Initial on snow impressions
I have 4 days on them so far and all in pretty nice (for NZ) fresh snow. Ranging from 20cm to 50cm, at Treble Cone and Ohau.
For reference I am 6 foot tall / 184cm, and weigh 80kg. The skis in a 192cm length are the longest I have ridden, up from my standard 185cm range. I was able to hop on them in white out conditions and they felt quite intuitive to ski right off the bat. The length contributes to a noticeable swing weight feel when spinning and flipping, but in no way detracts from the ski. I think weight wise on snow they feel quite balanced and natural for a 192cm ski. Especially happy with the freestyle mount point at -2.5cms.
Off piste they have a really nice stable underfoot feel, while the tips and tails have a very nice predictable flex that let's them weave and bounce around and over bumps, whilst still having enough meat to smash through them if you start to pick up too much speed, decide to gap some moguls or bumps mid line etc.
Shutting down speed, playing with various turn shapes etc is really rewarding and I really like how they ski soft chop.
Probably my favorite aspect to the skis so far is the landing platform, they just feel damn good to boost side hits and natural features with this stompy damp underfoot feel. Bombhole or mogul in ya landing, she'll be right. They encourage you to carry more speed into those natural features and feel really good on variable in runs and outruns.
They have a pretty good deal of float, the length helps and I didn't have any issues skiing in the 50cm day. Snow was silky packed kinda dense pow and they skied it great, planing to the top pretty easily without feeling like I gotta pull the tips up constantly. They don't have the same level of lift and pop in deep snow as something like a bent 120, but these outperform the bents hugely once the snow is tracked.
Groomers and firm snow performance, so far I have pretty limited time thrashing around on piste or firm snow on them. The 23m Radius is the most notable trait and it definitely feels kinda bland to ski. Typically I ski my 181cm Sakanas, or Chronic 94s 185cm for these conditions and I really fuck with the tighter Radius and quick carving feel they give. They armadas have pretty good edge grip so I'm sure after more time I will vibe, just needa get used to them more. The bases also feel like they could be railed (edges higher than center of the base) which could be adding to that kinda funk feeling I have on piste, / draggy edges when skid turning on groomers. It could also be I'm not used to such a long effective sharp edge. Will play around with the tune on them in time and update.
Overall I'm pretty excited and stoked, I'm really looking forward to getting more time on them, letting them break in and soften up. They should be very fun in slushy conditions, and hoping they will do a great job in Japan as a daily driver.
Will continue getting some miles on them and comeback with some further comments, durability issues if I have any, photos of them mounted etc.
8/10 so far, chur churrrr.
