Fischer
Fisher has replaced its popular Vision series with the Koa. Available in a variety of widths (75, 78, and 84) the Koa has a sandwich vertical wood core instead of the glass fiber wood core found in the Visions. The rep says this makes it a lighter, stronger ski with better edge hold. The graphics of the Koa are a big departure from the Visions, too. Dark with a bold, abstract design that’s not at all girlie. I really liked it.
Fischer still has the Vapor, which I really wanted to demo, but since they only had it in a 165, I decided to pass. Instead, I took out the Koa in the 75 and 84. The 75 was nice – lively, good rebound, good edging, easy to ski. But I liked the 84 even better. For a wide waisted ski, this thing skis like a carver. I’d give this a big thumbs up.
Blizzard Skis
Blizzard has an addition to their Magnum Series: the Magnum Viva 7.4. They also plan to introduce the Viva Max in a Magnum 8.1 soon (81 underfoot), but they don’t have it yet. Some of you will also be pleased to hear that they’ve brought back the Eos this year (88 underfoot; the same ski as the men’s Chronus.)
Anyway, I took out the Magnum Viva 7.4’s, and what a nice ski! Good edging, easy to turn, nice rebound. I also took out the Viva 7.6’s just for comparison — a more advanced, all mountain ski with a wood core and an integrated binding system. This ski wants to go, yet it’s stable and smooth with good edging.
Dynastar
Dynastar is adding two new women’s skis to its line-up: the Exclusive Eden, with an 85 waist, a wood core, and a vertical side-wall, and the Exclusive Elite, which will be a high-end groomer with a 72 waist, wood core, and a straight side wall (this’ll be above the Exclusive Fluid). Unfortunately, they didn’t have either ski at the Demo Day, so I couldn’t give them a try.
They’re also discontinuing the Exclusive Legend Powder.
All the skis have new graphics. I took out the Exclusive Legend, a carry-over ski and their top seller, It’s a very nice, maneuverable ski that’s a jack of all trades. The 2010’s have a new graphic that’s white with a weird pastel image of a woman’s face, which I really didn’t like.
(To Be Continued…..)
