I know you've got your new skis but i still would like to mention the Nordica Enforcer 100.Perfect for taller,heavier(or lighter) advanced female skiers.Punchy in crud,floaty in the heavy powder we generally get here in NZ.Great on piste too.Probably the best all round ski for conditions here and great as a one ski quiver for travelling.Lots of women really like the Santa Ana too but at 177cm it was just too short for me.
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All-mountain skis recommendations for a tall advanced woman
Thread Starter
TS
I wanted to let everyone know that I skied my new Armada Invictus for the first time today and love them! They do everything I ask very well, long, medium and short turns, were fun on groomers and on short stretches of cut up powder and small soft bumps forming on the sides of the trails. @ADKmel commented that I looked good skiing on them. I wanted to thank @Philpug and @elemmac for recommending Invictus.
I do still want to demo DPS Cassiar on one of my trips out West, but that's for the future. I am quite happy with my current quiver (Head iSupershape Magunum, Armada Invictus and Kastle BMX105 HP).
I do still want to demo DPS Cassiar on one of my trips out West, but that's for the future. I am quite happy with my current quiver (Head iSupershape Magunum, Armada Invictus and Kastle BMX105 HP).
Thread Starter
TS
Never gotten on Cassiar, but demoed DPS Wailer 100 Alchemist in 184 cm length at Alta demo day this April in refrozen chunks and piles of fresh on top and though I liked them I didn't love them. I thought that they got deflected in heavy piles and refrozen chunks. I think in nice soft snow these would feel amazing, but not in heavy chop with slick patches in between. Same with Stockli SR105 and Stockli Edge 100. Again my thoughts were I prefer a damper ski and perhaps a stiffer one too. Speaking of which I see several great deals on new 2019 FX 85 HP in 181 cm length and I am very tempted.
The Cassiar is a completely different ski than the Wailer.
For that matter, the Alchemist construction is very different from the Foundation.
Thread Starter
TS
Thank you for clarifying. That is good to know! Then I still need to get on Cassiars when I have a chance.
Thread Starter
TS
Hi there! I am not particularly fast and not aggressive on steeps, so some people will consider me barely an advanced skier probably.
Though I am able to ski single black terrain at Taos and have fun doing it when the snow is good. Too chicken to ski the double blacks at Taos though, one of those years, haha. I have never demoed Fischer skis, but maybe I should. I have heard good things about them from multiple people.That is too cool you are an organic chemist! Org chem is hard, - I got my B in org chem in college on it and was happy with the B, haha. I have a Ph.D. in immunology, work on developing novel treatment for cancer and autoimmune diseases in a large pharma company. I love it and I love science! I wanted to be a scientist since I was like 10.
When on the East Coast I ski Montage and Jack Frost locally with @tinymoose @Large Squirrel and @Wendy , you should come ski with us sometime. We are a friendly bunch. For ski trips out West I tend to ski Taos (for Taos ski week) and Alta the most. I may ski Killington this December, maybe we can meet up and ski some.
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Thread Starter
TS
The back story of why I am coveting Kastle FX85 HP is because I own and love BMX 105 HP and have demoed FX 95 3 years ago and loved them, though can't remember if they were HP or not. So it's probably safe to say I like Kastle skis a lot. I am just trying to figure if FX85 HP would be too stiff for how I like to ski and skiing bumps/trees, I have read several opinions that these are quite stiff and unforgiving. But then again I saw reviews about BMX 105 HP being stiff and unforgiving and they do not ski that way for me. I can bend them quite easily as you can see in most current avatar.
I learned to ski late in life (50 yo) at JF and Blue. I've never been out west, but moved to skiing the NE. We now have K season passes. I try to ski K's demo days and previous weekend which probably is Dec 7-10. Xmas week might be tough this year for us. I avoid the double blacks at K, but try to ski all the blacks. Superstar!Hi there! I am not particularly fast and not aggressive on steeps, so some people will consider me barely an advanced skier probably.
That is too cool you are an organic chemist! Org chem is hard, - I got my B in org chem in college on it and was happy with the B, haha. I have a Ph.D. in immunology, work on developing novel treatment for cancer and autoimmune diseases in a large pharma company. I love it and I love science! I wanted to be a scientist since I was like 10.
When on the East Coast I ski Montage and Jack Frost locally with @tinymoose @Large Squirrel and @Wendy , you should come ski with us sometime. We are a friendly bunch. For ski trips out West I tend to ski Taos (for Taos ski week) and Alta the most. I may ski Killington this December, maybe we can meet up and ski some.
Every Fischer ski I've tried is worthy of consideration, but own the Ranger 115 XTi as my powder skis.
Organic chemistry is easy to me, what you do is hard! I work for that large chemical company down in Delaware...
I have the FX85 HP. It's definitely a silky ski. Great for western bumps and trees. Not a stiff ski at all. It has great snow feel. The early taper and tip rocker allow it to be fun in the bumps and trees.
One of the FX85 HP weakness is edge hold on eastern hard pack. It's in the design of the ski with the mentioned early taper and tip rocker. But then my eastern DD is usually a pair of FIS SL. So you'll have to take that in context.
