Frontside choices

[tball]

Maybe a first time for this site, but certainly not the last... I'll pump a ski bought and haven't even skied yet.

The Blizzard Magnum 8.5 TI is still out there pretty cheap. It's well reviewed and worth consideration.

 

[Jason Robertson]

I know of nowhere to rent blizzard around here except copper rocker, and all they keep are fatties. I went in looking for the latigo last year looking for a bump ski, and they didn't have anything below a 90 waist....grrrr

 

[Jason Robertson]

I'll check today while I'm there

 

[Jason Robertson]

Went to the local shop and dropped the hammer on a pair of Titans. I demoed the ski last year and almost bought it then. Super damp and super fast...might need to look into that whole helmet thing a little more seriously, lol

 

[Muleski]

How about the Monster 83? Flat ski so you an throw whatever binding you want on it, strong so it will hold and a good shape so it will work both in the bumps and still carve well. BAM.

Phil, have you {or anybody else} skied the 83 enough to have a pretty good opinion of how it skis versus the 88? I'm 99% sure that I'm going to buy one of the two. I've skied the 88. Very impressed. Much preferred to my Brahma. Skied the Brahma is a 187cm. Brahma's a pretty versatile EC ski, does everything "pretty well". Don't need a jackknife. Monster is my kind of ski. Like everything about it….the profile, the flex, the dampness, the feedback, the "strength" is you will.

Fitting this in between an FIS SL, 180cm i.Speed {two pairs}, 177cm Titan, and then this years and two years prior 187cm Bonafides, Gen 1 and 2014-5 Bodacious, and Spurs. Head hard snow, Blizz the rest. Split ski days about 2/3's in New England, 1/3 in CO. This is my one ski that might fly with me, at least this winter.

I want to sneak something in there between the Titan and Bones. Probably will be my packed powder EC cruiser, with some more versatility than the current ones. Might be a slightly older snow ski in CO. Not going to be seeing much time in bumps, unless they are newly formed and soft, and I would say minimal time in trees…if any. Bones are my go to there. I'm not skiing there unless the snow is real soft.

My two local Head guys are not going to mount a 184cm 83 as a demo, and are "contemplating" mounting a 177cm 83. Hmmm. I know that I could buy the 88 and be real pleased, but I don't want that small devil skier on my shoulder saying "should have tried the 83" Ha!

So…what say you? Any thoughts? 5mm is a pretty tiny difference in width. I'm thinking there must be a bigger difference in the skis. hard to get intel. Lots out there on the 88, including my two days on it. Thanks

 

[Philpug]

Phil, have you {or anybody else} skied the 83 enough to have a pretty good opinion of how it skis versus the 88? I'm 99% sure that I'm going to buy one of the two. I've skied the 88. Very impressed. Much preferred to my Brahma. Skied the Brahma is a 187cm. Brahma's a pretty versatile EC ski, does everything "pretty well". Don't need a jackknife. Monster is my kind of ski. Like everything about it….the profile, the flex, the dampness, the feedback, the "strength" is you will.

Fitting this in between an FIS SL, 180cm i.Speed {two pairs}, 177cm Titan, and then this years and two years prior 187cm Bonafides, Gen 1 and 2014-5 Bodacious, and Spurs. Head hard snow, Blizz the rest. Split ski days about 2/3's in New England, 1/3 in CO. This is my one ski that might fly with me, at least this winter.

I want to sneak something in there between the Titan and Bones. Probably will be my packed powder EC cruiser, with some more versatility than the current ones. Might be a slightly older snow ski in CO. Not going to be seeing much time in bumps, unless they are newly formed and soft, and I would say minimal time in trees…if any. Bones are my go to there. I'm not skiing there unless the snow is real soft.

My two local Head guys are not going to mount a 184cm 83 as a demo, and are "contemplating" mounting a 177cm 83. Hmmm. I know that I could buy the 88 and be real pleased, but I don't want that small devil skier on my shoulder saying "should have tried the 83" Ha!

