The Official Salomon AK Swallowtail Review

[mc_roon]

i mounted my old orange ones on the line. I used it purely for a pow ski and couldnt be happier. I dont know what that equates to on this new one though, but it looks like the new mount line that cirquerides points out

[Kimono]

I'm sure everyone has been following the Snow Reports at Whistler this year with 416cm in November to start the year off right and 875cm total as of last night.... Truly a magnificant year for the Swallowtails... I have 6 pairs of 188cm+ skis in the quiver and during 2 weeks of skiing over the Xmas break I spent 10 days on the AKs ... set up with Freerides I can't say enough about these skis...
To be honest I found this thread looking for another pair as a backup if anything happens to my current pair.... They're that good....
Without exaggeration these skis handle any soft snow conditions from 50+ degree deep snow to high speed lines in tracked pow to shorter radius turns in the trees... I'm more comfortable hucking on these skis than anything else I own...
Cool ability to "carve" through powder at speed with all the shape to the ski and to come right out of the snow through a turn given the light weight... Ski can also be surfed like a 100MM+ ski....
Generally sucks on the groomers but who cares

Question... I'm skiing the orange top sheet version is there any changes with the Black/green more recent skis??

[MrDirt]

Question... I'm skiing the orange top sheet version is there any changes with the Black/green more recent skis??

All of the newer ones are wood core, though there is a possibility that yours are too.

[leroy jenkins]

Generally sucks on the groomers but who cares

Question... I'm skiing the orange top sheet version is there any changes with the Black/green more recent skis??

Whaddayatalkingbout? I love the way these things carve. Sure, they're not "snappy". You actually have to work to get them to turn, but not much. Just get a bit of speed, and you can carve super hard gs turns, and almost slalom turns on em. The edge hold is great, and I can even get a decent amount of rebound out of mine.

And yea, as was said before, all the newer skis are wood core, but the old "Lab" versions were too.

[Jim S]

Just got mine mounted up and tuned yesterday.

[El Chupacabra]

Whaddayatalkingbout? I love the way these things carve. Sure, they're not "snappy". You actually have to work to get them to turn, but not much. Just get a bit of speed, and you can carve super hard gs turns, and almost slalom turns on em. The edge hold is great, and I can even get a decent amount of rebound out of mine.

I thought the edge hold on hardpack was craptastic. Then again, I didn't mess with the factory tune, which wasn't very sharp...

So far this year, my AK Rockets have seen precisely 0 days of use. (Not counting remounting with Freerides as a "day of use.") This snow season sucks so far.

[altasnowbirdripper]

I’m on my third pair and I can say this ski flat out rocks! I didn’t always feel that way about them, though. I found out that being a 6’0” 210lbs skier made the tips dive in lighter powder. I had the cursed tip dive problem! After two pairs of AK Swallows and still more tip dining in lighter powder I sold my AK Swallows for a pair of 05 Volkl Gotama's. Bomber ski! Loved them. Then found this forum review and it seems that heavier (180lbs & up) skiers with their AK Swallows mounted at the forward “dot” mark would experience the tip dive problem. Hmmmm. Sold the Gotama’s – bought a pair of 06 Swallowtails. As for the debated mounting point, I would say that if you are a heavier or harder charger, go to the rearward line mount as suggested by Cirquerider on the previous page. Problem solved & a big THANK YOU for the input from Cirquerider & the experienced skiers in TGR Forums. The way these skis can cruise down long groomers or crank out snappy quick turns at a moments notice is just damn fun. But the first time and you get into powder and you feel the tails dip and you find that you are in more of a forward attack position and can ski the steep & deep more aggressively than you could have imagined?? One word: SUBLIME! My quiver consists of 06 Volkl Karma 185, 06 Salomon Gun Lab, 06 Salomon AK Swallowtail, 07 S-Lab GS 185 (waiting patiently to be mounted). The AK Swallow's still get a little more snow time than the others. Arguably the perfect resort powder ski.

[CaddyDaddy77]

Anyone on the 06-07 ones, grey-green and white topsheet? Got a nice line on a pair but wondering if they will fold like old Pocket's. Broke two pair sold the second set of replacements. Know that he core is different, but have yet to hear a true negative. Big kid, 6'4" 240.

???

[Sensisnow]

Anyone on the 06-07 ones, grey-green and white topsheet? Got a nice line on a pair but wondering if they will fold like old Pocket's. Broke two pair sold the second set of replacements. Know that he core is different, but have yet to hear a true negative. Big kid, 6'4" 240.

???

I don't know about the 06/07 model, but I haven't had any problems with my orange/black (05/06?) models and I'm 6'5" 240.

[Bandit Man]

Broke two pair sold the second set of replacements.

You broke two pairs of Pocket Rockets or AK Swallows? Just curious...

[CaddyDaddy77]

You broke two pairs of Pocket Rockets or AK Swallows? Just curious...

