Standout Skis Cheat Sheet: 2015-2018

[Philpug]

Off the top of my head, some standout sleepers.

1. Hard-pack groomer/carver ski (~66mm-75mm waist, 165-170cm length, 12-14m sidecut)

• Dynastar
  • Speed Zone 12
• DPS
  • Alchemist 79
• K2
  • Turbo Charger
  • Super Charger
  • Speed Charger
• Blossom
  • Windshear

2. Western all-mountain ski (~86mm-95mm waist, 175-180cm length, 16-18m sidecut)

• Armada
  • Invictus 89Ti
• Head
  • Monster 83
  • Monster 88
• Renoun
  • Z90

3. Dedicated pow ski (~106mm-115mm waist, 185-190cm length, 20-22m sidecut)

• DPS
  • Foundation Wailer 106
• Kastle
  • BMX 105 (non HP)
• Volkl
  • 100Eight

 

[Noodler]

Honestly I'm kinda surprised you're not on a Blossom Flere or something exotic like that for your groomer zoomer.

Good call. Honestly, I forgot about Blossom. I have the Hart Pulse which is a Blossom manufactured ski, but it doesn't have the specs to put it in the groomer/zoomer slot. It's really in a kind of "no man's land" in my quiver and I'm probably going to unload it.

So I'll check out what Blossom has going on these days...

 

[Noodler]

Yes different tail.

But also, critically, different construction. Navigator has a metal matrix in the layup, one sheet, sort of a big honeycomb pattern. Enforcer has two full sheets of titanal.

Ahhh, I see. Even the price difference makes it clear that these are definitely targeting two different markets. I will try to check out both once I'm back on snow.

 

[Ken_R]

Off the top of my head, some standout sleeper.

• DPS
  • Foundation Wailer 106
• Kastle
  • BMX 105 (non HP)
• Volkl
  • 100Eight

How about wider options?

 

[Noodler]

1) Atomic Redster S9 in 171 or 165 will get you on the TR you want. Fabulously smooth, stable, secure and fast. Probably my favorite groomer zoomer I’ve been on during testing.

2) Check out the Head Kore 93. Also, the 2019 Stockli SR 88 is a special ski. Stockli took a few years off with construction experiments but returned to their roots. Superb “narrower” all-mountain ski.

3) Stick with what you have. We don’t get many big dumps in Summit County.

Redster series was totally not on my radar, but I think if I went in the direction of a true SL race ski, I would pick something from the Head or Stockli lines. Is the Redster that good?

I do have the Kore 93 on my short list and almost pulled the trigger already on the SR88. What I don't know is whether the SR88 skis "quicker" than it looks on paper. There isn't much early rise on the ski, so I would expect it to ski longer and I wasn't sure about the size for me.

 

[Noodler]

Nice thread!

Head Monster 88. Best value All-mountain hard snow bias for out west. 2016 model and later. A reference ski.

Kastle BMX 105 and 115. Great resort powder skis that can charge and still hold an edge on groomers. They can be had at great prices now.

There are plenty of other skis that I liked but those above stood out.

Gotta mention Black Crows and Moment. Two of my favorite brands that still fly a bit under the radar but are making some awesome skis.

The Monster 88 is on the short list. The new 2019 version looks great on paper. I have skied some of the older BMX models, it's just been a while.

Black Crows seems to have really grown over the past 3 seasons. I'm seeing lots of discussion of these skis now. They were just a boutique brand when I started my hiatus.

 

[Noodler]

Off the top of my head, some standout sleeper.

• Dynastar
  • Speed Zone 12
• DPS
  • Alchemist 79
• K2
  • Turbo Charger
  • Super Charger
  • Speed Charger
• Blossom
  • Windshear

• Armada
  • Invictus 89Ti
• Head
  • Monster 83
  • Monster 88
• Renoun
  • Z90

• DPS
  • Foundation Wailer 106
• Kastle
  • BMX 105 (non HP)
• Volkl
  • 100Eight

Thanks for responding Phil. I've noticed that the Dynastar has been getting good press from the "other camp" too. What makes it special (or at least your choice above a Head SuperShape, etc.)? The Blossom would be great, but I know they're hard to come by (at least they were, maybe it's better now).

There's another vote for the Monster 88. I'm seriously looking to go that way until hopefully someday I can get on the Z90 and pull together enough cash to seriously consider it.

The 112RP is a fantastic tree ski. Maybe a bit too turny to really charge. I'm assuming that the 106 trades some of the playfulness of the 112 for more straight line stability, true? I'll need to do some research on the Volkl, that wasn't on my radar at all.

