Spats: feedback wanted

ok, so now that Volant is no mas and Shane is @ K2, chances are, these things are gone production-wise. I have a chance to grab a pair for $379...but, but, but (thinking of an excuse), I just got my new pow boards last winter, the Kahunas...

so, Spats owners (arty? natty? can't rememebr who has /em), what do ya think? Is it true what everyone says: that once you ski these in the pow and crud, that you will never want to go back to a traditional ski?? Are they all they are hyped up to be? Do tell....

For $379, how can you go wrong? In the spring of 2003, when they hit, they pro-formed for $400 + $40 shipping.

Best powder ski ever.

Except for maybe (?) the Tabla Rasa.

I really wouldn't call the Spatula a Pow specific ski. Even though it does absoutely destroy powder it is much more versatile than that. I like it the best for Tahoe spring as it absolutely moves through the cement that shows up in April. The spatulas are also fantastic terrain skis... meaning they let you manuver and set-up much easier for big airs, straightline chutes, etc.

I actually prefer my other pow sticks on big deep days as I'm more comfortable making big turns on my AK Labs than I am on my Spatulas. I like my Spats for small lines and I like my AK Labs for big lines and big faces.

I think the Spatula is a ski everyone should own despite what they already have in their quiver. It's just totally different than anything else out there.

OK, good feedback so far...let me ask ya this: does it screw up your normal skiing when you go back to traditonal boards? i am thinking that it will take a few days to get used to "sliding" these things vs arch'ing/carving/powering turns like you do on traditonal skis....if i understand correctly, you are supposed to ski spats totally diff. than traditonal skis...so when ya go back to your normal skis, are ya all messed up, and vice versa???

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Originally Posted by freshies

so when ya go back to your normal skis, are ya all messed up, and vice versa???

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No.

(plus ten fucking words.)

allrighty then....answers that. sold.

slim, where ya ski in tahoe?

Slim skis best when he's hungover...

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Originally Posted by skier666

Slim skis best when he's hungover...

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If by skiing best, you mean rolling around in the snow at the base of the backside lift and moaning about how miserable I feel... then yes... I'm most awesome at skiing when I'm hungover.

I heart Kookwood and tequila shots.

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Originally Posted by freshies

allrighty then....answers that. sold.

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This could just be the best gear decision you've ever made. I love my Gotamas...love them to death. But the Spats...ooooohhhh...I want to make sweet love to them.

And to expand on Slim's "No," don't worry about them being different. You'll get used to switching skis. It took me a while this year to get used to skiing different stuff. Now I can switch between my G4s, Gotamas, and Spatulas without any problem. It's all a matter of getting a feel for and being comfortable on each ski. In other words, it will just happen.

And by the way, the Spatulator (lph) gave me the best advice regarding the Spatulas. It takes around 5-6 days to get used to them.

He was right on the money. The first couple of days were exploratory and thus fun. Days 3 and 4 made me wanna throw them in the trash. But right around day 6 it just clicked. Since then they've been amazing.

I've never skied S-Labs, so forgive me for the following. But Spatulas love big turns. They're super stable in my experience.

One last piece of advice: read the manual. It's posted around here somewhere.

Skiing the Spatula is a matter of adjusting your previous conceptions of how and where to turn. A few rail slides on cornice lips and you will have it figured out.

You will always have the muscle memory of how to carve a turn, so switching back and forth is no problem.

I recommend that you wait for a big powder day to ski them for the first time. Take a hit of green bud; then charge! After four or five turns you will feel a smile spread across your face.

Enjoy!

Get them. They allow you to completely ignore the rules of powder skiing and play with terrain features that you could never use on a normal ski. I haven't tried them out skiing truly big lines at high speed, but if you're a lightweight like me (about 140-150) they will be plenty stable. The rule the powder and make crud/junk snow much easier to ski. If you don't buy them you'll regret it. Oh, and they are also the best tree skiing ski ever.

you bastards! making me all excited and thus weak, having to spend more $ on a new set of sticks....but these sound too good to pass up. and thus, the quiver grows....

asking members here whether or not you should get a new pair of sticks is like asking a high times subscriber if you should smoke weed. :D

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Originally Posted by schuss

asking members here whether or not you should get a new pair of sticks is like asking a high times subscriber if you should smoke weed. :D

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no kidding...like I need any prodding anyway. Here was the GF's response: "you are kidding , right? you are buying another pair of skis?! i mean i remember you raving about those Kahunas you bought last fall, how they were going to be the ultimate powder ski, etc...and now you are buying another ski, that is really what you need, isn't it...you have like 8 pair in the garage, how can you even ski all of them....." Me: "honey, these are totally different skis, a new design, reverse camber, they are supposed to be amazing in the pow and crud, and everyone on the internet ski board that i sometimes post to said I should get 'em because..." GF: "oh, yeah, people you don't even know, on the internet, are telling you to buy these...that's all you need"....classic :D

she's a genius. Now just flip it around next time she wants new shoes....

schuss hit it on the money.

