Powder Ski that can RAIL groomers ?

S

SurferandStomper

New member
Hey guys,

Im 5"6 135 lbs. As I;m not a huge guy, I ski with a little bit more finesse and I can't huck around a huge burly ski. I'm 16 years old by the way. I mainly ski the west coast (BC) with a planned trip to Utah for hopefully, some POW. I mainly ski with my dad who's a guy described by his ski of choice: the Mantra.

He's an oldschool skier who loves to fly down the groomers. Now, I don't know if any of you guys waterski, but my theory is there is nothing like cutting through glass on an early morning. The same goes for skiing Powder, there truly is nothing like it.

So here's my dilemma, I want to buy a powder ski, I like the wider skis and how they just plow through crud. But, I need one that I can at least keep up to my dad on the groomers. Essentially, I'm almost looking for a POW ski "quiver-of-one," yeah, I know its a tall order. I'm only 16 so I'm not inclined to dropping money for two pairs of skis.

So, if you guys could give me a hand, Let the Ski debate battle begin.
 
Icelantic Shaman, that thing can rip turns. Not sure if that's the kind of pow ski you are looking for but it's sick.
 
I've definitely heard some sick things about the Opus ! It's such a sexy ski. I've looked at ON3P, and it seems like their a pretty legit company. Has anyone skiied the Icelantic Gypsy ? It's probably a little much for me, but, I'm digging the Walrus ! The Icelantic Keeper looks pretty sweet too, it's got a bunch of camber. MountainViper how much camber does the Opus have underfoot? Probably a 178 in length for the Opus for me, right ? Also, been looking at the Bent Chetler as well, it looks like such a fun ski ! Thanks
 
Yeah I'd say 178 for sure....and yeah it's a super sick ski that can do anything....scroll down through the threads and you'll see one for the opus recently where I went into decent detail.....but it's got some camber to it and it's nice and poppy...super fun ski...blows me away how well it handles hardpack.
 
haven't skied the opus but i could def see what you are saying...is there someone that has skied both of these skis that could give us an actual review...how much do you weigh?what were the conditions?blah blah blah lolanyone?
 
as long as it isnt straight up ice, I can rail the fuck out of my 191 ON3P caylors. im 5'7"ish 150ish.
 
I have ON3P Wrengades that absolutely shred on groomers...honestly you dont even feel a need to turn, they are soooooo stable. They are also a blast in pow. I also own a pair of S7s that suprisingly rail on groomers. Theyre very fun and playful in the pow, but I am continually suprised at how well they do on groomers when you lay them over.
 
Thanks for all the help guys.What's the flex like on the Opus and Caylors ? I'm looking for a ski on the stiffer side of things. I don't want to be skiing on a wet noodle.
 
I think the Caylor will be a bit stiffer than the Opus. If your looking to hit bigger stuff at higher speed the Caylor would be a good route. However if your just playing on small stuff and jibbin around, the Opus would be prime.
 
Yeah I'd love to get my hands on a set of caylors....jus can't justify it this year after just buyin the opus....pretty sure my next skis will be on3ps though....be cool to do a personal comparison though.....maybe if I can find a demo somewhere.
 
Try to clear up what you're looking for. Do you want to be able to jib around or do you just want a ski that carves well and skis pow well? If you ski a lot of groomers with your dad, you might want to lose some pow performance in order to make that better. What do you ski at the moment?

Both the Caylor and the Opus are primarily jib oriented. I've not ridden the Caylor so I won't speculate further having not ridden it.

The Opus I demoed and it carves pretty well for a centre mounted powder ski, but its not that stiff, similar to the Bentchetler. If you really want to tear around groomers you're gonna want something else.

I'd probably go for a narrower ski for what you seem to want. If you aren't worried about switch and park, I'd say the TST would be perfect. They are fairly stiff, they carve brilliantly. I am not a fan of Armada but I was blown away when I had a go on these. I kind of liked the Rossignol S3 for an all-mountain ski too, I'm light though so you might not find it stiff enough.
 
dynastar slicers would be killer for you. 98mm waist, low 20m turning radius for ripping GS turns on groomers, camber underfoot, rocker tip and tail for float in pow, and you're light enough that a 98mm waist will float you plenty. it's basically a wider, rockered troublemaker. medium flex, super poppy, and stable at high speeds.
 
I have to say that the Caylor's shreds the groom to fucking death. No chatter, just pure hatefucking of courdory and little kids that get in the way. Pretty much like most ON3P ski's.
 
Check out Epic Planks' crop duster: similar minimal rocker to the opus, but stiffer. I skied them all last season and they slay everything. Being slightly stiffer they can handle crud and heavy wes coast pow.I'm 5'8 and 140lbs and have no troubles handling the 175.

Also has a sick design, and is slightly cheaper than the opus...
http://www.epicplanks.com/s/crop-duster/

 
I've heard a lot of good things about the Line Lizzies.Also, this year's Line Blends have an early rise which will help them handle pow better and still kill the groomers.

