Soft Snow Gymkhana - The Heritage Lab FR110

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Originally Posted by Marshal Olson

The FR110 is a matched radius rocker profile, so you may be experiencing it's trait of engaging the sidecut quicker than a cambered ski, that needs to bend into its shape.

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Anecdotally, I found when skiing Hoji's at the resort that at least claim to have a matched rocker, once I engaged the tip in a turn, I felt like I could really push it into a very tight arc with the combination of the pre-bent full rocker and softer flex. Maybe something to the matched radii too that encourages that? I found them actually very intuitive to carve short turns as long as the snow was soft despite the taper.

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Originally Posted by kc_7777

Heading up to Whistler for a few days. Dropping my FR 110 skis with Derek at Profile on Friday. Will report back after the tune!

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Looking fwd to reading your thoughts, because your review from last spring about the BO104 was extremely insightful and really resonated (unfortunately, I can’t seem to link directly to your post from 04/27/23 on page 5, when you compared the M102 to the BO104)

I’m probably a technically better skier now than I was decades ago, but my body can no longer cash checks my ego wants to write

So having a less chargey but still capable ski that I can depend on to bail me out if necessary when I’m not at my best holds a lot of value

I didn’t mount my 180 FR110s until just before going to AK a few weeks ago, and took them out to get a feel for their balance in pretty suboptimal conditions for a ~110 waisted ski optimized for soft snow—refrozen corduroy and hard windboard and sastrugi off piste

My DDs in the Sierra have been pretty directional (eg, OG Cochise for firm and Influence 115s for soft or deep) and I have zero newschool style, so I wasn’t sure how well I’d get along with the FR110s (ie, I wudda preordered the R110s if they were available when I ordered the FR110)

I did nothing to them, aside from drilling, mounting (sans tap, which smoked my power drill), and waxing them…

Nothing new to add, other than saying I found the FR110s to hold an edge very well in firm conds (way better than expected, but mine are x001, so maybe they have that sharper tune?), while also being easy to throw sideways instantly to shut them down predictably on hard snow

In deep fresh pow off Thompson’s Pass in AK, they bounced their way thru linked S-turns joyously (as long as the angles were steep enough)
Attachment 492299

But I struggled a bit on lower angles our guides took us to, especially in heavier maritime snow at lower elevation, and had an easier time skiing my Bibby Tours (w 116 waist) in those conditions

Once home, I was lucky to ski the FR110s after a storm in fresh but heavy boot-high-to-mid-calf Sierra chop that often gets grabby and can be difficult for me at Mammoth, but I was still able to release their tails when needed

If I never travelled for pow, I’d be more than happy to keep the FR110 as my fattest ski for soft snow at the resort (caveat being that I’m 5’8” and 160 lbs), but I could definitely see buying the fatter HB122 or ST120 for AK or Japan too

So I got my FR 110’s tuned at Profile in Whistler. They blanked the ski, and set the bevels to 1.5* base and 2* side edge with a nice detune in the taper section.

Holy f*ck! What a good day on these. Sleeper pow day at Whistler ….. these skis are now everything Marshal promised and what I had expected.

Slarvy slarvy goodness. More later.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by kc_7777

So I got my FR 110’s tuned at Profile in Whistler. They blanked the ski, and set the bevels to 1.5* base and 2* side edge with a nice detune in the taper section.

Holy f*ck! What a good day on these. Sleeper pow day at Whistler ….. these skis are now everything Marshal promised and what I had expected.

Slarvy slarvy goodness. More later.


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Yay :)

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Originally Posted by kc_7777

So I got my FR 110’s tuned at Profile in Whistler. They blanked the ski, and set the bevels to 1.5* base and 2* side edge with a nice detune in the taper section.

Holy f*ck! What a good day on these. Sleeper pow day at Whistler ….. these skis are now everything Marshal promised and what I had expected.

Slarvy slarvy goodness. More later.


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THE TUNE!!!!

lol I’m pumped these worked out for you!

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Originally Posted by kc_7777

So I got my FR 110’s tuned at Profile in Whistler. They blanked the ski, and set the bevels to 1.5* base and 2* side edge with a nice detune in the taper section.

Holy f*ck! What a good day on these. Sleeper pow day at Whistler ….. these skis are now everything Marshal promised and what I had expected.

Slarvy slarvy goodness. More later.


