Originally Posted by
iriponsnow
Welcoming ya'll into my headspace: I think the pendulum has swung a lil too far to the wide side & now has the opportunity to come back. Several seasons ago I designed a ski for (Insert TGR Brand here that shall remain nameless....) and was laughed at. The owner of the company told me that I would ruin his cred if he produced a skinny ski. I offered em 60K to produce a run with the stipulation that I own the mold and product. They could rent the mold from me in the future if the decided to press more. They declined, added 1-2mm to the build & sold out of the ski early in the season. Then I connected with Cyrus from Renoun and got the opportunity to redeisign the Atlas 80 - basic premise was a carvy ski w/ a freeride tip that would not deflect at speed once the piste was cut up. It skis well & delivered as designed - Yet Renoun wants to keep 80mm as the minimum width for now & has experienced a change of ownership. I'm currently doing some stuff with Original Plus - these are premium build Augment / RBVD pedigree skis that do a fantastic railing a la Head / Volkl, yet demand a committed pilot and have a highly prescribed radius.
Enter testing for the rc85, the tail is perfect for hi speed releases & slashes, the shape is refined thanks to MO & it rips! It's just a hair too wide for the technical skiing. Ergo the rc70. I see this ski as the low tide solution & at the same time optimized for being in a crossover boot. I don't really feel like dragging my plug boots out just to tear up groomers. I could see this ski going for pivoty stuff w. an AAAtack or Pivot binding or tossing a plate / lifter for higher edge angles. HL also has the ability to offer production runs of ~10 or so.
Additionally, I'm routinely coaching FIS kids & adults, so I'd like to have HL be showcased when I'm work'n. Think of it as the most un Austrian/Swiss technical ski you can buy!!