What skis ?

[NYDrew]

Flex, just to give you an alternate opinon, I hated the allstar. Even ignoring the fact that I ski bumps, I felt they were a boring ski. It had one turn: Wide and one Speed:Fast.

What do you do on those lazy days when you like to play with terrain features, or make monster turns that get your skiis uphill of your body.

If you like fast and fast only, then you might like them. I like versatility, I like to play on the mountain sometimes.

[flexbert]

Well, I got out on the Crossmax V12s (170cm) yesterday and am heading out again this afternoon. Conditions were about -2C (~29F), mostly groomed man made snow with lots of ice. It started snowing in the afternoon and we had about 2-3cm (~1") by the time we left - according to the hill's website they got about 5cm (~2") total.

First impressions - I enjoyed them. I was skiing mostly with my 6 year old yesterday and it is her first year skiing, so there was not a lot of opportunity to really check them out - today should give me a better impression. The Crossmax's had good edge hold on hardpack and ice, allowed me to do all types of turns - short fall line turns, cruising medium turns and fast GS turns. I think of all the skis I have demo'd this year I liked these skis best, but I would want them in a longer ski for me (I think 177cm is the next step). I'll update after today's skiing.

NYD - Of course, you had to throw a wrench into my leaning towards the Allstars !! What to do, what to do?? Eventually I'm going to have stop thinking/talking about it and actually buy something....

--flexbert

[flexbert]

Second day on the V12s ...

Item and Brand Name: Salomon Crossmax V12, S912 Ti bindings, 170cm, 114/68/101, r = 15.5

Date of Demo: 24-25 Feb 05

Retail Outlet: Aerobics First, Halifax, NS

Purchase Price (optional): Listed at $Cdn 1280, incl bindings

MSRP: ? - I have heard $Cdn 1300

Description of item and your experiences: Awesome ski. I like the graphics (see link to Salomon website below), with the piston/connecting rod going across the skis. I was able to ski for a couple of hours on my own. Conditions were similar to the previous day - mostly man made with lots of hard-pack and ice joining the few patches of good snow. A little dusting of snow overnight, but that was gone by the time we got out to ski around noon. Turn initiation was great, edge hold on ice was awesome. I was able to work the ski but I wasn't worn out at the end of the day - the skis flet light underfoot and did not feel heavy on the chairlift. I let them run at speed for a couple of runs (eyes watering, even with goggles on) and the tips looked like they were bouncing around a lot but I didn't feel it at all - they felt very stable. Being the size I am (~235 lbs @ 6'4"), I think I would go to the next length in these skis, which is a 178cm with slightly changed dimensions of 114/69/102, r = 17.5. No moguls and no powder (not sure if there have been any powder days here in NS this year ....) to run them through, so I cannot comment on that.

Overall Rating (1-5 with 1 being "horrible" and 5 being "outstanding"): 5

Would you recommend the item? Absolutely.

Internet link to manufacturer and/or photo and description from company: http://www.salomonski.com/caus/produ....asp?id=784663

I have heard a rumour that Salomon did not market this ski in the US - anyone confirm that? If you go to the US Salomon website, it does not list the Crossmax V12 at all, so there may be some truth to that rumour. According to the staff at Aerobics first, Salomon has dropped the Crossmax line for 2007 (they were at a dealer demo week at Tremblant a few weeks ago) - too bad IMO, as these were an awesome ski.

--flexbert

[flexbert]

The last 4 times skiing, I have been out on demos (Head iSupershape, Head iXRC 1400 and Salomon Crossmax V12 * 2 days). Today I had to go back to my own skis (8 year old Salomon S9000 S1s, 210cm). If that didn't convince me that I need to get onto some new skis, then nothing will !! The decision is coming soon.....

--flexbert

[Starter Jackets Rule!]

Originally Posted by flexbert

I am going to demo the Head iXRC 1400 Chip Super RailFlex II this weekend (now that's a mouthful !!) Here is a link to the Head website http://www.head.com/ski/products.php...kicross&id=225. I'll let you know my thoughts on it.

