The local ski hill Wachusett Mountain had a demo day today. It is a great deal $39.95 for a lift ticket and demo skis. There were too many vendors there for me to get on a ski from every manufacturer. I skied Kastle, K2, Volkl, Parlor and Salomon. Everything I skied except for the Mindbender 90Ti was under 80mm in the waist. Conditions were great for early December in Massachusetts mostly packed powder due to 20+ inches earlier in the week and good cool weather. It was about 20* in the morning and warmed to high 20s when I had to head home around 1:30. Each ski I took 4-5 runs on. Wachusett is a relatively small hill at about 1000 vertical feet.
I am a lifelong skier 53 years old 6’ tall and 200 pounds. Boots are Nordica ProMachine 120s. Current skis I own are 2018 Head iRallys in a 177 and 2016 Rossi E88(the black and greed ones) in a 180. Not sure how to categorize my skiing but there isn’t much in New England I can’t ski. Out west I don’t throw myself off cliffs but I can ski most other stuff including bumps and trees. I worked in the industry in the mid 80s to late 90s as a part time gig and have skied a lot of different skis as a result but not as many in the last 20 years as before.
Kastle MX 74 - 172CM
This was the first ski I got out on and one I was looking forward to. The 172 was a little shorter than I am used to and it took me a few runs to find the sweet spot on the ski. The ski makes awesome turns slightly longer radius than a true slalom ski and will stretch out as well. You do need to be on top of the ski and drive it. I don’t mind that at all. I didn’t find a ton of tail support on the ski if you let your weight get back a bit the ski wanted to straighten out on you. It is a great ski for the type of skiing I usually do in New England. I do think I would prefer the 180 though.
I was excited to get on this ski after reading a lot of good things about it. I will say I was slightly disappointed but I suspect it might be due to a bad tune. Right when I started skating over to the lift the skis seemed a little sticky. On the hill they were a little difficult to get to initiate and particularly on the right ski if I didn’t really drive it the ski didn’t finish the turn well. Might have been me could have been the tune. I skied other skis yesterday that didn’t have this issue.
I had heard of Parlor but had never seen their skis before. They are headquartered and made in East Boston which is pretty cool. I happened to ride the lift with a Parlor brand ambassador (just a buddy of the founders who skis on their stuff and was wearing a jacket) when I was on The Supercharger and we discussed the Warbird which is a new frontside ski for them. Side cut is 125-78-106 with a 16m radius. It is the first ski Parlor has made with metal in it which generally is something I like. First these skis had an awesome tune on them. I could feel it just on the skate over to the lifts which was pretty far. I loved these skis. They initiated well, could be driven or ridden (not sure that is a word), held on the hard snow and could be skied fast or slow with different turn radii (also not sure on plural of radius). I haven’t skied the Stockli Laser AX but I suspect they may behave similarly. These were one of my two favorite skis of the day and for an every day driver in New England would probably be my first choice. They come in a 185 and 192 which I would love to try. I could see really liking the 185, the 192 would be too long for the east.
To quote Ricky Bobby “I wanna go fast”. This ski has a 17M radius similar to the Supercharger. I was talking with the rep before I got on these and he said they were the skis he usually used and had his special tune on them with .7 and 3* bevels. Not sure if the tune was part of the difference but I loved these skis. If you wanted to fly and roll medium to longer radius turns these skis were awesome. You can just stand in the middle of the ski and they will rail. The skis had a bit more support in the tail which I kind of like if you pressured the tail a bit they would finish and propel you out which I kind of like. Probably not great technique but I find it fun. I could see skiing these every day in the east and on groomed stuff out west where things are wide open and you can let them fly.
I wanna go faster. This has the longest radius at 19.7 of any of the narrow skis I was on. The ski had more top end than I was willing to explore. That didn’t mean I wasn’t able to get the ski to work it was fast and smooth when tipped up on edge. It needed to be driven a bit more than the SMax Blast but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. When you are moving at the top end of these skis your mind shouldn’t be wandering. Another ski that had a great tune on it. If I had a quiver these would have a place for those firm fast days.
Another ski I was interested in trying based on what I had read. It wasn’t really a day for this type fo ski as it is a fairly small hill with firm conditions. I think this might have been a victim of a bad tune. Right from getting on them and skating over to the lift they didn’t seem to want to run smoothly. On the hill the skis were a little difficult to initiate on and the tips didn’t seem to engage the way I wanted them to. This didn’t really match what I have read about the ski. I probably should have tried the 177 but it was a hike to get back to where the demo vans were set up and I didn’t want to spend the time. Given my experience with it I am not really going to give a who is it for/not for as I don’t have a good sense for the ski.
I had a blast out there. I probably took 25 or more runs from 8-1:30. It reminds me how much I used to love going to the industry demo days.
If I was buying skis off what I skied it would be either the Parlor or the SMax Blast. To do that given I am not an insider I am going to have to sell some stuff or risk a divorce. My wife doesn’t notice when I get new golf clubs but she seems to pick up on new skis.
