Paul Oberin
03-02-2012, 12:32 PM
My thoughts on skis for next season, is this.
Last time I tested skis at Winter park I found a fantastic set of Blizzard G force skis, which I have with me this trip, in fact I have had 3 sets for myself, also I discovered the great K2 Rictor of which I have also owned 2 sets since then, my aim is to always try and find a better ski than my current skis, I think the Volkl RTM84 would be a better ski than my G force for everything except moguls maybe, as they are wider under foot, but even so they were easy to use in the moguls at Winter park, the G force are still as good as the new RTM84 except maybe in powder, again due to width under the foot, I don’t think I will sell my G force to by a new ski yet.
So for the 3 of us over here testing skis, Volkl were the clear winners, both of us guys liked the RTM 84 as the best ski tested, and Donna liked the Volkl Chiara.
There were some very close competitors, such as the new Fischer Hybrid skis, the K2 Bolt and the new modified K2 Charger, the Line Prophet 85, the Blizzard Bushwacker and Bonafide, there were many other Volkls that were excellent skis, such as the Code speedwall, the new Werks, and the narrower RTM 77, RTM 80 and the new Kendo.
Donna tested as many lady skis as she could fit in, for her it came down to a choice of the Volkl Chiara or the K2 Superburnin, she likes them both a lot, and would probably go on price or graphics, but they are almost the same price and both look great.
Donna also tested the RTM77 and RTM80 mens skis, but as she is short they don't make them short enough for her to own a set, she did try other brands and models but I don't think it fair to discredit any ski, as what we like may not suit everyone, and what we didn't like others may like.
I expected the Volkl, Fischer and K2 skis to be fantastic and they were, but I was very surprised at just how good the skis like the Bushwacker and the Line prophet 85 were as all round skis, even the Kendo was far better than I expected for a ski of its type.
The Fischer Hybrid 7.0 is 75mm under foot and has a switch at the tip to give the ski early rise or not early rise, I gave both the Hybrid 7.0 and 8.0 (85mm under foot) a real work out as I have seen gimmicks come and go with skis, but these things really work, with the switch in one position (early rise) the skis were noticeably smoother and more forgiving, yet still had excellent edge hold, in the non early rise position I could feel the tip bite into the firm snow a lot harder, but it was less smooth.
Last time I tested skis at Winter park I found a fantastic set of Blizzard G force skis, which I have with me this trip, in fact I have had 3 sets for myself, also I discovered the great K2 Rictor of which I have also owned 2 sets since then, my aim is to always try and find a better ski than my current skis, I think the Volkl RTM84 would be a better ski than my G force for everything except moguls maybe, as they are wider under foot, but even so they were easy to use in the moguls at Winter park, the G force are still as good as the new RTM84 except maybe in powder, again due to width under the foot, I don’t think I will sell my G force to by a new ski yet.
So for the 3 of us over here testing skis, Volkl were the clear winners, both of us guys liked the RTM 84 as the best ski tested, and Donna liked the Volkl Chiara.
There were some very close competitors, such as the new Fischer Hybrid skis, the K2 Bolt and the new modified K2 Charger, the Line Prophet 85, the Blizzard Bushwacker and Bonafide, there were many other Volkls that were excellent skis, such as the Code speedwall, the new Werks, and the narrower RTM 77, RTM 80 and the new Kendo.
Donna tested as many lady skis as she could fit in, for her it came down to a choice of the Volkl Chiara or the K2 Superburnin, she likes them both a lot, and would probably go on price or graphics, but they are almost the same price and both look great.
Donna also tested the RTM77 and RTM80 mens skis, but as she is short they don't make them short enough for her to own a set, she did try other brands and models but I don't think it fair to discredit any ski, as what we like may not suit everyone, and what we didn't like others may like.
I expected the Volkl, Fischer and K2 skis to be fantastic and they were, but I was very surprised at just how good the skis like the Bushwacker and the Line prophet 85 were as all round skis, even the Kendo was far better than I expected for a ski of its type.
The Fischer Hybrid 7.0 is 75mm under foot and has a switch at the tip to give the ski early rise or not early rise, I gave both the Hybrid 7.0 and 8.0 (85mm under foot) a real work out as I have seen gimmicks come and go with skis, but these things really work, with the switch in one position (early rise) the skis were noticeably smoother and more forgiving, yet still had excellent edge hold, in the non early rise position I could feel the tip bite into the firm snow a lot harder, but it was less smooth.