Well I finally got away from work and was able to get some skiing in—glad the recently injured knee worked ok, albeit a bit sore. I spent most of the time trying to remember how to slide down the hill, as well as experimenting with skis.
Much like I noted in limited use last Spring, the new Nordica Enforcer 104 (104mm/186cm/18.5m) is noticeably stiffer than the Enforcer 100 185cm, offering a bit faster turn-in, a higher speed limit, better crud busting, without much loss in general ease of use or mogul capability. Surprisingly, I preferred the Enforcer 104 to the current orange Blizzard Bonafide (98mm/180cm/18m) which I tried back-to-back, as the Enforcer 104 felt smoother, more damp, provided more stability on both hard snow and through crusty cut-up crud, was at least as good in bumps, as well as offering better float in what little remnants of the recent fresh snow was left hiding in the trees off-piste.
This was the first time I got to spend some time on the new Brahma 82’s (82mm/180cm/19m) I purchased in the heat-wave of this past August. I had high hopes for this ski, but ultimately felt a bit let down. The area I was most pleased about the Brahma 82 was its ability to rip nice fast zipper lines in medium to large moguls. Unfortunately, the Brahma 82 did not offer as much hard snow edge-grip, carving turn capability, or high speed precision as several other slightly narrower on-piste carvers I compared it to, including the Rossi Hero Elite Plus Ti (78mm/181cm/15m) and Head i.Rally (77mm/177cm/14.7m). While the Brahma 82 excelled in bumps, both these narrower carving skis were not too far behind in “bumpability”. In addition, the Brahma 82 did not offer as much ability off-piste, with mediocre float in left over powder and barely adequate ability in crud, compared to the slightly wider Nordica Enforcer 88 (88mm/186cm/17.5m). In addition, the Enforcer 88 was nearly as good in the bumps and carving on-piste as the Brahma 82, so I was not sure what role the Brahma 82 might fill for me. If I did not have a selection of superb sub-80 mm carving skis, as well as some excellent 88-90mm all-mountain skis, or if perhaps I skied primarily on the east coast, the Brahma 82 might have made more sense. I also feel that the longer 187 cm could have been a better option for me. Nonetheless, the Brahma 82 180 cm did not work for me so is going to be sold at a good price for someone it can better serve.
Never before have I had the opportunity to contrast my Head i.Rally (77mm/177cm/14.7m) against my Head i.Race (69mm/180cm/16.3m) on the same day and same trails. The i.Rally is more versatile, fun, easier to ski, better in bumps, and more tolerant of errors, while the i.Race is much more precise, exciting, offers a more tenacious edge hold on hard snow, is capable of much higher speeds, and could probably be effectively used for beer league racing. Contrasted with the i.Rally, the Rossi Hero Elite Plus Ti offers better performance; I previously compared the Rossi with the i.Race: https://www.pugski.com/threads/a-tale-of-two-racer-ish-skis.15691/
Finally, I re-learned an important lesson—unlike the old days when straight GS skis worked great all over the mountain, modern GS skis with a 21 m or larger turn radius do not play well with holiday and weekend crowds on congested resort trails. Trying to use cheater GS skis was an exercise in frustration, but my naïve attempt to check a 30 m FIS GS ski was an insane idea, as in just a couple of turns I had run out of trail and exceeded the resort speed limit. If one wants to carve-up typical on-piste groomers, then FIS SL skis, as well as sub 80mm carving options like the Stockli Laser WRT, Head i.Race, Blizzard Firebird HRC, K2 Supercharger, Liberty V76, Head i.Rally, Nordica Spitfire RB 76, Stockli Laser AX, Renoun Atlas, Rossi Hero Plus Ti, etc… are all better selections that can be more easily arced and maneuvered around the numerous folks recreating on resort trails. I’ll save the GS skis for wide open deserted groomers on uncrowded mid-week days or even better, just use them on closed race courses as intended.
Much like I noted in limited use last Spring, the new Nordica Enforcer 104 (104mm/186cm/18.5m) is noticeably stiffer than the Enforcer 100 185cm, offering a bit faster turn-in, a higher speed limit, better crud busting, without much loss in general ease of use or mogul capability. Surprisingly, I preferred the Enforcer 104 to the current orange Blizzard Bonafide (98mm/180cm/18m) which I tried back-to-back, as the Enforcer 104 felt smoother, more damp, provided more stability on both hard snow and through crusty cut-up crud, was at least as good in bumps, as well as offering better float in what little remnants of the recent fresh snow was left hiding in the trees off-piste.
This was the first time I got to spend some time on the new Brahma 82’s (82mm/180cm/19m) I purchased in the heat-wave of this past August. I had high hopes for this ski, but ultimately felt a bit let down. The area I was most pleased about the Brahma 82 was its ability to rip nice fast zipper lines in medium to large moguls. Unfortunately, the Brahma 82 did not offer as much hard snow edge-grip, carving turn capability, or high speed precision as several other slightly narrower on-piste carvers I compared it to, including the Rossi Hero Elite Plus Ti (78mm/181cm/15m) and Head i.Rally (77mm/177cm/14.7m). While the Brahma 82 excelled in bumps, both these narrower carving skis were not too far behind in “bumpability”. In addition, the Brahma 82 did not offer as much ability off-piste, with mediocre float in left over powder and barely adequate ability in crud, compared to the slightly wider Nordica Enforcer 88 (88mm/186cm/17.5m). In addition, the Enforcer 88 was nearly as good in the bumps and carving on-piste as the Brahma 82, so I was not sure what role the Brahma 82 might fill for me. If I did not have a selection of superb sub-80 mm carving skis, as well as some excellent 88-90mm all-mountain skis, or if perhaps I skied primarily on the east coast, the Brahma 82 might have made more sense. I also feel that the longer 187 cm could have been a better option for me. Nonetheless, the Brahma 82 180 cm did not work for me so is going to be sold at a good price for someone it can better serve.
Never before have I had the opportunity to contrast my Head i.Rally (77mm/177cm/14.7m) against my Head i.Race (69mm/180cm/16.3m) on the same day and same trails. The i.Rally is more versatile, fun, easier to ski, better in bumps, and more tolerant of errors, while the i.Race is much more precise, exciting, offers a more tenacious edge hold on hard snow, is capable of much higher speeds, and could probably be effectively used for beer league racing. Contrasted with the i.Rally, the Rossi Hero Elite Plus Ti offers better performance; I previously compared the Rossi with the i.Race: https://www.pugski.com/threads/a-tale-of-two-racer-ish-skis.15691/
Finally, I re-learned an important lesson—unlike the old days when straight GS skis worked great all over the mountain, modern GS skis with a 21 m or larger turn radius do not play well with holiday and weekend crowds on congested resort trails. Trying to use cheater GS skis was an exercise in frustration, but my naïve attempt to check a 30 m FIS GS ski was an insane idea, as in just a couple of turns I had run out of trail and exceeded the resort speed limit. If one wants to carve-up typical on-piste groomers, then FIS SL skis, as well as sub 80mm carving options like the Stockli Laser WRT, Head i.Race, Blizzard Firebird HRC, K2 Supercharger, Liberty V76, Head i.Rally, Nordica Spitfire RB 76, Stockli Laser AX, Renoun Atlas, Rossi Hero Plus Ti, etc… are all better selections that can be more easily arced and maneuvered around the numerous folks recreating on resort trails. I’ll save the GS skis for wide open deserted groomers on uncrowded mid-week days or even better, just use them on closed race courses as intended.
