Whats up with Lithic Skis?

[peshastin_proud]

I've been meaning to post this for a while.

Full disclosure, I am friends with both Ty and Paul and would be happy to tell them their skis suck if that was the case.

5'8", 165lbs, full time patroller at Stevens. Rode 181cm inbounds core ramblin jacks with dh bindings and boots for most days I was working last season and some personal days.

Other skis I own and ride regularly: 191cm dps L138, 188cm salomon rocker 2 115, 188cm dps L120, 171cm la sportiva gt.

Loved the ramblin jacks from day one. Immediately confidence inspiring ski. Round flex, supportive tails, just slightly softer, poppier and less damp than the original cochise, but very reminiscent of that ski. A less flat cochise with thicker wood instead of metal is how I would describe this to a mag. I like the trade off, slightly less stable at speed but far easier to throw around and use the flex of the ski in slower turns. Tight and steep is way more enjoyable on the jacks. Excellent in cut up PNW snow. Deep days I started on the 138s, then after noon I switched to the jacks. They are not surfy, but predictable and easy to turn in deep snow given a steep enough pitch. Fun on bad snow days too and would make a good one ski quiver if that's your unfortunate reality. They are the perfect work ski for me.

My only complaint is the top sheet is somewhat easy to chip. Not as bad as the older glossy dps and not nearly as bad as my salomons. Keep in mind I click in and out and just generally abuse my skis far more than a normal skier. Otherwise the build quality is fantastic and what you would expect from guys that have been building and refining ski designs for a long time.

Thanks for the writeup and feedback! This revisit to the forum comes at a good time as we're currently in the middle of revamping our site for the 18/19 season. We've got a few new models that'll show up on the site early winter as we need a bit more time on them to really feel good about their release. The biggest change this year will be our offering of a flex choice for each model. After skiing a couple heavy days at Alpental last season we realized that a beefier core option was a pretty good direction to take things. Be on the lookout for the new site on Monday! We've been working incredibly hard to make it look good and provide a bit more information about each of our models. Thanks for the support!

[peshastin_proud]

Yeah. I’m interested in the Arlo (116mm class chargy protest?) and the Cohen (some cross between a kartel and a GPO?)

Both look like great tecton options with a BC core

Yeah, you throw the stiff core option on the Arlo and it becomes nearly impossible to deflect in chop! I can't wait to layup my personal pair for this year as I keep letting go of mine so that someone else can feel the magic of that ski.

[peshastin_proud]

come over and ski with us again

We most certainly will...that was a good time! We finally smartened up this year and cut off all of our OEM jobs beginning in October, which means we won't be in the shop building skis for someone else's company when the snow starts to fall and can focus solely on Lithic! This will allow us to travel a bit more outside of our Stevens and Mission stomping grounds.

[Banh Mi]

Some of the designs look very interesting. Would love to demo


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[peshastin_proud]

Some of the designs look very interesting. Would love to demo


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We'll have demos at Mission Ridge and Ascent Outdoors for certain this year and we're hoping to get a few other locations lined up as well. Not sure where you're from but if you can fit into any of our personal skis and happen to be around Stevens or Mission we'd be stoked to loan you a pair.

[Banh Mi]

Cool, I will be up there a few times this year hopefully.


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[doebedoe]

Someone should try to bring a few pairs to BBI@Utah.

[TAFKALVS]

Someone should try to bring a few pairs to BBI@Utah.

If I go (pending snow/weather/life) I can bring a few pairs if the lithic guys want.

[mall walker]

If I go (pending snow/weather/life) I can bring a few pairs if the lithic guys want.

both of those things would be dope

[peshastin_proud]

If I go (pending snow/weather/life) I can bring a few pairs if the lithic guys want.

We’d certainly send you with some sticks if it all works out. Thanks for the offer, bud.


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[jdadour]

New site looks great! And the updated topsheet graphics look super sick. Couple questions:

- Have you ever considered making a Joplin 105-108? The traditional shape and lack of tip/tail taper look real nice.

- Can you comment some on the difference between the medium and stiff flex? Any comparisons to other skis that we may be familiar with?

- What is the mount point and effective edge of Ramblin Jack 108? Looks like a solid contender for a west coast daily driver

- What weights are you hitting for the Ramblin Jack 108 in an in-bounds core?

[peshastin_proud]

New site looks great! And the updated topsheet graphics look super sick. Couple questions:

- Have you ever considered making a Joplin 105-108? The traditional shape and lack of tip/tail taper look real nice.

