AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So I got to take the Black Crows Octo Birdie out for a spin yesterday, completely out of the blue as I only took up my now dead feeling K2 Mindbender 85s and was moaning about how sleepy they felt when the GM at our local hill suggested I hop on them and see what I thought so here goes.
First up it was a hardpack day on the groomers with some left over powder from the day before offpiste which had stiffened up and was pretty choppy along with the dreaded icy layer coming through in places.
Note that I'm in New Zealand so the above conditions have been pretty standard this season.
About me - 61yr old lightweight (50kg) and 165cm, upper intermediate/advanced depending on who you ask but more than capable of skiing the whole mountain incl off piste and blacks.
Length demoed 155cm.
Radius 14m.
First impressions were that these things look kinda weird and I'm not up with the specs but they were around 84 underfoot and had what seemed to me a super long camber with an almost flat tail with a small notch in the back (havent a clue what the does??) and slight rocker at the front but not a whole lot.
They are also super light even with a demo binding.
To me they were a pretty easy ski to ski though I did find them a little squirelly through longer radius turns although that could've easily been pilot error but it was short radius turns where they really shone, so much fun. Super snappy and they definitely left a smile on my face.
They didnt really like the offpiste chopped up hell at all and are more of dedicated groomer ski in my mind but might do ok on softer snow.
Im on the fence with these mainly because I cant see them fitting into my quiver but for an intermediate skier that wants a dedicated resort/groomer ski to rip around on these would be a fun choice.
First up it was a hardpack day on the groomers with some left over powder from the day before offpiste which had stiffened up and was pretty choppy along with the dreaded icy layer coming through in places.
Note that I'm in New Zealand so the above conditions have been pretty standard this season.
About me - 61yr old lightweight (50kg) and 165cm, upper intermediate/advanced depending on who you ask but more than capable of skiing the whole mountain incl off piste and blacks.
Length demoed 155cm.
Radius 14m.
First impressions were that these things look kinda weird and I'm not up with the specs but they were around 84 underfoot and had what seemed to me a super long camber with an almost flat tail with a small notch in the back (havent a clue what the does??) and slight rocker at the front but not a whole lot.
They are also super light even with a demo binding.
To me they were a pretty easy ski to ski though I did find them a little squirelly through longer radius turns although that could've easily been pilot error but it was short radius turns where they really shone, so much fun. Super snappy and they definitely left a smile on my face.
They didnt really like the offpiste chopped up hell at all and are more of dedicated groomer ski in my mind but might do ok on softer snow.
Im on the fence with these mainly because I cant see them fitting into my quiver but for an intermediate skier that wants a dedicated resort/groomer ski to rip around on these would be a fun choice.