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I'm sorry it took a while to get to this point, but so glad to read this! Cheers :)

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Originally Posted by IJK2009

Looking fwd to reading your thoughts, because your review from last spring about the BO104 was extremely insightful and really resonated (unfortunately, I can’t seem to link directly to your post from 04/27/23 on page 5, when you compared the M102 to the BO104)

I’m probably a technically better skier now than I was decades ago, but my body can no longer cash checks my ego wants to write

So having a less chargey but still capable ski that I can depend on to bail me out if necessary when I’m not at my best holds a lot of value

I didn’t mount my 180 FR110s until just before going to AK a few weeks ago, and took them out to get a feel for their balance in pretty suboptimal conditions for a ~110 waisted ski optimized for soft snow—refrozen corduroy and hard windboard and sastrugi off piste

My DDs in the Sierra have been pretty directional (eg, OG Cochise for firm and Influence 115s for soft or deep) and I have zero newschool style, so I wasn’t sure how well I’d get along with the FR110s (ie, I wudda preordered the R110s if they were available when I ordered the FR110)

I did nothing to them, aside from drilling, mounting (sans tap, which smoked my power drill), and waxing them…

Nothing new to add, other than saying I found the FR110s to hold an edge very well in firm conds (way better than expected, but mine are x001, so maybe they have that sharper tune?), while also being easy to throw sideways instantly to shut them down predictably on hard snow

In deep fresh pow off Thompson’s Pass in AK, they bounced their way thru linked S-turns joyously (as long as the angles were steep enough)
Attachment 492299

But I struggled a bit on lower angles our guides took us to, especially in heavier maritime snow at lower elevation, and had an easier time skiing my Bibby Tours (w 116 waist) in those conditions

Once home, I was lucky to ski the FR110s after a storm in fresh but heavy boot-high-to-mid-calf Sierra chop that often gets grabby and can be difficult for me at Mammoth, but I was still able to release their tails when needed

If I never travelled for pow, I’d be more than happy to keep the FR110 as my fattest ski for soft snow at the resort (caveat being that I’m 5’8” and 160 lbs), but I could definitely see buying the fatter HB122 or ST120 for AK or Japan too

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Wait a second

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Originally Posted by K1mJ0ngTr1ll

Wait a second

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yeah, similar avatars… clearly you have a great mind 😉

I’ve been lurking mostly in the shadows here, for like ~15 years

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Originally Posted by IJK2009

yeah, similar avatars… clearly you have a great mind 😉

I’ve been lurking mostly in the shadows here, for like ~15 years

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lol you’ve got me there! Only started skiing in 2018-19 but glad I found this place.

FR110 186 cm pre-ordered. So stoked! Can't wait until next winter.

Thanks for helping me through the choices, Marshal!

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Originally Posted by kc_7777

So I got my FR 110’s tuned at Profile in Whistler. They blanked the ski, and set the bevels to 1.5* base and 2* side edge with a nice detune in the taper section.

Holy f*ck! What a good day on these. Sleeper pow day at Whistler ….. these skis are now everything Marshal promised and what I had expected.

Slarvy slarvy goodness. More later.

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So you're saying early serials need to get them fully tuned and it was well worthwhile?

Not sure it’s necessarily the early serials. But if you’re not loving them check your base bevels to make sure you didn’t catch a bad tune. My bevels were perfect and I absolutely love the skis - they are the upgraded devastator that I was hoping for


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Originally Posted by m5d5cb

So you're saying early serials need to get them fully tuned and it was well worthwhile?

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I just skied 4 good days at Whistler on my FR 110's post tune. These skis went from "tough to ski" to my favorite ski that I've been on in a long time. They are better than my Hojis/Ravens, which is saying a lot for me. So if your FR 110 is not super awesome it is the tune.

Here's my quick take....

Skier: 170 lbs, 5'7", short bsl, mounted 84cm from tail on 180 FR 110's (they are 179.6cm straight pull) which puts me at -5.8cm. I think rec is -6cm, so I'm just a bit in front. Boots are Nordica Strider 120 (12 degree forward lean) with Booster straps and Dalbello removable calf spoilers, and Zipfit Workhorse liners.

