Praxis Protest..just how cool is it?

[Dry]

It is hot and muggy here. Climbing instead of skiing right now. Easy to forget how much work is involved there compared to skiing deep pow. Protest or any decent Pow ski for that matter

So let me relive your best days on a pair of Protests. Tell why the ski is so good and how much you enjoy yours As mine sit unmounted against the office wall waiting for a glimpse of winter to arrive.

Let's hear the best Protest sells pitch that will send us all running to buy a pair!



(dane wanting to justify his new skis through the dog days of summer

Do it now! Before I start writing my own stories of wild abandon, snorkle deep and oh so, so steep!

[glademaster]

The Protest is a great ski, put about 40 days on mine at Alta/Bird last winter. The design needs to be updated though, in my opinion. The tip shape could be revised to maintain it's pivot-y nature while also being surfier.

With it's current shaping it's a ski that rewards a centered, neutral stance over a more forward, conventional stance unless you're mounting 2+ CM back of the dimple. The ski floats very well and is stable in deep snow, but the tip doesn't plane out as well as some other skis out there. Really depends on the kind of powder ride you're looking for.

[Island Bay]

A revelation!

Nothing else in skiing has ever made such an impression on me (I haven't skied the Powder Boards in bottomless fluff). And as a bonus, they're very, very versatile. They're not just 'the right tool for the job', they make you smile, change up a gear, do something different, be creative.

They are absolutely incredible in powder, with no speed limit and no hooking tendencies. No tip dive goes without saying. A playful charger, I'd say, as it never locks you into a certain turn. It can rail through crud and chop, then be easily feathered through a big slide.

We just came back from the NZ clubfields and very testing conditions: 1ft of light pow, well tracked, then a big melt/freeze = smooth cream cheese mixed with big blocks of HARD snow etc. Protests were perfect for it; they may have gotten bucked around, but never seriously deflected.

Re Glademaster's comments, I'm no ski designer, but I'd mess very little with the Protest. Possibly a very slight narrowing of the tips (a'la Wootest 2.0), but then I've never experienced any hooking. I find the rocker very smooth and gradual, if quite substantial, meaning they plane up at low speeds and never dive, yet don't get squirrely when you let them run.

6'1 x 170-175, 187 carbons mounted on the dimple, Scarpa Maestrale Mangoes. Average skills, above average age :-/

Edit: Having found my type of ski, there a a few I'd really like to give a go: Praxis Powder Boards, DPS Lotus 138, Praxis Wootest 2.0.

[Dry]

Now we're talking the good chit
Thanks IB!

I've skied the last version (prior to the Spoon) 138 and am REALLY looking forward to the first runs on the Protest!!! Like that wasn't already so obvious

[Jim S]

I skied my Protests the past two days. I looooooooove this ski. This and the GPO or Concept could make a solid perfect two ski quiver.

[Timberridge]

I find it hard to get enough time on them. Every time I click in, I blow a wad and have to go back to the car and change. I might need to think about baseball, or something.

[nickwm21]

I bought my 196s as a big day ski. I figured I would ski then once or twice a season, when there is 2 feet of fresh and the top is open, or, if I ever get that opportunity to climb in a heli. I thought the skis would be too much to handle if there was less than a foot of snow. I thought they would be too long for lower mountain trees on storm days. I thought I would have to go to the car at lunch to trade out planks due to skied out conditions.

I was wrong.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using TGR Forums

[HighWest]

I love my 196 Protests in anything 3D. In 3D snow, I can ski them more centered and they will take a touch of forward stance too. Point and go. Look for that line that you would normally slash two or three turns and make it into one. So awesome.

But if it gets hard or smooth, I prefer I more forward stance and the Protest does not. They will set a spectacular edge, but seems to take a bit more work to get back to the lift. Too much work to call fun, not a pain in the ass, I'd call them manageable. Preference issue more than anything.

[AyasFreeski]

Since all this is well known in certain circles, and posted all over the forum, I propose changing the direction of this thread to: just how cool is it to have BOTH 187 and 196 PPs?

[Jim S]

Since all this is well known in certain circles, and posted all over the forum, I propose changing the direction of this thread to: just how cool is it to have BOTH 187 and 196 PPs?

I do. In tight trees on steeps or tight chutes I appreciate the 187; otherwise 196 is my go to for 'those' days.

[Island Bay]

I do. In tight trees on steeps or tight chutes I appreciate the 187; otherwise 196 is my go to for 'those' days.

I don't. Would dearly love to give the 196s a go on open, fast terrain, though.

That said, I've skied my 187s extensively on open, alpine terrain, scaring the pants off my scrawny, middle-aged derriere, and never found their speed limit.

[AyasFreeski]

I've got two years on the 196, and two days on the 187. With the 187 so far I've slayed a super technical, super manky soft snow descent under a notoriously ugly gondola. Then I took them into my north facing sugar stash where the snow was much lighter and drier, and found myself wheeling out a little bit…probably 'just me' not being used to the shorter length.

That said, I'm in the back left row of the choir, the tall one in the middle, singing about the greatest lines of my life on the 196.

[wildmanwillie]

I'm loving my 177s which I've had 20-30 days on this season. Although I often wish I had the 187s for open terrain the 177s absolutely crush trees and tight places. I feel like I can go balls out with reckless abandon through the tightest chokes knowing I can immediately throw them sideways to shut em down.

I'm 5'8 140 and was on the fence about length because I knew I'd be touring on them. Guess I'll just have to get the 187s so I can put my indecisiveness to rest.

[SupreChicken]

Basically summarizes my experience thus far. I mounted the 196 med-stiff carbon at 105cm from the tip with sollyfits and I've only used them with STH16 (haven't had the right day/trip to throw the dynafits on there). Centered in soft snow is pretty amazing...centered on hard pack, they work, but they feel pretty dead and it feels like they need more input. So transition to a forward stance and it gets worse. A forward stance on hard pack is like trying to penetrate a dehydrated asshole. They just won't cooperate. Not as bad as the wootest 1.0, but definitely not fun. Anything up to 12", I'm on my gambits. Over 12", the protest is dope. They should get some use this week.

I love my 196 Protests in anything 3D. In 3D snow, I can ski them more centered and they will take a touch of forward stance too. Point and go. Look for that line that you would normally slash two or three turns and make it into one. So awesome.

But if it gets hard or smooth, I prefer I more forward stance and the Protest does not. They will set a spectacular edge, but seems to take a bit more work to get back to the lift. Too much work to call fun, not a pain in the ass, I'd call them manageable. Preference issue more than anything.

[tuco]

I liked PB's better, sold Protests.