It kinda sounds like you want the fr120. The fr110 to me is a daily driver with a soft snow bias, while the fr120 is a pow ski that’s versatile. You’re talking about Japan and west coast pow days, if it were me, I’d go fr120.
I’m 6’3 200lbs and the 186 feels like the right length for me, remember the 186 is straight tape so ~188/189 is a lot of other brands. They were ~1cm shorter standing next to my 190 deathwish104s. Marshall recommended 186 unless youre coming from a supergoat, wrenegade, etc
As far as reverse camber ski goes, I haven’t been on one until the fr110. All i noticed was it was super loose, no issues on groomers and no rocking chair effect
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I ended up just putting a 2 degree base bevel on my FR110. Way better. I would stick with Marshall’s 1.5 but my hand tuner doesn’t do that so 2 it was.
It’s been a super fun year for me learning reverse camber skis. First pair ever. Gaijin said it’s not that you didn’t like reverse camber it’s that you didn’t give it enough time to change your skiing. Also been pretty frustrated at times.
Last year I was at the top of my game or so I thought. Skiing super fast non stop down everything. Always wanted to be the fastest skier on the mountain. Then I’ve been dealing with a weird back injury for over a year now and finally starting to get that feeling better too. This is where the fr110 slots in. Started to realize I don’t care how fast I am. I just want to make it beautiful. And watch my friends do the same. I had an old hippy pull me aside and comment on the catching a beautiful rhythm. I finally felt like I was getting the hang of the FR110s. I’m more after that these days. Skiing like when we were kids. Milking the most out of each section. Watching my kids do the same and enjoy these golden days when we are all out ripping lines together cheering each other on.
We haven’t had much snow this year but I was liking the fr110 when it was soft. Try as I might I was getting a lot of tip hang up on anything less than soft. The bevel fixed that.
These skis are so much fun. They have turned me from 46 to 16. Crazy turns in tight spots. Doubling moguls. Just too much fun in the trees to even describe. I’m always just jonesing for the next ski day to see what I can learn.
I typically ski a lot of bumps here in MT. I was really struggling with these things as my go to technique was to use the camber to control the speed down the steep backside of the mogul. Can’t do that anymore. And the tip catch was getting the best of me. Finally learned just to stay on the center of the ski and use that part coming down the back of the mogul. Like my son said you can’t throw a trick dad if you are out over the tips. Come down with your weight in the center catch some air and do it again.
Also had one day at Bridger skiing my favorite tight steep lines putting ridiculous turns in places I was never able to before.
Still got a lot to learn on these skis and by no means am I giving up camber. But what a fun experiment this year learning something new. Thanks for the inspiration Gaijin. Thanks for the awesome skis Marshall and going above and beyond on things like the tuning email and offering to help when we are overthinking things.
Shred on bros!
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Thanks for the shout out.
I haven’t been on the FR110. Just the HALS Ren. But I think reverse camber is easily understood for soft snow. It changes your approach from driving the edges to driving the base. Like driving a spoon. Or, driving a directional saucer sled.
But then you learn how to drive the base on your cambered skis. And then the sport evolves.
I’m a surfy carver now. If that’s a thing. I just wish I had these foot skills when I was racing. I’d have killed it.
All that to say that when I saw the R110 for pre-order, I immediately pressed buy.
My M102 will be sold this summer. Every time I’m on it I wish I had a flat camber, rocker, stiff, no metal, no carbon, just wood, fiberglass, and rubber.
Marshall released that and I felt relieved. I know exactly how it’s gonna ski.
Glad to read you’re clicking.
P.S. I’m a bobcat. Had a pass at Bridger for four years. I miss the O’s and D route. I can’t believe you have a Shlussman’s lift now. I would have loved an FR110 there.
I’ve camped in the beartooths, sawtooths, crazies, and you name it. I might even have a first decent out of Cooke City. Horseshoe Lake area. No way of knowing if we were the first ones. The shuttle driver seemed concerned that we got it before him. 2001. When he picked us up after four days in the tent he was bummed at our tracks.
Bozeman. It’s in my blood. And the FR110 would be my DD there. I don’t even have to ski it first to know that.
