Dedicated powder ski

[Justthetips]

Hi all. First time poster, cool forum, glad I found it.
I am ready to purchase my first pair of dedicated powder skis, hoping to snatch up a good clearance deal.
For reference I’m 5’7”, around 180lbs, charge hard on a good mix of blacks and blues, much prefer floating on pow to bashing bumps as my knees are not what they once were. My daily driver is a 173 Blizzard Bushwacker (88 underfoot, a little narrow for my liking). Pass holder at Big White and do 30-40 days a year.
What should I be looking at for length? Right now I’m eyeballing some K2 Mindbender 116s, 179 length - too long? This ski will be used for pow days at the resort and at least 1 cat ski trip next winter.
cheers and thanks in advance for your replies!

 

[BC.]

Hi all. First time poster, cool forum, glad I found it.
I am ready to purchase my first pair of dedicated powder skis, hoping to snatch up a good clearance deal.
For reference I’m 5’7”, around 180lbs, charge hard on a good mix of blacks and blues, much prefer floating on pow to bashing bumps as my knees are not what they once were. My daily driver is a 173 Blizzard Bushwacker (88 underfoot, a little narrow for my liking). Pass holder at Big White and do 30-40 days a year.
What should I be looking at for length? Right now I’m eyeballing some K2 Mindbender 116s, 179 length - too long? This ski will be used for pow days at the resort and at least 1 cat ski trip next winter.
cheers and thanks in advance for your replies!

The longer the better for a dedicated powder ski....179 would not be too long.....if u charge....go longer.

 

[AngryAnalyst]

Powder skis are incredibly hard to buy without trying some first. You might think you know what you want but the best you’ve had is often just the best you’ve had. Powder skis also come in a wide variety of styles (heavy, light, charger, free style, “easy”) and because it’s so hard to demo them good luck figuring out which characteristics you like.

 

[Pacobillie]

If most of your skiing is inbounds, you could skip the powder ski entirely and go with a 98-100 mm wide daily driver. It might be better at busting crud, which is what most resort powder turns to within one hour of lifts opening on a storm day. I own goth BMX 98s and a pair of Gunsmokes. The latter hardly ever get used.

 

[chopchop]

Hi all. First time poster, cool forum, glad I found it.
I am ready to purchase my first pair of dedicated powder skis, hoping to snatch up a good clearance deal.
For reference I’m 5’7”, around 180lbs, charge hard on a good mix of blacks and blues, much prefer floating on pow to bashing bumps as my knees are not what they once were. My daily driver is a 173 Blizzard Bushwacker (88 underfoot, a little narrow for my liking). Pass holder at Big White and do 30-40 days a year.
What should I be looking at for length? Right now I’m eyeballing some K2 Mindbender 116s, 179 length - too long? This ski will be used for pow days at the resort and at least 1 cat ski trip next winter.
cheers and thanks in advance for your replies!

I just went through this process and learned a lot. For one, many pow skis have short-ish running length due to tail & tip rocker. So you can/should go with a longer ski than you would otherwise consider. I bought some 192s. My longest ski before this off-season was 180cm (I'm 6').

Also, I decided to stock up on variety, jumping on deals as they came up. I bought four pairs of very different skis, all over 112mm width. I decided to invest in a season of experimenting and learning and can sell off what doesn't work at minimal loss. All four pairs cost me $1,200 so not a gigantic expense.

One other thought - consider using demo bindings that will allow you to move the effective mount point forward and back. That may just be my hobby horse, but I don't want to just drill at rec and assume it will be peachy. I want to experiment and see what works best for me.

Have fun shopping!

 

[TrueNorth]

Powder skis are incredibly hard to buy without trying some first. You might think you know what you want but the best you’ve had is often just the best you’ve had. Powder skis also come in a wide variety of styles (heavy, light, charger, free style, “easy”) and because it’s so hard to demo them good luck figuring out which characteristics you like.

Oh, blessed are those who have the opportunity to demo a meaningful selection of powder skis on a meaningful number of powder days. The rest of us just pick something based on reviews and hearsay, and pray for a big snowfall. Luckily, it turns out you have to be a pretty jaded or grumpy skier to have a bad time on a powder day, regardless of what ski you choose.

If you have read the Blister review on the Mindbender 116 and it speaks to you, and you have found a good off-season deal on them, I would say go for it (assuming you can justify owning a pair of skis you may not use very often). If they don't click with you next season, sell them and try something else the following year. You can try to rent or demo skis, but strangely enough demand for pow ski rentals tends to spike whenever there is a big snowfall so it may be difficult to demo on an appropriate day (this may not apply at a cat ski operation that has their own rental fleet).

