Ski testing again.

[Paul Oberin]

Four of us went up to Buller today to test out some of the current skis on the market from the 2012 range that we were not able to test last season, it had snowed a fair bit overnight but the snow had a lot of moisture in it so it was not powder, more like what is called Sierra cement in the States, it became quite clear very early the best choice were skis with early rise technology, the standouts were the Fischer Motive and ladies Koa series, the Atomic Crimson and Blackeye Ti and of course the K2 Rictor which I had with me.
It was nice to ski on a well tuned Atomic Crimson, I expected them to be a lessor ski, and was very pleasantly surprised at how they handled the conditions, even on the small section of firm snow the edge hold was far greater than I expected, for a ski I call wide under foot they were excellent in every way, in my opinion the edge hold was as good as the Rictor even with the extra 10mm under foot, and the rec retail price is a fair bit lower than the Rictor, certainly a ski well worth considering as a good all rounder for both here and overseas.
My female tester Donna was quite impressed with the Fischer Koa range, even to the point of she wanted to get off her normal high performance skis and get back on the Koa skis as often as she could.
My Son Daniel and also myself took quite a liking to the Motive skis and in particular the Motive 80, when we got back to the shop he took a set out of the retail rack and joked about them being his new skis (he can't afford them).
For me a tough call now after today, would it be the Rictor or should I look at the Fischer Motive 80 or maybe the Blackeye Ti, if going overseas the wider Crimson Ti would be tempting.

[nickdos]

Could you elaborate on the Blackeye Ti? Looks like the closest thing to the Rictor from Atomic so was wondering how you rate it compared to the Rictor?

[ozgirl]

I would really like to thank Donna for taking one for the team. :-)

Will be seriously considering the Fischer Koa now. Perfect timing.

[ozgirl]

I am really liking the sound of those Fischer Koa 78.......

gaahhhhhhh - money is the root of all evil!!!

[ozgirl]

hmmmm just remembered tax chq!!! hehe

[Paul Oberin]

Could you elaborate on the Blackeye Ti? Looks like the closest thing to the Rictor from Atomic so was wondering how you rate it compared to the Rictor?

I think there wouldn't be much in it, sadly the test Blackeyes had been used a fair bit and didn't have the factory tune, but even so it was obvious that they had the potential to be just as good as the Rictor, the big surprise was the Crimson, a wider ski than the Blackeye and the Rictor, but as it still had the factory tune it did have edge hold to match the Rictor, which was a pleasant surprise for such a wide ski under foot, seeing as how the Blackeye is close to the Crimson in construction but narrower under foot, I am sure with a factory tune they could be even better than the Crimson and maybe give the Rictor a run for the money.

[Paul Oberin]

The big tests days are on this weekend at Hotham, top of village chair, almost every brand and model will be there.

[DHS]

Do they have water skis too Paul?

[Paul Oberin]

Do they have water skis too Paul?

Forecast by the BOM for Hotham has changed and is now no mention of wind or rain, in fact now saying snowfalls.

[Paul Oberin]

From reports back this afternoon, the popular ski was once again the Fischer Motive, and Atomic Crimson.