Whistler got some fresh snow and good vis mid-week, and we had no real lines for Easter Weekend. I skied the FR 110 4 out of the last 5 days as it is very versatile in a variety of snow conditions (eg we skied 6" fresh pow, soft chop, ice, groomed, chalky bumps and slush). Couldn't believe how good they ski everywhere. Stancewise I found you could lean into the front of your boot and ski with a forward stance, and the FR 110 responds. Or you can ski in a more upright, neutral stance and easily smear/slarve/schmear turns. We ski a lot of Peak laps, down into Red Chair on Whistler, and hit Spanky's, Saudan etc on Blackcomb. They are very balanced and so predictable in all terrain. I found them very forgiving, and really easy to ski. Similar to skiing Hojis and Ravens where you can just concentrate purely on skiing (the FR 110 skis much like a shorter, heavier, more stable Hoij). The FR 110 gives you a ton of confidence eg. we went into Bushrat early one day, when it was still icy, the entrance is bit of a no-fall zone and in this kind of less forgiving conditions and terrain dropping in on the FR 110, ya it chattered across the icy entrance, but they made it feel easy. Everyone else on "regular" skis kind of struggled. These skis will make you better in sketchy areas.

On groomers you can do still rip high speed, big radius turns, as you roll your ankles over so the entire length of the ski engages. The tails are stiff enough that they do not wash out at the end of turns so you can push them through the whole turn while engaging the entire edge so they feel stable at high speeds. Easy to hit 90 km/h and no issues.

But what the FR 110 really excels at, and is made for, is slarving in a high-speed sliding carve. It's perfection. The slarviness in soft snow will blow your mind. So easy to pivot the ski using a neutral, balanced stance, My mount point felt perfect.....the tips pivot easily and its tails slide and wash out so satisfyingly. It's easy to keep just enough pressure to keep you engaged in the turn. It becomes easy to ski faster over varied terrain and the result is you will be faster than your ski buddies.

The FR 110 is that good. I'm considering the 180 HL Swallowtail R 120 now.....

KC

Attachment 492754

R110 meet keyhole. Key hole meet R110. Ski shines in steep tighter spots.

Attachment 492757


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Is there a separate thread for the non swallow tail R skis?

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Originally Posted by turnfarmer

Is there a separate thread for the non swallow tail R skis?

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No it's been here since its the 110.

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Originally Posted by kc_7777

I just skied 4 good days at Whistler on my FR 110's post tune. These skis went from "tough to ski" to my favorite ski that I've been on in a long time. They are better than my Hojis/Ravens, which is saying a lot for me. So if your FR 110 is not super awesome it is the tune.

Here's my quick take....

Skier: 170 lbs, 5'7", short bsl, mounted 84cm from tail on 180 FR 110's (they are 179.6cm straight pull) which puts me at -5.8cm. I think rec is -6cm, so I'm just a bit in front. Boots are Nordica Strider 120 (12 degree forward lean) with Booster straps and Dalbello removable calf spoilers, and Zipfit Workhorse liners.

Whistler got some fresh snow and good vis mid-week, and we had no real lines for Easter Weekend. I skied the FR 110 4 out of the last 5 days as it is very versatile in a variety of snow conditions (eg we skied 6" fresh pow, soft chop, ice, groomed, chalky bumps and slush). Couldn't believe how good they ski everywhere. Stancewise I found you could lean into the front of your boot and ski with a forward stance, and the FR 110 responds. Or you can ski in a more upright, neutral stance and easily smear/slarve/schmear turns. We ski a lot of Peak laps, down into Red Chair on Whistler, and hit Spanky's, Saudan etc on Blackcomb. They are very balanced and so predictable in all terrain. I found them very forgiving, and really easy to ski. Similar to skiing Hojis and Ravens where you can just concentrate purely on skiing (the FR 110 skis much like a shorter, heavier, more stable Hoij). The FR 110 gives you a ton of confidence eg. we went into Bushrat early one day, when it was still icy, the entrance is bit of a no-fall zone and in this kind of less forgiving conditions and terrain dropping in on the FR 110, ya it chattered across the icy entrance, but they made it feel easy. Everyone else on "regular" skis kind of struggled. These skis will make you better in sketchy areas.

On groomers you can do still rip high speed, big radius turns, as you roll your ankles over so the entire length of the ski engages. The tails are stiff enough that they do not wash out at the end of turns so you can push them through the whole turn while engaging the entire edge so they feel stable at high speeds. Easy to hit 90 km/h and no issues.

But what the FR 110 really excels at, and is made for, is slarving in a high-speed sliding carve. It's perfection. The slarviness in soft snow will blow your mind. So easy to pivot the ski using a neutral, balanced stance, My mount point felt perfect.....the tips pivot easily and its tails slide and wash out so satisfyingly. It's easy to keep just enough pressure to keep you engaged in the turn. It becomes easy to ski faster over varied terrain and the result is you will be faster than your ski buddies.

The FR 110 is that good. I'm considering the 180 HL Swallowtail R 120 now.....

KC

Attachment 492754

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Hell ya! Stoked the re-tune helped!

