elemmac
Angel Diva
I see some questions starting to pop up about what’s happening in 2017, what’s new, what’s there to look forward to, and so on…and I’ve finally found the time to sit down to write a bit about a couple opportunities I had to demo some of next year’s skis. This is Part 1 of 2...Volkl in Part 2
2017 Preview Demo Day
Loon Mountain
Conditions: Variable between east-coast ice and hard-pack corduroy.
Tester: 5’5” approx. 135lbs. Advanced-ish (I never really know how to rate myself)
Head Super Joy (158) – I’ve been itching to try this one out for a couple years now. Structure-wise they haven’t changed the ski. East-coast friendly ski, definitely a joy on groomers (pun-intended). I probably could have skied this one longer and enjoyed it a little bit more. It was quick to turn, responsive and liked to be pushed, but still quick to recover from any missed step. Overall, a bit softer than I had hoped for, for such a hard-charging women’s ski (my opinion could change on this if I get a chance to try a longer size).
Head Super Shape Magnum (163) –
They’ve changed up the Super Shape series slightly from last year, and added more metal. The metal sheets now go from tip-to-tail and edge-edge. Within the series, the tip rocker has also changed, the wider the ski, the more tip rocker. The Magnum is the second skinniest Super Shape, and coming from someone that normally doesn’t chose a carver ski, I had an absolute blast on it. I never needed to worry about it slipping out or pushing it too hard. Wide turns, short turns, whatever I wanted it to do, it did it. Due to wind hold on the day, much of the mountain was closed, including many of the steeper pitches. I can’t wait to try this one again when I can REALLY open it up and let it grip-it-and-rip it. This may be the first actual carver-oriented ski I’m going to own (I liked it that much).
Blizzard Black Pearl (166) –
They switched up the core a bit on this ski, I can’t speak for the actually technical terms on how they did it, but overall it made the ski lighter, without changing the way it skied. It was hard-packed conditions, and as many of you can attest to, that’s not where this ski excels. With that in mind, I’m going to end this review here, and maybe come back to it another day.
Armada Invicta 87Ti (160’s-ish) –
Armada has now made a full women’s Invicta line, modeled after last year’s men’s Invictus. And wow, these skis were great. They had lots of pop and energy, yet were stable, solid and loved to nail down some railroad tracks. I had an absolute blast on these skis, didn’t really want to give them back, but ultimately had to. I’m really looking forward to see where this line goes and how they’re accepted into the skiing community. Side note: The lady I was with tried one of the wider Invicta’s without the Ti, and also had an absolute ball.
Armada ARW 98 (170) –
Armada is also expanding their ARW into two skis, keeping one in the low-80’s width, and adding one in the upper 90’s. This ski felt like home to me and my personal skiing style. With a 98 waist it was really easy to maneuver and control even on the hard-pack. It did much better when hitting grip-able corduroy, but still held its own on the ice-pack (fresh factory edges probably helped with this one a bit). This is another one that I’m going to cut the review a bit short due to the conditions creating a lack of really seeing what this ski can do.
Fischer Ranger 98W (172) –
I always love Fischer skis, and this one was no exception. The Ranger series is exceptionally light-weight, I could see this making a fantastic AT setup. The ski was damp enough, but had a lively pop that made short and long turns fun and easy. The ski definitely skis short, 172 is normally not my go-to length, but this was the perfect size for me. I’d love to see what this ski has to offer in some deep fluff. The wide and light-weight shovel seems like it would create a perfect balance for float without having an absurdly large waist.
Fischer ProMTN 86Ti (175) –
This is the replacement for the Fischer Motive, a ski I have wanted to try for a while, but never did. This was my chance to try the new and improved model, and talking to the rep, the 175 was the smallest size they had. I almost moved on, until he said “you’ll be fine, just give it shot”…didn’t take me much convincing. And I must say, I was very happy I tried it. This was a great, versatile ski. When you get on most skis, you can pinpoint whether it’s a beginner, intermediate, or more advanced ski. Honestly, it was such an easy ski to ski that I could see anyone of absolutely any level skiing it. I tried to push it to find a speed limit and couldn’t (someone more aggressive, faster and larger than me might have been able to, but who knows). It’s wide enough that you could easily make it a one-ski-quiver, or find it a place in your line-up.