Of the noodles, Robots and all. Bent the tails of the first pair with about 8 days on them. Landed backseat, expected to eject got bucked, roled and skied out of it, tails were 1.5"-2" negative. 2nd broke just in front of the binding. Thought I had a link here, but can't find it, foam shot out he sides. Neat.

Think I'm committing to a pair this next week when I get paid.

[Jim S]

Finally got on mine on some groomers, mild hardpack, and some !@#$ spring corn in February today, a few bump runs.

I love these skis. They are easy to turn , fast, tails got hung a bit in the bumps but it's my first day on them and they are 194cm.

Hopefully this weekend I can put them in the pow but I'm counting on no precip and temps in the 60s.

[team ftb]

Are these ok for my midget ass? 5'6" 140, charge but I use speed more than power for bending my skiis to turn.

I'm on 174 Apache Chiefs and I would like:
A. More Float
B. More heavy crud bashing ability. They get bounced and deflected too much.
C. The same or similiar quick turning ability

I demoed 185 Nordica Blowers that were decent but because of the severe snow shortage in the sierras they did not get a fair test. I found they turned quickly, had more shoulders to plow through stuff than my Chiefs but seemed real heavy.

Would the Swallowtail work in my situation?

[Bandit Man]

Hmm...that's a tough one. If you could handle the 185 blowers, the AK's will be a heck of a lot easier to ski. They can be thrown around like a 185, but handle crud and pow nicely, especially if you are <200 lbs. I've got 40 lbs. on you and find them a very manageable resort ski of mixed conditions/soft snow use.

[team ftb]

I could handle the Blowers, the downside for me was that they seemed to wear out my skinny legs . They railed through what little crud I could find (damn light snow season) and were better on the soft snow groomers than the Chiefs. I just noticed it took a lot more strength and effort for my 140 pounds to squeak the most from. But I loved the ride and performance.

Do the AK's have the same crud snow ability with less effort required?

[MrDirt]

Considering the nature of this thread, I think it would be appropriate to post that I'm selling my AK swallows. Check the gear swap. $315 shipped OBO!

[vtdownhiller]

I skied my swallows for 3 days over the blizzard, great ski for inbounds, in AK last season I skied my spats, then took out the swallows and must say the spats are the ticket for big mountain no effort turns...but the swallows carve nice and turn quick, even for east coast trees

[team ftb]

Considering the nature of this thread, I think it would be appropriate to post that I'm selling my AK swallows. Check the gear swap. $315 shipped OBO!

Hence my question being asked.

[Bandit Man]

I could handle the Blowers, the downside for me was that they seemed to wear out my skinny legs . They railed through what little crud I could find (damn light snow season) and were better on the soft snow groomers than the Chiefs. I just noticed it took a lot more strength and effort for my 140 pounds to squeak the most from. But I loved the ride and performance.

Do the AK's have the same crud snow ability with less effort required?

I haven't been on the Blowers (yet) so I cannot compare there, but the AK's do have a nice balance between pure pow and variable snow performance. Not the same crud busting as say an Explosiv (which I have skied extensively), but much easier to ski all around. The AK's have a wide but somewhat soft tip that does more absorbing vs. plowing through heavy snow, yet the length of the ski and shovel allow the ski to stay on target, if that makes any sense.

I just got some 185 Blowers mounted, so hopefully before the end of the weekend, I'll have a valid comparison, especially because it is nuking right now...

[vtdownhiller]

I find that with the sidecut and soft tip that the rocket can turn a quick edge, it is good in unbroken soft snow, the exagerated sidecut can be sluggish on groomers without speed, in deep snow you can ski it weight forward and the tail really sinks when you need it to, all in all, pound for pound it is the best all-around pow ski out there, great to take out when you don't know what you'll be skiing

[MrDirt]

Hence my question being asked.

I'll make you a good deal so you can buy them and find out.

[ulty_guy]

Anyone ski these and 180 exploders? Are these a big step up from those?

[team ftb]

I just got some 185 Blowers mounted, so hopefully before the end of the weekend, I'll have a valid comparison, especially because it is nuking right now...

I'd love to hear your feedback comparing the strengths and weaknesses relative to each other.

Is there anybody close to my wieght (140) on these things out there?

[Bandit Man]

Anyone ski these and 180 exploders? Are these a big step up from those?

I own both. I'd say that the AK's ski about the same or easier than my 180 White Wizards, even with the 195 length.

[Bandit Man]

I find that with the sidecut and soft tip that the rocket can turn a quick edge, it is good in unbroken soft snow, the exagerated sidecut can be sluggish on groomers without speed, in deep snow you can ski it weight forward and the tail really sinks when you need it to, all in all, pound for pound it is the best all-around pow ski out there, great to take out when you don't know what you'll be skiing

Totally agree with all those points...