Teaser: Unexpected Elan demo day! Woo Hoo!!!

[volklgirl]

When we pulled into the parking lot today, the Elan demo tent was set up, so I hopped right in and took a few for a ride. Unfortunately, they had no women's versions long enough for me, so I ended up on the Amphibio 88 (170), 74 (176 and 168), and 82 (176), the RipStix (176), and the Spectrum 85 (176). I loved that they started me on the 170 length and actually watched me ski them ("You were making some really nice turns out there"), then weren't afraid to bump me up to a 176, even for carving-based skis. That's great demo salesmanship in my mind!

Here's a picture from my second run on the 88s, but you'll have to wait for the full review.

Let's just say there was a lot of giggling, grining, and Woo Hoo-ing!

 

[badger]

Elan really does make some awesome skis. You look terrific coming down that slope...I can almost see the grin!

 

[volklgirl]

The Tester: 49 years old, 190++ lbs, lapsed PSIA L2 (taught for 8 yrs), gold/platinum NASTAR/league racer with a love of speed and manky snow conditions. A little bi-polar terrain-wise - love screaming groomers and bumpy, powdery, trees and bumps.

The Test Conditions: 27 degree f, really flat light, groomed frozen granular early, turning to deep sugar top and bottom with chunky granular over frozen cat-track ice underneath. All skis (unless I hated them) given the same routine - first run = the NASTAR hill, small, med and large turns at moderate speed; 2nd = run screamers down a black; 3rd run = short carved and skidded turns on the same black; 4th run = screamers down the NASTAR hill.

First up: 2015 Elan Amphibio 88 XTI Fusion, 170 cm (136-88-116, TR 15.5@170 cm).
Specs: Wood core, metal and carbon reinforcement, Waveflex Technology, Amphibio rocker (tip rocker on the outsides of the skis, full camber on the inside, dedicated Left and Right skis).

Impressions: Woo Hoooooooo!!!! Instant rapport with these beauties. They are fairly stiff with a really even flex pattern and they bent deeply into turns, begging for even more speed. I never found a speed limit on these, nor did they complain when asked to go slower. They are damp without feeling dead, providing moderate snow feel beneath the feet, while not being phased by the death cookies or groomer ridges at all. So.Much.Fun. On the NASTAR hill, they really encouraged dropping the hip and getting high edge angles with complete confidence. This is definitely a full-on advanced to expert skier's ski.

In A Nutshell: Ex racers and strong skiers looking to widen your waist - you have met your soul mate. Absolutely this ski will not disappoint. My grin was so big on these skis, if it had been spring, I'd have been picking bugs out of my teeth.

Next up: 2015 Elan Amphibio 14 Fusion, 176 cm (125-74-104, TR15.7 @176 cm).
Specs: Wood core, 2 layers of metal for reinforcement, Waveflex Technology, Amphibio rocker (tip rocker on the outsides of the skis, full camber on the inside, dedicated Left and Right skis).

Impressions: Another winner, this time for the Ice Coast and Midwest skiers. The skinnier waist and wide tips hooked up quickly and easily for slalom-like turns without any loss of stability in medium and longer turns. The dual layers of metal made this one even damper with no chatter or skid over the icy areas in between the sugar piles. These are definitely groomer zoomers for soft or hard snow - versatility is NOT their strong point. They got bogged down in the deeper sugar at the top and bottom of the hill, and bounced around a bit in the chunky death cookies.

In A Nutshell: Stronger skiers looking for race-like performance on groomers both hard and soft, with no illusions of going off piste, will love this ski. Short turns? Yup. Medium turns? Sure. Long Turns? Of course! Versatility in manky or soft snow? Uh, not so much, although I'll admit to possibly already being spoiled by the fun factor of the 88s.
Sizing suggestion: If you prefer short turns, don't be afraid to size down a bit on this one - it has tons of stability and I found shorter turns on the 176 length to require a bit of work.

More to come later! :-)

 

[powderfan]

Thank you, Volklgirl, for the great reviews. I can't wait till you've posted the other reviews. Your skiing looks great in the picture.

I like Elan ski's; they are my (slalom)racing ski's. Unfortunately their women's ski's are not very long; max 168 for the Interra and all the others even shorter (but that is my problem with most skibrands ).

 

[volklgirl]

Up next: 2015 Elan Amphibio XTI Fusion 82, 176 cm and 168 cm (128-82-108, TR 17.4 @ 176 and 15.7 @ 168).
Specs: Wood core, metal and carbon reinforcement, Waveflex Technology, Amphibio rocker (tip rocker on the outsides of the skis, full camber on the inside, dedicated Left and Right skis).

Impressions: I totally didn't click with this one AT ALL. I took the 176 cm out first and spent 3 runs feeling like the tail was either too stiff or too long, or maybe the bindings were mounted WAY too far forward. Given that it's the same basic construction as the 88 but a bit narrower, I expected the same willing and compliant ride, but ended up fighting it the entire time, trying to pressure the tips to start the turn then get some pressure on the tails to get them to bend and complete the turn. It felt like having a 2x4 behind the binding. I have to admit the only time I've ever felt anything quite like that was on a really badly tuned pair of Volkl AC40s, which I also hated.

Giving the ski builders and tuners the benefit of the doubt, I headed back and picked up the 168 cm length instead, thinking maybe the 176 was just too stiff and too long. While that seemed to mostly take care of the feeling of the bindings being way forward, I found they were still super stiff . . . too stiff for me to love them (and given my size, technique, and preferred speeds, that's saying a lot). This is a compromise ski, and not a good compromise to my mind.

In A Nutshell: I'm hoping that I can get back on this ski at Boyne Test Fest in February to see if maybe it really was a bad mount job or a crummy tune. If so, I'll gladly update my review. In the mean time, I just can't recommend this ski to anyone but the strongest racers who really load up the tails for extra rebound. :-(

I was getting a little tired by now: 2015 Elan Ripstick Fusion, 176 cm (114-70-99, TR 17.8 @ 176 cm).
Specs: Wood core, 2 layers of metal for reinforcement, Powerspine Technology, Amphibio rocker (tip rocker on the outsides of the skis, full camber on the inside, dedicated Left and Right skis).

Impressions: This is Elan's GS cheater ski (for NASTAR/league racing), and it's perfectly designed for that use. It has lots of manageable power and handles eye-watering speeds while remaining glassy smooth. Even with the combination of the ski's really narrow waist and the snow deteriorating into really deep sugar piles surrounded by solid cat-track-ridged ice, it never lost its cool or got bounced around. It simply begged for bigger turns and more speed. Skied with finesse, it could go fairly slow and make smaller turns, but it really just needs to be opened up in big turns and high speeds to get to the grin factor.

In A Nutshell: A race-based ski with impeccable manners. Give it a lot or give it a little; it gives back what you put in. Best for speed freaks on groomers and citizen racers looking for controllable speed.

And, finally.......