Got to ski some of next years stuff yesterday at the Copper Demo. Thought the info. might be some help for those already agonizing over gear purchases for next season...
Seth Vicious- They only had 179's which I was a bit skeptical of at first, but these really surprised me. I used to own the '04 179 Pistol which was a noodle (but a great park ski) and these blow the pistols out of the water. I never noticed the increased width no matter where I took them. They performed really well in the only fresh we got all day, and were still a lot of fun on the groomers. The progressive flex that made the old pistol so much fun has been beefed up a bit meaning the ski is a bit stiffer over all, but the tail can be buttered on for as long and as high as your balance allows. I really wanted to drop of them off of something and get in the backseat on purpose just to test the tails, but bulletproof was lurking everywhere under the new snow. Some here might still find these too soft, but I was really impressed and will probably be picking these up as my park ski next year in a 179.
Salomon Foil- These are a bit bigger than the Pocket Rocket and supposedly a little stiffer. They were nearly center mounted, which is normally fun, but I found it made these ride terribly all mountain. Now I've never liked Salomons, but these were by far the worst ski I rode yesterday. Compared to the Vicious these have no life. They were no fun when I took them into some of the 5" new, and even more boring when I tried getting some pop off some rollers. I would have liked to have taken these into the park, but time and weather weren't really allowing for it. The only nice thing about these was they are a bit stiffer than anything in Salomon's line this year.
Rossignol B4- I was really excited to take these out as they get so much hype around here, but by the time I got on them things were really skied off so I mainly took these on some groomers. I quickly learned that these are surprisingly nimble in chop and fun on groomers, but also kind of a pain in the ass when trying to dodge people as they only want to go really fast. These are also amazingly light for their size and could easily be the only ski you own if you don't ride park.
K2 Public Enemy- I only took one run on these and didn't go in the park (we weren't supposed to do rails on the demo's) but they honestly felt like a skinnier and slightly more forgiving version of the vicious.
Volkl Mantra- Flippin Sweet. These are bit wider than the explosive and with a bit more sidecut, and equally as fun as the Vicious. They don't have a twin, but do have a little flair. I only got to ski them in a 177 which is a bit short but I was really surprised by these as I got them going as fast as I could and they still wanted to go faster. This will be my touring ski of choice next year for sure, and if they had a twin they would probably be my all mountain ski as well.
Volkl Gotama- Skied these at the end of the day. I don't think they changed at all from last year, but since I haven't skied them since 2002 I can say that they were surprisingly fun to ski on groomers, but if I was going to nit-pick I would say that the square tail looks whack.
If it helps anyone I'm 6'2" 175.
EDIT- I was bummed to not see the Bro's! Any chance for next year?
EDIT 2- I talked to some K2 guys about some K2 Spats. The way it sounded to me was they might maybe possibly be in the works eventually...
