I took them out in Pennsylvania for the first time and it was primarily hard pack with random icy sheets. They were great in snow and went right through crud, but the ice was too much for me to control. Also, once I had one bad run with them my confidence shot right down, I wonder if that affected my skill level as well. Maybe I just ski better on more traditional skis??
This sounds like a bad tune to me as well. If they ski fine for you in snow and crud, but not hardpack, it just doesn't sound like a "you" thing and it doesn't like the skis in and of themselves are totally wrong for you because you can ski them in certain conditions. Just went through a similar experience with DH. He'd learned to ski many moons ago, when skis were straight, long and thin. But that sort of skiing was too hard on his knees and he gave it up for many years- 26 to be exact. I finally talked him into trying skiing again this season (promised him the shaped skis practical turned themselves now)- and he loved it!!!!
Not knowing what he would like or if he would like it, I got him a seasonal rental. He's 5'5" and ~130#. So I started him on a 150cm ski to be conservative. (Old Rossis with no tip rocker/early rise). Within a two days of skiing, he was going so fast on the groomers that he was getting a lot of chatter. So after some discussion, he took them back to the shop to swap them out for 160cm. He skied those 160cms for the first time New Year's Day and it was a DISASTER. Suddenly he had no control over the skis, they were skiing him, and he felt like they were all over the place. He was doing some 'survival ski habits'- in the backseat, lifting his inside foot to force the turn, etc.
So trying to make a long story short, we ended up in the pro shop after we finally got down the mountain (I was going to set him up with some demos) and the guy we spoke with, a long time ski racer, suggested that the tune was bad on them and part of the reason they felt so squirrelly.(other possibility- with no tip rocker they were a bit too long for him at this stage of the game) I'm not a ski tech, but just feeling around, there were parts to the edges that were sharper/duller than others.
So they are going back to the shop for a tune as soon as he gets back to town. I'm still a little aghast that a ski shop would let their skis go out the door with such shoddy work- its hardly seems like a good marketing idea! Hopefully, that fixes the issue. If not, I'm not sure what we are going to do next, except looking for some new skis for him! (Which is a whole other set of problems because we don't know how to narrow down the myriad of ski choices for him yet!)
Also another thought that just came to me- boots. Have they been properly fitted for you? What about with the bindings on your skis?? I discovered from boot fitting earlier this season that when I was standing in my boots, my right leg was effectively longer than the other. This meant that when I was flat on my right ski, I was always a little bit on the edge of the left ski. The boot fitter said to me almost word for word "you probably have no problems in the snow, because your feet are able to push the snow out of the way in such a manner that makes them even, but you probably really struggle on the hardpack." And oh boy was he ever right!!! He shaved down my right boot slightly and the difference is practically night and day. So just bear in mind, it might not be the skis, it could be your stance over those skis and that problem is going to be way more noticeable on the hardback than on snow/crud. That will also result in the symptoms you describe.
), but hard pack should be fine.