 

[Noodler]

How about wider options?

I guess it depends on your approach to skiing in deep snow. I do like a wider ski that can make a 9" day feel bottomless, but I have to temper that against the fact that skiing inbounds in CO means that you're going to have to deal with some hardpack along the way. My previous testing has shown me that my knees do not like anything much over 115mm underfoot to get back to the lift. I may give something bigger a shot again just to see where things stand for my body once I am skiing again.

 

[Philpug]

Thanks for responding Phil. I've noticed that the Dynastar has been getting good press from the "other camp" too. What makes it special (or at least your choice above a Head SuperShape, etc.)? The Blossom would be great, but I know they're hard to come by (at least they were, maybe it's better now).

I brought in some skis that aren't normally on the radar as compared to the 'reference' Supershapes. What makes the Dynastar stand out is the construction and the PowerDrive construction which allows the ski to bend nicely and hasa dampening that really isn't felt anywhere else.

 

[Mendieta]

I brought in some skis that aren't normally on the radar as compared to the 'reference' Supershapes. What makes the Dynastar stand out is the construction and the PowerDrive construction which allows the ski to bend nicely and hasa dampening that really isn't felt anywhere else.

So now I'm curious, what are your reference skis in the other 2? We all know you know your skis

 

[jmeb]

Armada

• Invictus 89Ti

Really want to try this ski, but I almost never see it available for Demo or online at a price I can justify. Seems like it would be a pretty ideal complement to a 110-ish fresh snow ski.

 

[Tom K.]

3. Fischer Ranger 115 in 188. A technical skier's dream pow ski. Does really good in pow. Absolutely SLAYS crud (which is what I've got by 10:15 on a "pow" day). Skis and carves like a regular technical ski on groomers. Is not really built with "slarving" in mind, but I can skid a ski anywhere, if I have to.

At your weight, spring for this year's version, which is reportedly about 10 or 15% softer.

 

[Ken_R]

The Monster 88 is on the short list. The new 2019 version looks great on paper. I have skied some of the older BMX models, it's just been a while.

Black Crows seems to have really grown over the past 3 seasons. I'm seeing lots of discussion of these skis now. They were just a boutique brand when I started my hiatus.

Whats your boot BSL? Im gonna take them tomorrow to loveland for Tuesdays In The Snow and you can use them to test them out if you want , will also have my Moment Deathwish (112mm wide, 190cm), my Monster 88's are 184cm. Both adjusted for 316 BSL but have some room for adjustment.

 

[MountainMonster]

Rossi hero st

Blizzard Bonafide ..old stock

Black Crows Anima

 

[cantunamunch]

Redster series was totally not on my radar, but I think if I went in the direction of a true SL race ski, I would pick something from the Head or Stockli lines. Is the Redster that good?.

It comes down to feel. I'm a fair bit heavier than you and for me the Stockli was simply too - tender nosed - to modulate accurately, whereas the Redster felt both sturdier and damper. Lighter guys than me liked the Stockli better - except on monsoon day when there simply was nothing other than serrated ice cube to edge on. Atomic and Dynastar ruled that day.

 

[Noodler]

Whats your boot BSL? Im gonna take them tomorrow to loveland for Tuesdays In The Snow and you can use them to test them out if you want , will also have my Moment Deathwish (112mm wide, 190cm), my Monster 88's are 184cm. Both adjusted for 316 BSL but have some room for adjustment.

I have the same BSL as Phil at 293mm. So no chance we can swap unfortunately.

 

[Lorenzzo]

This thread points out there are a whole lot of excellent skis out there right now. Much of it comes down to weight, personal preference, style etc.

 

[Ken_R]

I have the same BSL as Phil at 293mm. So no chance we can swap unfortunately.

Dang. Thats tiny. Yea. No chance

 

[Josh Matta]

Nordica Enforcer 93 or 100 both are amoung the tops for groomer performance in their waste width, almost as good the Bonafides in crud, and the 100 especially is kind of insanely good in powder. On our lighter dry snow days here in Vermont I pretty much never grab anything wider than either of those skis anymore, and only grab my El capo or renegade when the snow is REALLY dense or upside down.

 

[Tony S]

I think it's weird that the Invictus 89ti keeps coming up here. I skied a few runs on it and it struck me as a soft, undemanding ski with a lot of early rise, that was good in bumps and light crud. In design and feel it seemed very similar to two skis that I own - the FX 85 and the TST - that historically have gotten little love here, based on being too playful without enough backbone and carving chops. Maybe the day I tried it I was wearing a 30lb backpack or something.