But, regarding the spatulas, last year in CO sucked for snow, but the spatulas made every day in the BC a blast. You can go as fast as you want in pow and never sink and make any turn you want (or no turn) Its just ridiculous how fun they are. And in trees....they are just mindblowing. No need to speedcheck in the trees anymore...

They are the best pow ski Ive ever been on by a lot. But they also shine in typically tough conditions-- Windcrust, really heavy snow, cut up pow and crud are all just an afterthought with these skis. Ive never skied so fast in cruddy cut up Colorado pow in my life. You just float over all of it and the skis are oh so stable, loads of fun. The only drawback on these skis is that once you get on a catwalk even the boarders are going to pass you- due to the minimal surface area in contact w/ hard snow, but the DH pow performance is worth the annoying slow glide.

Take em out in anything over 6 inches of new or cut up and enjoy. Read shane's manual as someone else suggested. If you cant find it on the board somewhere with the search function -- ask for it-- and I will post it myself. 379 is a sick deal. Are there more to be had at that price? I just may have to purchase a backup pair just in case.

Speaking of Spats, whats everyones opinion of how to mount the .. boot center back, ??? o im 6'5 and 240# if it matters.

mount your bindings as the ski indicates and dont use lifters. This is straight from a volant rep.

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Originally Posted by Evil E

mount your bindings as the ski indicates and dont use lifters. This is straight from a volant rep.

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Agreed.

Don't screw with the mounting point. It's perfect. Remember, this is not a normal ski. Changing the mounting point will not accomplish the same things.

Forget lift too. It's not needed. Lift helps you get a ski on edge easier. You won't be using your edges.

I thought this might help, party on indeed

email from Shane last week


Soon as I get the check I'll send em. If you ski mostly in Utah you
might want to consider mounting them 1 centimeter back from the line.
(Light snow = tip dive) They won't have the same swing weight and
balance but you won't notice if you've never skied them the other way.
The mounting line is way further forward than normal skis anyway. Don't
take off the red plastic mounting plate. Some people are doing this,
don't. Make sure someone skilled at mounting Volants does the mount
job. No jig will fit on them and having to eyeball it while drilling
through steel without a jig is really hard. I've ruined a couple pairs
taking them to people who don't normally mount Volants or who are new
at mounting. They are a lot of ski. They will feel heavy in your hand
but their swing weight will be very light on your feet. Try going as
fast as you can straight, plane out on top of the powder, and then
throw them sideways to kill speed. When cruising the groomer back to
the lift or on any harder snow situation shift yer weight to your
uphill ski whenever you feel your down hill ski tracking away from you.
If you ski off your tails on the groomer you can carve em but they
are
not built for carving. The decamber creates a shorter front to back
balance area so when landing air you have to be more on it like a
snowboarder does. Don't bounce in the powder. Bouncing if for slow ass,
face shot seeking turn farmers. Get up to speed and turn em. Hauling
ass will be really easy now. You get my last pair. There are more on
Ebay for $400ish if anyone needs em. Please don't give my email address
to anyone. Party on.
Shane

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Originally Posted by Tresckow

Ebay for $400ish if anyone needs em.
Shane

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spats on ebay

Shane, you homo. I was gonna thank you at Squaw, but you were off BASE jumping somewhere.

So wherever the hell you are...THANKS FOR MAKING THESE SKIS!!!!

arty, do the guys @ granite chief in squaw still do the special spats binding mount? i think you posted about this recently...

CONGRATULATIONS! You have just purchased the most progressive invention in the history of powder skiing since the original fat skis were invented. These skis will change the way you thought you were supposed to ski powder, minimize the effort you put into your skiing, and greatly improve your powder skiing experience.

The following is meant to give you some idea of what the Spatulas are all about, why they are shaped the way they are and how to ski them.

First of all, in order to clear your mind and attempt to make sense of all this, take most everything you have ever learned about skiing and stick it where the sun don’t shine. Or at least in the garage next to your shaped skis. Why? Because:

1. Side cut is NOT good in powder.

2. Camber is NOT good in powder.

3. Carving is NOT necessary in the powder.

Simply put, if you want to maximize your abilities in soft snow you do not want to use the same tool as you would on any kind of hard, groomed or compacted snow.



How to ski your new Spatulas
As you well know your new Spatulas have a very unique almost bizarre shape. It is important for you to understand the adjustments to your skiing technique you will need to make in order to ski them well. Don’t worry! Its easy. Many people may get intimidated by the progressive shape of the Spatula and think that it takes an expert to know how to manage them.

Not true! These skis will make powder skiing much easier for even the least experienced beginners. Actually the opposite concepts explained here will be much easier for a beginner to grasp than an expert conditioned to use their skis the way they always have. The expert will have to open their mind and be prepared for some very different concepts. Or simply, they must floss their brain!

