more on that pendulum thing...

[markojp]

OK. is it the real me? Doctor? Doctor? I'm not attempting to convert the masses or start an argument about ski width. What I'm finding is that I'm losing my love for the 98/100's... Skied some laps on Saturday on the Enforcer, and Sunday on the Rev 85. Both days similar conditions... cut up fresh, etc... I think having skied 80-85's a great deal the past couple of seasons has sort of spoiled me to the differences in rolling a narrower vs wider ski up on edge. The 80 somethings are just more responsive so long as there's a bottom under the new stuff. Before folks get bent out of shape, if it's deep and soft, or even concrete'y, I'm all for a big ski. At that point, you're skiing on the bottoms of the ski and not so much the edges. What does it all mean? That future quiver stuff will likely have an 80-something for an all mountain ride, a carver or race ski, and one ski 110-118'ish. A BC ski? Sure, I'll do the 90-100 for that if it's a quiver of one, but just not feeling the love I used to for the most popular western daily driver lift served category. And no, this isn't a 'what's best for me is best for you' thing at all, so please keep it civil. This is all very first world problem stuff, and by and large, we seem to all be happy with whatever we're used to. Goes for skis as well.

 

[jmeb]

I anticipate the majority of my year being spent on a 85mm (K2 Aftershock) and 107mm (Nordica El Capo). 107 for anything semi-fresh, 85 for anything else.

But...I've also got a pow-ski / bc ski in the BD Megawatt. And an early-season / terrain opening rock ski in some beat-to-crap Atomic Blogs (110mm). And a spring park/slush bump ski that's 80mm full camber.

Not sure which I'd drop first of those three. All three are very seasonal (Blogs early, Megawatt mid-season, park/bump late-season.) And I'd like to add a more versatile uphill option (90ish with tech bindings) for spring corn, and a groomer ski.

Since converting back to skiing my quiver is:
Season 1: 1 ski (85mm)
Season 2: 2 skis (84mm, 110mm)
Season 3: 5 skis (80mm, 85mm, 107mm, 110mm, 125mm)

So by extension...if I only add 2 skis next season I'll have slowed down ?

 

[Brian Finch]

For what it's worth my most anticipated ski this season is the Q 85 .

 

[James]

So 88 is the new 98?

 

[markojp]

So 88 is the new 98?

Dunno but doubt it for most west of the Mississippi.

 

[ski otter 2]

I've learned I can't generalize for other skiers' preferences. I know there are many different choices and viewpoints based on different experiences/circumstances on this, but I tend to have the same experience on the ~98s as the OP.

There were two 95 to 100 skis I enjoyed demoing a lot this year, the FX 95 HP (in old snow conditions) and the Enforcer (both old and powder snow days). But these two won't keep me from mostly going narrower (for frontside/old snow) and wider (for soft snow days), with a gap at the 95 to 100 width still, in terms of what I actually would use most.

I'm not ready to label all skis in this ~98 width as in some ways "compromise" skis, but, for me, for the most part that's how I experience them, so far, as was also discussed in Sierra Jim's thread on 10X skis a few years back.

That said, for me, there may be at times anomalies, skis that surprise with behavior that is very different for their width.

What I use most:
Frontside race ski (67), versatile frontside-biased ski (80), carvy all mountain ski (88), versatile bump skis (84, 92), versatile soft snow ski (103), versatile crud charger ski (120), powder float ski (117).