Heritage Lab R99 Comp review
Couldn’t find a thread for the R99 comp so starting this one. If there is one Marshal, I’ll delete and add this there. Others, please put your feelings/reviews in here. Lets keep the R99 Comp talk in here.
Me:5’10” 198 nekkid. Strong athletic build. Green eyes. Likes poetry, walks on the beach and sunsets.
Quick review:
Detuned the tips to the start of the side cut, started with the tails detuned from 4” then hit them again at 6”. Much better but may need a little more.
This ski fixes the floppy tip of the AM that I really dislike. The Comp is noticeably stiffer in the tip, they are very planted and allow you to drive them through any type of debris without deflection or other ill effects.
Underfoot they are the same flex, the tail feels slightly stiffer from the AM which I am absolutely fine with.
I have not weighed them, maybe Marshal can add that but they are heavy, esp with all metal 916’s. You don’t really notice it on the snow, mainly hanging from the chair.
Groomers:
Oh man, just send it. They crave speed and make insane speeds feel sane. Lay trenches as well. They will get loose with some input and allow you to shut them down without doing anything weird. They prefer that 24m TR and larger but can be bent into smaller ones with some direct input, best be ready for the rebound tho.
Soft corn:
Just haul ass through it and smile the entire time.
Mashed potatoes:
Pressure the tips and plow through with confidence. The tails wanted to hang up a little but I think I need to tweek the detune and that will go away. It wasn’t bad per se, they just wanted to stay in the turn a little longer. They just don’t care about potatoes.
Bumps:
Didn’t take them into any so no idea. They feel like they will be more of a slip the bumps then carve them.
All in all this ski rips and feels like the race ski it is. They are damp but no overly done. Strong technical skiers or bigger heavier guys, still with proper form will love this ski, I know I do with just one day on them. Guys who aren’t so or like to heal push their turns will have a learning curve on this ski. For fun I tried to ski it with a more heel push style and it slapped me upside the face and back into the front of the boot where I belong.
This ski reminds me on the Monster 98 but not so locked into one turn shape and maybe a bit softer in the tip and tail, been a while since being on that ski. It is stiffer than say an LP 105.
In summary, it’s exactly what I was hoping for and more so than the AM build, which is still a really great ski as I skied them back to back.
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Heritage Lab R99 Comp review
I mounted them on the line. They feel really balanced there. Plenty of tip to drive and not a ton of tail. -12.5 seemed like there wasn’t much tail back there by my scientific stand on them in socks on the carpet method.
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Heritage Lab R99 Comp review
Chewed up all the powder on Mt Hood today with my bigass C132s, so tomorrow’s R99 day. I feel like I’m going to the playground to show off a new toy.
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Heritage Lab R99 Comp review
Me: 6’8” 190lbs, 29.5 boot, been skiing for around 40 years
Skis: 188cm R99 Comp, mounted at -12.5 cm for 335mm BSL, no detune
Conditions: 20 deg F, 10/10 groom, 27” of shredded, sun and wind affected fresh snow off piste at Mt Hood Meadows
I started the day with a quick feeler run on the bunny lift, to shake off the slop I’ve acquired from skiing upright on decambered and reverse cambered skis for the whole season. Took a minute to get the forward stance back, and stop getting locked into turns. Knees to skis, my friends, knees to skis! All the lifts were running so I took a chair to the top of the area.
Off piste
First run was on a wind affected, sastrugi riddled bowl with no tracks. The “powder” was set up enough that I could lay trenches all the way down the 35 degree face, carefully avoiding bigger, but punchable sastrugi, and though it was technical for me in that I was still having to actively work to keep a forward stance, the skis cut through the set up, variable surface like a knife through butter.
The next ridge opened up into some relatively untracked, not wind affected, but heavy powder, and I definitely found myself having to keep my speed up, bounce and unweight turns, to stay in the game. Slowing down, meant submarining and stopping. What I would expect from a skinny (for me) ski with camber and not much rocker. It was good. I would like to try them out in deeper, fresher, softer snow, just to see how it goes.
The runout to Heather Canyon right now is all traverse tracks and little rollers that will rattle your fillings out. Not my favorite, but it was fine, and 100x nicer on these than it was yesterday on the C132. Skied a mogul or 50, which threw me off my game a bit. I ended up just straight-lining and absorbing the path of least resistance. Will try again with feeling during slush bump season.
I skied a couple of steep, really chopped up bowls for shits and giggles, and was no match for the weight and consistency of the snow, had to slow down, muscle up, and resort to billy goating down. Probably not my ski of choice for that terrain (YMMV), but man can they hold an edge. I hit more than a few patches of partially iced over sun crust and they calmed my panic right down with unshakable stability. Just don’t let your legs get the best of you and the skis will do the rest.
I skied no trees. I didn’t want to unconsciously lean back, lock into a turn, and eat tree.
On piste
Leg weary from the terrain, I decided to do some groomer hot laps on the upper mountain, and I concur that here they absolutely shine. Super comfortable and rock solid at speed, and easy as hell to shut down. This is what I was looking for in this ski, and now I can thin the herd a little (goodbye, 194cm Kastle M98, and Dynastar LP105), because the quiver slot is filled.
Being unnaturally tall, I try to get the longest skis I can find, to meet the demands of my high center of gravity. Although these are on the short end of my acceptable range (they’re my shortest skis), the longer effective edge, greater stiffness, and the ski shape check all the boxes. I wouldn’t go any further forward on the mount, personally, but maybe take that with a grain of salt, if you’re not built like a treant.
Looking forward to spring skiing at mach looney on the Palmer glacier.
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