I could be speaking out my ass, but in my never ending search for the one ski quiver, I'v grown very found of these two.
 
i have the lizzies and my freind has blends both are fucking awesome!!!!!! but those are my icy day skis only becuase i have eps;)
 
+1 for caylors. They're actually amazing on groomers for a bigger ski. Zero chatter and they're unbelievably stable at high speeds
 
I'm tossing my hat in the ring for the Line Prophet/Influence series if you could care less about park.

I'm on some Prophet 100s from a few years ago and they are my daily driver here on the East coast. Super stable and they can drive some real good turns if you lay them on edge. The newer Influence 115 and Prophet 98 have early-rise tips but still keep much of the geometry and build pretty similar. It is a relatively stiff ski though, so don't sign up if you like soft, more playful skis.

I'd toss the Nordica Patron into the consideration mix as well. Demoed a pair last year and was quite impressed. Had them in everything from bumps and trees with a few inches of fresh to bulletproof ice and they held a nice edge and had a tight turn radius on it. Much softer and playful than my Prophets were.

While I have no doubts that the Caylor rips and holds an edge, it does have a turn radius a few meters larger which is going to result in larger turns. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just be aware that it's going to take more time to complete a carve than some other options.
 
nordica patron for sure. im 5'4'' and own the 177 and it is insane how well they hold. best ski over 110mm ive ever tested and owned. but wait till the hellderado come out. patron on steriods with 2 sheets of metal in it. that thing is ssswwwweeeeeeeeeetttttt!!
 
So since 99% of the posts you will get are just people listing off the ski they use, with little personal experience with other skis, I thought I would chime in with an opinion based off of skiing lots of skis. I have skied every ski I talk about.

In no particular order:

Line SFB (108mm version) - ski is quick and playful, able to lock into a turn, but can get bashed up in chunky heavy snow. Nice smooth pop.

ON3P Jeffrey (108mm wide) - little damper (yet still just as poppy!) feeling flex than the SFB, still quick to turn and lots of fun to go jump off things. More ability to mash through heavier cut up snow at speed than the SFB, but less buttery.

Blizzard Cochise (108 mm, high 20's turn radius) - noticeably straighter ski than the other two. Really carves a big open turn with no speed limit. Lots of power but not hard to ski at all, just for a bigger turn shape than the Jeffrey or especially the SFB. Carves like it is 95mm wide. Things to note- it has a couple sheets of metal, and no twin tip,very long effective edge.

Head 104/105 mm wide orange thing (forget the name) - damper more pintailed SFB, ugly as fuck unless you love Motörhead.

Line Influence 105/115- stiff carvers. Wants to be skied in the front seat, but can carve a g's turn like nothing else above 100mm wide.

Atomic Blog (110mm) real playful buttery ski, still able to hook up on edge and does so nicely. Can get pushed around in chopped up snow, but very quick to move around in the trees.

The first three are my personal favorites, and I would get the Jeffrey, because I like to go fast, it made me want to jump off things, and it is made in North America, by some pretty dope dudes.

If you want something wider, the Caylor and Opus ( Caylor is noticeably stiffer) along with the bentchetler would be at the top of my list (well actually the Bodaciois, Big Dump, and 191 Billy Goat, but I dont think those would appeal to you as much).
 
Something that can RAIL HARD?? NOT JJ's, not OPUS, not S7, NOTHING that has early taper and quicker radius sidecut. I was charging my Opus at 95km/h down some choppy groomers and they were NOT that stable. The early taper tends to "oversteer" when your trying to lay down much wider arcs. It's just GEOMETRY it, it doesn't lie. So I say, get something that has a full length sidecut. THAT will rail much better. And speak from experience. My Seth Vicious with no rocker/early taper rocked groomers WAY better than Bibby's, Opus that I've had. We're talking sidecut radius here, and that is the indicator.
 
From my experience (this year's models)

In order from what I would choose in your situation. (I'm 5'7 120 and aggressive... so weight less, but taller... we should be on about the same size. )

1) 175 Armada TST

2) Lib Tech NAS Pow... I honestly couldn't believe their performance on the ice... even going down the steepest run at WP covered in Ice I felt pretty good

3) Male equivalent to the Line Celebrity 100's.. Fellows should know this. I imagine there is a male equivalent cause this is a killer ski for women in regards to pow/groomers

4) K2 Side Stash ( I prefer the 167... but it isn't a twin if that's a necessity)

5) Armada JJs - 175

6) I've oddly been pretty comfy on the Salomon Sho guns (169?) if you are likely to bulk up, they may not be stiff enough.

 
you said you might be interested in the bent chetler? i ride the bent chetler and it does rail the groomers. its stiffer than the opus. however they can ski groomers about the same. you said you dont want that burly of a ski and your 5.6 so i would recommend the opus because i am 5.11 and i ride the 183. if you really feel you can handle it go for it but get it center mounted. thats my 2 cents
 
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