The same shop has a Salomon Crossmax V12 for demo but it is not available this weekend - I will try and demo it later and post my thoughts on it too.

--flexbert

I had last years 1200 ixrc-sw
it skied great with a 17m tr.
the only prob with the ski was the top sheet chiped off big time....i sent them back to head and exchanged the 4 a pair of thier sl wc in a 166 cm.
with todays sl skis you can rip short turns and also feel steady as a rock in longer raidous turns.
they also hold thier own in the bumps.

as for the salaomon skis they ski realy easy but at speed they tend to lack in stability.
so if you are into speed i would pass on just about any salomon ski, besideds thier race skis, jmo.

[flexbert]

Well, after much hemming and hawing (just ask my better half - something to the effect of "just buy them and stop talking about it - I don't care what it costs!!") I have finally made a purchase. I decided to get the Volkl Allstar in a 175cm. I bought them through Sportsliquidatotor (http://www.sportsliquidator.com/) and they should arrive tomorrow (Friday). Sportsliquidator is the online part of a B&M store with 5 retail outlets in British Columbia - they list a lot of items on e-bay as well. So far it has been a positive experience - I hope to be able to get out on the skis this weekend. More to follow ....

--flexbert

[flexbert]

Well, the Allstar's arrived Monday, so I didn't get out on them last week. Tomorrow.

The skis and bindings were well packaged for shipping and arrived within the time that Sportsliquidator advertises - ships within 48 hours, 2 business days delivery once picked up. I ordered them on a Tuesday evening, they were picked up from the store Thursday afternoon and arrived Monday. I had the bindings mounted and I'm ready to go - so far the weather has held enough that the hill is still open. I'll post my thoughts on them after the weekend.

--flexbert

[flexbert]

Saturday was the first day out on my new Allstars. It was mostly sunny, with a morning temperature of about zero C, rising to about 5C by the afternoon. The ski hill (Ski Wentworth http://www.skiwentworth.ca/ )is planning to close this coming weekend (2 April), so we are approaching the end of skiing in NS this year. Overall, conditions were pretty good, although there were some bare spots and rocks to be found on some runs - only one minor gouge by the end of the day.

As a reminder, I am a 41 yo male, level 7/8, ~106kg (~230ish lbs), 191 cm (6'4"), ski in the East. I bought the 05/06 Volkl Allstar in a 175cm, with the IPT Racing bindings, without PCOS (as I understand it, this can be added later).

Overall - AWESOME . I loved the ski. It took me about one run to get my body position right - I needed a more neutral position as I found myself too far forward. Once I got that settled, I was able enjoy the skis to the fullest. In the morning it was groomed with a crust of hardpack/ice since it went below freezing overnight. The Allstars kept a great edge hold and made me feel very confident, especially when compared to my previous skis (see comments above in this thread). As the day went on and the temperature increased, the snow softened and the spring crud developed. I found in the heavier crud that I had to put my weight back a little bit (not a lot, but it was noticeable to me) compared to the morning groomed skiing. If I didn't, the tips seemed to dig in and start to turn/turn more when I didn't want them to.

With a 15.9m radius at 175cm, I still found the Allstars great for short turns. It was simply a matter of being a little more aggressive initiating the turns (i.e. tipping the ski over a little further - not really more work) and they would do exactly as I wanted. Cruising was great - very stable at speeds (not SG/DH speeds, but pretty aggressive) and they were able to churn through the heavy crud at speed with no problem. Carving (at least I think I was carving ....) was also great - tip them over and away they go.

Bottom line . Too bad it's nearing the seaon end - I might get out once more this season. At least I will have good things to look forward to for next year .

--flexbert

[Catul]

Originally Posted by flexbert

Bottom line . Too bad it's nearing the seaon end - I might get out once more this season. At least I will have good things to look forward to for next year .

Awesome, glad you loved them! I concur about the "problem" of buying new equipment at the end of the season; I got out twice on my new Volkl S5 and will now be putting them away - nice to have these to look forward to starting next season with!