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trolling some shops for the mid-summer deal, I came across what seems like a steal. $500 for never drilled sanouks. before I pull the trigger on something I never skied, I want to get some feedback from someone who has. the tips seemed wet noodlish to me compared to the gotama, but that might be good for heavey snow. anyone?
I've only skied them one day. The tips actually surprised me. I skied them on everything from hardpack, to sierra cement, to pow with a wind/suncrust on top.
They edges held surprisingly well on the hardpack. I was expecting Spatula type performance; in other words, hold on for dear life. I wouldn't go racing them on blue ice or anything, but you can turn them on hard stuff.
This was all on the way out to California Chute at Kirkwood. Once we got out there we skied everything from cement to a slight crust to pockets of nice pow. The ski was interesting in a good way. The tip felt like my Spatulas. It always stayed on top of the snow, planing like the Spats. In other words, it feels like it would be very difficult to get the tip to dive. It's always keeping you afloat. The tail was a different matter. It really dug in. I haven't skied other swallowtails, but I assume this is how they all feel. The tail was very, very stable; almost as if it were on rails. But it wasn't to the point where you couldn't disengage it.
It actually turned out to be the perfect ski for these conditions. A normal ski would get stuck in the crust and would have a mind of its own. The soft tip prevented me from getting stuck on line since it planed through the cement/crust, while the tail was providing control at the same time. I hope this makes sense. On the short sections of pow, they just slayed also.
My quiver of fatties is loaded right now (Spats and Gotamas), but I have considered getting a pair of these. Just can't justify it since money's a little tight right now.
good to hear a solid endorsment. I was worried they might wash out at speed with my fat ass on top. hopefully pulling trigger soon.
i have ridden a south american season in south america. they were my only ride. i had them mounted to a fritshi.
1) its very versatile for that lenght, the big spatula and swall make it so
2) fragile ski
3) not a hucking ski the mounting point + swallow make you a little bit back
4)great at speeds
5) use the search
easy power ski can take all but crud. doesn't need much to float
How are they on hardpack?
I skied them one day this winter in fresh quite deep snow that went from light to heavy during a sunny day. The terrain was open powder faces with some narrow places leading down to tree skiing. No tracks except the ones from our group. I tried the first blue version of the Sanouk. Don´t know if there´s any difference from later ones.
My first impression were how easy the Sanouks are to ski with their soft and snappy appearence in powder. Super quick to turn in the trees which makes it possible to go really fast and still now that you will be able to make it even through the tightest places. On bigger spaces it´s really playful and not a straightlining ski in my opinion. I found myself spraying round small stones and trying to pop off anything I could find. A really, really fun ski, but not that "I´ll wait for you down by the gondola"-feeling that you might want on your best days. As the snow got heavier I could really feel the benefits of having a soft ski. A couple of runs with the M103 made me realise that the snow was actually quite crappy at the afternoon. I had to struggle to get those boards to turn in that conditions.
Back to the Sanouk and back to smiling. A softer ski makes such a difference of making bad snow skiable and enjoyable. On harder snow, not at all icy they where skiable, but far from fun. The wobbly front makes it difficult to really go for it at the speeds that is needed with the Sanouks long turning radius and at lower speeds they have a boring feel. The snappiness of the ski in powder is all gone when going on hardpack. I never got the chance to try them in tracked out snow. Where I ski there´s almost never any skiing like that in that amount that the skis have to handle it. As long as they are nice in the untouched snow I´m happy. The only thing I could recall as negative is that they sometimes oversteered a bit. They are maybe just to loose in some types of applications as medium speed at big spaces. In high speed they go to a more "locked in"-mode, but at more normal speeds they are really turny. I think that a couple of extra cm:s would make it better in this sense. Anyone got a 198 pro-edition? :)
I must say, that the day on the Sanouk is one of the days I remember from this winter as one of the best, if not the best of around 110 days. The fun factor is the most important factor for me when choosing skis. Skiing should be fun. Period. Therefore I will buy a pair of Sanuoks (or other equally liked ski that may appear in the future) to use on powder days when my economy allows me to.
too lazy to look/ what are the shape/width of the skis?
193cm long with a swallowtail. 130-110-120 tip-waist-tail.
yeah, but welfare-state sponsored socialism of Sweden isn't very conducive to impulsive gear purchases. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by MnO
They rule, buy them....I'm a big guy and too thought they would be a too soft (got them on a deal and pulled the trigger like yourself), but they are such a fun ski, that a detailed review would be a waste of time. Also, they have a decent shape and will carve a nice turn if need be on hard-pack....something that made me pleasantly surprised.
btw 130 110 120 = identical sidecut to the rossi axiom. except that ski is far from noodly and light.
An Axiom in a 188cm would have been a contender.
If 666 likes the ski you can be sure the tail is stiff.
After eight months of skiing, kite and windsurfing and no income what so ever I could really need some "state sponsoring", but so far I haven´t seen any :)Quote:
Originally Posted by ulty_guy
Ummm, actually they are pretty soft all around....fun ski though :)Quote:
Originally Posted by runethechamp
Good thing you cleared that up then since I really don't know anything about that ski :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by skier666
overall sounds a lot like the 195 sal AK team swallow tail, just with less shape and a bit softer ...
Lets talk about swallowtails. Anyone swear by them? Ive ridden the Sally AK swallows, and while I really enjoyed the ski, I don't think the swallow does much more than moving your mounting point back a bit. They don't even have edges on em (I don't think) so what, exactly is the benefit? I won't deny they look sweet though.
I use the AK Swallows, normal Labs, not team edition though as my main allround ski. Both are easy to ski and are targeted at the same type of use (at least in marketing). However the feel is not very equal to the Sanouk. Even if the Salomons are a soft ski, they are way stiffer than the Völkls. The AK:s are more versatile for everyday use. That ski is in my opinion a perfect allround ski in big resorts for skiers who don´t want to put power in every turn they make. AK Labs are reasonably entertaining on hardpack, they carve really good and are still quite fun and turny in powder when compared to other 95mm skis. The swallowtail main purpose is to make the ski 195 and therefore keep your image up, even if all you really ski is a smooth 185 with a plastic add-on :)Quote:
Originally Posted by mntlion
If compared to Salomon skis, I would say that the feel of the Sanouk is closer to the first pre-spaceframe versions of the AK Rocket, especially the super soft 190cm green AK. The Sanouk is wider and floats better, but still there´s that "float caused by softness"-feel that many loved the original AK for. You can really feel the ski bending when doing turns in the deep stuff.
Isn't this what you wanted to hear Mntlion, since you have been on the prowl for 190 Rockets for quite some time.Quote:
Originally Posted by MnO
Fig 11:
ya but I want a more shape then the sanouk has.
quest will have to go on, or just sack it up and order capitals or iggys
Quote:
Originally Posted by runethechamp
quite the opposite. i got a pair last season, i got about 7 days on them before my injury. cool pow ski, but the tail is super-duper soft. but they do very well at speed. i had them up to about 40-50 in pow and they ripped. i got them set up for touring, and am pretty impressed, but i had to rig my skins to work with the tails.
edit: as for the swallowtail i foud it made it so you turned like you were on a groomer while rallying the pow. i.e. you can lean waaaay forward.
I know it's JONGish, but - just in case - the sign on them it's for the middle of the boot or for the tip?
middle, jong. ;)
yeah, much better to get a JONG than to drill them twice... btw, I haven't seen this sign yet... it's just that I made a date with a driller tomorrow :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Lok