Which all mountain ski to get

eastcoaster1080

New member
So I am having a hard time chosing a new ski for this season. I am just Under 6'1 and about 175 Lbs. I live on the east coast and ski 80%-90% park out here. But at least once a year I travel to BC for about two weeks to spend time with family that live in Whistler. When Im there i will ski mainly some inboound powder, steeps, drops and some out of bounds stuff occasionally. I will take a few laps through the park when I pass by though.

So I am looking for one ski that can do it all. I like wider skis. They just feel better for me. I know its not an ideal situation but I would like to not own two pairs of skis. This is what I am thinking But I am open to Anything.

K2 Seth

Armada ARV

Volkl Bridge

Salmon Gun

4FRT MSP

Line Anthem

Rossignol Brigade BC

Feel Free to narrow down my list or  choose something thats not on it. Any input would be greatly aprecaited.

 
I would say Line Anthem. You will be the happiest with this when you are skiing the 90% park that you will be at home. Picture an Invader with enough width for pow to be fun, this is your ski.
 
Id go with the brigade or the seth....As much as i like the anthems, they just wouldnt cut it out west even tho they have a 90mm waist.
 
I would ditto this except he won't have as much fun at home on a seth or a brigade. Remember, he's skiing 90% park at home.
 
ya def. Thats why its kinda hard, b/c he goes from 90% park to skiing 2 weeks of powder/bc....It kinda comes down to which you want to have more fun doing...If you like park more, get the anthem, but if you like skiing b/c/powder get something like the seth or brigade....
 
Let me rephrase it. If you get the Brigade/Seth, you will be able to use it in park, but they will be heavier and stiffer obviously, so their park performance won't be quite as good as someone who skis 90% park would want. If you get the anthem, you will kill it in the park, but find it somewhat hard to use out west skiing on just glades/B/c due to how soft the anthems are.
 
I would say the Volkl bridge or K2 Seths......If you are in college, you can get 35% off 4frnt skis, so MSPs would probably be better price, if tahts the situation
 
the only thing with the msp is that its not made for park. you can ride it in the park yes, but it has very little pop and wont be that fun.
 
185 Brigade would definitely be my top choice. 185 ARV and 187 would be my next choices, and it would depend if you wanted a stiffer (MSP) or softer (ARV) ski. The Brigade falls nicely in the middle plus is a tiny bit fatter.

The Seth would either be too big or too small depending on which size you picked, the Bridge is a little skinny for out west, and the Anthem is too short for your size. As for the Gun, I'm personally not big on that ski, so I wouldn't recommend it.
 
i think your best bet would be the brigade. mainly because if you got msp's they wouldnt be fun for how much park you ride, and seths would be fine if you got last years or previous. this years have a mini rocker that doesnt handle too well on rails.
 
I heard the mini rocker is hardly noticable? What difference would it make on rails? Just wondering cause im looking at a pair too.
 
So I am leaning more towards the Seths. I always have liked K2 skis and the mini rocker seems like it would be really nice out west. I was thinking 179 and really close if not centre cause I love centre mounted skis and my past 2 pairs have been centre mounted. Is 179 to smal though? and should i think about moving abit back from centre?
 
if you 61 and a good agressive skier get the 189, if not get the 179 either way do not mount anywhere near tru center for this ski, the absolute furthest forward you should go is core center , but id recomend +5 from midsole mark on the ski (2 behind core)
 
I'm getting the 4FRNT MSP for all mtn skiing, if you're in college or know someone who is, you can get them for cheap from their website
 
brigade, or bridgei think are ur best bets

the seths were good as an all-around ski but know they have a mini rocker so im not so sure on how they will perform on the hard pack

the Brigade and Bridge are very similar in flex and shape so really between them ur choosen between graphics and maybe durability since this is Volkls first year manufacturing in china
 
i dunno if youv already picked, but whatever.

the brigade seems like a sick choice for you. from what iv heard, its a sick all mountain ski with damn fine park skills. seems to me like its a seth, just with roles reversed (to your liking too). the seth focuses more on all mountain while has some potential in the park. the brigade seems to even those factors out alot more due to weight, pop, and overall shape.

as far as the seths go, seems like your inbetween sizes. the 179 is going to be too short for a 6'1 park skier in my opinion, and even if it is perfect for some runs in the park, out west your going to get bogged down when you speed it up based on the length and softness. im 6 foot and wish i had the 189s instead of the 179s, and i ski no park. so, based on sizes, and probably your dedication to park, id lean away from the seth.

the ARV is a sick ski, definitly. the 185 would be a perfect size for you. i have a friend of similar size with the 185 ARV and both he and i love them. solid all mountain performer, specially in alaska, i really like it, seriously. cant say anything about the park, so you might want to try that out, i dunno, but their definitly light, and the size again is just about perfect, specially if you center mount them or maybe a little back. good park, but still wont render them useless in the west.

like veteran, im not a huge fan of the gun. kinda inbetween sizes again for your skiing. a 181 seems short for you, but i dunno. the 188s out of the question for park skiing. its soft, light, but i dunno, just a so so ski in my opinion.
 
this man speaks the truth. i skied scratch bcs on the east coast all year, 50% in the park, and loved them. im 6'5 200.

i wouldnt rule out anthems or blends (which might be an even better choice) really, because when u think about it, if u dont get a lot of deep snow, they be solid out west, and if u do get deep snow just go demo some superfats, lets be real, when im out west this year, and we get dumped on, im all over some hellbents
 
i vote brigade. everthing that can be said about it already has, but consider that this is a ski that sage rips alaskan faces on, while andreas rips urban rails on the exact same ski! there really is no more versatile a ski than brigades/bcs. plus, 185 is a perfect length for you.

IF however you go with 179 seths, which would still be good, just a bit short in my view, DO NOT mount true centre. if you do, you are skiing it in a way it isn;t meant to be skied capiche? +5 from midsole would be best...
 
I know it's an expensive option, but seriously consider two pairs of skis if you can afford it. From what you've said, you're skiing almost all park when you're at home and almost all powder when you're in Whistler. A one ski lineup is going to be a compromise everywhere and they'll be beat from rails after a year or so. Get a nice pair of powder skis and they'll last you 5+ years if you're only using those in Whistler, plus they'll perform better. Then get a pure park ski that suits you for at home.
 
either the bridge or the ARV, both have similar sidecuts but the arv is slightly wider. perfect all mtn turns etc
 
p3's unless you will ride alot of powder. mine were sweet in all conditions jut not the best in 2 foot deep powder runs all the time
 
actually yeah, i agree with bambam. plus you can pick up park skis on the net for like $200.

if it really is only gonna be one pair tho, brigades!
 
rent when you go out west!

buy the ski for what will really make sense. I've heard great things about the brigade though, for both in park, and out. it would be my recomendation for a one ski does all very well sorta ski.

as far as the mini rocker on the seths go. It will give you a shorter length of ski in contact with the snow when you are on groomers/park and more ski to deal with the pow. esentially they ki like a shorter ski on hardpack, than they do in the fluffy stuff. go with the 189, and not the 179 if that is your ski of choice.
 
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