Finally got my 191s in pow yesterday and as expected, they crushed it.
Finally got my 191s in pow yesterday and as expected, they crushed it.
That sucks dude! Hit a submerged rock on my lotus 138s the other day. Funny though, my first thought was "Damn, I'm glad I didn't bring the 191s today!"
I have to keep reminding myself that by the time I'm ready to replace the 191 Fats, I'm sure splat will have thought up another genius ski that I just can't live without.
Last edited by auvgeek; 01-24-2012 at 04:51 PM.
"Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers
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Yeah, feels like a swift kick to the balls. I imagine hitting those 138s wasn't fun either. Both the 187 and 191 bases are bomber and survived many rocks and stumps. It's my fault my skis need some fixing; I was pow hungry, knee felt kinda good and I wanted to test drive these baby's.
To stay on topic with the 191 fats. I finally caught a puny amount of air since tearing my acl in april, the 191s felt like landing gear on my feet. It's out of my league but I can only imagine these things love to stomp big airs into pow. The tips seemed to have a cushion effect
Had the pleasure of meeting Splat today in CO as he presented me with my shiny new Lhasa 191 Fats. Damn gorgeous ski! Quality is top shelf! The 183 and 187 Bros were there as well and they are tasty too. The 183 all carbon looks to be a killer touring ski. Thanks to Splat for great service! Enjoyed hanging out! Can't wait to put some binders on the 191 fats and get them on the snow! If they ski as good as they look, they will be killer!
Had a full 6 days on mine now and getting to know them well. Have now had them in some powder as well and they rocked. Yesterday I tested their speed limit and didn't find itMy only negative and it's not really one (because I didn't buy them for this) is that they are a little bit of a handful in moguls and really tight places as they are so stiff. But I'll put up with that because of how they perform over the rest of the mountain. The full carbon lay up is insane. You get such pop in the turns and in pow they are like a GS race ski ! Love them Pat.
Shame the FKS binders have broken so they are out of action for a day or so. Anyone ever seen the rivot on the heel come loose on a pivot? Flippin things pre-released at about 40mph coming along a traverse.
Good meeting up with you, ColoMike! Damn, that Denver SIA show sucks compared to the goodle daze of Vegas. Heard they had beer nazis shaking down people's booths for beer, crowd was small, vendor displays seemed half as many as Vegas would have had and it was generally kinda lackluster. But the bars were good!
MickeysEars - you should be seeing some more 191 Fat all carbons in the tram line. Did you get all the snow you asked for?
Pat - yep 60 inches just before we arrived and about 20 inches so far since we arrived. All good... you were pretty close with the 17th Jan for Tahoe snow ! Glad you got off the mark with 50 inches also. Ah there are some more in the Village hey? Have seen 10 pairs or so of 186/191 regular Lhasa Pow, but no other Fat's. Snow tomorrow hopefully so will keep my eyes peeled.
Another update.. today my skis are in at Pepi's as the FKS have broken so I took out some BMX 108 in a 188... I did like these last year but now having had the 191 Carbon FAT I really was missing my skis! I love the way you can vary the turn radius on the Bros so well and still get a clean solid carve. The 108's seem to be a little one dimensional in that they dont seem to have a great ability to vary turn radius.. yes is you crank them over they rail like the best but on much steeper terrain you want to be able to carve a different radius and they don treally like this. It's on or off.... the Bros however kill everything.. One weird aspect was the combo of the 108 and the Jester gave me serious knee ache. Went back and grabbed by dp pro+ (193cm) and they were so much better and no knee pains!
Summary - 191 Fat = best ski going and I'll use these almost everyday in USA and Europe.. very impressed Pat.
Was that you Splat or ColoMike walking around the show with the fat? Looked sexy, even from a distance. Almost yelled at you from a booth down to check em out but was showing some product so I decided it probably wasn't the best move.
Yeah, that was me or ColoMike. I had my homie Jeremy at the Wintersteiger booth do the ultimate grind and edge tune for ColoMike. I was wearing a hat, CM wasn't. Shoulda hollered anyways, we woulda hung around to shoot the shit with ya and show them off.
I've finally had a chance to ski my Fats in soft snow - 4 days of boottop to waist deep powder of many variations, and the skis performed flawlessly. I've never skied as fast or felt in so much control at speed. They behave absolutely predictable, never a nasty surprise. We've mostly been skiing in and out of moderately steep (35+ degree) trees, with a mix of tight turns and high speed bits in the open areas. I wish I could give a more nuanced description of how they are behaving but I keep getting lost in the moment. Certainly they like to go fast... the early rise is just enough to make the tips unsinkable but not enough to contribute to turn shape, so you have to get forward and work the ski to do medium or short turns. Which is great- straightlng between gaps or through tight spots feels rock solid.
They like to go fast. Doing short slow turns is fun too, but the ski won't do it for you. I'd say that the fast you go the happier they get, and that if you get in trouble the best answer is to point them downhill and go.
