07/08 Park Ski Reviews

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ikellen

Member
I got to ski a bunch of next year's skis at a retailer demo trade show this week.

Conditions were somewhat spring-like the first two days with lots of hardpack, and then up to 6" of fresh in spots on the last day from a small overnight storm.

K2 Public Enemy

I've never actually skied a PE before, but hand flexing has always given me the idea that the flex on this ski is a bit weird. This is supposed to be one of K2's "park" skis, but I feel like it's too stiff to be a true park stick, except for heavier individuals. With that said, I also think they want this to be an all-mountain ski, which it does somewhat well, but the flex is weird when it comes to carving, especially in crud. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this ski. I couldn't seem to find a sweet spot on it, and it just felt a little unstable at times.

Salomon Thruster

Same ski as the original 1080. Pretty good in the park, poppy and nimble. All mountain it wasn't very good, but I expected this. Not insanely soft, but still plenty soft to be fun in the park and jibbing around. Carved pretty well, and I think it would be a good ski for the trendy kids who are just getting into skiing, as it's easy to turn, and still has the twin tips for park radness.

Armada Pipe Cleaner

This was actually quite a fun ski. I feel like they slimmed it a bit, but apparently it's still the same dimension as this year. I didn't notice the race base as much as I would have thought, but it could have been a bad tune. Initially the ski was VERY hookey, but a quick detune and they became very predictable. This ski is nuts light, and spins really well in the park. The pop was good, but not amazing. I really liked this ski as a park ski, but because of the soft race base, I dont know how well it would hold up to rails and jibs.

Armada T-Hall

I will say right now, I will be buying this ski next year. Yeah, this is the ski that at one point had no edge underfoot, but it sure has matured. Best comparison I can give is this years AR6, and its like a stiffer AR6 with a touch more shovel. Good in the park, but surprisingly good all mountain as well. This was just one of the skis you can't exactly say why, but it was just fun. Carved well, scrubbed well, nimble, poppy, it was just the whole package, atleast for me. Again, considering my height/weight, bigger guys may have differing opinions, but this ski was the ticket for me.

Salomon Dumont

Another favorite of mine. A great park stick, but compliments to Salomon for making this better all mountain. It's still a bit weird with the salomon freestyle reccomended mount point, but held an edge well, and handled the variable conditions with good results. It wouldn't be a good dedicated all mountain stick, but for the park/all mountain combo, it was a good bet. I liked it better than the Thruster and the 1080 foil for all mountain use, even though it's skinnier than the foil.

Volkl Wall

This ski, along with the Bridge, combine to replace the karma for 07/08. The wall is a mid 80s underfoot symmetrical shape. I was skeptical when I has handed a center mounted demo, as I've never been a fan of volkl skis in the park. The center mount took a bit to get used to, but this ski carved VERY well. It had an easy to find sweet spot, and railed an edge. In the park, I just couldn't really get comfy on it. I did a few drops on it, and it stomped landings well with a very solid feel underfoot. A fun ski, but I think the jury will be out for a while on the symmetrical shape and it's applications outside the park.

Rossignol Scratch Ghetto and Scratch Brigade

I'm combining these two as my thoughts on them are very similar. These replace the Scratch FS and BC for next year. I've never been much of a Rossi guy, but I wanted to try these to see if my opinion would change. Not really. Never really felt like I could get these skis to carve well, and they felt all over the place off-piste. Not the ski for me, but I heard many good reviews of the Scratch Ghetto.

Line Chronic

Stiffer than I remembered it, and it was a good all mountain stick. Charged the crud, and was pretty good in the park. Super stable on the landings, and good pop off of lips. I didnt get to ski this one for two long as it got ass cold and windy after one run, so that's all I can offer.
 
I would agree it was pretty predictable, the problem I had with it was deflection in crud and a tip that seemed to have it's own ideas at times when it came to pointing the ski in tight places. Could have been a factory lack of a detune.
 
Not incredibly, but just enough to make it more stable and hold an edge better. I really liked this years AR6, but the t-hall was that and more. I think they beefed it up for more use on the occasional big mountain-esque terrain.
 
were you one of those people at keystone today? there were a bunch of people testing 07/08 skis today, quite a few very gaper looking.
 
im pretty sure the THall is a park only ski which would be softer then the AR6..i thought it was designed for 100% park ???

Haven't skied the new T-Hall but thats interesting if its 'stiffer' than the AR6
 
It may have been in the past and that may still be the focus for next year, but I found the shape and flex to be great for all mountain. Don't read into what a ski is "supposed" to be for (i.e 60% park/40% AM). Ski it and then decide. I skied the 07/08 T-Hall and think it would be a good all mountain ski for a lot of people.
 
I did not get a chance to as it was always out with a demo'er. My co-worker got to ski it though and said not much had changed from this year, but I believe they might have given it a little more width through the entire ski.
 
Thanks for the review.

I also just tested skis recently!

I fully aggree with you on the k2 front. The PE tries to be a bit of everything and really doesn't accomplish it at all. It's a fun ski but the graphics are becoming anoying.

T-hall, great ski but I wasn't feel it as much all mountain.

Rossi, pretty much not very exiting all all. Steeze is ok.

Head, whatever.

Foil's same great all mountain twin with updated graphics. It's fun. Cool updated graphix look awesome in the snow.

Thurster, for me is a great update to the orriginal. The slantwall and wood are much needed. $699 with bindings next year. Rides like a dumont.

Dumonts, best ski for me next year. Fucking rad in the park, and just enough shape for all mountain ripping.

Gun's sick graphix, new sizes and the 181 is amazing.
 
Very much agreed. I had never skied this ski, and I didn't ask specifically, but based on the fact that graphics were the same, I'm guessing nothing changed on it for 07/08. If I were to buy a park-only, ski, it would between this and the T-hall. It would come down to whether or not I would want to ski the T-hall more all-mountain or not.

There's a good chance I could end up with both of these in my quiver for next year. I want to ski the T-hall in a little more varied conditions. I really only got to take it out in pretty hard conditions, but it skied crud and moguls pretty well. I want to take it out in some light pow, and also some steep, tech lines where I need a ski to release in certain don't-fuck-up situations.
 
I demoed the Ghettos too. They are even lighter than this years FS WRS, and carve amazingly. Howeverm they are really stiff. I ride 176 t-halls, and i demoed the 174 ghettos. if you like a stiff ski, they are fun.

I also rode the thrusters. Amazingly fun. So much lighter than my t-halls, and super fun to carve with. they set my up at reccomended, so switch carving sucked, but a nice flex.
 
It was really hard to judge ski weights because almost every ski had the lead weight known as a marker demo binding on them. I really couldn't say on the volkl.
 
uh dont know about next years, but I doubt the thall is stiffer than the ar6. This year I know for sure that the thall has a softer core. maybe they made both stiffer for next year.. but that would have to be a big boost in stiffness for the thall to actually stiffer than the 07 ar6.
 
I knew I would get a lot of "WTF?" type comments when I say that next years T-hall is stiffer, but I skied it and I'm sticking with my opinion. It's not a dramatic change, but enough to notice and enough to make it much more fun all over the mountain.
 
that's fucking awesome! i hope they're still gonna be the "cheap" ski. but the knife thing doesn't make sense, because a silencer is on a gun...who came up with that shit?
 
Ever tried selling a pricepoint twin tip ski to a 13 year old and his mom when it has a huge gun on it?

Obviously not. Knives are supposedly "easier" on mom/dad.
 
good reviews, and what he said about the t-halls could be true, after all it is a pro model and if tanner changes his type of skiing into a more all mountain placement it could easily affect the skis flex.
 
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