Another glaring failure I have discovered while skiing the FX85 HP is its behavior in steep heavy spring crud bumps. My skiing style is a very round turn with strong forward stroke of the ski. My skiing style puts a lot of forward movement pressure on the tip. The tip will often over flex and buckle when I am skiing runs like the West Face and Chute 75 at Squaw in late spring. Not a good feeling. My Kendo and Mantra would usually just blow through the snow under those conditions.
I think if you don't abuse the ski like I do. The FX85 HP should be a great ski for you.
One of the FX85 HP weakness is edge hold on eastern hard pack. It's in the design of the ski with the mentioned early taper and tip rocker. But then my eastern DD is usually a pair of FIS SL. So you'll have to take that in context.
Another glaring failure I have discovered while skiing the FX85 HP is its behavior in steep heavy spring crud bumps. My skiing style is a very round turn with strong forward stroke of the ski. My skiing style puts a lot of forward movement pressure on the tip. The tip will often over flex and buckle when I am skiing runs like the West Face and Chute 75 at Squaw in late spring. Not a good feeling. My Kendo and Mantra would usually just blow through the snow under those conditions.
I think if you don't abuse the ski like I do. The FX85 HP should be a great ski for you.
Thread Starter
TS
That is great to hear! That's what I was thinking/hoping this ski would be like. I don't really worry about hard snow grip, I have Head Magnums for the icy days in the east. These would be for out West skiing and warmer days in the East. Yeah I don't think I will be skiing the terrain like Chute 75 anytime soon, especially in heavy spring snow. I looked it up 45 -48 degrees in the steepest part?
Newp, I'm good. Skiing Main Street off Kachina is my current biggest aspiration, and who knows when that happens. I keep taking Taos ski week every year, so one of those years it will happen 
. I did have a great time in Valkyrie trees with fresh snow (the easiest section near terrain park) this year so that's a progress from 2 years ago when I was terrified in Valkyries.Seriously, this is really helpful! I was exactly looking for something that would be great in Western bumps and trees.Thank you for input.
That is great to hear! That's what I was thinking/hoping this ski would be like. I don't really worry about hard snow grip, I have Head Magnums for the icy days in the east. These would be for out West skiing and warmer days in the East. Yeah I don't think I will be skiing the terrain like Chute 75 anytime soon, especially in heavy spring snow. I looked it up 45 -48 degrees in the steepest part?
Seriously, this is really helpful! I was exactly looking for something that would be great in Western bumps and trees.Thank you for input.
It will be great for skiing Main Street. If you can do the Valkyries, Main Street is a cake walk.
I'll ski Main Street with you at the gathering if it is open. Guarantee you'll have fun.
Number one on my list is a ski that I can trust to not fold or buckle under pressure. Pushing a new ski to see if it will hold up is one of the main reasons I hate demoing skis. Thanks for your feedback. I highly suspect this is a ski that I would over flex as well.
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I know you like your Mantra(s) like I like my Mantra(s). Definitely not enough ski for us.
Thread Starter
TS
I have gotten the FX85 HP, couldn't resist the 40% off MSRP on new skis. Looking forward to skiing them!
@Olesya C, I have two older versions of the FX85. This series started as a line made for light skiers (read: women) and backcountry skiing. My first version was really really light. And somewhat soft, longitudinally. I loved them, especially in bumps, but in crud they were not confidence inspiring enough. I got the next version and it was stiffer and better in crud. That FX84 was my daily driver in New England, which means on hard snow, for years. Now I go back and forth between that ski (FX84 year oh maybe 2015???) and a Head Super Joy (new, narrower DD). Every time I've been on the Head ski and switch back to the Kastle, I wonder why I left. I love the dampness of the Kastle. And for me, I found the 84 waist works just fine on hard snow. I bet you're going to love the FX85.
Thread Starter
TS
This is great to hear! Thank you for input. I had a slight worry the FX85 HP version will be stiffer than I need. But I don't worry any more after what @KingGrump and you said about them. Yes, I have loved all the Kastles skis I have been on previosly (FX95 demo and BMX 105 HP that i own), I completely agree with you on the dampness.
Note: They are stiff torsionally so hold an edge well on hard snow.
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Don't get too settled on width until you dive into what width means. Check out Jon Seifert's body of research. Check out Robin Barnes' piedes on hip movement and ski width.
My everyday western ski is Stockli Laser AX. I ski a 97 underfoot (Head Kore 99's) on really big days to manage flats between powder stashes. Last year, when we had record snowfall, I skied those maybe 12 times.
Re ski weight.... If you are skiing with movements originating from your feet... you will never feel the weight.
My everyday western ski is Stockli Laser AX. I ski a 97 underfoot (Head Kore 99's) on really big days to manage flats between powder stashes. Last year, when we had record snowfall, I skied those maybe 12 times.
Re ski weight.... If you are skiing with movements originating from your feet... you will never feel the weight.
Thread Starter
TS
I skied my new 2019 FX85 HP today and I love them! It was my first day of the season. I am so pleased to report that these skis are very easy going, have a decent edge hold on hard pack patches and are very easy to pivot in the piles and moguls that formed on groomers in the end of the day due to traffic. They carve well when asked, very versatile skis IMHO. They are also very smooth, they smooth out all the little bumps and piles, love the dampness of Kastles. Two out of three skis in my quiver are Kastle now.
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