I am a lifelong skier 53 years old 6’ tall and 200 pounds. Boots are Nordica ProMachine 120s. Current skis I own are 2018 Head iRallys in a 177 and 2016 Rossi E88(the black and greed ones) in a 180. Not sure how to categorize my skiing but there isn’t much in New England I can’t ski. Out west I don’t throw myself off cliffs but I can ski most other stuff including bumps and trees. I worked in the industry in the mid 80s to late 90s as a part time gig and have skied a lot of different skis as a result but not as many in the last 20 years as before.
Kastle MX 74 - 172CM
This was the first ski I got out on and one I was looking forward to. The 172 was a little shorter than I am used to and it took me a few runs to find the sweet spot on the ski. The ski makes awesome turns slightly longer radius than a true slalom ski and will stretch out as well. You do need to be on top of the ski and drive it. I don’t mind that at all. I didn’t find a ton of tail support on the ski if you let your weight get back a bit the ski wanted to straighten out on you. It is a great ski for the type of skiing I usually do in New England. I do think I would prefer the 180 though.
- Who is it for: Strong technical skiers who want to make plenty of turns on firm snow.
- Who is it not for: Skiers that want to relax and just ride the ski.
I was excited to get on this ski after reading a lot of good things about it. I will say I was slightly disappointed but I suspect it might be due to a bad tune. Right when I started skating over to the lift the skis seemed a little sticky. On the hill they were a little difficult to get to initiate and particularly on the right ski if I didn’t really drive it the ski didn’t finish the turn well. Might have been me could have been the tune. I skied other skis yesterday that didn’t have this issue.
- Who is it for: Strong skiers that want to open it up a bit more than the Kastle.
- Who is it not for: Lighter skiers something like the Head iRally (which I own) would be better.
I had heard of Parlor but had never seen their skis before. They are headquartered and made in East Boston which is pretty cool. I happened to ride the lift with a Parlor brand ambassador (just a buddy of the founders who skis on their stuff and was wearing a jacket) when I was on The Supercharger and we discussed the Warbird which is a new frontside ski for them. Side cut is 125-78-106 with a 16m radius. It is the first ski Parlor has made with metal in it which generally is something I like. First these skis had an awesome tune on them. I could feel it just on the skate over to the lifts which was pretty far. I loved these skis. They initiated well, could be driven or ridden (not sure that is a word), held on the hard snow and could be skied fast or slow with different turn radii (also not sure on plural of radius). I haven’t skied the Stockli Laser AX but I suspect they may behave similarly. These were one of my two favorite skis of the day and for an every day driver in New England would probably be my first choice. They come in a 185 and 192 which I would love to try. I could see really liking the 185, the 192 would be too long for the east.
- Who is it for: I think strong intermediates and up would love this ski. I tend to gravitate toward smoother/damper skis and loved it even though it skied a little lighter than many skis I like.
- Who is it not for: It is a little pricey at $975 flat. They will customize it for flex/construction and graphics for $1475 so you need a wallet to get it.
To quote Ricky Bobby “I wanna go fast”. This ski has a 17M radius similar to the Supercharger. I was talking with the rep before I got on these and he said they were the skis he usually used and had his special tune on them with .7 and 3* bevels. Not sure if the tune was part of the difference but I loved these skis. If you wanted to fly and roll medium to longer radius turns these skis were awesome. You can just stand in the middle of the ski and they will rail. The skis had a bit more support in the tail which I kind of like if you pressured the tail a bit they would finish and propel you out which I kind of like. Probably not great technique but I find it fun. I could see skiing these every day in the east and on groomed stuff out west where things are wide open and you can let them fly.
- Who is it for: Strong skiers who want to fly. Just stand in the middle and lay the ski over and they dig trenches. They are a ton of fun.
- Who is it not for: Timid skiers and people that don’t want to go fast. The ski really opened up at speed.
I wanna go faster. This has the longest radius at 19.7 of any of the narrow skis I was on. The ski had more top end than I was willing to explore. That didn’t mean I wasn’t able to get the ski to work it was fast and smooth when tipped up on edge. It needed to be driven a bit more than the SMax Blast but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. When you are moving at the top end of these skis your mind shouldn’t be wandering. Another ski that had a great tune on it. If I had a quiver these would have a place for those firm fast days.
- Who is it for: GS wanna be skiers. Could make a good cheater GS ski maybe (I am not real qualified to say that). Find some open space and let it run.
- Who is it not for: Light and timid skiers who don’t want to fly.
Another ski I was interested in trying based on what I had read. It wasn’t really a day for this type fo ski as it is a fairly small hill with firm conditions. I think this might have been a victim of a bad tune. Right from getting on them and skating over to the lift they didn’t seem to want to run smoothly. On the hill the skis were a little difficult to initiate on and the tips didn’t seem to engage the way I wanted them to. This didn’t really match what I have read about the ski. I probably should have tried the 177 but it was a hike to get back to where the demo vans were set up and I didn’t want to spend the time. Given my experience with it I am not really going to give a who is it for/not for as I don’t have a good sense for the ski.
I had a blast out there. I probably took 25 or more runs from 8-1:30. It reminds me how much I used to love going to the industry demo days.
If I was buying skis off what I skied it would be either the Parlor or the SMax Blast. To do that given I am not an insider I am going to have to sell some stuff or risk a divorce. My wife doesn’t notice when I get new golf clubs but she seems to pick up on new skis.