2017 Preview Demo Day
Loon Mountain
Conditions: Variable between east-coast ice and hard-pack corduroy.
Tester: 5’5” approx. 135lbs. Advanced-ish (I never really know how to rate myself)
Head Super Joy (158) – I’ve been itching to try this one out for a couple years now. Structure-wise they haven’t changed the ski. East-coast friendly ski, definitely a joy on groomers (pun-intended). I probably could have skied this one longer and enjoyed it a little bit more. It was quick to turn, responsive and liked to be pushed, but still quick to recover from any missed step. Overall, a bit softer than I had hoped for, for such a hard-charging women’s ski (my opinion could change on this if I get a chance to try a longer size).
Head Super Shape Magnum (163) –
They’ve changed up the Super Shape series slightly from last year, and added more metal. The metal sheets now go from tip-to-tail and edge-edge. Within the series, the tip rocker has also changed, the wider the ski, the more tip rocker. The Magnum is the second skinniest Super Shape, and coming from someone that normally doesn’t chose a carver ski, I had an absolute blast on it. I never needed to worry about it slipping out or pushing it too hard. Wide turns, short turns, whatever I wanted it to do, it did it. Due to wind hold on the day, much of the mountain was closed, including many of the steeper pitches. I can’t wait to try this one again when I can REALLY open it up and let it grip-it-and-rip it. This may be the first actual carver-oriented ski I’m going to own (I liked it that much).
Blizzard Black Pearl (166) –
They switched up the core a bit on this ski, I can’t speak for the actually technical terms on how they did it, but overall it made the ski lighter, without changing the way it skied. It was hard-packed conditions, and as many of you can attest to, that’s not where this ski excels. With that in mind, I’m going to end this review here, and maybe come back to it another day.
Armada Invicta 87Ti (160’s-ish) –
Armada has now made a full women’s Invicta line, modeled after last year’s men’s Invictus. And wow, these skis were great. They had lots of pop and energy, yet were stable, solid and loved to nail down some railroad tracks. I had an absolute blast on these skis, didn’t really want to give them back, but ultimately had to. I’m really looking forward to see where this line goes and how they’re accepted into the skiing community. Side note: The lady I was with tried one of the wider Invicta’s without the Ti, and also had an absolute ball.
Armada ARW 98 (170) –
Armada is also expanding their ARW into two skis, keeping one in the low-80’s width, and adding one in the upper 90’s. This ski felt like home to me and my personal skiing style. With a 98 waist it was really easy to maneuver and control even on the hard-pack. It did much better when hitting grip-able corduroy, but still held its own on the ice-pack (fresh factory edges probably helped with this one a bit). This is another one that I’m going to cut the review a bit short due to the conditions creating a lack of really seeing what this ski can do.
Fischer Ranger 98W (172) –
I always love Fischer skis, and this one was no exception. The Ranger series is exceptionally light-weight, I could see this making a fantastic AT setup. The ski was damp enough, but had a lively pop that made short and long turns fun and easy. The ski definitely skis short, 172 is normally not my go-to length, but this was the perfect size for me. I’d love to see what this ski has to offer in some deep fluff. The wide and light-weight shovel seems like it would create a perfect balance for float without having an absurdly large waist.
Fischer ProMTN 86Ti (175) –
This is the replacement for the Fischer Motive, a ski I have wanted to try for a while, but never did. This was my chance to try the new and improved model, and talking to the rep, the 175 was the smallest size they had. I almost moved on, until he said “you’ll be fine, just give it shot”…didn’t take me much convincing. And I must say, I was very happy I tried it. This was a great, versatile ski. When you get on most skis, you can pinpoint whether it’s a beginner, intermediate, or more advanced ski. Honestly, it was such an easy ski to ski that I could see anyone of absolutely any level skiing it. I tried to push it to find a speed limit and couldn’t (someone more aggressive, faster and larger than me might have been able to, but who knows). It’s wide enough that you could easily make it a one-ski-quiver, or find it a place in your line-up.