Welcome Elan Skis as a sponsor

[Philpug]

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We were smitten with the SLX and GSX last year at SIA and had them as Best in Show; that enthusiasm carried over this year with those also being Tester's Choice winners for this coming season. Look for their ads and contact @dawgcatching, who is an Elan dealer and will be able to help you with your needs. Check out Elan Skis directly, HERE.

 

[Mendieta]

Welcome to the family, Elan! You were prominently mentioned when we reviewed the skis that marked an era. The SCX was mentioned as an era. From Wikipedia:

Elan SCX
Elan SCX changed the world ski industry by inventing sidecut skis, which made carve turns possible at low speeds and with a short turn radius. They were first developed in 1988 by Jurij Franko (not to be confused with the skier Jure Franko), who calculated a suitable flex pattern for new kind of skis with his colleague Pavel Škofic. They organized a project dubbed SideCut Extreme (SCX) and set out to build prototypes.[1][2] Introduced in 1993, the concept was initially ridiculed by other companies, but in secret they quickly started working on similar designs and such shaping was common by the 1995/96 model year.

I still remember my first ski day, four seasons ago. My instructor was helping me (and my family) rent stuff in the morning. He said "you don't need a long ski, now they make them parabolic". Later on I understood what it all meant. I really wonder how people dealt with the straight skis before the SCX. They sound like a handful. Even the way to ski changed so dramatically, judging for old videos. Some of the fundamentals are the same, but a lot changed a lot. Amazing stuff.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Welcome. I've never been on a pair of Elan skis and hope to remedy that this season.

 

[John O]

I loved my pair of Elan Spire's that has been my daily driver for the last 5 years or so. Unfortunately the main retailer here that I normally demo through stopped carrying Elan and therefore don't bring them to their demo day anymore.

 

[Jim McDonald]

If they were good enough for Stenmark...

 

[Philpug]

I am not sure if everyone has had a chance to check out the All Things Elan section on the site, there is some great history to read there and a lot about a pretty good skier with the name of Ingemar Stenmark.

Elan and I go way back, here is my history with them....

RC05 with Marker M4-12​

Early 1980's
Elan RC05
These actually weren't my skis but a good friends, I was on Rossi ST Comps at the time. As much as I liked the ST, the RC05's were just more playful, especially in the bumps. This pair was set up with with a pair of Marker M4-12's.

SCX Blue, NOT in their natural environment​

Mid 1990's
Elan SCX
Yes, the ski that changed everything. Sure the Ergo was out the year before but Elan eas the game changer because they knew they had one chance to make a first impression, their team knew the SCX had to be sold and sold correctly so they partnered with ASC (American Skiing Company) and worked through their ski schools to teach skiers how to ski the SCX. Elan aslo worked with their dealers and brought them to areas like Sugarbush to teach them how to ski the SCX and now to sell it. Elan brought skiers like ex World Cup Racer Geoff Bruce and all was under the watchful eye of Bill Irwin, Elan's then and current Product Manager

999, Magfire 10 & 12 plus some wacky stuff (thanks @cantunamunch) ​

Mid 2000's
Elan 888, 999 and Magfire 10 & 12
The first 888 was a silver bullet of a ski, so beautiful of a design and a ski that was before it's time in shape and performance, one of the rare skis that I bought more than one par of. The 999 and Magfires (pictured) and I never warmed up to each other...Nice skis but for the east, the 999 was too big..at the time and the Magfires were pretty darn stiff with a mount point that was too far forward.

Since then, no Elan's have been in the stable but we have been testing them and we hope to add some to the long tern test fleet so we can get some real world reviews out.

 

[Bill Talbot]

Paging @cantunamunch , this has your name written all over it!

 

[Wendy]

Happy to hear this!

Loooove.......

 

[Wendy]

Welcome. I've never been on a pair of Elan skis and hope to remedy that this season.

WARNING: YOU WILL LOVE THEM.

 

[Pete in Idaho]

Nice to see Elan join our group. Nice catch Phil and Tricia.

My daily driver skis are Elan 88xti and love the ski, have them tuning 1 and 3 degrees and they perform really well.

 

[Uncle-A]

Welcome, I think they are a good company that does not get the recognition they deserve. One of the shops I worked used them as their rental ski and they held up very well and that tells me they are building a good product. I did take a pair out once just for a test and they were fun to ski.

 

[Marker]

Nice to see Elan join our group. Nice catch Phil and Tricia.

My daily driver skis are Elan 88xti and love the ski, have them tuning 1 and 3 degrees and they perform really well.

Same here, but I got mine flat and had them mounted with Pivot 12 bindings. Last year I had them set to 1/3 after a base grind. They still have plenty of life left in them, so no new daily drivers this year. I really like the full camber on the inner edges. At 186 cm, a great ski for a big guy! Not too sure what they make now that would be appropriate as the Ripsticks seem too lightish.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I'd definitely like to try one of the Ripsticks too. When we were in Banff one of the skis shops on Banff avenue exclusively demos Elan. I'll definitely be hitting them up when we go back there. Elan doesn't seem to be a common ski demo at the mountains I frequent. Will need to look into further.

 

[Marker]

I'd definitely like to try one of the Ripsticks too. When we were in Banff one of the skis shops on Banff avenue exclusively demos Elan. I'll definitely be hitting them up when we go back there. Elan doesn't seem to be a common ski demo at the mountains I frequent. Will need to look into further.

I think I recall a photo from @Guy in Shorts and/or his wife with Ripsticks on the Killington thread.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I think I recall a photo from @Guy in Shorts and/or his wife with Ripsticks on the Killington thread.

Sweet. Thanks. Ok, will look into it. Not in any hurry or anything since I'm more than set ski wise but it would be cool to know where to go when I have time, etc.

 

[VickiK]

I had a pair of Elans a long time ago. I'll check out their current line up.

 

[neonorchid]

So now that we have the Salomon Shift binding how about some reviews of Elan's potential 50/50 skis - Black Edition Ripstick 96, Ibex Carbon XLT 96 and Ripstick106?

 

[Marker]

Those Black Edition Elans look very nice!

 

[Guy in Shorts]

Several of the Killington Locals are on the Ripsticks so I can vouch for the fact that they are a good daily driver for an Eastern mountain like ours. That being said two seasons ago 13 year old ski bum turned a pair into noodles after 80 days. Said they lost their bite after 30 days. He switched to Armanda’s to get longer ski life. If this not a ski for my young ski buddy then it not a ski for me. List of skis not for me is very long.