New Fischer Vision Vapors!

[Kayakgirl]

Fellow Divas,

For those of you who have followed my handwringing over what to get for new skis . . . I've pulled the trigger.

Tonight, I bought a pair of 160 Fischer Vision Vapors. I was in a city about one hour from where I live for work today. On my way home (at about 5:30 p.m.) I dropped by he only place in town that stocks Fischers. They marked them down 20% between tonight and when I called over the weekend to see what they had. That made the skis $530.

I knew when I saw the price that I would be very tempted. But what swung me was that they had a great women (much younger than I) saleswoman who I knew in advance was a top boot fitter. She asked me several questions, and then immediately steered me to the Vapor. Over K2. Over Dynastar. Over Head. Over Blizzard (her least favorite of all). Over Rossi. Over everything. Ironic, because I did not tell her that the Fisher was the ski I most wanted to eyeball.

I spent lots of time with her, and talking over the options with her gave me the courage of my convictions.

So I'm looking at those beauties right now as I write this. With luck, after a two day custom boot-fitting which begins tomorrow in Bend, Oregon, I will be on the slopes Sunday and be able to report back on how I've done.

Wish me well!!!

 

[SnowHot]

only one thing to do........the happy dance!!

 

[michpc]

Congrats on the new skis! Let us know how they are on the slopes, and good luck with the boot fitting!

 

[SkiGAP]

Enjoy and definitely give feedback on the skis AND the bootfitting process!

 

[Kayakgirl]

Will do! The bootfitting process will be a two-day one, because I'm having a footbed made that takes some time to cure. Last time I had a footbed made was in 1982. My feet have changed quite a lot, it turns out. Just like the rest of me!

 

[Annski]

Hi-
After you test those babies -- let me know how they feel. Just bought Rossignol Electra boots and would like to get a new pair of ski's. I've only been skiing for a little over a year and these boots moved me to a whole new level. I feel so much more in control and confident skiing.

 

[skilove1]

Hey everyone!!

I also just bought 160 Fischer Vapors, the 08 version (same ski, different color) and tried them out this weekend in VT, at Burke and Jay Peak. We had fresh powder (4-8 inches!) and these skis were AWESOME. Quick quick quick, and LOVE powder and crud. I was going through ungroomed trails like there was no tomorrow. Even moguls--and I NEVER do moguls! They do short and long turns equally well. I usually don't do long turns but these got me going! But--they really do better in the ungroomed conditions. I didn't feel as stable on the groomed trails and corduroy, where I go very fast, esp. when it got icy in some spots later in the day as it always does in the NE. But they certainly weren't bad (and what ski handles ice well??). In retrospect, they probably didn't impress me on groomers because they were so amazing on everything else!

Let us know how you liked yours, kayakgirl!

 

[Kayakgirl]

Skilove1 - glad to hear you love your new Vapors!

After the boot fitting, I managed a half day on mine in pretty mixed conditions, and have an equally good report to give! I am swamped day and night right now with work stuff, so I can't write up a more complete report right now on the Vapors or the new boots (and the new boots are just as exciting). I'll give more details on both as soon as I can come up for air, which will be this weekend.

Meanwhile, the bottom line is that the Vapors were great, the 160 length seems just right, and I am totally glad I took the plunge on them.

 

[num]

Congrats!

When I demoed them, I was all grins. Nimble, light, zoomy and well equipped to handle chop, with the bonus of gorgeous topsheets.

 

[greekpeakskier]

what size vapors?

A number of you are skiing on 160s Vapors. What are your heights/weights/ ski abilities?

And I'm not only interested in those who ski the 160 Vapors. I'm interested in what length the rest of you ski and what your height/weight/ski level is.

 

[sheeha35]

I demo'd these, and they weren't right for me. But the guys at the shop said they are the most underrated ski of the year!

 

[michpc]

A number of you are skiing on 160s Vapors. What are your heights/weights/ ski abilities?

And I'm not only interested in those who ski the 160 Vapors. I'm interested in what length the rest of you ski and what your height/weight/ski level is.

I don't have the Vapors, but I have Volkl Tierras in 156 and K2 Missconducts (twin tips) in 159. My previous skis were much older shaped skis in 150, and to be honest, I don't really notice the length difference at all on my new skis, in fact they're both much better handling. I'm 5'4" and about 140lbs. I'd consider myself an upper end intermediate...I guess maybe a level 6 or 7 on that whole numbers scale, though I tend to stick mostly to blues at the bigger, harder ski areas and I don't dig really steep terrain yet. Hope that helps!

 

[greekpeakskier]

I demo'd these, and they weren't right for me. But the guys at the shop said they are the most underrated ski of the year!

thanks for the replies so far. it does help. what length did you ski and why did you decide they were not for you?

 

[sheeha35]

I tried the 150s. I wasn't impressed with them in the crud, they chattered a bit at speed, and they felt kind of heavy and dull. But, that's why they make a thousand different skis - different strokes for different folks.

 

[greekpeakskier]

It's just that I've demoed Fischers in shorter lengths (148, 150, 154), but have not been able to demo a size I feel comfortable w/ (156 or 150) and the only Vapor available to buy in the area is a 160.

 

[Kayakgirl]

Greekpeakskier,

Guess I started this thread. Sorry I haven't had time to post my review of my Fischers. Life has gone a bit crazy of late.

