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Black Crows Captis vs Camox Birdie

Jersey Fresh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hi ladies I haven't posted much this season but I hope everyone is surviving quarantine. Our ski season got cut dramatically short this year (I had a total of one 1/2 day this season) like many but there is always next year :smile:

Anyway, I'm looking for some advice for a new ski for next season. I've been looking for a ski that would be a good balance for our out west trips. Currently I ski the Blizzard Cheyenne (78) and Blizzard Samba (98) both of which I love. Lugging both to our home mountain in WV is easy but when we travel out west the weight of the two pairs plus my double ski bag is a bit much especially when we are all crammed in a rental car.

I'd love to have a single pair to take that would survive groomers with my hubby (and son next year) but be fun when we get some powder. I used to be fairly aggressive but I lost some nerve after having my son, and with our mixed group of friends and my husband being a fairly new skier, we tend to hang mostly on groomers now though I do like some bumps/trees/etc when I go off on my own. With our luck as well, our last 3 out of 4 trips out west had no new snowfall (but the one that did had a giant dump of snow the whole time) so there's that too. :smile:

I've been intrigued by the Black Crow Camox Birdie for a bit but could never seem to nail them down to demo during our trips to CO/MT in the 2019 season. I recently found them for a really good price online and was going to buy them but then I saw the Captis Birdie and now I'm wondering at 90 underfoot and a bit softer flex if they might be a better option. I would love to demo but we don't have demo days out here and for the price for both skis, I think its worth the gamble to buy one to try.

So my TL:DR Would the Captis or the Camox be the best option for mostly groomers but some trees/bumps/bowls thrown in?
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
HI @Jersey Fresh - some follow up questions -
What year Samba do you have and what length?
Where are you planning on skiing next season?

I have the 2nd generation Camox Birdie as does @santacruz skier and we both had the older Sambas.

The Camox was revised a bit last year and I believe @MissySki and @lisamamot have been on the newer Camox.
Summary from Powder 7: Camox/Camox Birdie: Redesigned with a softer flex and less tapered sidecut for a more playful profile.
From Black Crows: This new progressive and supple flex makes it even better to handle and more adapted to progression, confirming its DNA derived from freestyle ; whereas the lengthening of its side lines give a more effective and more stable edge. Creativity for everybody on all types of terrain

I have been on the 19/20 Captis this year and my DD now owns them. Super fun and perhaps being a bit narrow easier to carve. But your not really skiing these for their "caaaahving" ability - rather the "I can ski anything incredible fun factor."

They both are such fun skis and have the same "personality." Length may be an issue. While I have the older camox birdie in a 165? and DD has the new camox in a 164, I actually demo'd the 171 because I knew the captis in a 164 would be too short. So length may be an issue depending on what you are currently riding????
 

Jersey Fresh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@WaterGirl I think my Sambas are around 2014/2015? Maybe? I ski those in a 166 and the Cheyennes in a 162. I demoed the Black Pearls around the same time and HATED them but I wonder now if was a binding or tuning issues because I loved the Sambas and Cheyennes so much I went out and bought both.

I'm not 100% about next year, but my guess would be either back to Steamboat with the kiddos or out to UT. Some years we go out west twice, some years only once.

I jumped on the Captis in the longest they had (164) because they were so cheap ($285) but now I'm wonderign if they will be too short and I made the wrong call?
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Jersey Fresh thats a great price!

Are these the 19/20 white with aqua stripes version or prior year solid aqua with the Triangles” ? apparently the mount point was changed this year for the captis per black crows site.

The older Sambas are a serious ski - not sure if that’s your daily driver or powder ski? And I’m not sure what your stats are. They could be fine at 164. I never got on the 164 - DD and I can share skis of similar size but if they really work for her they are usually a 1/2 size too small for me.

there is a thread on the captis other divas have sized down
not sure if you saw that thread?
 

Jersey Fresh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
They are white with teal stripes like this: https://www.backcountry.com/black-c...GwwmU3DQTWgDluYFWiNFq6p_MbpIZ5fBoC_RUQAvD_BwE

My sambas are sort of my go to 75% of the time out here unless we have very firm or ice. I HATE them on ice, but to be honest here we get mostly slushy or if we get snow its wet heavy powder and I love them for that. But they are not as good on groomers, and the are quite heavy, so I end up dragging them and my Cheyennes everywhere.

I will say when I got my Sambas I was far more aggressive and skiing mostly with the boys (all of which snowboard)-but our group has changed a lot and having a baby did a number on my confidence. I have slowed down and tend to hang on the blues more than I ever have before and quite frankly, I do a lot less stupid things now than I did even a few years ago. I am 5'5 and 160 (post baby weight still, ugh). I was afraid the width of the camox would be too similar to my sambas and not be fun on the groomers with hubby and as my little one learned to ski.
 

KWlovessnow

Angel Diva
I cannot speak to the Camox Birdies, but I did buy a pair of Captis Birdies this year. I love them. I have skied them in Beaver Creek and in Michigan (my home state) and they handled almost all conditions very well. I was pleasantly surprised how well they did on groomers. I have also skies them in moguls, slush, easy trees and 6" of powder at Beaver and they performed very well in all of the above situations. I do not feel as secure on ice as I do on my Volkl Yumis, but it is a negligible difference.

I have the Captis Birdies in the 164 length. I am 5'7" and 150ish pounds (more during quarantine!) and consider myself an advanced skier but not terribly aggressive.

That is a great price on the birdies! Good luck with your decision.
 

lisamamot

Angel Diva
The Camox was revised a bit last year and I believe @MissySki and @lisamamot have been on the newer Camox.
Actually we demoed the previous version. We both loved them and @MissySki has them. I have not been on the new ones, but read about the changes.
 

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