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- Nov 12, 2015
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I got to ski next year's skis with ski legend and Fischer product manager Mike Hattrup at Stowe Mountain Resort. Conditions were a few inched of dust on a couple day old crust. Pretty decent skiing, but a little noisy some places. Bumps were January firm, with just a bit more dust on them. Visibility was - meh.
Didn't get extensive review time switching skis most laps. Skis were first run production and only one size available for each ski.
The Ranger line has been revamped for next year and we also skied a new line called RCOne (or maybe RC 1?) I'm not really sure. RCOne replaces both the Pro Mountain line and the Progresser line (yes there is still a Progresser line - in Europe - where it's still really popular).
The first ski I skied was a RCOne 80 GT. It kind of lines up with the Pro Mountain 80, but moves more toward frontside. I think that the whole Pro Mountain line probably leaned more to off-piste and soft snow than it should have, making it confusing with the Rangers. This ski changes that, it's got more shape and little to no rocker. I believe the size we had was a 171 and it came in somewhere around 17m. Fun and zoomy.
Next ski I tried was the RCOne 86 GT. This ski is like if the Curv GT and the Pro Mountain 86 had a baby. Now I frequently ski the Curv GT and the PM 86 is my baby, so... seems perfect for me. Like the Curv GT, this ski has two 0.8mm sheets of titanal. It has a tip that looks kind of like the hexagon chisel tip on the Curv line and again a little to no rocker profile. I didn't ski it in bumps, but it feels like it will be much easier to ski there than the GT. I don't think it will be the pow ski that the PM86 is (the PM86 is under appreciated there!) but I don't think anyone bought them for pow anyway. The PM86 rips on groomed, but the RCOne takes it to a new level, sort of reminding me of my old Firearrow 84 EDTs. I want this ski.
Revamped Ranger line includes Ranger 92 Ti, Ranger 94 FR, Ranger 99 Ti, Ranger 102 FR (unchanged from this year), Ranger 107 Ti and Ranger 115 FR (softened and more accessible than the current ski). I only got on the 94 FR and the 99Ti.
94 FR has only enough metal to keep the bindings from ripping off. This is very much like the 102 FR it is very light, springy and nimble. One tester likened it to the Nordica Soul Rider, but with a more modern camber profile and more horsepower.
99 Ti replaces the current 98 Ti the big change is a significant amount of titanal. What may be more important is the new shape which has a much more tapered tip and a bit of a lower rocker in the tip, the tail has more rocker than the 98 did. They've done a really nice job with the tip so that it still pulls you into the turn when it is on edge, but when it's cruddy the taper means it doesn't pull you as it goes through bumps. It slices through it.
We also saw a new boot. It's a Podium 140 which comes out of the same molds as the Podium race boot. It comes in 140 and two other flexes down to 110. One of the things that is really cool about it is that it is the exact same boot in all three flexes. That means every boot has all the same features, so just because you weigh 140 lbs, doesn't mean you have to settle for a boot with fewer features than a bigger guy. It is full vacuum fit with a 96 last. Also, it is black and yellow and looks badass.
We didn't see it, but there is also a new Ranger Free boot with a vacuum lower. (Vacuum upper would potentially ruin the walk mode)
Didn't get extensive review time switching skis most laps. Skis were first run production and only one size available for each ski.
The Ranger line has been revamped for next year and we also skied a new line called RCOne (or maybe RC 1?) I'm not really sure. RCOne replaces both the Pro Mountain line and the Progresser line (yes there is still a Progresser line - in Europe - where it's still really popular).
The first ski I skied was a RCOne 80 GT. It kind of lines up with the Pro Mountain 80, but moves more toward frontside. I think that the whole Pro Mountain line probably leaned more to off-piste and soft snow than it should have, making it confusing with the Rangers. This ski changes that, it's got more shape and little to no rocker. I believe the size we had was a 171 and it came in somewhere around 17m. Fun and zoomy.
Next ski I tried was the RCOne 86 GT. This ski is like if the Curv GT and the Pro Mountain 86 had a baby. Now I frequently ski the Curv GT and the PM 86 is my baby, so... seems perfect for me. Like the Curv GT, this ski has two 0.8mm sheets of titanal. It has a tip that looks kind of like the hexagon chisel tip on the Curv line and again a little to no rocker profile. I didn't ski it in bumps, but it feels like it will be much easier to ski there than the GT. I don't think it will be the pow ski that the PM86 is (the PM86 is under appreciated there!) but I don't think anyone bought them for pow anyway. The PM86 rips on groomed, but the RCOne takes it to a new level, sort of reminding me of my old Firearrow 84 EDTs. I want this ski.
Revamped Ranger line includes Ranger 92 Ti, Ranger 94 FR, Ranger 99 Ti, Ranger 102 FR (unchanged from this year), Ranger 107 Ti and Ranger 115 FR (softened and more accessible than the current ski). I only got on the 94 FR and the 99Ti.
94 FR has only enough metal to keep the bindings from ripping off. This is very much like the 102 FR it is very light, springy and nimble. One tester likened it to the Nordica Soul Rider, but with a more modern camber profile and more horsepower.
99 Ti replaces the current 98 Ti the big change is a significant amount of titanal. What may be more important is the new shape which has a much more tapered tip and a bit of a lower rocker in the tip, the tail has more rocker than the 98 did. They've done a really nice job with the tip so that it still pulls you into the turn when it is on edge, but when it's cruddy the taper means it doesn't pull you as it goes through bumps. It slices through it.
We also saw a new boot. It's a Podium 140 which comes out of the same molds as the Podium race boot. It comes in 140 and two other flexes down to 110. One of the things that is really cool about it is that it is the exact same boot in all three flexes. That means every boot has all the same features, so just because you weigh 140 lbs, doesn't mean you have to settle for a boot with fewer features than a bigger guy. It is full vacuum fit with a 96 last. Also, it is black and yellow and looks badass.
We didn't see it, but there is also a new Ranger Free boot with a vacuum lower. (Vacuum upper would potentially ruin the walk mode)
