Gear Review - Wachusett Ride-em and Rank-em

08 Gear Review - Wachusett Ride-em and Rank-em

I had the opportunity to test out some of next years skis at Wachusett today and thought I'd share my experience:

It was cold (10 degrees) in the morning but sunny with no wind and
fresh corduroy on all the trails. It got even colder after lunch when
the wind picked up. Most the skis were picked for me. This wasn't a free for all try everything you can demo day.

Here are the skis I demoed in the order I tried them:

Nordica Mach 3 170 cm - 2 runs; this was a real carver and that's
about all it wanted to do. Kind of a one turn ski. If you weren't
laying out in 16m carves it wasn't much fun and didn't really hold a
great edge.

Fischer Cool Heat 170 cm - 3 runs; A mid fat (78mm waist I think) and
had a what looked like a huge race plate on it. This thing skied like
a tank (in a good way) super solid medium to long turn ski and bomb
proof at high speed. Short turns? what are those?

K2 Apache Stryker 167cm - 2 runs: This is an intermediate/advanced at
the low end of the apache line-up. It was a nice little snappy ski
that made quick short and medium turns. I could have a good day sking
on these, but it really wasn't enough ski for me.

Volkl TigerShark 10 foot switch 170 cm - 4 runs; Wow, these were a
blast. There are two Tigesharks the 10 foot and the 12 foot. The 10
foot is replacing Allstar and the 12 foot is a midfat replacing the
AC4 unlimited. The switch is a dial that adjusts titanium rods in the
ski that stiffen it. The effect was really noticable and made the skis
excel in the full range of short to long range turns. Edge hold was
terrific and they are steady at any speed.

Atomic Metron B5 160 cm - 3 runs; I was suprised at how big these
skied for 160's. Very fast and stable. You need to stay on top of
these or they will throw you around. Great ski for those who like high
speed groomed carving.

Solomon X-Wing Cyclone 178 - 2 runs; These did everything right. Fast,
stable, great edge hold. But for some reason they just didn't feel vey
exciting.

K2 Apache Recon 170 - 4 runs; These are right there with the Volkls as
my favorite skis of the day. For midfats they could really crank some
short turns and were unshakeable at any speed. Very lively and a
perfect one quiver ski.

I also tried out a pair of Heads, but I was cold and tired and didn't
really pay attention to which ones they were. They looked like they
were detuned racing skis and had a traditional laminate type
construction. Nice GS carver, I wasn't really on top of it at this
point so I didn't give it review.

The Volkl Tigersharks and K2 Recons were the standouts from my point of view. There were a lot more skis that I would have loved to try, especially some of the other Noridicas and Atomics. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time or leg strength left.

I totally disagree with your assessment of the Mach 3’s, (BTW, did you mean Mach 3 Power?), but thanks for taking the time to post your reviews.

I've been keeping an eye on the Tigersharks. Are they heavy? Did you dial down the stiffness for bumps? If so, how were they?

I agree my experience with the Mach 3's (not the power) does not match up with the description of the ski. I just felt that if I wasn't concentrating on keeping it on edge and making tight carves it wasn't much fun. I talked with another guy who tested them too and he felt the same way.

As a side note I am planning on getting Speedmachine 14 boots for next season. :grin:

TigerSharks: They were suprisingly light and skied that way. I only skied the 10 foot, so I can't speak for the 12 foot but I excpect it's slightly heftier. I didn't get in the bumps. The bumps at Wachusett are man made and spaced kinda far apart. Add in a 10 degree day and they just weren't appealing. Definitely my top pick for the day.

Just got back from Wachusett today...tried out the Fischer Cool Heat in 165 and 170 cm.

Crud...what crud? Soft snow...what soft snow? Pretty much agree with what wa-loaf said, they do drive like a truck...but on days like today where the sun really softened things up these skis were fun. Also, despite what I've read about the skis being demanding and unforgiving, I was able to throw plenty of sloppy technique at them and they handled it just fine. My preference was for the 170s...seemed to have a higher speed limit (although I don't think I got near the limit on either size).

The stability is a real plus with these skis...only concern would be that with the weight they could be hard to ski on all day. Still enjoyed them a lot and I'm now looking for bargains...

Wow, you pulled that out from last year. Reading it again I was wrong about the Volkls. I thought they were replacing skis, when they were actually and addition to the line-up. Missed out on going this year, due to my ACL. :-(

wa-loaf said:

Wow, you pulled that out from last year. Reading it again I was wrong about the Volkls. I thought they were replacing skis, when they were actually and addition to the line-up. Missed out on going this year, due to my ACL. :-(

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Didn't notice the date...just wanted to report on my impressions of the ski and this thread came up in a search.

I did the "1/2 day performance rental" today to demo these skis...I was looking for something with a waist in the mid 70s and I noticed these on the demo rack. Figured it was a good day to demo since I'd be able to see the difference with the soft snow.

hammer said:

Didn't notice the date...just wanted to report on my impressions of the ski and this thread came up in a search.

I did the "1/2 day performance rental" today to demo these skis...I was looking for something with a waist in the mid 70s and I noticed these on the demo rack. Figured it was a good day to demo since I'd be able to see the difference with the soft snow.

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They've got great edge hold on the hard pack, if I remember correctly, and no obstacle phased them, just drove on through . . . got to work them pretty good to get short turns. I don't think they'd be much fun in the trees and probably too stiff for deep powder.

wa-loaf said:

They've got great edge hold on the hard pack, if I remember correctly, and no obstacle phased them, just drove on through . . . got to work them pretty good to get short turns. I don't think they'd be much fun in the trees and probably too stiff for deep powder.

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Good points...they were definitely well suited for today's conditions but I'd guess that driving them around in trees would be a bit of a chore.

Any thoughts on which skis would be as stable as the Cool Heats but would be better in the bumps and trees?