MissySki
Angel Diva
Every year Ken Jones Ski Mart holds a demo day at Loon on the first Friday in December. I've gone a number of times, and always find it pretty enjoyable. It's a day I can demo for free since I already have a pass, it's a Friday so it's relatively uncrowded, and there are usually a good number of manufacturers represented.
This year I had the pleasure of demoing with a couple of other SkiDivas which obviously makes it even more fun than usual since we could compare and contrast what we were looking for and trying out for the day- @lisamamot who has also done this particular demo previously and @Sparky who was visiting from out of state. Perhaps they will feel the urge to review the skis they tried out here as well.
About me, I'm 5'4" ~130lbs and a lower advanced skier. About the conditions, pretty much fast and firm all day with some slick spots developing later in the day, but certainly not icy for the East. A couple of trails had death cookies, and a couple of runs we ventured away from the demo side of the mountain and actually found better and softer snow conditions, but we didn't do that too many times because the trail connecting the two sides on the lower mountain was closed and we didn't want to extend our timing too long and keep demos away from others.
Skis I tried:
Blizzard Sheeva 9 164cm
Salomon QST Lumen 99 167cm
Volkl Yumi 161cm
Volkl Secret 163cm
Blizzard Black Pearl 88 166cm
Blizzard Sheeva 10 156cm
K2 Alluvit 163cm
Blizzard Sheeva 9
These were the first skis I tried, and they were awesome from the first turn! I'm always a little cautious for the first run on a new pair of skis, but these felt natural from the get go. By the time I was halfway down the run my head was spinning with how agile they were, I couldn't believe how quickly they turned yet felt so unbelieveably connected to the snow as well. I felt like I had a velcro strip under each ski, and they just sliced it up. On the second run down I picked it up a little to check out their speed potential, and they didn't need much nudging at all to just zoom away. It was also a super forgiving ski, I didn't need to pay any attention whatsoever to my stance, it seemed happy no matter what I did. I switched on the next run so @lisamamot could take them for a spin as she was curious from my reaction to them, and unfortunately they didn't have the next length up that she would normally ski. This is the only ski I took out a second time later in the day, I wanted to see if my initial impressions still stood, and also how they faired as conditions got more slick later on. Happy to report that I didn't find any difference, and still loved them. I even took them down a trail that unfortunately was absolutely covered in death cookies and gave me a horrible foot massage! That run wasn't fun, but I can't think of any other ski that would have made it fun either, they still got me down just fine. I would have loved to try it in some softer stuff, and bumps, but unfortunately that wasn't available.
I WAS NOT looking to like this ski, nor was I looking for anything in this width or for a new daily driver.. Of course that means I fell head over heels in love with it, and this one will likely be making an appearance in my quiver (and potentially kicking some others out) very soon.
If you've read my previous reviews on the Black Crows Camox Birdie, I'm still very interested in that ski as well. They are a completely different animal than this ski to me, and I think I'd have very different times when I'd bring them out to play. I think the Sheeva 9 could be a very good daily driver for the East, while I think my preference would still go to the Camox Birdie for "powder days" and crud skiing because of the way they get you through complicated terrain without your even noticing it. I'm thinking due to how light the Sheeva 9 is that they would still give me a lot of feedback that tires out my legs in those conditions, but I can't say for sure until I'd try them out and that may also be a preference thing that has to do with my lack of skill in those conditions where a ski that can smooth things out is very beneficial.
Salomon QST Lumen 99
I only really took out these skis because I was waiting for other things to return, and I absolutely hated them.. They felt heavy and completely lifeless after getting off of the Sheeva 9. I literally couldn't get off of these fast enough- NEXT!
Volkl Yumi
I liked the original Yumi without metal years ago when I tried it, and I liked this version with metal as well. I think I like them because to me they are the most forgiving and playful of the Volkl lineup. OR maybe it's because they don't feel as Volkly as the rest to me. In any case, it was a solid ski with the expected great edge hold of Volkl, but not one that excited me very much. It didn't do anything wrong and I can see it as a great East coast daily driver, just not for my preferences with the other options out there.
