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There isn't a whole lot out there yet on this ski, except for a bunch of stoke. Having just skied 4 early season days on it at Mt. Baker, I wanted to toss up some early thoughts. I've yet to ski it in the place I really got it for -- the east coast, so will update this once I can get some more turns back home. Because I like their format and think it's informative, I'm gonna do this Blister Gear Review style.
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Tester (me): 6', 180 lbs. Expert technical skier, instructor, like to scare myself on tight and scary steeps more than I like going mach speed (does that mean more "finesse" than "aggressive"? I don't know), but I carved plenty of GS turns on these as well.
Ski: 2013-2014 Med-stiff carbon layup Praxis 9D8, 179cm (GPO graphic)
Dimensions (mm): 132-98-121
Sidecut Radius: 18 meters
Weight: <8 lbs (Keith reports 8 lbs in fiberglass, a small bit lighter in carbon; haven't weighed them myself)
Binding: Marker Jester (DIN 10)
Boots: Black Diamond Factor 130
Days Skied: 4
Test Location: Mt. Baker
Praxis describes this ski as their "best all mountain ski for those that want a stable, comfortable, and predictable ride", and the dimensions look tailor-made for the east cost. This ski has a bit of an early rise in the tip, and much less so in the tail. The tail is enough of a twin to ride and land switch on occassion, but with less splay and taper in the tail and a sidecut that's back of center, this ski is definitely a very directional tool.
Over 4 very variable days at Baker, I got to run this ski in conditions ranging from low-snow slush with grass poking through, to icy refrozen crud and death cookies, to half a foot of (unforecasted!) fresh blower on our last day, and a bit of tracked out chop in the afternoon. Baker's coverage was very low and a lot of things weren't accessible (Canyon, Gunner's, Chute, Gabl's and others were closed, and a lot of the "backcountry" zone was impassable), so I had to stay out of some of the steep tree runs. I did dip into the trees as much as I could on the side of every run, but I can't say I really have a handle yet on how these skis perform in long, steep, tight glades.
My main impression of this ski is close to the billing Praxis gives it (with one significant caveat, to come) -- this ski is solid, stable and confidence-inspiring. I sized down to 179 because I tend to ski a lot of steep and tight trees. At 179, a different ski might run short on me (an Armada TST I tested at 183 threatened to throw me over the handlebars a couple of times when I messed up), but I had no issues with stability at all with the 9D8s when charging at high speed down groomers or the rolling terrain common to Baker (eg. Pan Face). Landing drops, they felt incredibly solid as well, so that I found myself taking bigger and bigger airs with trickier run-outs, knowing the landing would feel predictable. They are not exactly forgiving if you land (or ski) back on the tail, but neither do they throw you. They're supportive enough to ride it out, but they really want you to get back in the driver's seat as quickly as possible.
Here's that caveat -- this ski, at least in the carbon layup, is to my mind a perfect example of why the words "damp" and "stable" shouldn't automatically go together. As I wrote above, this ski is very stable. It does not get deflected, it acts predictably, it goes through crud and ice and bumps in exactly the direction you point them in; there's no chatter, no trace of jitter or any other weird behavior. But damp, this ski is not. Going over refrozen mank and icy death cookies on what was certainly the least fun day in the history of Mt Baker (or so the locals told me) I felt the feedback from what seemed like every small ice particle. I could go fast in a predictable turn shape, but, boy were my legs feeling it. It was actually a very strange feeling to be so stable while feeling so much feedback from the skis, and at first I didn't trust them to run fast. Once I did, I found no loss in stability, but the feeling of being shaken like a martini forced me to slow down. Granted, these are unpleasant conditions on lots of skis, but (judging only from reviews, not personal comparison) several of the skis that are in the 9D8's DNA and have the 9D8's dimensions (eg. the Blizzard Bonafide, Volkl Mantra or Kastle 98) are designed specifically to excel in bad conditions like these, smooth them out and make them fun. Those skis have metal and no carbon. It may be the carbon layup, or the all-wood construction, but my 9D8s did nothing at all to smooth out the ride in these conditions. Good thing that there was a gorgeous sunset over Shuksan when I called it a day -- so-and-so giveth and taketh away, right?