So…what say you? Any thoughts? 5mm is a pretty tiny difference in width. I'm thinking there must be a bigger difference in the skis. hard to get intel. Lots out there on the 88, including my two days on it. Thanks

I remember when Kastle said they were coming out with the MX83. I thought, they already had the 78 and the 88, are they over thinking it too much? Well, the MX83 is a wonderful ski. I expect the 83 to be the "forgotten child" of the Monster collection and IMHO it could very well be the best. How many 83mm skis are out there that you can buy flat? Not many especially at this performance level. It will be a great ski to put an Sth Steel or Pivot 15/18 on. If you are using this ski in the east and the occasional trips west, I think you will be very happy with it. The 83 is a ski that will sadly fall between the cracks because most shops will stock the Power Instinct 82 Ti Pro and the Monster 88m the Monster 83 is the best of both of these skis.

 

[Lorenzzo]

Went to the local shop and dropped the hammer on a pair of Titans. I demoed the ski last year and almost bought it then. Super damp and super fast...might need to look into that whole helmet thing a little more seriously, lol

That makes two of us that have new, unskied Titans.

 

[Jason Robertson]

Hopefully mine only stay that way til next weekend, lol

 

[cantunamunch]

It will be a great ski to put an Sth Steel or Pivot 15/18 on.

Mine are getting Piston plates and you won't persuade me otherwise :0

 

[Lorenzzo]

Hopefully mine only stay that way til next weekend, lol

I'm on mine today. Nice ski...they're pretty good at skiing the slow line fast.

 

[Jason Robertson]

They're really good at skiing fast on any line, lol

 

[Philpug]

Mine are getting Piston plates and you won't persuade me otherwise :0

Great option too. If they are good enough for Marcel Hirscher...

 

[markojp]

That makes two of us that have new, unskied Titans.

Skied on my old titans this past Saturday. The new pair comes out when we've got more snow.

 

[Jason Robertson]

Two pairs of Titans....I'm picking mine up Friday

 

[dawgcatching]

looking at a couple skis for groomer ripping and some bump use.
Kastle mx83
Nordi FA84
Head Rally
I want to stay around this width as I already have skis at 97 and 107...
5/9" 190# thinking that I should be around the mid 170s length wise on these? Any other suggestions?

Hi,

I am your height, but you have 35lbs on me.

Having skied all of these, I own the MX83, so that is where my loyalties lie. The ski absolutely feels like it could be a full-on race carver on groomers, yet is friendly off-piste, unlike the FA84. I have posted this elsewhere, but last year on the MX83, I took the 173cm to A-Basin on a day when they had received about a foot of heavy snow overnight (freezing level 8500 feet). I skied that MX83 all day, it was absolutely a hero ski. A little short and narrow for new snow into that backside lift, but once things got tracked out just a bit, I was skiing the steep frontside lift (starts with a P) on those skis: they were absolutely perfect for hitting that crud at speed, dealing with the bumps that were developing, skiing tight chutes. Extremely forgiving and no hint of a speed limit (I ski quite fast). Also, in the steeper more developed zipper line bumps, they rocked as well. I couldn't have been happier: I had a ton of control, and it is always easier to deal with turning quickly in a skied-out, semi hardpacked chute on something of reasonable width and length. That doesn't even take into account how exceptional it is on groomers: I didn't ski a groomer the entire day, but if I had, I would have been laying down some trenches. The key for me was bumping the binding back (adjustable Attack 13 model) about 1cm, which gave me enough tip to handle the crud, as 173cm was a bit short. That was key for me skiing a very short ski.

The Head Rally is a super fun ski. It is great in bumps too! The MX83 has more top end in 173cm vs the Rally's 170cm, and the Rally in 177cm feels a bit too stiff somehow. You may like it however, as you have 35lbs on me, but I find it to be planky in that longer length; it likes to be skied short.

I am just a huge fan of the MX83's versatility. Race ski performance yet terrific in a whole lot of conditions.

 

[Ron]

^^^^ Pali lift

 

[Jason Robertson]

It came down to the mx83 and the unmentioned head Titan. if I was going kastle I was going to have to go in blind, no demo. I demoed the Titan at WP last year and loved it. I also demoed the rally but the rally hadabad tune and I kept blowing the right ski out mid turn. None the less I went to my local shop and was offered a great deal on this years Titan so I bit. I'm going to pick them up this afternoon.