Non Blister Faction La Machine takes

[Skaramanga]

I had no idea that WNDR went bust. I saw that $200 sale of new skis a few months ago and thought it was interesting.
Silly forum emoji bug: I suppose you're referring to the Line Vision One One Eight? Actually, two years ago I got a cheap used pair of those with the intention of turning them into my dedicated pow ski, but I ended up doing a catch and release thing with them. They were too center mounted and not very tapered.
Thanks for the info. I'll look into the HL offerings!

[altacoup]

No, Line redesigned the vision line up to basically be lighter softer flexing versions of their optic line up. The one fourteen vision has even more rocker than the one fourteen optic and that ski is phenomenal in pow.

[Skaramanga]

Thanks for the info.

Well, I ended up scoring a pair of the Max skis by trading in a pair I didn't use much. These are THICC! I’ll try to post pictures later this week, but the camber on the latest model is very, very minimal, maybe 1mm. I like that. That contradicts some of the stuff I’ve read online. Some say they have 7mm of camber, but that definitely doesn’t seem to be the case with my pair. I guess with such a niche ski there's just not going to be much info out there!

[greasyslope]

^What length did you get Skaramanga? I’ve been looking for some 192s.

Good to hear about the minimal camber, although not sure what that means for other pairs?

[Skaramanga]

I got the 186cm ones. I put them on my cheapo scale and they came in at 1820g and 1850g. Super light for this much surface area. We will see how they ski.

I am wondering if the camber discrepancy has to do with comparing different models. The 7mm camber number comes from Blisters measurement of the 192s. Hopefully it is not a manufacturing inconsistency. Someone earlier in this thread mentioned these are made in mom and pop factories in Poland and the Czech Republic.

We will see how these play out. I have never toured on anything over 120mm before. These days my touring is either spring fitness laps on skinny skis or short, midwinter powder laps in the Wasatch. Hoping this ski fits that niche nicely.

[altacoup]

I can tell you that they feel weird on slick established skin tracks. But mine are also the full reverse. They ski great.

[skis_the_trees]

I got the 186cm ones.... I have never toured on anything over 120mm before. These days my touring is either spring fitness laps on skinny skis or short, midwinter powder laps in the Wasatch. Hoping this ski fits that niche nicely.

Nice! Thanks for noting the true weight and camber. That's about the same weight as a Volkl BMT122 although the BMTs have a lot of parabolic rocker and certainly no camber or flat area underfoot. But since finding BMTs is nearly impossible the La Machine may be a great alternative.
"Midwinter powder laps" are the perfect niche for fat (115+), moderately light powder touring skis. I use a 120+ underfoot ski for every fresh snow day I can (mostly the BMT122 or old DPS Lotus 120 Pure Carbon). ~1850g seems to be a sweet spot for weight/performance if the ski is 120mm waist and 180-190cm. Any lighter and the performance really suffers on the descent IMHO, whereas at ~1850g the boot choice becomes the determining factor and not the ski. You may break trail again on an established skin track with really fat skis! But the trade off is faster planing up on low angle slopes and making fun turns when other skiers are still submarining on their midfats. Well worth it and perfect for the high avy danger days when you can lap low to mid angle trees and still make heaps of fun turns.

One thing I've found is that a laterally tight heel and beefy toe seems to be the ticket for bindings on 120+ skis. Radical toes + SSL2 heel is great, Salomon MTN is great, in comparison Speed Radical heels are vague on fat skis.