Coomba

[thd]

So the 188 will be close to skis in the low 190s, like a Sanouk? I'm looking for a pair of skis to team up with Dynafits for a new touring rig, sounds like these would be a good option.

Any of the Cham mags know if these are in stores there yet? Going down for 2 weeks in easter, would be nice to save the VAT


Teletori, how bad are the conditions in your area now? I have a planned trip to the area a bit north of Stranda this weekend, but the weather reports look grim. Any nice snow to be found touring, or has it been too warm even at higher elevations?

[Teletori]

I live quite a bit further south of Stranda, so dont know about conditions around Stranda.

Down here we had a good thaw, and then it froze. The snow lately have come with a lot of wind, so I think hard crust with pockets of soft is the norm down here.

[blissard]

Teletori, how bad are the conditions in your area now? I have a planned trip to the area a bit north of Stranda this weekend, but the weather reports look grim. Any nice snow to be found touring, or has it been too warm even at higher elevations?

Strandafjellet, last weekend:

Snow coverage is good, and it was possible to find some good stashes of snow, especially in the trees and where the wind hadn't done a lot of work. Expect a lot of windblown patches though. Touring conditions should be quite good, weather and visibility permitting.

The snow report for Strandafjellet says 20cm fresh today, and it looks like it is still snowing. Snow is forecast for thursday aswell. Forecast for the weekend is uncertain, but will probably remain mild.

It's snowing outside of my office window aswell.

[thd]

Sweet

Looks like 5-6 hours of driving is on for me friday night...

[AK Rev]

Hello all. First post on the forum for me. The Coombas are fascinating. I have been a long time fan of Coombs although I never got to meet him. What a pioneer and awesome skier he was. I've been looking for some good video footage of him. Any suggestions?

My main reason for posting is that I wondered if anyone had an update or ski report on these Coombas? Who is thinking of getting a set and what bindings are you considering? I have thought about putting Naxo's on them.

Also, can someone explain to me the construction of these skis and how they are so much lighter than other off piste models like the Seth, etc? I'm currently using K2 PE's at 174 (on piste) and would like to get the Coombas in 181 or 188 length. Thanks in advance.

[Jumper Bones]

Holy shit, a JONG who not only posted in the right forum, but did a search for the proper thread too, instead of creating their own...

you, sir, deserve a gold medal! Welcome JONG!

[GBB]

And I might add that his post was entirely coherent and even intelligent.

[AK Rev]

Well, I don't know what a JONG is but that must be me...probably something like a noob I would guess. Thanks for the welcome. I really like TGR's videos so I figured I would give their forums a try.

[Jumper Bones]

search around, you might find out what a JONG is...but you've got a strong showing already, so keep on keepin' on. Umm, for vids, I would definitely recommend checking out The Waiting Game, from Wink Inc - probably last year's best ski flick. Coombs has a big seggie of climbing and skiing the Grand.

As for the skis, I wish I knew more and could be more helpful, but I can't...but yes it does look like a solid BC ski.

[AK Rev]

I looked around and most of the jong stuff I saw looked, um, not so good. Whatever. I'm just here to learn what I can't find elsewhere.

Thanks for the heads up on the vids. I have the Anamoly video with the tribute segment. Also, Powder had a nice tribute article to him and Chad recently. I emailed his Steeps website to get their video. That should be good too.

It's pretty cool living next to the Chugach (5 miles from the house) and wondering where all he has been around here. When I first started skiiing a number of years ago, I remember reading about him, Scot Schmidt and Glen Plake. Now that I'm getting back into it, the world has changed for sure. All of the BC booter footage is interesting but I still prefer the natural lines of guys like Seth Morrison.

[thd]

Teletori, any first impressions?

[ChowdahRidah]

The idea of a light ski seems strange to me. Great for BC but will they stand up to abuse? Will they be as damp? Do they get easily deflected? I guess this is the same for AT and tele skis. How do they compare to a full-on alpine ski?

[AK Rev]

Those are my questions as well. FWIW, I was corresponding with Liz Oakes (co-manager of Coombs' Steep Camps) and she really likes the Coombas. Recently Seth Morrison said he really enjoyed them mounted at +4. They are probably not be the holy grail do-it-all ski but most of us are not looking for that anyway. Sounds like they are a new design vs. a reskin.