Ski on both feet!

Put your weight a bit more on two feet throughout the turn instead of mostly on your downhill ski. This will help you stay afloat and facilitate sliding when you need to. You will also be able to load up your downhill ski as you normally would in most soft snow situations but knowing how and when to use both feet will greatly increase your abilities with the Spatulas. Sun crust and wind affect are prime examples of when to use both feet. In these conditions the Spatulas will blow your mind. Normally these conditions would require you to slow way down and be very careful not to hook a tip. Not anymore. Ski on two feet and let ‘er rip!



Open it up!
Your powder skiing experience is about to change dramatically. It will become much easier for you to maintain control at higher speeds. If you were the type of powder skier who used to make lots of slow, little bouncing up and down turns then you need to try going faster. Open it up and go for it! You can still milk the powder slowly if you want but after you get the hang of hauling ass you won’t want to putt around anymore.

Slide instead of carve!
Yes, believe it or not this is something that you should be trying to do in the powder. Sliding will be the most difficult of Spatula techniques to learn but you should be able to get the idea in time. Even if you never attempt to learn slides you will still be able to blow doors on everyone else without Spatulas. Who knows, you might just naturally start doing them anyway. The more dense and compacted the snow is the easier it will be to perform slides. Sliding will greatly improve your maneuverability and control. Begin your powder turn and then instead of hitting your edges hard to carve a turn, stand up on two feet and let your skis slide or skid diagonally across the fall line. It will be harder to perform a slide directly down the fall line. Start off doing them diagonally.



Trade skis with a friend for a run.

Just to compare what you used to ski on to what you have now. I guarantee you will only try this once and then you will keep your Spatulas for yourself!





Floatation and Sliding
In order to better understand why the Spatulas are so efficient the two most important concepts to grasp are flotation and sliding. In a ski world where everyone is constantly thinking power, pressure and carving it may seem like a crazy concept to accept almost the opposite theory. Then again soft snow is pretty much the opposite as hard snow. Retraining your mind that sliding not carving is actually a good thing is a very hard concept for many people to swallow.

A ski which is fat under foot will float much more than a ski which is narrow under foot. A ski with reverse side cut will give the skier the ability to slide their turns where as side cut will force the skier to sink and carve. Reverse side cut combined with decamber immediately puts the tip and tail higher than the waist of the ski as well as pulls the edges of the ski away from the snow leaving the point of first contact with the snow at the waist of the ski. When you set your skis sideways to start a slide there is much less ski at the tip and tail to catch the snow and prevent the slide. It also helps to eliminate catching your downhill edges and stuffing it. The Spatulas are also twin tipped. This helps immensely for initiating a slide. Expert skiers can use the twin tip to ski and land backwards if they wish. Skiing backwards in the powder will be surprisingly easy compared to any other twin tipped powder ski.

In virtually all situations you will still be able to carve your turns. The Spatulas simply give you the option to initiate a slide or to scrub speed by sliding similar to how you would do it on the groomer. Why is it so easy for snowboarders to scrub speed in the powder? Why is it so easy for them to make turns and go fast when skiers are laboring slowly down the hill? Why do snowboarders use less energy than skiers in the powder? It is a simple matter of flotation. Snowboarders are always on top of the snow. Skiers are mostly down in it. The Spatulas will give you all the benefits of snowboarding’s floatation and ease as well as satisfaction in the fact that you are actually on skis and still have all the luxuries and mobility options that skiing offers.





Reverse Side Cut
For normal skis side cut is used to make it easier to turn. You simply roll the ski on edge, add some pressure to the ski and it carves around. In recent years ski manufacturers have been adding significant amounts of side cut to their skis greatly facilitating the ski experience for everyone. This is true. ON HARD SNOW!

In powder or soft snow side cut creates two distinct negative effects:



1. “The Pool Cover”- Your weight is directly on top of the narrowest part of the ski. This type of weight distribution immediately puts you in a sinking into the snow situation similar to what happens to the pool cover when you try to run across it. This causes your tips and tails to float but the center of your skis where all your weight is sinks, bogs down and then you must plow through the snow. You will be forced to carve every turn and expend a lot of energy bouncing in and out of the snow.

Sinking/carving = Bad. Floating/sliding = Good.

2. “The Unstable Hooker”- Skis become very unstable and much more difficult to control. In sun crust or wind affect you may have noticed the occasional Unstable Hooker. This is when you start a turn and your downhill ski hooks fast and hard up and across your uphill ski. You cross your tips, step on your downhill ski with your uphill and then stuff your face into mountain. Or at high speeds you may have noticed your skis trying to swim around a bit making it hard to control as you try to keep your tips up and out of the snow. The solution to this in the past has always been to maintain a wider stance in powder and to slow it down a bit.