Armada ARV 116 JJ vs Moment Wildcat

410steeze

410steeze

Active member
Looking for a fat all mountain / pow ski for this season and have narrowed it down to these two: Armada ARV 116 and the Moment Wildcat.

I’m 6’0”, 180lbs, and a pretty aggressive skier. I live on the east coast but get most of my ski days out west each year (15-20). I’d like a ski that is geared towards the deep days we dream about but can still hold its own on groomers, through crud and bumps, and even on the crunchiest days back East (even though I’ll generally defer to my Rangers in those conditions).

I spent a few deep days last season on 192 JJ’s and fell in love. They were snappy, playful, and absolutely ripped pow even when things got pretty skied off. I even loved them on my late afternoon groomer laps to close out the day. I’d be all in on the JJ if I hadn’t heard such great things about the Wildcat...

I’m concerned that I am a little jaded when it comes to my experience on the JJs because I skied them in such perfect conditions. I worry that they might be a little too soft for a daily driver that I may use in the northeast. Would the Wildcat be a slightly more robust charger that will be more fun on hardback and all over the mountain?

If anyone’s been on both and could provide a comparison, that’d be ideal, but any advise would be much appreciated.

Also looking for sizing advice. Like I mentioned, I skied the 192 JJ, but am considering the 185 (or 184 for the Wildcat) to make it a little more manageable when I’m not taking wide open pow turns.

Let me know!
 
Wildcat. More power and go - especially if you are going a bit shorter. At 6' you will overdrive the 185 JJ in variable snow. 184 Wildcat will actually give you a platform you can drive (though you could go longest size on both if most of your days are out West).
 
Both are awesome skis for different reasons. The wildcat will definitely charge harder and do better in variable snow but the jj will be more playful. Also for the love of god if you buy the JJs go 192. They ski stupid short and you’re a bigger guy.
 
The Wildcat can be driven much more. Now that Moment reduced the weight of the ski, and Armada increased the weight of their ski, the difference in how damp they are is surprisingly negligible. I'd never thought I'd compare a Moments stability to an Armada ski, but Moment has been decreasing weight, for better or worse. However the wildcat still feels stiffer and almost more race inspired, so it can be driven significantly harder and can be skied on firm snow or ice much better. JJ is more playful, more buttery, more maneuverable in soft snow, but not by that much. Wildcat is pretty maneuverable for its stiffness and turn radius.

If you really want to do big tricks in the backcountry, and have a more fun ski to jib around the JJ is better. If you charge even in the slightest, and want something that also works well on firm, go Wildcat for a playful all mountain wide ski.
 
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