The FedEx person was nice enough to bring me something today. It’s a little early to do a ski review, but part of the excitement of getting new skis is getting new skis, right?
I was able to demo the Woodsman 108 while at Big Sky last year, which was an unexpected treat. East Slope Outdoors in the Big Sky Town Center is one of the few places who have demos of ON3P, or who retail them for that matter (Evo is another shop that carries them). Most of ON3P’s sales are direct to consumers. ON3P skis are made in Portland, OR (not just headquartered, they actually make them there). They are not cheap, and you won’t generally find them discounted, then again at $749 for a stock ski they’re not as much as many premium skis. For those of you who have a pair, you know the build quality is top-notch, the bases are durable and their edges thicker than industry standard. If you want, ON3P allows you to customize your topsheet graphics, base color, flex, layup for normal vs 50/50 vs tour weight, add a skin clip tail; etc, and you can do it all on their website.
The Woodsman series was introduced last year in 3 widths, 96, 108 and 116. The Wrenegade series is more a directional charger, and the Kartel/Jeffrey is more center-mounted freestyle oriented. The Woodsman is somewhere in between the two, so it’s more “all-mountain.” Charge, just not as much as the Wrenegade. Pivot and smear turns, just not as easily as the Jeffrey. I think the emphasis is more on normal-sized turning, you know, skiing.
The Woodsman 108 was a fun ski for me, especially in soft snow. They can hold an edge just fine for a 108 wide ski, but that’s not their forte. They come alive in soft snow, blast through crud, surf, pivot and slarve through soft snow with the long rocker, snake through bumps, and then feel comfortable arcing turns on the groomers to get back to lifts. With the long rocker, the effective edge is actually quiet short and they can make pretty short turns if you want. The effective edge on a 182cm length ski is 145cm. Not necessarily what you want for icy hardpack but totally fun and nimble in soft snow of any depth.
I already have a Billy Goat for a powder and funky snow ski, and my on-piste ski is a Renoun Z90, and I was looking for a middle quiver that is off-piste oriented and nimble in bumps, and didn’t need it be as wide as 108.
The 102 is a new width for ON3P, with a longer turning radius than the Woodsman 96. ON3P is Now positioning the 96 as an East Coast all mountain ski, and the 102 as a West Coast all-mountain ski. I wasn’t sure which I wanted, or in which length (177 vs 182), I had to flip a coin and probably could have been happy with either. Actually I emailed Scott Andrus, the owner, and he suggested the 102 in 182.
Woodsmans (Woodsmen?) come in 177, 182 and 187; the 108 and 116 widths also come in 192cm for those who need to turn it up to 11. You know who you are.
One thing ON3P changed with several of their models, including the Woodsman series was adding a new fiberglass/carbon composite to the bamboo core, to improve strength and durability while saving some weight. That’s what the ad copy says. We’ll see.
This is how it was shipped, very clever as the flattened box can bend to the shape of the ski.
Me and my new skis. Out of the box, the bases and tune look perfect. When I get them on the slope I will put that to the test, but I’m not inclined to have a full tune done before taking them out. My experience last year with my Billy Goats gives me a lot of confidence in the factory finishing and waxing.
Significant tip and tail rocker. They call this an “all mountain” ski. That’s how we roll in the PNW.
This is a stock ski, so yes, this is the color of the base.
Top sheets, a very durable matte finish. I’ll be mounting them with red Attack 13’s.
Tails
ON3P measures their skis after pressing, so a tape pull tip-to-tail is indeed 182cm. And yes, the carpet is old and we’ll replace it with some other flooring at some point.
The actual review part will have to wait until there’s some snow, stay tuned.
I was able to demo the Woodsman 108 while at Big Sky last year, which was an unexpected treat. East Slope Outdoors in the Big Sky Town Center is one of the few places who have demos of ON3P, or who retail them for that matter (Evo is another shop that carries them). Most of ON3P’s sales are direct to consumers. ON3P skis are made in Portland, OR (not just headquartered, they actually make them there). They are not cheap, and you won’t generally find them discounted, then again at $749 for a stock ski they’re not as much as many premium skis. For those of you who have a pair, you know the build quality is top-notch, the bases are durable and their edges thicker than industry standard. If you want, ON3P allows you to customize your topsheet graphics, base color, flex, layup for normal vs 50/50 vs tour weight, add a skin clip tail; etc, and you can do it all on their website.
The Woodsman series was introduced last year in 3 widths, 96, 108 and 116. The Wrenegade series is more a directional charger, and the Kartel/Jeffrey is more center-mounted freestyle oriented. The Woodsman is somewhere in between the two, so it’s more “all-mountain.” Charge, just not as much as the Wrenegade. Pivot and smear turns, just not as easily as the Jeffrey. I think the emphasis is more on normal-sized turning, you know, skiing.
The Woodsman 108 was a fun ski for me, especially in soft snow. They can hold an edge just fine for a 108 wide ski, but that’s not their forte. They come alive in soft snow, blast through crud, surf, pivot and slarve through soft snow with the long rocker, snake through bumps, and then feel comfortable arcing turns on the groomers to get back to lifts. With the long rocker, the effective edge is actually quiet short and they can make pretty short turns if you want. The effective edge on a 182cm length ski is 145cm. Not necessarily what you want for icy hardpack but totally fun and nimble in soft snow of any depth.
I already have a Billy Goat for a powder and funky snow ski, and my on-piste ski is a Renoun Z90, and I was looking for a middle quiver that is off-piste oriented and nimble in bumps, and didn’t need it be as wide as 108.
The 102 is a new width for ON3P, with a longer turning radius than the Woodsman 96. ON3P is Now positioning the 96 as an East Coast all mountain ski, and the 102 as a West Coast all-mountain ski. I wasn’t sure which I wanted, or in which length (177 vs 182), I had to flip a coin and probably could have been happy with either. Actually I emailed Scott Andrus, the owner, and he suggested the 102 in 182.
Woodsmans (Woodsmen?) come in 177, 182 and 187; the 108 and 116 widths also come in 192cm for those who need to turn it up to 11. You know who you are.
One thing ON3P changed with several of their models, including the Woodsman series was adding a new fiberglass/carbon composite to the bamboo core, to improve strength and durability while saving some weight. That’s what the ad copy says. We’ll see.
This is how it was shipped, very clever as the flattened box can bend to the shape of the ski.
Me and my new skis. Out of the box, the bases and tune look perfect. When I get them on the slope I will put that to the test, but I’m not inclined to have a full tune done before taking them out. My experience last year with my Billy Goats gives me a lot of confidence in the factory finishing and waxing.
Significant tip and tail rocker. They call this an “all mountain” ski. That’s how we roll in the PNW.
This is a stock ski, so yes, this is the color of the base.
Top sheets, a very durable matte finish. I’ll be mounting them with red Attack 13’s.
Tails
ON3P measures their skis after pressing, so a tape pull tip-to-tail is indeed 182cm. And yes, the carpet is old and we’ll replace it with some other flooring at some point.
The actual review part will have to wait until there’s some snow, stay tuned.
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