Me: 140 lbs, 57, 5' 7" east coaster, beer leaguer, finesse skier, skiing 52 years
Ski: Elan Ripstick 96 Black Edition @ 174cm, mounted on the line with Attack 13 AT binders. (This is just a smidge over top-of-head height for me.)
Bought these skis new on spec over the summer, mostly on the strength of my infatuation with the Wingman 82 CTi. They came immaculately packaged and well-priced from @SkiEssentials, who went out of their way to source green bindings to match the sidewalls of the otherwise all-black ski. Suh-weet.
I needed a western one-ski quiver and I hadn't found it by demo-ing yet. Knew I didn't want a "charger" ski like the Bonafide. Knew I didn't want an annoying little barky-dog poser ski either. I needed a skier's ski that I could nevertheless bend at low speed if needed.
It's been a tough season in the East, so I only had two marginally appropriate days on them prior to my recent week in New Mexico. But at the Taos Gathering I spent the large majority of a full seven days on them, which allows me to post some informed notes here.
Honestly I didn't bond immediately with the Ripstick. But after sticking with it for six mornings of lessons and seven afternoons of Pug-chasing over a lot of very mixed terrain, I have come to like the ski a lot.
The shape is very versatile, with ends that don't catch but are also easy to engage when needed. The longitudinal flex is great - which is to say soft enough on the ends to ski bumps well, but even enough to produce a predictable energetic arc on the corduroy without folding when pushed. With a sidecut and rise pattern that nod toward a five-point design, they ski a bit on the short side, so don't size down. They're very pivot-friendly in trees. They are stupid light, which also helps in tight quarters, not to mention on the bootpack. (Don't discount this last item if you are an aging flatlander like me!)
The most surprising attribute of these skis for me is that they can really rip carved turns on groomers, assuming the snow is not rock hard. Obviously edge-to-edge transitions are not lightning fast, but the snow feel while skiing arc-to-arc is amazingly smooth and secure for this kind of a ski, especially at such a light weight. The higher the edge, the calmer it feels. We spent most of a morning in my class at Taos working on clean tight GS turns. My instructor, who is a Nastar pacesetter with a 6 handicap, riding on Stoecklis, was really pushing the speed on a couple of occasions, and I had no feelings of shakiness whatsoever from the ski while hanging right on his tail. Fellow Pugs skiing behind can attest to this. A lot of base was showing that day! To the casual observer, the Ripstick may look a little like a Sky 7 or a Fischer Ranger 98, but it absolutely does not ski like one when you lay it over; it is solid.
Unfortunately I have never skied the standard "green" version of this ski. Others have complained that there is not enough "there there" with the green one. While I'm sure a big talented guy like @Drahtguy Kevin could overpower even the Black Ripstick, I suspect the security I'm feeling at speed on this ski is where the Black Edition has upped the game vs. the standard edition, and has pulled it into contention for the skilled but average-sized skier with high expectations.
"So Tony," you might be saying, "these things sound amazing. Why did you have a hard time getting used to them?"
Well, here's the thing. Most of the hours I have on this ski have been in basically 2D snow. And in 2D snow in the bumps they just seem kind of grabby along the entire length between contact points. This was exaggerated on the super-dry Taos chalk. After the first day I took a gummi stone to the edges, fairly aggressively, full-length. That helped a little. The rest of the week I tried really hard to stay off the edges when in the bumps, doing a lot of conscious feathering with really soft feet. This helped more, and is clearly the solution, but ... habits are hard to break, and I don't recall having this experience with any other ski of this width and design. My hypothesis about this is that in an effort to make a light and fairly soft ski good on the groomed, Elan has made it super-stiff torsionally. (Elan, dudes, if you are listening: Loosen it up just a little.)
When I got the skis I had my shop put a 3-degree edge on them, which has been standard practice for me for a long time on almost all of my skis (except race skis, which have a 4-degree edge). I think the next step is that I'm going to back this down to 2 degrees to see if that helps with the grabbiness. Report to follow at some point.
Meanwhile I'm aware that by all rights I probably would have been better off on a slightly narrower ski in the conditions that prevailed. That's not the Ripstick's fault. I didn't switch to another ski mostly because I didn't want to be changing variables during my lesson week; I wanted to focus on skills, not skis. Plus theses puppies did give me a ton of confidence on the really steep stuff, where the snow tended to have a modicum of depth. They are GREAT tools for narrow chutes and challenging tree shots, being agile and light and yet gutsy enough to deal with chunky snow, blown-off areas, and what have you. If you like to billy goat, take heed.
I am REALLY looking forward to having an opportunity to ski these in more thoroughly 3D snow, where I fully expect them to shine much more brightly than they already have. When I do I'll update the review.
Who is it for? You are light on your feet but precise and accurate in your technique. You make honest race turns on groomers but don't want to struggle with "fat race ski" weight or profile when you peel off into real terrain. @Lady_Salina, looking at you here.
Who else is it for? Billy goats.
Who is it not for? Your preferred ski is yellow and says "CATERPILLAR" in big black letters on top.
Who else is it not for? You need your ski to accommodate sloppy habits. (Forget what Ski Magazine says, the precise response to edging means this is not a particularly forgiving ski, unless your idea of skiing is to make it down the hill with a couple of expensive black toboggans on your feet.)
