floatingyardsale
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So, we had a demo day. And two inches of snow, that I'm pretty sure fell after a little bit of rain. Everything was soft and goopy and not enough cover to venture much off-piste. But I demo'd, and my kiddo took notes in a little notebook (<3.)
Me: 5'5", 130 +/- stroopwafel, intermediate+ skier who aspires to great effortless technique but tends to rely on brute force.
Usual ski: Atomic Vantage 97C, which is great in light powder but we didn't really get that this year. Gets a little skittish on hardpack.
Goal: figure out what I actually like in a ski.
The ski, in order of demo:
Icelantic Riveter 95
Icelantic Maiden 91
Volkl Secret 94*
Volkl Kenja 88
Head Kore 93
Armada ARV 86 (possibly old stock.)
Fischer 78GT
Thoughts:
Riveter 95: I demo'd this in a 169cm length, which is about 10cm longer than my sweet spot. It was very stable, but the tips flapped at any speed -- like bunny hill. So it was this weird experience of a super chattery but totally fine ride. Easy to turn, and it had the advantage of relative clean groomers. Liked it. Very very light.
Maiden 91: Also 169cm, but with twin tips. I think they must measure it before bending the ski as it was very short. Surely the sensible thing to do when demoing is to do the same kind of runs, so of course I took this into the one tiny section of deeper snow I could find and hit all the trees and bumps. Super easy to pivot, and I felt perfectly balanced, and I think if there'd been any kind of ice I'd die because the effective edge was approximately six inches which made the groomers a little hair raising. On the other hand I could pivot like a ballerina. Fun, but they wouldn't be a one-ski do-it-all. Also very light.
Secret 94: I wrote down 'Secret' and '94', but the Internet is making me doubt myself. They were blue. They look like the Blaze. What the demo man told me: they're light, wood,forgiving. What I found: I could not get out of the backseat for about half the run and never felt like I figured them out. Sort of left with a 'meh' feeling. I don't think I'd buy them, but I don't think I'd hate them if I owned them.
Kenja 88: 163cm. These were my favorite. They liked to get on edge, they liked to turn, they liked to go fast and they did not get thrown off by the fact that the snow was inconsistent. I have no idea what to make of the fact that the Secrets are supposed to be the easier ones to ski.
Kore 93: These are apparently an 89 underfoot in the 163cm size. They were stable, cut through everything, but my kid insisted on going down a bumpy black first and these were just too much ski for me.
Armada ARV 86: twin tips, but with no powder to play in and slush that was starting to freeze, these were not the skis for me. I'm not great at carving yet, but I think I need a ski that likes to be on its edge.
Fischer 78GT: wheeeeeee! 159cm, extremely variable snow that was freshly falling at the top and piled up slush at the bottom. They were fast and fun, and I think they'd be a blast on hardpack.
Me: 5'5", 130 +/- stroopwafel, intermediate+ skier who aspires to great effortless technique but tends to rely on brute force.
Usual ski: Atomic Vantage 97C, which is great in light powder but we didn't really get that this year. Gets a little skittish on hardpack.
Goal: figure out what I actually like in a ski.
The ski, in order of demo:
Icelantic Riveter 95
Icelantic Maiden 91
Volkl Secret 94*
Volkl Kenja 88
Head Kore 93
Armada ARV 86 (possibly old stock.)
Fischer 78GT
Thoughts:
Riveter 95: I demo'd this in a 169cm length, which is about 10cm longer than my sweet spot. It was very stable, but the tips flapped at any speed -- like bunny hill. So it was this weird experience of a super chattery but totally fine ride. Easy to turn, and it had the advantage of relative clean groomers. Liked it. Very very light.
Maiden 91: Also 169cm, but with twin tips. I think they must measure it before bending the ski as it was very short. Surely the sensible thing to do when demoing is to do the same kind of runs, so of course I took this into the one tiny section of deeper snow I could find and hit all the trees and bumps. Super easy to pivot, and I felt perfectly balanced, and I think if there'd been any kind of ice I'd die because the effective edge was approximately six inches which made the groomers a little hair raising. On the other hand I could pivot like a ballerina. Fun, but they wouldn't be a one-ski do-it-all. Also very light.
Secret 94: I wrote down 'Secret' and '94', but the Internet is making me doubt myself. They were blue. They look like the Blaze. What the demo man told me: they're light, wood,forgiving. What I found: I could not get out of the backseat for about half the run and never felt like I figured them out. Sort of left with a 'meh' feeling. I don't think I'd buy them, but I don't think I'd hate them if I owned them.
Kenja 88: 163cm. These were my favorite. They liked to get on edge, they liked to turn, they liked to go fast and they did not get thrown off by the fact that the snow was inconsistent. I have no idea what to make of the fact that the Secrets are supposed to be the easier ones to ski.
Kore 93: These are apparently an 89 underfoot in the 163cm size. They were stable, cut through everything, but my kid insisted on going down a bumpy black first and these were just too much ski for me.
Armada ARV 86: twin tips, but with no powder to play in and slush that was starting to freeze, these were not the skis for me. I'm not great at carving yet, but I think I need a ski that likes to be on its edge.
Fischer 78GT: wheeeeeee! 159cm, extremely variable snow that was freshly falling at the top and piled up slush at the bottom. They were fast and fun, and I think they'd be a blast on hardpack.
)
you both liked the narrowest skis the best! FWIW I'm still on the hunt for that elusive sub-80mm daily driver/groomer ski. True carving skis still have tails that kick my butt off-piste or at least make me tentative off-piste which is not a good thing. Narrower skis have such a fun quickness to them.
.)
