Bro Softie: EC Review

[schuss]

First, the vitals. I'm 5'10", 175 lbs, like long walks on the beach and ski badly.

Took out my bro's for their cherry-bustin' today, and thank god it actually snowed for once. Rode on em for a few hours before busting out the beater tree sticks, so these are essentially from about 3 hours worth of riding them.

First Impressions: superlight, wonderfully consistent flex, thirsty base. As I made my first turns I noticed that they are extraordinarily light on the feet, and don't tax the legs nearly as much as my heavy ass K2 mod x pros (read: 70mm waist and f'ing metal). Killington had just got some fresh (6-ish inches in places), so I was able to try it in the full gamut of conditions. So I'll go through them, from worst to best.

Ice: these are 99mm waisted skis. They don't like ice. That's about all there is to say about that. It might be a bit easier in the stiffs, but steep ice caused it to chatter when put on edge. Might also be my gaper technique. You have to ski these full throttle all the time, so be aware when you pick em up.

Hardpack: Not bad at all. They don't carve, but who cares? I'm running a lifter on mine, and to put them over on edge was to make a veeerrryyyy long turn. These things love to GS turn and go straight everywhere. No easy short turns on these beasts. If you do want to play on hardpack, make sure you have room to run, as they really don't like playing "stop short for stupid person cutting across your path".

Cut up snow and crud: blasts through it like it isn't there. This is where the ski starts to shine, as my morning started off with hardpack, ice and some soft moguls (note: I HATE moguls). Got onto a trail with some cut up pow and absolutely steamrolled it beautifully. These things love soft snow as much as we do. Screw the pain train, these things are the freight train in the crud.

Untracked: Got very little of this, but they just fly. That's about all there is to say about that.

Quickness: these skis are VERY quick for skis of their size, and even mogul-hater schuss was able to toss them around nicely enough, save for one thing...... These things love to go straight.After blowing through a few soft moguls mistakenly, I figured out that you don't really need to turn these in any soft conditions, as they'll blow through about anything without batting an eye. Both I and Mtn. Man (Who shares the same boot sole length) were have great fun straightlining and GS turning through the fresh mogul field and bewildering onlookers. These skis can get sideways, but that's not really the point of them, as they just blast through everything. Aren't too bad in trees either, despite their size. They also make you think you're going slower than you are, until you almost steamroll a ski school filled with small children at mach loony+1.

So, overall, its a quick and light little ride that will blow through anything, provided you're going straight or almost straight. Good job guys.
Rating: Huzzah!

PS: the bases are hard, but not invincible, be aware.

[Vets]

Once you get the skis a little more dialed in you will probably find that they will do short turns well without too much effort. A little more forward pressure combined with rolling the ski on edge will bring the ski around quickly at any speed. Enjoy the Bros!

[schuss]

yep, I could see the startings of that, but I'm used to my lazy x-scream and K2 ways (ie, roll ankle, turn, repeat). They are great on hardpack for such a fat ski, but they are not a hardpack ski. I didn't take them in the trees too much as I'm still protective of them and today's coverage was sketchy at best.

[splat]

Oh, they'll carve up a storm. What they won't do is allow you to smear the tail around in a turn. That's when they chatter.

Up on edge, press forward, flex the ski, and command the Bros to turn. They will obey.

[schuss]

Oh, they'll carve up a storm. What they won't do is allow you to smear the tail around in a turn. That's when they chatter.

Up on edge, press forward, flex the ski, and command the Bros to turn. They will obey.

told you I was a gaper. I did that a few times, but it's rather hard with the killington pinball crowds to find the nice opening to run em. As I said today "a better ski than I am a skier"

[glademaster]

I'd love to try both the softs and the stiffs. Even though I'm little, getting back on my race boards (165cm slalom skis, very long for a modern slalom stick) after a week in Utah on my longer boards, short skis just plain suck. I don't think I'll ever ski anything shorter than 180cm, they just aren't fun. Nice review.