- Can you comment some on the difference between the medium and stiff flex? Any comparisons to other skis that we may be familiar with?

- What is the mount point and effective edge of Ramblin Jack 108? Looks like a solid contender for a west coast daily driver

- What weights are you hitting for the Ramblin Jack 108 in an in-bounds core?

Thanks for the compliments on the site...we're stoked on it as well! Not too bad for a couple of ski bums with no coding knowledge. While we've not considered making a Joplin 105-108 we're certainly not against it. I do think the shape is slightly dated but we leave it on because more traditional skiers and those with racing backgrounds really enjoy it for piste skiing.

As for our flexes, I'd say our medium would lean towards a 3 on the Praxis scale, which if my memory is correct is sort of a medium/stiff. And our stiff is obviously stiffer, probably closer to a 4.5-5 on that same scale. However, we can pretty easily match a flex on a particular ski if we can get our hands on it and put it through our flex tester.

The mount point on the the RJs depends on the length but for a 181 it comes in at -9 back from true center. The effective edge on the RJ at a 181 is 124cm. And, yes, I'd consider it an amazing west coast daily driver and all the folks that were on it last year would certainly agree.

As for weights, again, it depends on the length of the ski and the chosen flex pattern but a 181 with an inbounds core and medium flex comes in around 8.3 lbs.

Hope all this helps and feel free to reach out with any more questions. I can't say I frequent these forums often so an email is probably the best way to reach me for a quicker response. bourgeois@lithicskis.com.

Cheers

[ExPowderSnob]

Soo... pick one ski for Stevens Pass/ Mt. Baker daily driver...Something to steam roll skied out chop... which of your new skis would fit that bill?? Or, what ski replaces the Prine 108 you had last year(?)

[peshastin_proud]

Soo... pick one ski for Stevens Pass/ Mt. Baker daily driver...Something to steam roll skied out chop... which of your new skis would fit that bill?? Or, what ski replaces the Prine 108 you had last year(?)

I'd look super close at our Cohen 110s. That's our daily driver at Stevens and the main reason we took off the Prine 108s. There was just too much overlap between those two models and the Cohen shape is more versatile and progressive, from a design standpoint. That was also the most common model chose within the Stevens Pass ski patrol last season as their work/daily driver choice. I believe out of 15 skis we made for them, more than half were Cohen 110s.

[riff]

I got on a pair of the inbounds core Cohen 110 last year, and if i buy a daily driver, thats the ski. Stable, lively, but charged on request. I split my time between Stevens and touring.


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[peshastin_proud]

Thanks for the input, Riff. Honestly, it's nice to get feedback from skiers like you who are a bit more removed from the process than Paul and I, while at the same time skiing as often as we try to get out. I'd also throw in the Ramblin' Jack 108 as an everyday driver if you build it with in an inbounds core. From everything we've heard back and seen personally, that model truly does everything well. I saw Paul ski two feet of fresh at Cascade Powder Cats last season with no problem...in tech boots...with tech bindings...sending pillows. That's a rad ski!

[kid-kapow]

man - awesome site and awesome skis! Agree with Riff, based on the numbers provided the Cohen 110 seems like an excellent playful chargy dd. I will have to add your brand to the list of brands to check out when getting skis the next time around. Your straight and apparantly burly shapes mated with nice rocker lines should be awesome for the kind of snow i ride a lot of the time. Very, very intriguing.

nitpicking feedback -> reading is in a large part done by recognizing the shape of words based on a few (inital/final) letters. Due to this people will prob find it easier to read your texts if they are not in all caps, and if implemented will probably be a more efficient way to get the info across.

[peshastin_proud]

man - awesome site and awesome skis! Agree with Riff, based on the numbers provided the Cohen 110 seems like an excellent playful chargy dd. I will have to add your brand to the list of brands to check out when getting skis the next time around. Your straight and apparantly burly shapes mated with nice rocker lines should be awesome for the kind of snow i ride a lot of the time. Very, very intriguing.

nitpicking feedback -> reading is in a large part done by recognizing the shape of words based on a few (inital/final) letters. Due to this people will prob find it easier to read your texts if they are not in all caps, and if implemented will probably be a more efficient way to get the info across.

Thanks for the feedback on the all-caps text within the site...didn't really think about it and for some reason it was simply the default of our service platform. I'm looking into changing it now because I definitely agree with you. It could also seem as if we're shouting out ski descriptions at you, which isn't really our style.

As for your next pair, we'd be more that stoked to get you on some! Just reach out whenever and we'll set you up.