While you are ski shopping, you might also want to look for something a little wider and more powerful than the Bushwackers for your Big White daily driver. I also have them and would say they are not the best choice to "charge hard", as you describe your skiing. I like them best for leisurely cruising with the family and poking around in tightly spaced eastern trees.

 

[GregK]

The Mindbender 116C is one of the lightest in the series and not as versatile as others in the line. It’s fun in untracked powder but it’s soft flex and light weight makes tracked out powder and crud more challenging. Not as great on groomers as some others near it’s width too. I’d lean towards the Mindbender 108Ti myself as it is a bit heavier and stiffer so crud performance is improved and it’s in a more useable width for days that aren’t big powder days. Great in afternoon crud and Spring skiing. 179cm for your size.

Another great option that you could still get deals on is the 2019/2020 Blizzard Rustler 11 in 180cm(would measure shorter than a K2 179cm). Very good all around powder/bit of new snow ski that again has a higher performance envelope in more conditions that the MB 116.

 

[Philpug]

Powder skis are incredibly hard to buy without trying some first. You might think you know what you want but the best you’ve had is often just the best you’ve had. Powder skis also come in a wide variety of styles (heavy, light, charger, free style, “easy”) and because it’s so hard to demo them good luck figuring out which characteristics you like.

Heh, I found powder skis to be the easiest to choose...and the toughtest to demo...because rarely do you get a good enough day to test more than one pair in the conditions they were intended for.

OP, list the characteristics you think you are looking for..and why, get a couple down, then we can help you find a ski that fits most of what you are looking for. A must in the thought process is they type of snow and terrain that you will be using it in.

 

[Ken_R]

Heh, I found powder skis to be the easiest to choose...and the toughtest to demo...because rarely do you get a good enough day to test more than one pair in the conditions they were intended for.

OP, list the characteristics you think you are looking for..and why, get a couple down, then we can help you find a ski that fits most of what you are looking for. A must in the thought process is they type of snow and terrain that you will be using it in.

Yep. I can count the days with one hand ok, maybe two, that I have truly gotten superb powder conditions in a resort. Cat / Heli trips are another story though.

 

[Ken_R]

Hi all. First time poster, cool forum, glad I found it.
I am ready to purchase my first pair of dedicated powder skis, hoping to snatch up a good clearance deal.
For reference I’m 5’7”, around 180lbs, charge hard on a good mix of blacks and blues, much prefer floating on pow to bashing bumps as my knees are not what they once were. My daily driver is a 173 Blizzard Bushwacker (88 underfoot, a little narrow for my liking). Pass holder at Big White and do 30-40 days a year.
What should I be looking at for length? Right now I’m eyeballing some K2 Mindbender 116s, 179 length - too long? This ski will be used for pow days at the resort and at least 1 cat ski trip next winter.
cheers and thanks in advance for your replies!

That is not too long at all for a powder ski. 179cm would be just about the shortest length I would suggest for a powder ski. I havent demoed the MB 116's but they look and feel like awesome powder skis for you. There are other options but most skis in that width range are designed to be fun in powder. There are a lot of good ones.

 

[Justthetips]

Heh, I found powder skis to be the easiest to choose...and the toughtest to demo...because rarely do you get a good enough day to test more than one pair in the conditions they were intended for.

OP, list the characteristics you think you are looking for..and why, get a couple down, then we can help you find a ski that fits most of what you are looking for. A must in the thought process is they type of snow and terrain that you will be using it in.

I want a ski that planes easy in deep snow, is fairly forgiving of my less than perfect technique, and will allow me to make mostly big arcing turns while also having the quickness for the odd foray into trees and bumps. I like it all from blues to blacks.
The snow here in BC’s interior is almost always light and dry, these skis will be for pow days at BW, and cat skiing. I’ve got my 90 under foot Bushwackers for everything else.

 

[ski otter 2]

Just to add a bit more perspective in your choice:
In that length, that ski, I'm guessing the skier style most rewarded would be a slightly relaxed, strong playful style, and maybe dialed back a bit from charging, once the first powder gives way to chop and crud at a resort. Or a style that is more short turn oriented in powder. Folks I know who love that shorter length in a 116 ski or thereabouts who are about your size also seem to like to do a lot of turning, including in soft bumps and trees, and just are used to the greater amount of shorter turning involved, and appreciate it on a powder day. Some of them can ski circles around me in powder/crud bumps (though mostly because I'm an old guy who tires). But on a more open, less bumped up slope, making longer turns, I will leave them behind pretty easily on skis c. 182 or longer, up to 192 or so. I'm more stable fore/aft that way. But then, I'm not going into the tight trees or uniform bumps right away on a powder day, the way they are - and when I do, I'm finding wider spaced trees, and more irregular, more widely spaced bumps. And if I had my choice for that switch (into trees and bumps more), I might well choose the shorter ski that they are on, to do so. Such a length ski, a right one for you like the 116 MB may be, I hear, will make the longer, faster (speed, not quickness) turns also, as long as the crud doesn't get too rough; but that is not it's specialty at that shorter length at your size, as near as I can tell, is part of what I'm saying. So there is a trade off.