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Originally Posted by waxloaf

Not sure it’s necessarily the early serials. But if you’re not loving them check your base bevels to make sure you didn’t catch a bad tune. My bevels were perfect and I absolutely love the skis - they are the upgraded devastator that I was hoping for


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This is what I can't wait for. "The upgraded devastator." I want a devastator that can go faster with less rocking horse. That i can pressure the forebody more. And that is between the the devs two sizes.

I'll have to wait until next season though. Good things will come :) [emoji3][emoji2][emoji846][emoji854][emoji4]

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Originally Posted by skinipenem

This is what I can't wait for. "The upgraded devastator." I want a devastator that can go faster with less rocking horse. That i can pressure the forebody more. And that is between the the devs two sizes.

I'll have to wait until next season though. Good things will come :) [emoji3][emoji2][emoji846][emoji854][emoji4]

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You’re gonna be stoked. They are the perfect in-between size (in the 186) and you can certainly pressure the front through rough snow.

I think the biggest upgrade over the (184) devs is the float though - having a little more splay in the rocker, plus more surface area, makes a big difference. I loved the devs (still do, frankly) but they can get a little bogged down at times; I haven’t had any of that on my FR110s.

Fwiw, I’m mounted about 1cm back from rec which probably helps the float a bit. I still think they are stupid easy in tight spots mounted there so if you want to pressure the shovels I wouldn’t hesitate to go back a bit when you mount


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PS

I’ve also owned the 184 Dev and 181 Sickle. And 181 InThaynes. The 180 FR 110 is better….it’s hard to describe but they feel slarvy and yet powerful at the same time. Kinda makes you feel invincible.

Re float. I’d say if this is the widest pow ski in your quiver maybe ok to go back a little bit. I’m basically on rec (-5.8cm as I’m 84 from tail and rec is -6cm). The float is just fine, but I need to stay centered in pow.

My thinking is the FR 110 is my soft snow, packed pow, resort ski. Where I do need some float, but once it’s tracked out I mostly want maneuverability through the chop, and in trees and tight spots. As this is basically what most inbounds skiing is at Whistler on a pow day. It’s not fresh for long.

For deeper pow days (eg I’m at Whitewater or Fernie), when I really want float in more untracked snow, I’m considering the Swallowtail R 120 (-7cm rec).

But damn I like the FR 110 so much, I should prolly get the FR 120 (-6cm rec). Don’t care if it’s too close to my Hojis and Renegades.

But I now see the FR 120 is unavailable in the 180!

Time to talk to Marshal!!

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Got a bunch more days on my 192(193s? - not sure what the official size here is) these past few weeks in the Wasatch and they are my new daily driver. We've had a lot of snow with regular 6-10" refreshes so a lot of soft inbounds varying from deep untracked to cut up sunbaked mank when the sun comes out and it hits 50 degrees.

They truck through pretty much everything and you can lay them over hard or just play down the mountain depending on the terrain and what you are feeling like doing. No 'rocking horse' feeling unless I jump off something and land backseat in which case I definitely miss a more supportive tail but that is my problem not the skis.

Other notes:
- despite being long (193cm straight pull tape length - for comparison my 190 bibbys are ~187cm) the full rocker makes them easy to turn/pivot/slash as needed. I havent had any issues in any kind of tight trees. That said, if I was doing any rocker profile outside of the freeride rocker (like R110s or ST120) I would size down to the 187 as that would be more than enough ski with the stiffer tail
- Heavy. Great to plow through dense snow and not bad on chairlifts with the mounting point distributing weight pretty evenly, but if you throw them over your shoulder to bootpack or take a lot of long sidesteps you will notice until you adapt to the new norm
- grabby on flat slush - this is a critique I've had on all full rocker skis I have ever been on and I think it is due to the single point of contact underfoot taking all the weight. Somewhat solved if you can keep constantly on edge, but that is not always viable

6'2", 170lbs, mounted -1cm from recommended

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Originally Posted by kc_7777

PS

I’ve also owned the 184 Dev and 181 Sickle. And 181 InThaynes. The 180 FR 110 is better….it’s hard to describe but they feel slarvy and yet powerful at the same time. Kinda makes you feel invincible.

Re float. I’d say if this is the widest pow ski in your quiver maybe ok to go back a little bit. I’m basically on rec (-5.8cm as I’m 84 from tail and rec is -6cm). The float is just fine, but I need to stay centered in pow.

