Originally Posted by
D(C)
I got out for a few runs of night skiing at the local hill on the 186 M-Pro 99. First impressions are that they are a ski that needs a bit of space and speed to come alive in carved turns. They don’t pull you into a turn like a ski with less tapered tips, so you need to be more patient with turn initiation and make sure they are weighted properly (forward and outside ski) before really tipping them over. They are more of a GS ski than a slalom ski. As a result, they are maybe a bit much for a smaller hill at the 186 length. But they felt quite stable on edge once I got them going.
The flip side is that they slide nicely in and out of shorter turns. The tapered tips make turn initiation smooth and easy, and the tails feel powerful and snappy without being punishing. I got them in some bumps and open trees off the side of the groomers and they felt good there.
I mounted mine on the recommended line and that feels good. I was a bit nervous about that since the recommended line is much farther back than other skis I have recently used, but the recommended line feels good relative to the sidecut. They actually feel pretty neutral there, not a ski that demands driving the crap out of the tips (other than making sure turn initiation is good, as mentioned above).
In retrospect, something like the M-Free 99 may have been a better call for a ski to be used at a smaller hill, but these will be fun.