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Seldomski

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Question about the Laser AX... is this ski unisex? I am wondering if this ski would be any good for my wife - she is an intermediate+ , height 5' 1". We can rent these on our Austria trip...but I don't want to request this ski if it is too stiff in the shorter lengths.

As I mentioned in other posts, I really liked the Laser SC, but I want to rent something a bit more versatile for bumps/crud for our trip. Not sure how the AX works at the very low end of lengths. Any shorter females try the Laser AX? I would rent the 154cm (preferred) for her. 175 or 183 for myself.
 

raytseng

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I suppose the question is what are the other skis you can rent? If it's this versus just other men's skis in the short length then you don't really have a better option.
 

James

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I'm interested in finding out about the 159 Laser Ax.
I can say there's a significant difference in the 175 vs 183. Honestly if I had to ski the 183 on anything steep for any length of time I'd pay for another ski. On low pitch it's fun, but just a bear to work on the steeps. (Idread just thinking about it) 175 is the length unless your Michael von Grunigen.
 

raytseng

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Question about the Laser AX... is this ski unisex? I am wondering if this ski would be any good for my wife - she is an intermediate+ , height 5' 1". We can rent these on our Austria trip...but I don't want to request this ski if it is too stiff in the shorter lengths.

As I mentioned in other posts, I really liked the Laser SC, but I want to rent something a bit more versatile for bumps/crud for our trip. Not sure how the AX works at the very low end of lengths. Any shorter females try the Laser AX? I would rent the 154cm (preferred) for her. 175 or 183 for myself.

I would say if you're skiing Austria, to become familiar with the Blizzard and Atomic product lines. Those are the home manufacturers, so in my one trip there, (which happened to be near Altenmarkt and at the Atomic factory), most of the shops near the slopes had Blizzards and/or Atomics primary in their rental fleet.
 

ski otter 2

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I'm interested in finding out about the 159 Laser Ax.
I can say there's a significant difference in the 175 vs 183. Honestly if I had to ski the 183 on anything steep for any length of time I'd pay for another ski. On low pitch it's fun, but just a bear to work on the steeps. (Idread just thinking about it) 175 is the length unless your Michael von Grunigen.

This changes if you move it forward.

(@JMD pointed out in another thread that folks on the Harb discussion website - forgot its name - have concluded that around +2.5 works well for the AX 183, at least - maybe other lengths too, not sure.)

I've found that the 183 works well, very easy, in all terrain at about that setting: I'm using +3.0 as my default AX 183 position, but vary that for fun. (And I'm a lighter guy: 150/5'10")

If you get a chance, @James , you might try it at that setting. I'd be interested in your reaction.
 

mdf

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Well we'll have to get @mdf to pull them out. Problem is they're not movable afaik. Plus 3 might work, about 1 3/16in.
Yeah, I'd have to remount them. That'd be far enough to just remount the same bindings, I think, rather than looking for a different hole pattern. I can;t see getting ambitious enough to do that soon, though.

I contrast to James, I thought the 183 was fine on steep ice. Bumps and bad snow, though, no.
 

Seldomski

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I suppose the question is what are the other skis you can rent? If it's this versus just other men's skis in the short length then you don't really have a better option.

Here's the ski shop:
https://www.sport-jennewein.com/skirental/skirental-stanton.html

Nasserein location.

What would you rent? They have a lot of Stockli at the highest price. Second tier is Atomic, Blizzard, etc.

Reason I want to rent Stockli is I don't generally have the chance to rent them here in US. I'm pretty sure I will reserve the Laser AX (175) for me. My original question was, is it a good idea to reserve this same ski (153ish) for my intermediate, sticks to groomers, 5'1" wife? Or is there a better Stockli for that?

Edit to add: We are going during 'ski club' week. So I think I will likely be stuck with whatever I get for day 1. That was the case last time I went to Europe. Expecting to swap to another model midweek is not assured.
 
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raytseng

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I think someone more knowledgable needs to be paged in, but I would pick the mx or stormrider motion or otree motion before the ax for the lady. Especially for lighter intermediate and not a ex racer, the ladies offerings with lighter flex maybe the better fit.

potentially you can still modify up until when you walk out the door so even talking to the shop person there you can adjust .
The non laser skis might be better just because they don't shoot you out in your turn. If you haven't been on a pure frontside ski before, it can catch you off guard that you have to be a bit more precise.
 

raytseng

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remember in austria, traditional skiing and race culture is still strong, plus the German/Austrian mentality for precision and honing a skill over and over again
so there are a lot of carving and racing skis offered.
They not only just stay on piste, but stay in a 3meter lane on the piste, doing symmetrical turns that you could set a metronome to.
if thats not your wife, id vote the stormrider motions?
 

ski otter 2

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^^^^^This. (For both posts.) I'd have the same misgivings with the Laser line for an intermediate, and also a lady. But don't really know. Folks are all different. But more gender specific skis, as mentioned, might be best.

Also, the Stormriders these days are lighter and softer than the Lasers, in my only experience with them (Stormrider 95 - very lightweight and not as stiff or damp as AX). The Gamma and Delta also might work, as they are about as narrow as the AX, but, I'm told, lighter and more flexible.