That lack of dampness is just about the only "flaw" in the 9D8 I've managed to find (again, to the extent that death cookies are ever fun). In all other respects, these skis are as close to a one-ski quiver as I can imagine anything getting -- that's not really either a compliment or an insult, because for any specialized purpose I can imagine a better ski -- but, excepting the dampness caveat, it's hard to imagine any one ski performing better in all of these conditions. On small patches of smooth sheet ice, given the famous Praxis factory tune, these skis held a great edge and maintained their predictable characteristic. I have yet to ski them on an entire bulletproof run like we tend to get in the east, but with a good tune, I expect they'll behave admirably.
In both icy and soft bumps, these skis turned a tiny bit less quickly than my 60mm waisted frontside carvers, but given that this is 98 underfoot, I was really impressed with their edge-to-edge quickness. I found the same thing in the trees, though as I mentioned, I don't feel I've put them through a real tree test yet.
I haven't skied any other ski with these dimensions in boot-deep blower powder (I live in Boston... how many of those days do we get?), but I was expecting less greatness than I got. While they don't float as much as a dedicated powder tool would, they do give enough of that blissful surfing feeling to be really fun. I couldn't get the tips on them to dive at all and I didn't get thrown once, which again contributed to the feeling that these skis inspire confidence. No doubt I would have had more fun on something much wider underfoot, but again, for a 98-waisted ski, it's hard to imagine them performing much better.
One final word on the construction: the bases are great. Given the patchiness of Baker's early season terrain this year, I definitely ended up going over a couple of rocks that made me cringe at the thought of looking at the bases. At the end of 4 days, there are some minor base scratches, but really nothing much. On the other hand, the topsheets did start chipping a bit, pretty much right away (I was sad to see a decent-sized chunk missing from the downhill side of one ski after the first run, when I could swear I didn't touch anything), but there's nothing close to delam going on, and I'm not too worried about the cosmetic factor.
Overall, I am very pleased with them. I wanted a ski for the east coast that would work great on trips out west, and these skis seem perfect for that job. They are not a dedicated ice or powder or mogul-skiing tool, but they do all of those things better than one might expect, and well enough to make them all really fun. I'd be curious to demo some of the 9D8's main competitors, like the Bonafide, and see how those skis do in similar conditions, but overall, I'm very happy with them. I'll try to update this review when I get more east coast days on them, but am happy to answer any questions about them in the meantime.
----------------
Tester (me): 6', 180 lbs. Expert technical skier, instructor, like to scare myself on tight and scary steeps more than I like going mach speed (does that mean more "finesse" than "aggressive"? I don't know), but I carved plenty of GS turns on these as well.
Ski: 2013-2014 Med-stiff carbon layup Praxis 9D8, 179cm (GPO graphic)
Dimensions (mm): 132-98-121
Sidecut Radius: 18 meters
Weight: <8 lbs (Keith reports 8 lbs in fiberglass, a small bit lighter in carbon; haven't weighed them myself)
Binding: Marker Jester (DIN 10)
Boots: Black Diamond Factor 130
Days Skied: 4
Test Location: Mt. Baker
Praxis describes this ski as their "best all mountain ski for those that want a stable, comfortable, and predictable ride", and the dimensions look tailor-made for the east cost. This ski has a bit of an early rise in the tip, and much less so in the tail. The tail is enough of a twin to ride and land switch on occassion, but with less splay and taper in the tail and a sidecut that's back of center, this ski is definitely a very directional tool.
Over 4 very variable days at Baker, I got to run this ski in conditions ranging from low-snow slush with grass poking through, to icy refrozen crud and death cookies, to half a foot of (unforecasted!) fresh blower on our last day, and a bit of tracked out chop in the afternoon. Baker's coverage was very low and a lot of things weren't accessible (Canyon, Gunner's, Chute, Gabl's and others were closed, and a lot of the "backcountry" zone was impassable), so I had to stay out of some of the steep tree runs. I did dip into the trees as much as I could on the side of every run, but I can't say I really have a handle yet on how these skis perform in long, steep, tight glades.
