Looking for suggestions to demo in powder

[santacruz skier]

I already have the solid skills to drive and enjoy the MX and AX on piste. The MX are pure carving skis. It needs to be driven and it needs speed, so once you have the skills to take charge, you will understand and fully appreciate what they can do. The AX also needs speed and the right driver to bring out the life and playfullness in them. They give me what the MX doesn’t, shorter radius turns with a pop. I find them to be my perfect all-mountain skis - great for carving, bumps, and light powder. I don’t think I can find any other skis that are more perfect than these 2 for me!
I am not as strong a skier on powder and did not really have the chance/experience to ski anything deep since there hasn’t been much snow until this year. I was going to wait until next year to demo powder skis, but with the fresh snow we got/is on the way, I cannot miss the opportunity. I will be taking a private ski week starting this Sunday while demoing, so I have no excuse to not get out of my comfort zone! I am really excited to try out as many suggestions as possible!

A private ski week sounds awesome..... Enjoy and have fun demoing skis!

 

[WaterGirl]

@Susan L in addition to the BMX for that "105ish width ski" look at the following - some of these are on my list as well - some are more playful while some are more directional -

@diymom K@ Mindbener 106C for 2020 not sure who has this as only the 88 and 98 Alliance skis have been released ....

Armada Trace 108
Atomic Vantage 107 CW
Black Crows Atris Birdie
Blizzard Sheeva 10 or 11?
Elan Ripstick 102 W
Icelantic Maiden 111
Moment Bella
Pandora 104

The DPS, Solomon and Volkls also listed in prior posts.... and I'm curious about the Head Core series - the 105. You may also like the Nordica Santa Anna - 110

so many skis, so little time....

 

[Olesya Chornoguz]

@Susan L It was great to meet you in Taos. I own and love dearly Kastle BMX 105 HP as my powder skis. As you saw I am no lightweight and quite tall, so keep that in mind because in the past few years I stick to somewhat burlier skis because of my height/weight. Though I talked to a ski patroller in Taos who was on BMX 105 HP and his take was they stout and easy to ski at the same time, just like the review video of them that was posted above said and I very much agree.

Have fun in fresh powder! I wish I was skiing some of that this week!

 

[Susan L]

@Olesya Chornoguz It was great to meet you too! I have a feeling I will like the BMX! Will let you know how they turned out!

 

[WaterGirl]

@Susan L any updates ?
I'd add the K2 Mindbender Alliance 106 (2020) and the Armada 106 ARV to my list above based on some recent conversations at the shop....

 

[Kimmyt]

Yes definitely the Armada Trace 108.

 

[Live4Powder]

I just got a set of Nordica Santa Ana 100s and they are awesome. Tried them out in knee deep powder, trees and soft bumps at Steamboat and loved them so much I bought a set. Yesterday at Winter Park they did great on variable crud, bumps and crusty powder and even the groomers.

 

[Susan L]

@WaterGirl I don’t even remember how many pairs of skis I have demo’ed because I tried different lengths of the same skis too. I will have to dig up my notes on how I felt with each skis I tried, BUT the winner of the week was the Kastle BMX105! I might be biased towards Kastle but they just felt so right from the get go! Tried the 105HP too but found them a tad too heavy for me.
Now, although there was a winner, I ended up not purchasing them immediately because I had already paid top dollars buying the Stöckli AX instead of waiting for a deal. I also wanted to wait for next season’s demo day in early December so I can try out next year’s models (for free)!