mahgnillig
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So I finally got a chance to do a bit of demoing this season. I'm looking for a replacement for my Fischer KOA 75 150cm, which I'm finding to be rather too short for me nowadays, though they were an excellent first ski for me. I've been skiing since last February, and seem to have picked it up pretty well. I mostly ski blues or groomed blacks, but I find myself heading more for the blacks than the blues lately. I'm not very good at moguls... but would love to be better! I'm also not that great at powder, but I love my Atomic Access powder skis for the deep stuff and the trees. I'm 5'2" and 120lbs
I headed to Northstar demo centre with the aim of trying all mountain skis in the 80mm-ish width. I was looking for something that would carve nicely, hold an edge on ice and go fast! One of the problems I have with my Fischers is that they really get squirrely when I go fast, and they get a kind of "death wobble" at times on flat traverses. I tried 5 different skis: Volkl Tierra, Dynastar Exclusive Legend Eden, Volkl Kenja, Rossignol Attraxion 8 and Blizzard Viva 8.1. I was kinda disappointed that Northstar didn't have the Blizzard Black Pearl, as I know how much the Divas love these. They didn't have the Bushwacker either, so I wasn't able to try the men's version. The conditions were warm... the frontside black runs started out as ice, and the blues descended into a wet mess later in the day. Not the best day to demo... but since I was looking for a ski for less than ideal conditions, and I have my Atomics for totally ideal conditions (ie. deep pow!), I figured it was worth a go.
Volkl Tierra 154: These were the demo guy's first suggestion to try as a starting point. Honestly, these felt like too much ski for me. I loved the lightness and the quick turns, and they carved very well on the blues, but I felt like they forced me into the back seat and were trying to ski me rather than the other way round! By the time I had finished my set of test runs on them, I felt really tired. Overall, these were my least favourite of the day.
Dynastar Exclusive Legend Eden 158: I immediately liked these much better than the Tierras. They carved nicely, but felt much more stable and predictable. The turn radius seemed to be much larger, and I really felt the length... they were quite heavy though. They weren't bad in the ice, either, but really came into their own on the blue groomers, where they were fast and stable. I really felt comfortable on these skis... but there was always that nagging feeling of how heavy and damp they felt, which makes me wonder how they would feel after a full day of hard charging. After thinking about it, these came 3rd out of the 5 I tried today.
Volkl Kenja 156: I was expecting to hate these... I wasn't keen on the Tierras I tried earlier, and I also disliked the Kikus that I demoed last season when I was looking for powder skis... I thought that maybe I am just not a Volkl person. However, the Kenjas were a blast! They were light, nimble and very fast! I broke my demo rule and took these for a couple of extra runs, I enjoyed them that much. I felt incredibly stable at speed, and it seemed like the skis were feeding energy back into my legs. The model I demoed was last season's, so I'm not sure how next season's rocker will affect the feel of them. These were definitely my favourite skis of the day.
Rossignol Attraxion 8 156: I was expecting to like these as I've heard great things about them. Something just didn't gel though... after the Kenjas they felt unwieldy, which I thought was odd considering they were supposed to be the same length. They did grip incredibly well on ice, but I just didn't get the whee! factor as I skied them. This could have had something to do with the conditions, which were steadily deteriorating and had become really sticky at lower elevations. They felt heavy and damp. I still preferred them to the Tierras, but I liked the Dynastars more and the Kenjas a lot more.
Blizzard Viva 8.1 158: This was the last pair of skis I tried. I really wanted to try out some Blizzard skis after all the hype over the Black Pearl, so the guy in the demo tent had these brought up from the village for me. I actually really liked them... not quite as much as the Kenjas, but they were close. Even in the slushy conditions they felt lively, stable and quick to turn. I normally don't ski when it gets really slushy because I hate the sticky snow, but these handled the conditions reasonably well. By the time I tried these, most of the ice had disappeared, but they handled the black runs nicely and I was able to carve pretty well on them.