Volkl Secret
I had to try the Secret, because well there is a lot of talk about it obviously. They were fine as well, but I liked the Yumi more. I used to ski Auras, and somewhere along the way I guess I just lost my love for Volkl. Again, not because they are a bad ski by any means, they just aren't what I prefer anymore. While I like that they are stable and have great edge hold, I just don't find them exciting and feel they are more work than more playful skis which are my preference.
Blizzard Black Pearl 88
I still own the original Black Pearls with the purple bulls, and I still love them. Since so many people are excited about the new BP88, I wanted to see what the hype was all about and if I'd feel an improvement as well. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me, and I much prefer my original bulls! They were a fine ski, but I felt like they had lost a bit of their playfulness, and I also felt like they wanted me to get more forward than I normally ski the old ones. When I discussed it with the rep, he did say that they are now more of a front side option with the changes, so I think my feelings on it make sense at least. I won't be trading in my current bulls anytime soon.
Blizzard Sheeva 10
Since I was originally looking for a new east coast powder ski, I wanted to try the wider Sheeva 10. It was a fun ski as well, similiar to the Sheeva 9, but certainly not as quick edge to edge, duh. Unfortunatly I didn't have the right conditions to really try out this ski for my purposes. I was impressed with the edge hold and how connected I still felt to the snow when I got them on edge. Maybe I'll get back on it when better conditions arise, but for now they had nothing on the Sheeva 9 for me, so at least it isn't hard to choose between the two!
K2 Alluvit
This was my second favorite ski of the day behind the Sheeva 9 for how it felt. It was a playful and forgiving ski that was easy to turn and felt like it'd be right at home if softer conditions arose as well. The only glitch was that it was the only ski of the day where I actually slid on a slick spot, and it wasn't even real ice. So though it was a fun ride, it would never make my cut as a daily driver in the east with so many other options available that feel just as good and include a superior edge grip on firm scraped off afternoon snow.
This year I had the pleasure of demoing with a couple of other SkiDivas which obviously makes it even more fun than usual since we could compare and contrast what we were looking for and trying out for the day- @lisamamot who has also done this particular demo previously and @Sparky who was visiting from out of state. Perhaps they will feel the urge to review the skis they tried out here as well.
About me, I'm 5'4" ~130lbs and a lower advanced skier. About the conditions, pretty much fast and firm all day with some slick spots developing later in the day, but certainly not icy for the East. A couple of trails had death cookies, and a couple of runs we ventured away from the demo side of the mountain and actually found better and softer snow conditions, but we didn't do that too many times because the trail connecting the two sides on the lower mountain was closed and we didn't want to extend our timing too long and keep demos away from others.
Skis I tried:
Blizzard Sheeva 9 164cm
Salomon QST Lumen 99 167cm
Volkl Yumi 161cm
Volkl Secret 163cm
Blizzard Black Pearl 88 166cm
Blizzard Sheeva 10 156cm
K2 Alluvit 163cm
Blizzard Sheeva 9
These were the first skis I tried, and they were awesome from the first turn! I'm always a little cautious for the first run on a new pair of skis, but these felt natural from the get go. By the time I was halfway down the run my head was spinning with how agile they were, I couldn't believe how quickly they turned yet felt so unbelieveably connected to the snow as well. I felt like I had a velcro strip under each ski, and they just sliced it up. On the second run down I picked it up a little to check out their speed potential, and they didn't need much nudging at all to just zoom away. It was also a super forgiving ski, I didn't need to pay any attention whatsoever to my stance, it seemed happy no matter what I did. I switched on the next run so @lisamamot could take them for a spin as she was curious from my reaction to them, and unfortunately they didn't have the next length up that she would normally ski. This is the only ski I took out a second time later in the day, I wanted to see if my initial impressions still stood, and also how they faired as conditions got more slick later on. Happy to report that I didn't find any difference, and still loved them. I even took them down a trail that unfortunately was absolutely covered in death cookies and gave me a horrible foot massage! That run wasn't fun, but I can't think of any other ski that would have made it fun either, they still got me down just fine. I would have loved to try it in some softer stuff, and bumps, but unfortunately that wasn't available.
