why demoing is bad for you - april 8th, alta. (reviews)
Alta had a free demo day today... and I decided to take advantage of it. I demoed a number of skis until I snagged a pair that I kept all afternoon.... which is why demoing is bad for me. For the sake of comparison, I'm 5'9", 170, and a fairly aggressive skier for someone living on the 3.5 hour radius of a ski area, but I'm not super aggro. I ski Legend Pros (186) everyday and find them pretty much ideal. Or at least I did:cussing:.
Listed in order of trying:
1. 06/07 Gotamas (190)
After all the gotama praise I'd heard in these parts, I expected to love these skis. But for some reason they just never really did it for me. They don't have that snappy initiation into the turn like the legend pro, and they don't hook up as well on hardpack. Maybe it was the tune, or the binding position, but I couldn't really get forward on these and arc them. After about 3 laps of Collins on the shoulder, it was time for another ski.
2. Squad 89s.
Hoooooly shit. A ski that makes my legend pros look patheticly noodly. They're certainly stable. I'll give you that. And they love to run. Like you're stopping to take a piss in some trees and suddenly they've taken off without you. However, this was truly waaaaay too much ski for today. It'd be epic on a big pow day... say thursday, when you could just let them run and run and run. But I'm not strong enough (I'd like to say heavy enough but that wouldn't be true) to ski these in the variable stuff I was skiing today.
3. 188 Saloman Lab Guns.
Coming from the squads, these were a funny ski. They felt very center mounted, and they're very forgiving. However, they hook up too quickly imho, making the crud somewhat nerve wracking at high speeds. But they float well (they're soft and have nice fat tips) and arc very confidently. They seem to hold an edge just fine but without the confidence that a stiffer board like the legends or the squads inspire.
and then it happened, that instant when I know I want another pair of skis. bloody hell.
4. 06/07 Gotamas (183).
Call me a pussy, but at my weight in todays conditions, I fell in love with these skis. In every situation (cut-up crud, slushy untracked slop, and even a couple turns in genuine windbuffy powder that had been in the shade up high), these skis were a beautiful thing. Where my legends bust through (key word "through" and the implication of muscle) almost anything with enough force, these seem to have the perfect combination of float and power. They're flickable, light, and playful, and yet screaming down thirds in cut up crud morphing into manky refreezing snow seemed entirely natural. They were a solid landing platform (diving board - check... although I possess a new found appreciation for the reliability of marker bindings after prereleasing one turn after sticking it), and a very easy ski to ski. Admittedly, they're even more boring on groomers than the LPs as they don't have the GS ski feel, but thats not really terribly relevant.
So I want another pair of skis. I haven't skied the Gots in true powder, but I'd imagine they'd float better b/c of the softer tip correcting the tendency to submarine. Gots for all-around and LPs as a "big gun" and a groomer ski? I don't think that'd be too bad.
ps. I haven't skied Gots before (that I remember).... and just searched them... and apparently the shape/construction is different, which is disappointing, at least to me, having really enjoyed this year. Can anyone explain exactly *how* they are different, as I'd like to pick up something cheap this spring as opposed to something new next season. Paging Squaretail?