In conclusion... well I still wish I'd had a chance to try out the Black Pearls so I could compare them with the Kenjas. I enjoyed the Viva 8.1 enough to make me wonder what I missed! If anyone has tried both of these, I'd appreciate a comparison
I headed to Northstar demo centre with the aim of trying all mountain skis in the 80mm-ish width. I was looking for something that would carve nicely, hold an edge on ice and go fast! One of the problems I have with my Fischers is that they really get squirrely when I go fast, and they get a kind of "death wobble" at times on flat traverses. I tried 5 different skis: Volkl Tierra, Dynastar Exclusive Legend Eden, Volkl Kenja, Rossignol Attraxion 8 and Blizzard Viva 8.1. I was kinda disappointed that Northstar didn't have the Blizzard Black Pearl, as I know how much the Divas love these. They didn't have the Bushwacker either, so I wasn't able to try the men's version. The conditions were warm... the frontside black runs started out as ice, and the blues descended into a wet mess later in the day. Not the best day to demo... but since I was looking for a ski for less than ideal conditions, and I have my Atomics for totally ideal conditions (ie. deep pow!), I figured it was worth a go.
Volkl Tierra 154: These were the demo guy's first suggestion to try as a starting point. Honestly, these felt like too much ski for me. I loved the lightness and the quick turns, and they carved very well on the blues, but I felt like they forced me into the back seat and were trying to ski me rather than the other way round! By the time I had finished my set of test runs on them, I felt really tired. Overall, these were my least favourite of the day.
Dynastar Exclusive Legend Eden 158: I immediately liked these much better than the Tierras. They carved nicely, but felt much more stable and predictable. The turn radius seemed to be much larger, and I really felt the length... they were quite heavy though. They weren't bad in the ice, either, but really came into their own on the blue groomers, where they were fast and stable. I really felt comfortable on these skis... but there was always that nagging feeling of how heavy and damp they felt, which makes me wonder how they would feel after a full day of hard charging. After thinking about it, these came 3rd out of the 5 I tried today.
Volkl Kenja 156: I was expecting to hate these... I wasn't keen on the Tierras I tried earlier, and I also disliked the Kikus that I demoed last season when I was looking for powder skis... I thought that maybe I am just not a Volkl person. However, the Kenjas were a blast! They were light, nimble and very fast! I broke my demo rule and took these for a couple of extra runs, I enjoyed them that much. I felt incredibly stable at speed, and it seemed like the skis were feeding energy back into my legs. The model I demoed was last season's, so I'm not sure how next season's rocker will affect the feel of them. These were definitely my favourite skis of the day.
Rossignol Attraxion 8 156: I was expecting to like these as I've heard great things about them. Something just didn't gel though... after the Kenjas they felt unwieldy, which I thought was odd considering they were supposed to be the same length. They did grip incredibly well on ice, but I just didn't get the whee! factor as I skied them. This could have had something to do with the conditions, which were steadily deteriorating and had become really sticky at lower elevations. They felt heavy and damp. I still preferred them to the Tierras, but I liked the Dynastars more and the Kenjas a lot more.
Blizzard Viva 8.1 158: This was the last pair of skis I tried. I really wanted to try out some Blizzard skis after all the hype over the Black Pearl, so the guy in the demo tent had these brought up from the village for me. I actually really liked them... not quite as much as the Kenjas, but they were close. Even in the slushy conditions they felt lively, stable and quick to turn. I normally don't ski when it gets really slushy because I hate the sticky snow, but these handled the conditions reasonably well. By the time I tried these, most of the ice had disappeared, but they handled the black runs nicely and I was able to carve pretty well on them.
In conclusion... well I still wish I'd had a chance to try out the Black Pearls so I could compare them with the Kenjas. I enjoyed the Viva 8.1 enough to make me wonder what I missed! If anyone has tried both of these, I'd appreciate a comparison