[Teletori]

Got some PMs about how they ski, so I just include here one of my answers to that:

They are pretty soft, so they are not a "charge" ski, but a really predictable ski for cruising around.

I bought them for touring, where I find all sorts of snow, I wanted a ski that were soft enough to throw around at low speed and steeper stuff. Also a tapered ski with not much sidecut so they dont hang up and are predictable to ski on different snow.

I only have 2 pow days on them, and obviously they rocked in that. I was inbounds and skied a bit fast, and they were really good as long as you knew how to skied them. I am normally on a lot stiffer skis, and when I forgot that and turned "normal" they threw around a lot faster than I am used to.

Tried them on some hard groomers and some ice, where the snow had blown off. They were predictable but you could not push them much before the edge released, but they released smoothly over to a skid, so just what I wanted.

FYI, I am 6'1 and 200lbs

Will fill in more when I get to ski them more

[vertigo]

Got some PMs about how they ski, so I just include here one of my answers to that:


Will fill in more when I get to ski them more

i've just done (part of) the season in la grave. there's some guys skiing coombas there as pelle lange has a few pairs (i think all mounted with freerides), and some of the guides use them. They're very light, and feel very soft too, but everyone i've spoken to who has skied them has liked them. But bear in mind they were all guides, skiing guide-style (i.e. slow and in control). From what i've seen/heard they're not really a ski for charging too hard on.

[Hicks]

Have recently flexed a pair in a Verbier shop - very soft. I can imagine they excell in pow but due to the flex not a ski I would consider buying. But that's just me.

[AK Rev]

I've got a pair here to set up with my NX21's. I think they flex similar to my AK swallowtails or my #2 flex Lotus 120's. Now I haven't skied them but that was just my intial impression.

Skiing guide style...I can appreciate that as I'm slow and sometimes in control.

[skinnyskier]

So the 188 will be close to skis in the low 190s, like a Sanouk? I'm looking for a pair of skis to team up with Dynafits for a new touring rig, sounds like these would be a good option.

Any of the Cham mags know if these are in stores there yet? Going down for 2 weeks in easter, would be nice to save the VAT

There was a pair in Cham this week and you're there- did you buy them?

Good coverage above 2000m, by the way.

[thd]

There was a pair in Cham this week and you're there- did you buy them?

Good coverage above 2000m, by the way.

I saw one pair, but sadly not in a shop. Skirack outside Chambre Neuf mounted with red Solly binders I think - maybe the same you saw?

I ended up with a pair of 193 Scott Pures instead, perhaps not the ski most often mounted with dynafits. Not that light either But I was anxious to get something wider mounted for touring and I didn't really find alot of other options that were more appealing. Will try this out for the spring season back here in Norway, then we'll see. Bindings can always be moved, skis redrilled. Scotts seemed nice after 4 days skiing them down there, but I'm still getting used to the new boots (Spirit 4s) so hard to give a verdict on them...

[skinnyskier]

I think I saw them on the rack in Snell Sports, or the other one on that street, maybe Coquoz. So many shops in that town they kinda blur together.

[72Twenty]

Just browsing K2's site today - how come they don't have the Coomba on their website?

[cj001f]

I think I saw them on the rack in Snell Sports, or the other one on that street, maybe Coquoz. So many shops in that town they kinda blur together.

Snell might have had one. The shop near90 intersection of the road snell's is on and the one coming from the tram had a pair.

[thd]

I guess I missed out then. Maybe I was in the wrong days... I went through all the shops I know (within afterskied walking distance ), looked, asked. Maybe next year.

72Twenty: K2's site is not updated from this season, Coomba is an 08 model.

[cdlv]

al's ski barn has them

[thd]

Getting it from an internet shop is no problem in europe either, TP and Conrad has it.

My problem was that I wanted this ski, but wouldn't order until I knew the size of my AT boots (didn't expect lots of adjustment possibilities from a Dynafit binding) - which I bought in Chamonix. Of course I could have waited and bought the skis for later, but I wanted some new sticks when I was down there for 2 weeks...

Anyway I'm quite happy with the Pures now. Went touring yesterday and got a 3500' vert run with spring snow, doing big gs turns all the way down. The weight wasn't that bad either on the way up - the rig is actually lighter than my old Big Stix 84/FR setup I think I'll probably remount them with alpine binders for next season though. Question then is, do I mount the dynafit bindings on a) a pair of sanouks I have lying here or b) buy a coomba...or a bro...or something else...