Note: Also, I had planned to ski the K2 MB 116 a lot late this season, but the Covid intervened. I specifically wanted to experiment with it in crud, its supposed weakness, with different lengths and mount points, to see why and how the K2 charger guys/reps have adapted to that ski so well. But I got cut off in this fun pursuit, so I'm mostly a second hand source on this particular ski, rather than someone who has done it.

I might add that some of those K2 reps use the Mindbender 108, a terrific ski, in a wider envelope that overlaps and takes away from their use of the MB 116. They use the 116 as a more specialized ski, I'm thinking.

 

[Philpug]

I want a ski that planes easy in deep snow, is fairly forgiving of my less than perfect technique, and will allow me to make mostly big arcing turns while also having the quickness for the odd foray into trees and bumps. I like it all from blues to blacks.
The snow here in BC’s interior is almost always light and dry, these skis will be for pow days at BW, and cat skiing. I’ve got my 90 under foot Bushwackers for everything else.

I think the MB116 will do 8 out o10 things very well, just as any other ski in this range..8 or ot 10..and the 2 things that are missed? are a moving target and no one ski can do all 10. With that said, the MB116 is a fine choice in that 179. You struck oil, still drilling and start lamenting on which binding you will put on it

 

[Justthetips]

Well a local shop had one pair of the 2020 model left on clearance so I snapped them up.
For bindings I was thinking maybe the Marker Griffin 13 120mm (I have narrowed Griffins on other set, they’ve been great for last 4 years), or a Look SPX 12 in 120. What else should I consider? I don’t at this point foresee touring on the menu for me.

 

[Castle Dave]

I have the Griffin 13s on my 125 Sick Days and they are awful. They can be very difficult to get into
and almost impossible in powder. IMHO the heel piece is a fundamentally bad design. If you check on line you will see many comments echoing my own. The only reason I have them is because they came as a package. On the other hand I have two pairs of SPX 12s plus three pairs of their previous iterations and the entry and release functions always work correctly.
I suggest you read this post

Hard to step into Griffins - any solution?

Did a search on Marker Griffons and there are lots of prior threads on various sites re: the fact that it can be hard to step into the Royal family of bindings. I personally have mounted skis with Salomons or Pivots, but bought a used pair that came mounted to my BSL with Griffons and would...

www.tetongravity.com

 

[tch]

Hi J, the mention of the SPX brought to mind this response to my own question about those bindings. I can't vouch for the accuracy, as I did, indeed, go for something else. And... I was putting them on very different skis, Blizzard Brahmas. But here is one poster's take. Feel free to give it as much credence as you paid for it:

"Hi tch. I'm a brand new member here(first post), but I want to share my experience with the Brahma and SPX binding. I own both, but not paired together. While the Brahma is a relatively easy to bend ski, I believe that it's primary "standout" construction feature is it's torsional rigidity. The SPX binding has a ton of fantastic qualities(elasticity, step-in feel, value), but "mount rigidity" is not one of them. The SPX heel piece is tall, flexy plastic with correspondingly long mounting hardware. There is a lot of "twist" going on when driving a boot side to side in that binding. I mounted my Brahma's with Attack2 16's which feature a metal heel, and very short mounting hardware. This ski/binding combo is a winner."

 

[Justthetips]

Well I have searched a bit this afternoon and can’t find any negative first hand posts on the SPX. I do get free mounting if I pick up the SPX on sale at shop I got skis from - and they have the 120s on sale.
Also a set of Atomic Warden 13s there on sale, but I think the brakes are 130 which is wider than I’d like

 

[Quandary]

Tyrolia Attack2 or Atomic STH2 for soft snow bindings. I have both and they are great powder bindings.

I on the K2 116s. at Big White I think you will find that there are great for the first few runs and where ever you can find untracked. However once things get chopped up, which they do there, you will find they are a bit on the light soft side.

Nevertheless have fun with you new toy!

 

[Superbman]

sometimes the toe piece on those spx's twist in place... personal experience and I've seen this more than once.

 

[Philpug]

sometimes the toe piece on those spx's twist in place... personal experience and I've seen this more than once.

Look has been using that toe design dating back 20 years. This is the first I ever heard it. It sounds like the screws weren't tightened properly.