Yeah, I'd have to remount them. That'd be far enough to just remount the same bindings, I think, rather than looking for a different hole pattern. I can;t see getting ambitious enough to do that soon, though.

In contrast to James, I thought the 183 was fine on steep ice. Bumps and bad snow, though, no.

That was my experience with steeps and [a bit of] ice, and yet bumps were just a bit sluggish, for me @ 0. Not as fun. (I'm in Colorado, so don't really have "bad snow" much, not like back East.)

At the same time, my friend Randy, who is a younger and more powerful style skier than me, has no problem with the AX 183 in bumps or what "bad snow" we have, mounted at +1. (He tried farther forward - c. +2 - and didn't care.)

Myself, I need all the help I can get, and thus vary mount point with demo-type bindings (or Schizos) on most of my non-race skis, when possible. Especially with many fat skis.
 
Last edited:

pykie87

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Here's the ski shop:
https://www.sport-jennewein.com/skirental/skirental-stanton.html

Nasserein location.

What would you rent? They have a lot of Stockli at the highest price. Second tier is Atomic, Blizzard, etc.

Reason I want to rent Stockli is I don't generally have the chance to rent them here in US. I'm pretty sure I will reserve the Laser AX (175) for me. My original question was, is it a good idea to reserve this same ski (153ish) for my intermediate, sticks to groomers, 5'1" wife? Or is there a better Stockli for that?

Edit to add: We are going during 'ski club' week. So I think I will likely be stuck with whatever I get for day 1. That was the case last time I went to Europe. Expecting to swap to another model midweek is not assured.

It’s not hard to rent Stockli’s in Austria. Apart from Volkl Racetigers and Head World Cup rebels, they were one of the more promoinent ski’s around. Kastle’s everywhere as well as would be expected.

I just rented for 9 days from Jennewein and they were simply the best ski hire place I’ve ever dealt with. I ski’d a total of 17 different sets in those 9 days, all pretty much brand new, they were happy to switch over whenever I wanted.

the great thing was, they have about 6 locations all around St Anton, including at the top of the runs, bottom of different runs etc, so you can simply walk into any location, see what they have and swap over.

I ski’d all of the below from the Stockli range this week.

Laser AX
Laser SX
Laser SC
Laser SL
SR 97
SR 95

I ended up buying the Stockli AX’s from them with a 10% discount because I hire’d from them, then claimed the 20% tax rebate as a non EU resident, for a 30% total discount. They threw in a binding and plate upgrade for free.

I’m about to get to the airport and can write an intensive review on their range, as it worked out in some cases that some stores only had the 2017/2018 ski and then I found the 2018/2019 Ski at another store soon after, so was able to ski them back to back in a lot of cases.
 

KingGrump

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Question about the Laser AX... is this ski unisex? I am wondering if this ski would be any good for my wife - she is an intermediate+ , height 5' 1". We can rent these on our Austria trip...but I don't want to request this ski if it is too stiff in the shorter lengths.

As I mentioned in other posts, I really liked the Laser SC, but I want to rent something a bit more versatile for bumps/crud for our trip. Not sure how the AX works at the very low end of lengths. Any shorter females try the Laser AX? I would rent the 154cm (preferred) for her. 175 or 183 for myself.

For an intermediate skier looking for technical improvements, I would say stay away from the Laser series skis. Even though the lasers may provide a more thrilling ride, it will most likely retard their technical development. Something from the Stockli Scale series may be a better fit.
 

KevinF

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For an intermediate skier looking for technical improvements, I would say stay away from the Laser series skis. Even though the lasers may provide a more thrilling ride, it will most likely retard their technical development. Something from the Stockli Scale series may be a better fit.

Curious why you think that the Stockli Laser line would retard technical development in intermediate skiers?
 

KingGrump

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Curious why you think that the Stockli Laser line would retard technical development in intermediate skiers?

For most intermediates to move forward in their technical skill, they have to learn how to bend their skis. Usually I like to see them work with softer skis that give them a lot of latitude in that area.
Most of the higher performance skis are too stiff for them to accomplish that task. Precision and stability are two of the attributes that they do not need at that point in the skill development process.
 

Philpug

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For an intermediate skier looking for technical improvements, I would say stay away from the Laser series skis. Even though the lasers may provide a more thrilling ride, it will most likely retard their technical development. Something from the Stockli Scale series may be a better fit.

Curious why you think that the Stockli Laser line would retard technical development in intermediate skiers?

I agree the S's from the Laser series have a smaller sweet spot, SC, SX, but I think the AX is a very friendly ski and an intemediate with a good skill set foundation can ski it well without hindering their progression.
 

cosmoliu

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The Gamma and Delta also might work, as they are about as narrow as the AX, but, I'm told, lighter and more flexible.
A friend of mine got on the Gamma at Jackson Hole a couple of weeks ago from the Mudroom, next to the tram. About 5'3" and average weight. Solid skier. She liked the Gamma quite a lot.
 

Eric Cioffi

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Hi are there any significant differences between 2016 and 2018 StormRider 88s?

Thanks!
 

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