[schuss]

I'd love to try both the softs and the stiffs. Even though I'm little, getting back on my race boards (165cm slalom skis, very long for a modern slalom stick) after a week in Utah on my longer boards, short skis just plain suck. I don't think I'll ever ski anything shorter than 180cm, they just aren't fun. Nice review.

yeah, the most notable thing about these is that they have the stability and speed potential of a long ski, but under the feet they feel super short and quick. I was amazed at my own ability to flip them around as fast as my 165 Candides (or almost as quick).

[splat]

26.5 meters.

[schuss]

Part 2: the update or how I came to stop being a wussy and love the bombers

Since my last trip on the bro's was only for a few hours, I knew they needed some attention. They looked at me forlornly from their post at the top of my basement stairs, making me feel guilty. So with the coming storm, I waxed em and hoped for the best, heading to K for what I thought would be a 6 inch day.

I was very wrong about the snow amount, as there was 12-18+ all over the place. So, onto the updated review.

Conditions: ice, chalk windbuff ice, hardpack, crud, cut up pow, pow

After heeding splats advice about pointin' em and skiin' em hard, I decided to just go for it on this glorious powder day. Started off on North star, which is a steepish mogul run, and it was entirely soft bumps when I skied it. I went straight or did GS turns, and the bro's did not flinch one bit. My quads were on fire, but the bro's just kept steaming. I have yet to find the speed limit of these skis. They love to straight line everything, and it was hard not to, as they lead to dangerous bouts of giggling like a cracked out schoolgirl while mystifying the bumpers as to why this person would freight train through their pretty bumps. This I already knew and discussed about the bro's, and they were nothing but better in the deeper snow and larger volumes of crud. So, onto the new things.

1. Ice- They will actually grip on ice, just turns out I was too wussy on em last time. They don't grip well, but they are very livable (and keep in mind this is EC ice, as in glare)
2. Hardpack/chalky windbuff- destroys it. You can just lay these over and fly. It's a cool feeling
3. Deep crud- again, destroys it. I couldn't tell that I was going through cut up or cruddy stuff, as the bro's felt rock-solid the whole way through a turn, no matter what I was plowing through.
4. Deeper powder (knee-waist deep)- These are weapons of massive powder destruction. The float is excellent, but you never feel like you lose any point of contact or any control, as they are very agile, even in the pow. Straightlining will replace crack as your addiction of choice with these.

and finally, the real surprise....
5. Trees/Deep trees- last time I put these away midday for the tree sticks, this time I kept em on just to see what it was like. I never felt like taking them off. Despite the size, these skis were able to navigate tight EC trees excellently, and managed to never feel plankish or awkward doing it. Their light weight means you can toss em around at will, and they'll just float and turn on a dime in the trees. Truly magical to feel and do. You do have to muscle them a bit, but the bro's are not skis to be lazy with, as they will make you ski well.

Truly a class-act, these bro's. Not only did they survive the trees, they were tree rockets, making you go a bit faster and smoother through the woods. In addition, base gouging was minimal, despite repeated scrapings and a few stump ejections. I cannot find anything wrong with these skis that more muscle in my legs wouldn't solve (I'm kinda lazy and didn't do any preseason training... whoops). They feel smaller than they are where you need them to, but retain the stability and versatility of a long ski. Revised Rating:

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

so... is > Huzzah! (?)

sweet. not being able to ski on these (or anything else for that matter) this winter, I'm 100% living vicariously through these reports. I'm so stoked you dig 'em Schuss. thanks.

[marshalolson]

165cm slalom skis, very long for a modern slalom stick

just so you know, 165cm is FIS minimum for a slalom ski, as in, you can't ski FIS w/ anything shorter.

[WHISKA]

just so you know, 165cm is FIS minimum for a slalom ski, as in, you can't ski FIS w/ anything shorter.

but since it's a new regulation, he prolly doesnt know aboooot it.

[schuss]

so... is > Huzzah! (?)

sweet. not being able to ski on these (or anything else for that matter) this winter, I'm 100% living vicariously through these reports. I'm so stoked you dig 'em Schuss. thanks.

in my opinion yes. My only fear is that I will not want to stop skiing them in the woods, and I will hurt my pretties. That would make the schuss cry.