Here's the data:
the ski: Vapor 160s
my height: 5'5" (actually, plus a half inch)
my weight: 148 right now (should be at least 5lbs lighter for a solid fit weight)
age (did you ask that?): 55, skiing since I was 13, with a gap the last 9 years or so
ability: an expert, I guess, if a bit rusty and aging. Part-time ski instructor in college (a few lifetimes ago). On the currently popular 1-10 scale, I dunno . . . a solid 8, maybe a 9 on a good day. I think my 10 days are behind me (if I ever was a 10 . . . not sure).

My review: I only have about 2 1/2 days on these so far. I won't be on them again until the laceration (18 stitches) at the base of my calf muscle (unrelated to skiing) heals up. Hope to be skiing for 3 to 4 consecutive days in two weeks.

But for the skiing I've done on them, conditions ranged from ice cookies up top and ice hard wind blown boilerplate type stuff, to good fast firm groomer stuff, to some cruddy (cold, not sloppy) stuff to the side, and even some spring corn. I skied nice wide open blues. Some good narrow blacks. No double blacks yet. They went everywhere I wanted, did everything I asked them to do. I deliberately ran them off the side into some very crusty stuff (it had rained on new snow, then frozen) and they seemed unflappable. I thought they were just about right in terms of liveliness. If I asked for a wide open fast arc, they did that. If I asked for some tight short turns down the fall line, they did that too. I think a shorter radius ski might do short linked turns down the fall line tighter and snappier, but I liked my sense of this ski's versatility and prefer that to a dedicated short radius or slalom type ski. Rock solid on edge on the sheer icy stuff - like ice skates. I only found small to medium moguls to ski, but the Vapors seemed fine on them. I'm old enough (and my knees are MUCH older than the rest of me) that I'm not a die hard mogul girl any more. But when I get a chance, I'll be anxious how these do on a demanding mogul field (probably better than I will).

Bottom line: I like 'em. A lot. My principal reservation in saying that here and now is that I don't have anything to compare them to, and I don't have a lot of vertical feet on them yet. When I was last on skis -- 9 years or so -- I was on 195s and 200s. I was waiting to see how the transition would go with these, and I found it reasonably seamless.

The only place they troubled me at all was on long straight fast runs, like the kind you get at the bottom back to the chairlift. I was prepared for the fact that -- as I've been warned -- the short shaped skis "talk back" a bit if they are flatlined instead of kept slightly on edge. These did that. I like flatlining, and I find it unnatural to roll the ski on edge on those kinds of runouts. It's the only technique shift I thought I need to work on to make the transition to shorter, shaped skis.

Oh, and the bindings. Mine have the Railflex system on it. I really, really like the binding. You can adjust 15mm forward or back. But really, you have lots of adjustment between those numbers, and maybe even beyond them, by altering where you put the bindings on the track that attaches to the rail on the ski. I'm looking forward to moving the bindings forward and aft, just to see if there's a better sweet spot somewhere other than the generic settings. Often, there is.

Last of all . . . I've skied a little of everything over the years, from my first wood skis with screwed on metal edges and cable bindings, on forward. I can be happy on lots of skis of different flexes and sidecuts, and lengths, and have been over the years. Maybe if I had a chance to ski different skis against each other more, I would become more opinionated about them. But I don't have much opportunity to do the head-to-head comparison thing. So I try to pick wisely based on what I know I like to do with a ski, and I'm usually pretty happy.

With boots, on the other hand, I'm hard to please . . . (and I really DO need to do a review on my new Daleboots and the bootfitting process on those. I can't say enough good things about them . . . ).

I hope that's some help to those of you considering these skis. It seems to be true of all skis that our experiences on them are often entirely different. Just too many variables to what makes a ski feel the way it does -- our bodies, skill levels, and technique, the snow.

Good luck. If I can answer questions, fire away.

 

[jaydog]

greekpeakskier: I ski the Vapor's precursor, the V76, so it might not translate exactly, but here's my stats: 5'5", 135lbs, advanced, 164cm ski length. I've found that to be a pretty good length for me, but I don't think I'd want to go any longer.

 

[canski]

Another Fischer Vision 76 (precursor) skier - age - 56, NH skier, (have skied Greek Peak in the mid 70's), ex instructor in the late 60's, 70's, level 9, 5'5, 118 lbs. (As discussed last year if you may remember), I'm the one with the V76 in 158 - and love the fact that the railflex binding system lets you move the bindings fore and aft. I currently ski it in the middle because it is more my 'powder' ski (NH powder, that is). If the 160 seems just a tad too long, move the binding forward and it will make a big difference. I also ski the RX8 (my ice and not so much powder ski, although it can handle boot top nicely) in a 155 with the binding forward (unisex ski, so moving forward makes it more a female mounting point - and the change made the ski come alive for me)

 

[Kayakgirl]

canski, you've inspired me. Once my leg heals and I'm back on the slopes, I plan to go to some super easy blue groomers and play for an hour or two with my binding placement. My review above is with everything in the pure neutral, dead-center position. Looking forward to what I learn by moving the binding forward and back. Thanks!

 

[atlantiqueen]

canski - I have the Vision 76 too - also in the 158 and I L O V E them!!
got them last season on ovestock for $200 and have not regretted a day on them

Kayakgirl - if the V76 are any indicator, the Vapors should serve you well - ENJOY!