[kid-kapow]

Thanks!

I have a hard time trying to wrap my head around the stated dimensions and how they must ski - they look incredibly promising i must say. They must be absolute rockets in denser coastal snow.

The provided pics seem to show significantly less camber than the cad prints indicate - though i might be misunderstanding the scale or something. Any full side view photos avaliable of Arlo and Cohen designs (?) would be much appreciated and probably be very helpful in understanding how they ride!

From everything else you've written in this thread i must admit to adding you to the short list for future purchases - even if your prices are bit cost prohibitive for me in the short term having already picked up some new skis for this season. Yout mount points seem on point, ee short, but understandable given the cad print outs, and the straightness of the shape... Exciting stuff!

While Lib Techs aren't excactly TGR skis /ski brand #1 i find it very interesting how different the various ski designs coming from the PNW are. I think ON3P's and your designs should be a better match for the chargy crowd in denser snow than Libs.

[peshastin_proud]

Thanks!

I have a hard time trying to wrap my head around the stated dimensions and how they must ski - they look incredibly promising i must say. They must be absolute rockets in denser coastal snow.

The provided pics seem to show significantly less camber than the cad prints indicate - though i might be misunderstanding the scale or something. Any full side view photos avaliable of Arlo and Cohen designs (?) would be much appreciated and probably be very helpful in understanding how they ride!

From everything else you've written in this thread i must admit to adding you to the short list for future purchases - even if your prices are bit cost prohibitive for me in the short term having already picked up some new skis for this season. Yout mount points seem on point, ee short, but understandable given the cad print outs, and the straightness of the shape... Exciting stuff!

While Lib Techs aren't excactly TGR skis /ski brand #1 i find it very interesting how different the various ski designs coming from the PNW are. I think ON3P's and your designs should be a better match for the chargy crowd in denser snow than Libs.

I'm actually headed into the shop now and will be tuning out a few pairs of both Arlos and Cohens. I'll snap some full-length images and post them here, probably tomorrow. The actual cad drawings are a bit exaggerated because they're based specifically on the CAD-produced molds. If we were better photographers we'd put up actual images, but alas, that may have to wait until we get things more dialed on our end.

[kid-kapow]

Sweet - thanks - honestly looking forward to seeing them!

Luckily the photos in question shouldn't be too hard to do - just do them outside against a neutral background being careful not get shadows from the skis. It would probably make for killer updates on your instagram-profile - seemingly one of the most cost effective ways of doing marketing, of building your brand and both building and spreading stoke. I say go for it

[peshastin_proud]

A bit late on these but it took us awhile to make them look good...anyhow, here our our the profile images taken from our actual skis. Let us know your thoughts.

Arlo 116/120:

Cohen 110/118:

Joplin 88/99:

Ramblin' Jack 108/120:

[ExPowderSnob]

I'd look super close at our Cohen 110s. That's our daily driver at Stevens and the main reason we took off the Prine 108s. There was just too much overlap between those two models and the Cohen shape is more versatile and progressive, from a design standpoint. That was also the most common model chose within the Stevens Pass ski patrol last season as their work/daily driver choice. I believe out of 15 skis we made for them, more than half were Cohen 110s.

If you were a heavy skier.. like 255 lbs in gear, (not obese, think more out of shape ex-rugby guy... I'm well insulated, but underneath is still chiseled granite,,lol) but probably closer to an intermediate ski level., would you automatically go for the stiffest flex, or try the stock flex to have it be a little more forgiving?

[eskido]

Was pretty sold on the Arlo but daaaaamn that camber profile on the Cohen is SEEEXXXYY! Thanks for posting those pics, super helpful beta

[peshastin_proud]

If you were a heavy skier.. like 255 lbs in gear, (not obese, think more out of shape ex-rugby guy... I'm well insulated, but underneath is still chiseled granite,,lol) but probably closer to an intermediate ski level., would you automatically go for the stiffest flex, or try the stock flex to have it be a little more forgiving?

Our stock flex on that particular model, the Cohen 110, would probably be considered a medium/stiff from other companies so I'd recommend going with that. It's interesting, as we've been playing around with our flexes to get them dialed for our customers to choose from, I've skied on quite a bit of skis that would be considered "soft" with a hand flex but because of our core makeup (full-length, hardwoods) I don't find them to ski soft, with the exception of straight lining steep terrain, of course, and that doesn't sound like something you do too often. Even considering your weight, I'd still go with our stock flex on that bad boys. It's such a rad ski!