review: Birdos (many, during 2 demo days)
me: 180 x 80, very old, very lazy, very slow. But I like a lot to try new skis.
I like: DPS wailer 105 (my everyday ski), DPS lotus 138 (my powder stick), 08-09 big daddies (yes, rocker can do miracles...), sanouks (used to be my powder sticks), stockli stormrider DP (for crust & groomed)
I do not like: seths, scratches, park skis...
Where: verbier, two consecutive demo days, 16 days after the last snow fall... so I've met groomed, crust, crud, tracked chalk, ice, icy moguls, scattered old pow spots ... and finally, the very last two hours, 5 cm of new snow. Overall, I believe these are nice conditions to demo fat skis, because [of course] they are great in powder, but here in the alps even in a epic day you most likely meet some tracked, some crust, some groomed...
Jokers (120-87-108, r 19.5): these are the new rando skis from Dan. I have received from him yesterday a new pair of rockered jokers (172, 1.5 kg each) but I didn't want to try them because I'll have all the coming winter for them, so no rush.
Ghetto chicken (130-98-119, r 20.5): very nice and enjoyable park/do it all slim (:rolleyes:) skis, really a lot of fun despite tails a litlle too long for me. In any case, the funniest park-compatible skis I ever tried, but - honestly - useless for what I ski.
Early bird (139-109-121, r 28.5): I didn't fall in love with these skis, designed for big mountain. Some others had a lot of fun with them, I've found the two version I tried too much stiff in the tail and demanding for me. Playing a bit with the binding point I've found an improvement at -2, but still I beleive these early birds would better suit a more muscle type of skier (like Huck-Schmuck, for instance... I guess he tried and liked them..)
Puder Luder (147-123-137, r 24.5) tried in different sizes and cambers. In short: the luders with rockered tips and zero camber are super-stellar. I guess Dan has infused most of his science in this ski that looks like the admiral ship, not only for the legendary "naked woman with starry nipples" topsheet, but also, now I can realize, for how it skis. Despite being a bit heavy (in the version I tried, all with heavy demo bindings), the luders are supa-easy to turn but never unintentionally turny, the rocker keeps you away from any trouble in crust and tracked stuff, and in ice and groomed they rail easily and with :eek: surprising confidence. For sure the most impressive do-it-all I've tried, and I have good reasons to believe that they will float in powder better than my current do-it-all (wailers 105, flex 2).
Also, the different puders I tried definitely convinced me that a rockered tip with zero camber is the way to go for the way I ski (no jib, no huckin....). Now I wonder whether a lighter luder would also suit for short-AT....
Floaters (143-127-130, r 32). I deeply believed that the nasty snow conditions would have been a disaster for these rokered beauties, most likely a source of inspiration for skis like armada JJ, rossi S7, etc (I mean, these new skis with 5 dimensions). Also, my recent demo of the JJs made me skeptic about this 5 dimension approach. I was deeply wrong. In spite of shitty snow, floaters were a lot of fun. They turn on a dime (at variance with the JJ, which have, though, a W camber), and in crust, ice and groomed I never felt unsafe like when I used pontoons or inverse sidecut skis. Floaters are very nice skis, which might float better than puder luders (well, no first hand info, but maybe... they probably would better suit the alaska skier than the luders) at the expense of a bit more cumbersome life in everywhere else but powder.
Fat Bird (157-137-147, r 29.5) sorry had no time to try them....