As a fellow Squallywood skier, I feel like your pow stick for there will be different from your pow stick in Utah and Japan. Our snow isn't as cold and tracks out really quickly. I skied the Enforcer 110 almost every day of our epic season last year and was really happy (honestly been chasing that ski this year and tempted to buy them again while they're still available).
That said, I haven't skied the FR110 yet. I should have ordered them, but went another direction. A ski that I sold yesterday. My only reverse ski is a Renegade (which I would absolutely take to Japan or Utah). The reverse feel is so much fun. The ability to lean a bit into the front of the ski to start a turn, but then rock back into the center to drift. It's unlike anything I've skied before and I love it. It totally opens up new turn shapes. It's not like slarving so much as drifting (I hate slarving). I grab that ski when I know I'll be skiing soft snow and cutting out early.
I REALLY want to try the FR110 (and the current Devastator for that matter). I think it's a ski that will work for a lot of days. I'd be very curious how it works on a day like yesterday where I skied full corn on Sherwood and cold chalk on KT. Can it handle that steep chalk confidently?
Anyway, long story short, reverse skis work different. Whether it works for you is up to your style. I'll probably always have a cambered metal Enforcer-ish ski around (or 3), but a reverse ski is a giggle machine for me.
TLDR. Try it.
+2-3 or whatever that learning to ski reverse camber skis made me a better skier. I suck at describing this shit but my foot and ankle work feels better and I developed mid-turn adjustments that make it easy to adjust my speed at almost any part of the turn, including with cambered skis. And now I believe I can ski faster and with a more playful approach than I could with a more ‘’chargy’’ ski. It’s fun to aim for features to bounce off of to get some of the rebound that the design lacks.
ETA haven’t been on FR 110s yet but have owned or possessed 184 and 194 Devastators, 196 Renegades, 187 Hojis, 181 Inthaynes, 186 Volkl Ones, 186 Praxis Pows, 186 Chipotle Bananas and probably others I forgot.
The R110..
Stats: 6'1 215ish
My first day was at Alta on Marshals demo pair and I immediately bothered him for a personal pair... Which I was lucky enough to get a hold of.
My personal pair's first time out was a shitty icy night at Brighton. There was just a touch of fresh on ice. I immediately felt like the tail was grabbing. It was kicking my ass and was honestly scaring me. It felt a lot like my On3p OG Woodsman 108, a victim of the Tunegate, and this was early in my ski career and before I engaged in the life of a TGR maggot. I ended up selling the woods and chalking it up to me not jiving with On3p. With the knowledge now, I was pretty confident in the tune being off. I took them down to my local shop in SLC, which I consider to do the best work in the valley. (https://www.7evenskis.com/) This is a shameless plug for Todd and the crew. We soon discovered that the base bevel was sitting at 0.3 in most of the ski and all of the tail. This perfectly explains the sensation I felt that night at Brighton. Thus, we reset to 1.5/2. I want to add here that Marshal is a one-man band, and I pried these Rs out of his hands. His communication and offers to help will 100% keep me on some sort of HLs in the future.
Fast forward to my next weekend and an overnight 8 inches at Alta. I planned to A/B test the R with my Moment CT 110. Skiing the R first in the morning. The tail with the fresh tune was now extremely easy and was a drift machine. They also carved extremely well for a 110. Long turns, but in anything remotely soft, they rip! After a half day... I decided not to return to the truck and continued on the R since I was having too much fun. My friend who I was with after two runs said "holy shit you are skiing fast today". I felt like I was, but I never felt like I was out of control at any point. These things are so confidence-inspiring in chop and do not have a limit that I am capable of.
Weight: My pair of 187s came in at about 2335g per. I now firmly believe that there is no replacement for mass when it comes to suspension. The weight, however, does not tire me out any more than my CT 110, which weighs almost a full 200g less. I would say because of the suspension it provides, it is less fatiguing than a lighter ski in choppy, uneven conditions as it does the work of muting out rough snow for you. The ski is also easier to pivot, being flat underfoot. I'm working on skiing tighter spaces and bumps and find these to be very easy in these spots.