Insider tip: Don't overdo the edge work. Keep them clean, obviously, but don't strive for razor sharpness.
Ski: Elan Ripstick 96 Black Edition @ 174cm, mounted on the line with Attack 13 AT binders. (This is just a smidge over top-of-head height for me.)
Bought these skis new on spec over the summer, mostly on the strength of my infatuation with the Wingman 82 CTi. They came immaculately packaged and well-priced from @SkiEssentials, who went out of their way to source green bindings to match the sidewalls of the otherwise all-black ski. Suh-weet.
I needed a western one-ski quiver and I hadn't found it by demo-ing yet. Knew I didn't want a "charger" ski like the Bonafide. Knew I didn't want an annoying little barky-dog poser ski either. I needed a skier's ski that I could nevertheless bend at low speed if needed.
It's been a tough season in the East, so I only had two marginally appropriate days on them prior to my recent week in New Mexico. But at the Taos Gathering I spent the large majority of a full seven days on them, which allows me to post some informed notes here.
Honestly I didn't bond immediately with the Ripstick. But after sticking with it for six mornings of lessons and seven afternoons of Pug-chasing over a lot of very mixed terrain, I have come to like the ski a lot.
The shape is very versatile, with ends that don't catch but are also easy to engage when needed. The longitudinal flex is great - which is to say soft enough on the ends to ski bumps well, but even enough to produce a predictable energetic arc on the corduroy without folding when pushed. With a sidecut and rise pattern that nod toward a five-point design, they ski a bit on the short side, so don't size down. They're very pivot-friendly in trees. They are stupid light, which also helps in tight quarters, not to mention on the bootpack. (Don't discount this last item if you are an aging flatlander like me!)
The most surprising attribute of these skis for me is that they can really rip carved turns on groomers, assuming the snow is not rock hard. Obviously edge-to-edge transitions are not lightning fast, but the snow feel while skiing arc-to-arc is amazingly smooth and secure for this kind of a ski, especially at such a light weight. The higher the edge, the calmer it feels. We spent most of a morning in my class at Taos working on clean tight GS turns. My instructor, who is a Nastar pacesetter with a 6 handicap, riding on Stoecklis, was really pushing the speed on a couple of occasions, and I had no feelings of shakiness whatsoever from the ski while hanging right on his tail. Fellow Pugs skiing behind can attest to this. A lot of base was showing that day! To the casual observer, the Ripstick may look a little like a Sky 7 or a Fischer Ranger 98, but it absolutely does not ski like one when you lay it over; it is solid.
Unfortunately I have never skied the standard "green" version of this ski. Others have complained that there is not enough "there there" with the green one. While I'm sure a big talented guy like @Drahtguy Kevin could overpower even the Black Ripstick, I suspect the security I'm feeling at speed on this ski is where the Black Edition has upped the game vs. the standard edition, and has pulled it into contention for the skilled but average-sized skier with high expectations.
"So Tony," you might be saying, "these things sound amazing. Why did you have a hard time getting used to them?"
Well, here's the thing. Most of the hours I have on this ski have been in basically 2D snow. And in 2D snow in the bumps they just seem kind of grabby along the entire length between contact points. This was exaggerated on the super-dry Taos chalk. After the first day I took a gummi stone to the edges, fairly aggressively, full-length. That helped a little. The rest of the week I tried really hard to stay off the edges when in the bumps, doing a lot of conscious feathering with really soft feet. This helped more, and is clearly the solution, but ... habits are hard to break, and I don't recall having this experience with any other ski of this width and design. My hypothesis about this is that in an effort to make a light and fairly soft ski good on the groomed, Elan has made it super-stiff torsionally. (Elan, dudes, if you are listening: Loosen it up just a little.)
When I got the skis I had my shop put a 3-degree edge on them, which has been standard practice for me for a long time on almost all of my skis (except race skis, which have a 4-degree edge). I think the next step is that I'm going to back this down to 2 degrees to see if that helps with the grabbiness. Report to follow at some point.
Meanwhile I'm aware that by all rights I probably would have been better off on a slightly narrower ski in the conditions that prevailed. That's not the Ripstick's fault. I didn't switch to another ski mostly because I didn't want to be changing variables during my lesson week; I wanted to focus on skills, not skis. Plus theses puppies did give me a ton of confidence on the really steep stuff, where the snow tended to have a modicum of depth. They are GREAT tools for narrow chutes and challenging tree shots, being agile and light and yet gutsy enough to deal with chunky snow, blown-off areas, and what have you. If you like to billy goat, take heed.
I am REALLY looking forward to having an opportunity to ski these in more thoroughly 3D snow, where I fully expect them to shine much more brightly than they already have. When I do I'll update the review.
Who is it for? You are light on your feet but precise and accurate in your technique. You make honest race turns on groomers but don't want to struggle with "fat race ski" weight or profile when you peel off into real terrain. @Lady_Salina, looking at you here.
Who else is it for? Billy goats.
Who is it not for? Your preferred ski is yellow and says "CATERPILLAR" in big black letters on top.
Who else is it not for? You need your ski to accommodate sloppy habits. (Forget what Ski Magazine says, the precise response to edging means this is not a particularly forgiving ski, unless your idea of skiing is to make it down the hill with a couple of expensive black toboggans on your feet.)
Insider tip: Don't overdo the edge work. Keep them clean, obviously, but don't strive for razor sharpness.