volklgirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
The Tester: 190+ lbs, 5'5", 42 Years old, PSIA Level II, Platinum/Gold level Nastar and 2x/week league racer. I prefer stiffer skis with lots of pop that can handle my preference for high speed ripping.
The Conditions: Cold, cold, cold!!! Hard crispy base with perfectly groomed cover layer and the occasional patch of glare ice.
The Test Runs: 1 run down a long mild blue groomer making high speed carves of various turn radii. 1 run down a steeper blue/black making medium and high speed carves.
The Carving Ski: Xenon Xi 7.0 163cm , 123/72/107 13.5m@170cm (a.k.a. the Little Red Rocket!). This ski was zippy, snappy, light weight, and fun. It preferred to make high speed short turns on hard and harder snow. It was rock solid at speed and had cat-like grip. It was the only one of the skis I tested that didn't even twitch when I hit icy patches. Patience and finess produced surprisingly huge turns with no loss in grip or stability. It left me breathless and giggling on every run. This is one sweet ski for front side carving!
The All Mountain Ski: Monster iM 78 SW , 128/74/110 14.6m@171cm. I tried both the 171cm and the 165cm lengths.
The 171cm was a rocket ship that just begged for more speed. It laid down huge arcs at the highest speeds with ease. It made me go "vrrroooooooommmm" on every turn.
The guys took it over in the bumps and it didn't disappoint there either.
The 165cm had the same stability but felt considerably lighter and was happier making shorter turns. It just felt more "fun" and slightly more lively. While this length felt too short for me, it displayed none of the classic signs of a too-short ski....there was no wiggling or flapping and no sign of an obvious speed limit.
The Twin Tip: MOJO Spawn 1, 113/77/102 20.1m@178cm. I tried both the 160cm and the 169cm. There was very little difference in the 2 lengths as far as performance and only a small difference in feel. I'm wondering if maybe both lengths were too short. These were the most tractable at slower speeds and were noticeably nervous on glare ice. They both ripped solid arcs in any size at medium to high speeds and shined in the bumps and over the rough stuff. On-snow spins and small jumps were a breeze.
In a Nut Shell: Every one of the skis I tested preferred to be run at higher speeds. In varying degrees, they were all sluggish and slightly balky at slow speeds but came to life as the speed picked up. All were calm and rock solid at lip-flapping, eye-watering speeds. With the exception of 1, all were a little skittish on the ice patches. They all tended toward damp without feeling dead. Any of these would be appropriate for agressive intermediate to expert skiers. While demoing, I found that I missed the feedback and liveliness of my Volkl skis, but would otherwise be happy on any of these.
Special thanks to: Gord and Jan of the Tech Shop at Searchmont Resort, without whom none of this would have been possible.
I was amazed at their unending patience as the 4 of us swapped skis over and over again and they still managed to deal with all the other people wanting to demo. 
The Conditions: Cold, cold, cold!!! Hard crispy base with perfectly groomed cover layer and the occasional patch of glare ice.
The Test Runs: 1 run down a long mild blue groomer making high speed carves of various turn radii. 1 run down a steeper blue/black making medium and high speed carves.
The Carving Ski: Xenon Xi 7.0 163cm , 123/72/107 13.5m@170cm (a.k.a. the Little Red Rocket!). This ski was zippy, snappy, light weight, and fun. It preferred to make high speed short turns on hard and harder snow. It was rock solid at speed and had cat-like grip. It was the only one of the skis I tested that didn't even twitch when I hit icy patches. Patience and finess produced surprisingly huge turns with no loss in grip or stability. It left me breathless and giggling on every run. This is one sweet ski for front side carving!
The All Mountain Ski: Monster iM 78 SW , 128/74/110 14.6m@171cm. I tried both the 171cm and the 165cm lengths.
The 171cm was a rocket ship that just begged for more speed. It laid down huge arcs at the highest speeds with ease. It made me go "vrrroooooooommmm" on every turn.
The guys took it over in the bumps and it didn't disappoint there either. The 165cm had the same stability but felt considerably lighter and was happier making shorter turns. It just felt more "fun" and slightly more lively. While this length felt too short for me, it displayed none of the classic signs of a too-short ski....there was no wiggling or flapping and no sign of an obvious speed limit.
The Twin Tip: MOJO Spawn 1, 113/77/102 20.1m@178cm. I tried both the 160cm and the 169cm. There was very little difference in the 2 lengths as far as performance and only a small difference in feel. I'm wondering if maybe both lengths were too short. These were the most tractable at slower speeds and were noticeably nervous on glare ice. They both ripped solid arcs in any size at medium to high speeds and shined in the bumps and over the rough stuff. On-snow spins and small jumps were a breeze.
In a Nut Shell: Every one of the skis I tested preferred to be run at higher speeds. In varying degrees, they were all sluggish and slightly balky at slow speeds but came to life as the speed picked up. All were calm and rock solid at lip-flapping, eye-watering speeds. With the exception of 1, all were a little skittish on the ice patches. They all tended toward damp without feeling dead. Any of these would be appropriate for agressive intermediate to expert skiers. While demoing, I found that I missed the feedback and liveliness of my Volkl skis, but would otherwise be happy on any of these.
Special thanks to: Gord and Jan of the Tech Shop at Searchmont Resort, without whom none of this would have been possible.
I was amazed at their unending patience as the 4 of us swapped skis over and over again and they still managed to deal with all the other people wanting to demo. 
I know he had been watching our group ski while setting up the tent.....when I asked to demo the Monster, he immediately reached for the longest length they had 
. Boy was I impressed - and it was totally the right call, too. It was really nice to finally be taken seriously as a skier rather than downsized as a woman.