My main impression of this ski is close to the billing Praxis gives it (with one significant caveat, to come) -- this ski is solid, stable and confidence-inspiring. I sized down to 179 because I tend to ski a lot of steep and tight trees. At 179, a different ski might run short on me (an Armada TST I tested at 183 threatened to throw me over the handlebars a couple of times when I messed up), but I had no issues with stability at all with the 9D8s when charging at high speed down groomers or the rolling terrain common to Baker (eg. Pan Face). Landing drops, they felt incredibly solid as well, so that I found myself taking bigger and bigger airs with trickier run-outs, knowing the landing would feel predictable. They are not exactly forgiving if you land (or ski) back on the tail, but neither do they throw you. They're supportive enough to ride it out, but they really want you to get back in the driver's seat as quickly as possible.
Here's that caveat -- this ski, at least in the carbon layup, is to my mind a perfect example of why the words "damp" and "stable" shouldn't automatically go together. As I wrote above, this ski is very stable. It does not get deflected, it acts predictably, it goes through crud and ice and bumps in exactly the direction you point them in; there's no chatter, no trace of jitter or any other weird behavior. But damp, this ski is not. Going over refrozen mank and icy death cookies on what was certainly the least fun day in the history of Mt Baker (or so the locals told me) I felt the feedback from what seemed like every small ice particle. I could go fast in a predictable turn shape, but, boy were my legs feeling it. It was actually a very strange feeling to be so stable while feeling so much feedback from the skis, and at first I didn't trust them to run fast. Once I did, I found no loss in stability, but the feeling of being shaken like a martini forced me to slow down. Granted, these are unpleasant conditions on lots of skis, but (judging only from reviews, not personal comparison) several of the skis that are in the 9D8's DNA and have the 9D8's dimensions (eg. the Blizzard Bonafide, Volkl Mantra or Kastle 98) are designed specifically to excel in bad conditions like these, smooth them out and make them fun. Those skis have metal and no carbon. It may be the carbon layup, or the all-wood construction, but my 9D8s did nothing at all to smooth out the ride in these conditions. Good thing that there was a gorgeous sunset over Shuksan when I called it a day -- so-and-so giveth and taketh away, right?
That lack of dampness is just about the only "flaw" in the 9D8 I've managed to find (again, to the extent that death cookies are ever fun). In all other respects, these skis are as close to a one-ski quiver as I can imagine anything getting -- that's not really either a compliment or an insult, because for any specialized purpose I can imagine a better ski -- but, excepting the dampness caveat, it's hard to imagine any one ski performing better in all of these conditions. On small patches of smooth sheet ice, given the famous Praxis factory tune, these skis held a great edge and maintained their predictable characteristic. I have yet to ski them on an entire bulletproof run like we tend to get in the east, but with a good tune, I expect they'll behave admirably.
In both icy and soft bumps, these skis turned a tiny bit less quickly than my 60mm waisted frontside carvers, but given that this is 98 underfoot, I was really impressed with their edge-to-edge quickness. I found the same thing in the trees, though as I mentioned, I don't feel I've put them through a real tree test yet.
I haven't skied any other ski with these dimensions in boot-deep blower powder (I live in Boston... how many of those days do we get?), but I was expecting less greatness than I got. While they don't float as much as a dedicated powder tool would, they do give enough of that blissful surfing feeling to be really fun. I couldn't get the tips on them to dive at all and I didn't get thrown once, which again contributed to the feeling that these skis inspire confidence. No doubt I would have had more fun on something much wider underfoot, but again, for a 98-waisted ski, it's hard to imagine them performing much better.
One final word on the construction: the bases are great. Given the patchiness of Baker's early season terrain this year, I definitely ended up going over a couple of rocks that made me cringe at the thought of looking at the bases. At the end of 4 days, there are some minor base scratches, but really nothing much. On the other hand, the topsheets did start chipping a bit, pretty much right away (I was sad to see a decent-sized chunk missing from the downhill side of one ski after the first run, when I could swear I didn't touch anything), but there's nothing close to delam going on, and I'm not too worried about the cosmetic factor.
Overall, I am very pleased with them. I wanted a ski for the east coast that would work great on trips out west, and these skis seem perfect for that job. They are not a dedicated ice or powder or mogul-skiing tool, but they do all of those things better than one might expect, and well enough to make them all really fun. I'd be curious to demo some of the 9D8's main competitors, like the Bonafide, and see how those skis do in similar conditions, but overall, I'm very happy with them. I'll try to update this review when I get more east coast days on them, but am happy to answer any questions about them in the meantime.
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