notice that the 112 was very stable and predictable in the bumps.
Ned’s assessment of my skiing was “athletic”.
I took this as a back hand complement. My stance is low, and
my transitions are late, and I compensate for technique flaws
with aggression. Guilty as charged. Ned worked on getting my
transitions to come earlier, and “look where I am going”.
The exercise focuses on the self righting instinct where the
feet follow what the eyes are doing. Pierre has advocated this
on the Telemark Tips forum so he is in very good company.
Don’t get me wrong - I fully intend to use this lesson to
add to my list of exercises, and I am sure that focusing on Ned’s
lessons will improve my skiing, but when school was out, we broke
for the steeps and crud waiting off McConkie’s Lift. The
East Face of Jupiter Peak was closed as more snow was blowing
over the ridge, but 2 steep runs under the Pioneer Lift proved
that this ski could cut the crud with great stability and speed.
Atomic 10.ex
Carving that screaming blue groomer on the 10.ex I experienced
my first Knee Touch. Remember the days when booting out was a
possibility? Kiss that goodbye on the 10.ex. On a high speed
carve, I kept asking more and more, and finally my rear knee
skidded on the hardpack. Whoa.
Todd, Linda, John Lichtwardt and I headed
out to Jupiter Bowl. Linda had scoped out some steep lines with
worked snow on the previous day, and she guided us to the goods.
I worked the ski - and it worked me. Not that this ski is tough
to ski, but as you push the ski, it keeps taking whatever you
give it, and you just can’t resist pushing yourself. My
legs were trashed for two days. I was glad to take the day off
and shoot photos for the Brighton Comp on the following day,
because the 10.ex had whipped me. I want a pair. How do I make
a qualitative assessment of this ski that makes any sense with
regard to a telemark ski review? The ski was so much more stable,
so much more aggressive, light enough to pick up for jump turns,
predictable enough that I was comfortable skiing in tight trees
and at a pretty good clip. In short, it was so much fun that
I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom so that I could make
another run, and this ski wasn’t going to get in the way
of this at all. Some call this a vicious cycle, I call it wicked
fun.
As you can guess, I listed my skis in the
order that I liked them. I liked all of them, though I felt that
the Karhu and the K2 had some shortcomings. The Tua and the Atomic
I recommend without reservation. I would want to own them both.
If I had to choose one ski, the more flexible Tua would probably
beat out the Atomic, but - man oh man - I could get to like the
beating I received from the 10.ex, and man was not meant to own
one ski alone anyway.
While it is long overdue for Atomic to recognize
that it’s high end Alpine skis are suitable for aggressive
Telemark skiers, missing from the ski demo was the ability to
have a show down among some of the other skis that are creating
a buzz for aggressive telemark skiers. Perhaps among the telemarktips.com
community we can arrange to put the following skis head to head:
Saloman AK Rocket
K2 AK Launcher
Rossignol XXX
Volkl G41
To be continued….
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