Soft Snow Gymkhana - The Heritage Lab FR110
Shh. Let them be impatient with the skis. Let them fall to me.
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Soft Snow Gymkhana - The Heritage Lab FR110
So I got out on the FR110's this past weekend at Whistler. Day 1 for me on the FR110. Conditions were soft (rain slush) just before the atmospheric river hits.
Me 5’7 (170cm), 170 lbs, Nordica Strider 120 boots. My skis are all 179-185 cm lengths. I like centerish mounts (-3cm to -7cm) and my favourite skis are maneuverable but not noodles. I love rockered skis and always have a few of them in the quiver.
The full rocker FR110 just made sense to me so I bought them even though I currently own rockered Ravens, Hojis and Renegades. I have previously owned other rockered skis (Sickles, InThaynes, Devastators and Faction Candide 5.0’s) and loved all of those.
FR110 highlights from a day of ripping slush….
You’ll get comments in almost every lift line …eg. “wow those are bright skis!”
This is not gonna be a shocker….. but these are slightly heavier, slightly shorter Hojis.
My 184 Hoji’s are mounted at rec of -6.5cm, and weigh ~2,060 gm per ski. Straight pull on the 184 Hoji is 182.5cm.
The 180 FR110 is mounted at -5.8cm (a smidge in front of rec), with a straight pull of 179.6cm for the 180 FR110 and Marshal states the FR110 is 2,250 gm per ski. I didn’t weigh mine but that feels about right.
Side note…..Marshal I think you need to call this a 181 or 182? Confusing (to me) it’s called the 180 FR110? Same thing with your HB skis (the 179HB is a 185cm?). My accounting brain doesn’t like that.
I ski my Ravens and Hojis a ton inbounds in shit snow (cause the rocker is so good). Not disappointed with the FR110 either…..wow the FR110 are very predictable on groomed, heavy snow. Better than the Hojis prolly due to their higher weight. I found that the FR110 can carve big GS turns, and like the Hoji, you ski it mostly from the center of the ski. The edge hold is very decent, and almost grippy when you put it over on its full edge. Again like the Hoji/Raven the FR110 feels like you’re carving with the underfoot part of your ski (and just in front of and behind the bindings). This underfoot section of the FR110 feels pretty strong giving the FR110 really good edge hold (on soft groomers).
I think the 180 FR110 skis short. So I’m glad I went 84cm from tail (-5.8cm) and not further forward. But it’s not too short. It’s length for me is a great a combination of stability and playfulness. But I think because of the shorter length, the FR110 is even more maneuverable than my Hojis. I loved slarving/drifting/throwing the FR110 sideways at stupid speeds. Not hooky. Just really really good fun and predictable.
Can’t wait to get them in super steep terrain. It’s gonna be my do-everything ski cause it is so stable and versatile, and the slightly shorter length will be good in the scary, sketch stuff….I know I’m gonna use this a ton for how/where I ski. Prolly will grab these most days if we’re doing chutes and steep, tight entrances and grab the Hojis if we’re skiing more open glades.
Will report back when I’ve skied them more.
Really well done Marshal! I think the only way you could improve these FR110’s is to go with a Pilsner topsheet.
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