They do great in and on the snow, and when you fel like flying its laugably easy to pop off the tails and turn in the air or clear an obstacle.
I think the would be an awful lot of ski for an intermediate skier. They make powder super easy and fun if you already know how to ski it, but a beginner who tries to ski them from the back seat by muscling them around would be quite sad. That sort of skier should be looking at somethig with tail rocker and lots of sidecut like the DPS 112RP.
I should point out I have one of the first, I-beam stiff pairs. It sounds like they are coming out softer now, which would make them more user friendly and better for 99% of people (including me for the last hour of a long day when I get tired and want to ski lazy)
Conclusion: still think they are the best ski ever.
Glad you're still digging on yours Patches. I took mine out yesterday ski mountaineering because I haven't gotten around to epoxying the inserts into my K2 Hardsides. Definitely not the best ski for that, but they got the job done. They did a pretty decent job up high in some very funky snow. Definitely a little spicy on bulletproof in super-tight trees down low.
Biggest problem was that my ski crampons don't fit over the 117 waist. Definitely made skinning pretty sketchy in places.
"Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers
photos
I had a fun day on my 191 fats few weeks ago. The battery in my cam died before the good terrain opened so I'm reluctant to post weak inbounds stoke, overall fun day though
Patches - when you said you wanted them I beam stiff, I made them I beam stiff, no doubt, but a little voice inside me said, "I'm not sure Patches fully understands how stiff an I beam really is." Yours and auvgeek's and I think MickeysEars pairs are really fukkin stiff. A big guy who appreciates a stiff ski, I prefer the slightly less stiff pairs we did, including the hybrid. The flex in the nose is just right to initiate a flex through the body of the ski that comes into play at crucial moments of compression, turn initiation and rebound. Just shipped the last pairs of 191 Fat all carbons to sf in Norway and StuntCok in Japan. sf is going tele and wanted the softer flex, Stunts is going AT and wanted the stiffer flex. I can't wait to hear their feedback. whyturn is on the hybrids. ColoMike might comment on his softer version of the all carbon supa stiff flex, hopefully, and otto parts has the slightly less stiff stiffies, too. I felt like I had to talk otto parts into the softer stiffie, but I hope he'll thank me for that.
Piggity - I got a Mammoth pass so I'll be seeing you soon.
I'll take your word for it Pat... for now I'm enjoying the feeling of being a maglev train pointed fall line. And they turn easily and precisely when I want them to, so don't lose the recipe for the I beams just yet.
Still loving my mega stiff 191 Fats...! They are off to Chamonix next, so they will grace those great mountains soon. Only place I cursed them was when they wouldn't flex enough on a steep chute that wasn't wide enough for the skis and I was trying to avoid a huge rock... so I just went straight instead and they were fine -Still addicted to the way they accelerate out of the turn for such a big ski.
Well, by gawd, I love you guys that love 'em that stiff. Just got out for my first day of the season today on the 187 Fats and left trenches in that hard icy stuff at Squaw. Had I been on the 191 Fats, I woulda loved that, too. If any of you local boyz wanna try the 187s out, I mounted them with demo binders. I'm thinking I might mount some 191 Fats with sth 916s this week...cause I don't really want to share them all that much. And I heard we might get some snow...
And Patches - no knee pain whatsoevah!
I'm out for the season, but anyway are you making lots of 187s because that looks like my good-days ski for next year...or the 188 if it gets softer, tip rocker, and more sidecut.* (*I expect not.)
whippersnapper - once the word gets out on the 187 Fats, we'll be making tons of them for next year, I'm sure. It's such a sick ski that I could forego the 188s next year and just make 187 Fats. Serially.
Excellent Splat. It kinda felt like that's the way it was going. Besides, a ski as thin as an OG Bro almost looks nekkid anymore. And blimps like me, getting blimpier, can always use more float...
If the snow would cooperate this season then the 187's would be getting more hype, hard to hype any skis with such a dismal snow year. They are sick skis though. I only have 1 day on them but I was already trying to figure out how I could afford another pair next season.
The 187s were my first choice all last season when conditions were variable. They even worked good for me in big bumps. I haven't skied them this year because I loaned them to a friend and when I inquire how he likes them, he acts a bit like Golum when he has "Precious". I've only skied the new 183 Fats with the stiffer layup this year and they are great, but there is something extra in the 187s that I'm missing. Got a new pair on the way.
Come to AK so I can demo the 187's and the fat 191's! I love my 192's but something friendlier for touring is on the menu.
But Ellen kicks ass - if she had a beard it would be much more haggard. -Jer
kevino - the 187 Fats have a traditional sidecut and a Lhasa-like rockered tip. The tail is not as loose as the 186 Lhasa, which is a cm narrower. The 187 is/has solid grip on ice and the tail holds because of that trad sidecut and tail width. It is solid through chop and crud and floats pow almost every bit as well as 186. Maybe we can get powdork to chime in on the 187. He skied it all last year, prolly 200 days. We have enough left to be finished to last a while, hopefully you filed early.
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