I WAS NOT looking to like this ski, nor was I looking for anything in this width or for a new daily driver.. Of course that means I fell head over heels in love with it, and this one will likely be making an appearance in my quiver (and potentially kicking some others out) very soon.
If you've read my previous reviews on the Black Crows Camox Birdie, I'm still very interested in that ski as well. They are a completely different animal than this ski to me, and I think I'd have very different times when I'd bring them out to play. I think the Sheeva 9 could be a very good daily driver for the East, while I think my preference would still go to the Camox Birdie for "powder days" and crud skiing because of the way they get you through complicated terrain without your even noticing it. I'm thinking due to how light the Sheeva 9 is that they would still give me a lot of feedback that tires out my legs in those conditions, but I can't say for sure until I'd try them out and that may also be a preference thing that has to do with my lack of skill in those conditions where a ski that can smooth things out is very beneficial.
Salomon QST Lumen 99
I only really took out these skis because I was waiting for other things to return, and I absolutely hated them.. They felt heavy and completely lifeless after getting off of the Sheeva 9. I literally couldn't get off of these fast enough- NEXT!
Volkl Yumi
I liked the original Yumi without metal years ago when I tried it, and I liked this version with metal as well. I think I like them because to me they are the most forgiving and playful of the Volkl lineup. OR maybe it's because they don't feel as Volkly as the rest to me. In any case, it was a solid ski with the expected great edge hold of Volkl, but not one that excited me very much. It didn't do anything wrong and I can see it as a great East coast daily driver, just not for my preferences with the other options out there.
Volkl Secret
I had to try the Secret, because well there is a lot of talk about it obviously. They were fine as well, but I liked the Yumi more. I used to ski Auras, and somewhere along the way I guess I just lost my love for Volkl. Again, not because they are a bad ski by any means, they just aren't what I prefer anymore. While I like that they are stable and have great edge hold, I just don't find them exciting and feel they are more work than more playful skis which are my preference.
Blizzard Black Pearl 88
I still own the original Black Pearls with the purple bulls, and I still love them. Since so many people are excited about the new BP88, I wanted to see what the hype was all about and if I'd feel an improvement as well. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me, and I much prefer my original bulls! They were a fine ski, but I felt like they had lost a bit of their playfulness, and I also felt like they wanted me to get more forward than I normally ski the old ones. When I discussed it with the rep, he did say that they are now more of a front side option with the changes, so I think my feelings on it make sense at least. I won't be trading in my current bulls anytime soon.
Blizzard Sheeva 10
Since I was originally looking for a new east coast powder ski, I wanted to try the wider Sheeva 10. It was a fun ski as well, similiar to the Sheeva 9, but certainly not as quick edge to edge, duh. Unfortunatly I didn't have the right conditions to really try out this ski for my purposes. I was impressed with the edge hold and how connected I still felt to the snow when I got them on edge. Maybe I'll get back on it when better conditions arise, but for now they had nothing on the Sheeva 9 for me, so at least it isn't hard to choose between the two!
K2 Alluvit
This was my second favorite ski of the day behind the Sheeva 9 for how it felt. It was a playful and forgiving ski that was easy to turn and felt like it'd be right at home if softer conditions arose as well. The only glitch was that it was the only ski of the day where I actually slid on a slick spot, and it wasn't even real ice. So though it was a fun ride, it would never make my cut as a daily driver in the east with so many other options available that feel just as good and include a superior edge grip on firm scraped off afternoon snow.