Scott P3 review

[dfinn]

Scott P3 184
120/84/108mm
17m turn radius

Me : 5'11", 230 lbs.

Picked these up new off of SAC for $100. I figured for that price it was hard to go wrong. I mounted them up with PX12 bindings (another SAC purchase) mounted at the line.

Today was my first day out on these. I was pleasantly surprised. They are marketed as a park ski but they feel pretty damn stiff to me. They have excellent edge hold, that was the first thing I noticed. They are way more "turny" than my explosives but that was to be expected. The explosives are the only skis I've really been on so it was interesting to try something with a little more sidecut. For an every day, firm conditions EC ski I think this is going to work out very well. They have alot of snap to them, pretty quick edge-to-edge. They feel plenty stable at speed.

The only thing I didn't like is that they are kind of squirmy when pointing them on a firm surface. I never experienced this problem with my wizards and I don't really like it. I'm not sure yet whether this is due to the factory tune or due to the fact that the bindings are mounted on the line and could probably be moved back some. If I can get this sorted out I think I will be really happy with these.

Warning, this review comes from someone who's pretty new to skiing so take this with a grain of salt.

[Bandit Man]

Scott P3 184
120/84/108mm
17m turn radius

The only thing I didn't like is that they are kind of squirmy when pointing them on a firm surface. I never experienced this problem with my wizards and I don't really like it.

These have a lot more shape/sidecuts than Exploders, which is likely what is contributing to the sensation you mention when trying to point them on firm surfaces. It's pretty typical for skis with a lot of shape and not a lot of metal in the lay-up.

[mountain_man]

A new tune might help to get rid of some of the squrliesness, detune tips and tails, 1deg base beval, 88 on the sidewalls. Thats what i run on my every day/park skis in Australia (similar conditions to EC, low snowfall and wet snow, bumps and groomers mostly ice.) Sounds like a bargin for $100 wish i could have got a pair off sac. its good to hear that scott is building respectable skis, (there first/second seasons in production they made some shockers)thanks for the reveiw.

[dfinn]

These have a lot more shape/sidecuts than Exploders, which is likely what is contributing to the sensation you mention when trying to point them on firm surfaces. It's pretty typical for skis with a lot of shape and not a lot of metal in the lay-up.

would moving the bindings back help or is this just something I need to get used to?

[kidwoo]

would moving the bindings back help or is this just something I need to get used to?

It's just the sidecut. Unlike a snowboard where you've got one large mass your weight is distributed on, little variations in weighting between your feet bring out a little squirreliness on the 4 edges involved. As said, explosivs are pretty straight so you never got that. Just keep turning/keep them on edge........you'll actually get used to it and ignore/out technique it.

[Tri-Ungulate]

Scott P3 184
120/84/108mm
17m turn radius

Me: 5'8", 140#, 36 years skiing, 16 on tele.

I'm not a park skier, but I occasionally like to mess around with jumps 'n shit, and at a c-note, I figured I couldn't go too wrong with the P3s. I mounted my SAC pair last night with 22Designs Hammerheads (position 3). Kinda voodoo mounted since tele mounts are a bit different than alpine, though after measuring all the permutations, I ended up putting 'em only about a cm behind the alpine bootcenter line for the middle of my boot (27.5 Crispi CXU). A very, very central mount, with a bunch more tail showing than I'm used to, but hey, I bought 'em for goofing around, so I figured might as well mount 'em like park skis.

Today I took them out at Alta and the 'Bird, almost all high speed groomers, and fucking around with spins and fakie on the flatter parts of the mountain. No snow recently, so firmish, icy and thin conditions throughout, especially by Ootah standards. No pipe or big air or rails or such, either.

I was very pleasantly surprised with them. Very stiff for park skis and reasonably damp at speed. Surprisingly playful everywhere else, and a lot of fun to maneuver with. Even though they're fairly heavy, they have a nice swingweight, and turn on a dime, as would be expected with a 17m turn radius and a central mount. But even though I didn't expect them to be super straightliners, they held a line well at speed for me, maybe because I weigh less than dfinn. I was skiing with a pretty fast crew, (including a former US teamer towards the end of the day), and even though they were not quite as solid as the bigger-radius skis in the quiver, I never really felt like I was overgunning the P3s. This stability at speed was a bit unexpected for me, but really makes them much more versatile in my book. I can now see how guys like Will Burks can still rip it up on "parklike" skis like the Rossi Scratch FS, with which the P3 has a lot in common, though I believe the P3 is stiffer. Almost the perfect skis for me on days when we haven't had recent fresh snow, I think they'll be a lot of fun this season.

[El Chupacabra]

Echoing Tri-U and dfinn's reviews above -- been out on my S&C Scott P3s the last several days. These are a lot of fun -- turny, stable at speed, little wandery feeling straightlining; just keep them on a bit of edge, and they're stable enough.

I haven't been on a ski with this much sidecut in awhile -- makes groomers fun, since that's all we have in Tahoe right now. Bases seem pretty durable too. Guess that's an added bonus of these being park skis.

I mounted these P3s on the line with old Look TTC bindings. The mount point is pretty far forward, but I guess that's a given because of their design.

[Sirshredalot]

They're up on SAC for $150 right now. I just bought a pair because I'm a dirty slut.