My thinking is the FR 110 is my soft snow, packed pow, resort ski. Where I do need some float, but once it’s tracked out I mostly want maneuverability through the chop, and in trees and tight spots. As this is basically what most inbounds skiing is at Whistler on a pow day. It’s not fresh for long.

For deeper pow days (eg I’m at Whitewater or Fernie), when I really want float in more untracked snow, I’m considering the Swallowtail R 120 (-7cm rec).

But damn I like the FR 110 so much, I should prolly get the FR 120 (-6cm rec). Don’t care if it’s too close to my Hojis and Renegades.

But I now see the FR 120 is unavailable in the 180!

Time to talk to Marshal!!

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but pretty sure you own(ed?) a pair of 112 reckoners. I'm curious how you would compare the FR110s to those. Or anyone else that's skied both. Really curious about the FR110s.

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Originally Posted by factive

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pretty sure you own(ed?) a pair of 112 reckoners. I'm curious how you would compare the FR110s to those. Or anyone else that's skied both. Really curious about the FR110s.

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Ya I owned the 112 Reckoners. Sold them without skiing them so can’t compare.

I think if you’re skiing a 110mm waist ski, like a Reckoner 112, you’re in soft snow and should have rocker (no camber). Even with its full rocker the FR110 still grips hard when you need it. We dropped into Bushrat when the entrance was a bit icy. The FR110’s rocker allows you to feather/slide in, and then you just engage the whole ski edge for bite.

I’m a big FR110 fan.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by factive

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pretty sure you own(ed?) a pair of 112 reckoners. I'm curious how you would compare the FR110s to those. Or anyone else that's skied both. Really curious about the FR110s.

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I’ve only spent 1 day after storm on the fr110 and 1 very early pre season on the 112 reck but both of them felt instinctual pretty quick. They both are awesome skis and I’d feel pretty happy on either for a soft snow daily. The fr110 is super loose and damp, I was going noticeably faster in trees, but it held its own way more on groomers than I was expecting for a reverse ski. Playful too. Felt like it was one of those “makes you a better skier skis”. I seem to really like bamboo and this was no different. Reck is softer but holds its own in chop more than I expected. Very playful. If I was doing spins and prioritized or spent anytime in the park, I’d probably go reck but the super loose ability to go fast in trees with the fr110 just put a big smile on my face that I can’t stay away from. Will be selling the reck and keeping the fr.


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Originally Posted by bry

All right so I mounted mine -1.5 from rec, -8 or 88.75cm from the tail (193s). Been skiing at Alpine. Snow has been great. Cold out and soft snow skiing.

These ski relatively short for their length, like the FL113s which I also think ski short, but moreso given the rocker profile and tail. Super nimble for 193, imo, but not greasy per se. Awesome on edge vs what I was expecting but haven't had them on ice or firm.

I have only been skiing skinny skis until this trip, 88 underfoot max. So I was pumped to drive these guys and not just park and ride. These feel relatively light too, for the size. I could ski slow behind my kid and bang out super tight turns alarmingly easily.

As my kid's been taking breaks hanging with gramps in the lodge the last cupla days, I've taken about 10-12 laps off Summit chair and I think think these planks are the perfect compliment to the FL113, or any other beefy chargers for that matter.

Steep softish bumps were totally manageable and if I lost any balance I was able to recover no problem. I only got gassed when making big airplane turns, which happens with all my skis for the most part.

I can see these being a great western daily driver option for sure if you ski mostly off piste. I like grabbing the squads and cochise usually because they make everything seem so quiet and easy, but these will steal a significant share of time across the board.

I can't get enough of the quiet smooth feel. The mount point felt great too. I ski the squads and 193 MVPs at -8. The MVPs tail can wash out sometimes at that mount point and I've considered bumping them up back up to the original rec for that reason, but I don't get that on this ski. The tail is there, which I like.

I also had Velo take them out for a half hour or so and here's his notes:

"I took them out on summit and from my first lap into the blacks and avi debri and they were very intuitive. Switched back to Katanas later on and couldn't ski any better.

They were easy to ski, loose and playful, stable bc they're long. Core layup felt good and they had great edge hold.

Skied shorter than I expected, and thinner. Felt like a 190 105 Salomon or something.

Only thing I'd change is maybe go back -1cm, I felt a little tail behind me bc 193cm and progressive mount. I could easily get used to that though. I want a pair."

Enjoy mags, I surely will. I think if you are looking for a ~110 or a versatile resort pow ski you should give these a hard look or roll the dice and just get them, it's a safe bet you'll be stoked on them.




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Thanks again for letting me try. Thinking back, I really liked them. I want