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Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
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I've had the chance to A/B these skis in the last week, in Australian early season conditions - mostly man-made snow, firm, fast early morning pistes deteriorating quickly with the dense crowds to choppy slop or push piles on a hard base.

The Head Rally's are huge fun and so carvy on the early morning groomers. Instructor turns, tip and rip, they can do it and make me crack a huge smile in the process. The corollary to the big sidecut and wide shovels however is that they don't like to run flat, especially with any depth of loose or soft snow. The easy answer, of course, is to always keep them on edge! Unfortunately this isn't always possible in crowded Australian conditions, where sometimes it's necessary to quickly turn away from a noob wobbling into your path. Making a quick transition in a snowgun pile or soft push pile is a recipe for catching a stray edge and possible crash.

Nonetheless I love the responsiveness of these skis and will ski them when conditions permit. Conditions just need to include very sparse crowds...

The Fischer The Curv GT's, at 80mm underfoot, are wide for a carving ski and have a less aggressive sidecut than the Heads, 49mm tip to underfoot compared to 59mm. They need a little more input than the Heads and don't have quite the same limpet-like edge hold on hardpack. Nonetheless, they are easy to crank over on edge, helped no doubt by the stand height of the included MBS Race Track bindings, and can hold an edge sufficiently well on Aussie hardpack. But what I really love about these skis is the smooth, confidence inspiring ride no matter the conditions underfoot. Transitions in soft snow or push piles are no problem, thanks to the slightly less aggressive sidecut and slight tip taper. And boy, do these skis love to do long, shallow arcs as fast as you dare to go! A couple of times on these I felt like I was floating on air. Easily the most fun I've ever had standing up with clothes on!

I'd been concerned at first that the square, flat tails would lock into turns and be reluctant to break and slide when evasive action was needed, but so far that hasn't been an issue. For me, these seemingly single-focussed carving skis have proven so versatile that my all-mountain skis have stayed in the car.

These skis have a lot of metal in the layup, so may not suit a lighter intermediate skier. But heavily-built intermediates, like me, have no reason to fear these "advanced to expert" rated skis. I think I've just locked in the frontside half of a 2 ski quiver for Australian conditions.

Worth a look for East Coast hardpack or Sierra Cement groomers.

I'm 5'9" (174cm) and 240 lbs. I skied the Head i.Supershape Rally in 170cm, and the Fischer The Curv GT in 175cm.
 

Tricia

The Velvet Hammer
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Nice review Marty.
I'm hoping to ski with you again!
 

David Chaus

Beyond Help
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What's that?

noun
  1. a marine mollusk with a shallow conical shell and a broad muscular foot, found clinging tightly to rocks.
    • used in comparisons to refer to people and things that cling tightly.
      "the couples on the floor were clinging to each other like limpets"
 

James

Out There
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Dec 2, 2015
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24,419
noun
  1. a marine mollusk with a shallow conical shell and a broad muscular foot, found clinging tightly to rocks.
    • used in comparisons to refer to people and things that cling tightly.
      "the couples on the floor were clinging to each other like limpets"
Possibly not the best simile to use. Something that doesn't move, for a ski.
 
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Marty McSly

Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
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Mar 7, 2017
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234
For the Rally, "tip as big as a moose" comes to mind.
Love it!

No doubt they are skis that can teach me a lot about technique and finesse. I will come back to them and work at getting the best out of them, but I really need an uncrowded hill to do so.

In the meantime, the Curv GT is just the perfect ski for giving me confidence to take faster lines and steeper pitches.
 
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Marty McSly

Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
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Mar 7, 2017
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234
I'm hoping to ski with you again!
Definitely on my bucket list, but JH 2020 is looking unlikely at this stage, due to a shortage of domestic credits.

I took a redundancy from my job of 22 years last August, took a few months off then took a casual job. I've organised about 4 weeks of skiing this Southern Hemisphere winter, which is easy enough to do on the work front, but it's pushing the boundaries domestically.

So, I'll be aiming to catch up again some time in the 2020's, but probably not in the year with a zero on the end, unfortunately. I'll be watching the Gathering trip reports with keen interest though, and looking forward to catching up with all of you, especially you and Phil, @KevinF, @David Chaus and Shamora, @Tony S, @dbostedo, @Posaune, @DanoT, @Jilly and @Weegie McAdams.

In the meantime, those Fischer The Curv GT's have made me think a little differently about ski selection, and how I like to ski. I'd already developed one rough rule of thumb, "the second longest ski in any given model", which has been a reasonable guide so far, but doesn't help me choose what models to try.

I really want to find a slightly narrower, hard snow carving ski. Looking at the relationship between tip, waist and tail widths of the Fischers led me to set some parameters for a 70-ish waisted ski for the hard snow that's all too prevalent Down Under. Having settled on a waist width range of 68 to 72mm, I'm looking for a tip no more than about 45mm wider than the waist, and a tail no more than about 35mm wider than the waist. Length of about 170cm, radius 14 to 16 metres, well damped and stiff enough to stand up to 240lb of oompa-loompa. Based on these parameters, the Atomic Redster X7 looks the goods. I've been able to line up a pair to demo on my next trip, late July / early August, so there should be another oompa-loompa's review in about a month.

I'm also hoping to A/B the K2 Mindbender 90ti and Nordica Enforcer 93 in early August, as both of these skis have had big raps as being ideal all-mountain, all-conditions skis for variable snow environments like Australia, which may also have some relevance to springtime in New England/East Coast or Sierra Cement conditions.
 
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Marty McSly

Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
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234
The Redster X7 is quite soft and not as stable as the Curv GT or the Rally. Perhaps the Salomon S/Max 12 or S/Max Blast? The 2020 Blizzard Firebird HRC?
A bit softer than the Curv GT wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Even at 110kg I had to really work them into a short turn on scraped off hardpack. And even then they were a bit inclined to drift sideways. Their forte (for me anyway) was medium to long turns.

I guess the unicorn I'm chasing has the edge hold and short turn ability of the Rally, with the medium to long turn ability and resistance to deflection in soft push piles of the Curv GT's.
 
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Marty McSly

Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
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Mar 7, 2017
Posts
234
I just thought of the Dynastar Speedzone 12 TI. That might be the unicorn you're looking for.
That looks interesting. It might be a little difficult to find a demo one where I normally ski, from the search results. I'll keep trying.

Would the Redster X9 be a candidate?
 

ScottB

Making fresh tracks
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You might consider the Curve DTX. I ski it at 240lbs, and its about as soft a ski as I would want. I would give it an overall stiffness rating of med to stiff.
 

Marin

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McKinney TX
A bit softer than the Curv GT wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Even at 110kg I had to really work them into a short turn on scraped off hardpack. And even then they were a bit inclined to drift sideways. Their forte (for me anyway) was medium to long turns.

I guess the unicorn I'm chasing has the edge hold and short turn ability of the Rally, with the medium to long turn ability and resistance to deflection in soft push piles of the Curv GT's.
I think shot turns are harder on GT because of the length of 175. I am 6"0" little higher form you about 5cm, and I choose 168 just because to be able to do short turns quick and easy and have no problem to do any short turn with 168.
I will post video in few days with long and short turns with GT-s.
 

James

Out There
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Here is the Video, First will be long GS turns , then around 1:00 min will be some short turns.
This was about 2pm so all hard pack was gone , plus it was 70% unnatural snow.

Doesn’t play. Can see the video, it just goes blank when playing.
 

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