This is where the R separates itself apart. Yesterday, there was 10 inches of windblown pow with extra firm scrubbed areas. I was so impressed at the ability of this ski to stay locked in when I needed it and drifty when I wanted to eject out of a turn. The tail is supportive while being easy and forgiving of getting a little backseat. While I don't think these are as loose and playful as the FR profile, they are incredibly versatile and still a shit load of fun with the capability to to be skied a bit more centered or drive the ski.
All in all, it's the first ski I grab in a heavily bloated quiver filled with overlap.
Marshal, keep doing what your doing.
Sorry for my shit writing... I tend to ramble.
-KJT
Last edited by K1mJ0ngTr1ll; 03-01-2024 at 02:29 PM.
Kim, fyi, your text color failed.
While I *could* have different pow sticks for Palisades and Utah/Japan, I probably shouldn’t.
Thanks, all. I think you might be right that the FR120ST is the the better option. To be clear, the FR120 is the FR120 Swallowtail, right? (I want to make sure there's not a ski that Marshal stopped making). And I’d want the FR version for most pow friendly and the R to handle the hardpack a little better, to oversimplify, correct? I’ve been reading the thread thinking mostly about the FR110. My hunch is a 187cm FR120ST FR might be the best fit.
I'm currently waiting out a wind closure in mammoth after riding some 187 fr120st's all morning. I sold the fr110 after 1 day in knee deep powder. Today on the 120 i was limited to lower mountain lifts with 4-6" of fresh over a firm base. I must say that i much prefer the 120 in slightly too little snow than the 110 in too much snow. Let's be clear: these skis are very, very similar. But for me the 120 is what i wanted. They allow you to carry more speed through low angle pow and access more goods. Obviously they are incrementally better in deeper pow. But I don't feel i gave up much, if anything, on soft groomers, bumps or in trees. They are still telepathically quick in tight spots and i found myself mobbing into patches of trees without knowing what was on the other side. I could probably do this on 110's, but like i said i just carried more speed and could easily access more terrain due to the extra float of the 120. I have not heard back from marshal but i asked him if the 120's ended up stiffer than the 110. They hand flex and feel slightly burlier to me than the 110's. Super stoked
Ahoy! The core profile and materials are the exact same, but the skis is a little wider, so they would test ~5% stiffer. Very perceptive indeed, generally 10% changes are viewed as "one step" of stiffness in ski testing as less than that is within manufacturing tolerances for milling the core and materials.
There is a thread dedicated to the swallowtails
Ahoy! So I view the FR110 as a soft snow shape. Powder, yes, but also all matter of softer snow. IThe FR120 is (IMO) a powder ski. It is effectively the same shape, just +1cm wider. In particular, the 110 is going to be more fun in the woods and skiing moguls like you are in a skate park. Due to the width, and the stability that extra 1cm brings, the 120 is a bit more for just ripping around.
Based on the skis you have, I would say that there is probably more overlap with your enforcers with the 110, and to just go for the 120. It is quite a versatile shape, it monstertrucks chop and variable quite well, so i really don't think you would be bummed at the end of a powder cycle as the mountain gets beat to crap. And because Japan.
Cheers!
Finally getting the hang of the FR110s. I detuned the tips and tails slightly, it felt like I was locked in turns in dense 3d snow (could have just been the snow).
The flex pattern on these things is crazy, it feels like a full suspension mtb. Super fun, extremely easy to pivot, but they still feel kinda demanding for some reason. Could just be a little longer than what I'm used to skiing.
Hey man!
out of curiosity, what skis are you coming from?
happy to talk through specifics via pm or email any time too, if helpful to explore in more detail.
Last edited by Marshal Olson; 03-03-2024 at 05:23 PM.
Had a great week on FR
Alta bird mini golf.
Had to adjust my style. But well worth it.
Spent the second week at jh and confess there are other skis I reached for.
Wanted more charging. I think the R would be better for big mountain resorts.
But for mini golf gymkhana it’s hard to beat full reverse. And these are the best reverse ever.
Kill all the telemarkers
But they’ll put us in jail if we kill all the telemarkers
Telemarketers! Kill the telemarketers!
Oh we can do that. We don’t even need a reason
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