What twin tip skis to buy this year?

[ftrain]

It is time to pick up a new set of skis this year. Last year when I went to Austria I skiied on a short pair of twin tip skis. I had a blast and ready to ditch my old shaped skis and purchase a pair of twin tips this year. I am not up on the latest technology but was wondering if people can point me in the right direction? What shaped skis should I consider? I mostly spend my time in the woods, mogules, and back country. Rarley find me staying on a groomed trail for long.

Mike

 

[Darwin]

twin tips

The 2005 Eric Pollard pro by Line, is by far the sickest ski there is!!!

 

[ftrain]

I assume weight would be a consideration also. Since I weight around 170-180 with gear I have a hard time flexing stiff skis. My last pair of skis were way to stiff and long and were not good in the mogules.

This year I plan to ski a much shorter and softer ski and get into freestyle skiing more.

 

[coreybyrnes]

i love line6 twins...

 

[ftrain]

Can you explain why you like them compared to others. What sets them apart?

 

[skicorner]

Can you explain why you like them compared to others. What sets them apart?

For your weight, and what you're looking to do with the skis, I'd suggest The Armada AR5. It's from a company owned and run by a bunch of freeskiers, including the amazing tanner Hall. The AR5 is a medium flex ski (compared to the Eric pollard Pro model, which is fairly stiff.) It's made to be amazing in the park and pipe, yet is very stable, for a twin tip, in the back mountain. From experience in the shop, We've found that the Armada's are also alot more durable. Line's have a tendancy of coming back broken (just our opinion, from seeing what comes back in the shop). Our entire shop freestyle team is sporting Armadas this year (and they all have 5 brands to choose from). As for length, remember that you'll loose ~10 cm of running surface because it's a twin tip. So don't "short-change yourself". Just for example, the shortest that the AR5s come in is 175cm. I'm not sure of you're height or weight, so can't suggest size. Good luck. Hope this helps.

 

[ftrain]

I am 6'2" and 170 lbs
What shop you work for and where are you located? I am near manchester, NH

 

[RossiSkier]

What twin tip model did FTRAIN end up purchasing? Scratch FS?? Where is the Train?

 

[ftrain]

What twin tip model did FTRAIN end up purchasing? Scratch FS?? Where is the Train?

I ended up getting the Rossi B2. It was not a true twin tip but was good enough for me. I do not spend 50% of my time going backwards in a park. I demoed a bunch of skis at the end of last season and the start of this season. I liked the B2 for the New England slopes and in the powder the B2 was good enough for me that when I land a 180 my skis stay afloat. I foudn the true twin tips are mostly for people who spend the entire day in the park.

The B2 does not perform as well at high speeds on groomers or racing but the market bindings I am using helped out a lot. They have a switch that makes the ski stiffer or softer depending if you are on or off piste. I was amazed how much the marker binding stiffened up the ski but I did find out you must make your decision at the beginning of the day for a stiff or soft ski because the switch likes to freeze up. At first I thought it was pretty gay having an on/off switch on my ski but in the end it makes a big difference.

I have about 12 ski days already under my belt on these skis .I just got back from Skiing Switzerland, France, and Italy and these skis are destroyed. I ended up hitting a lot of rocks off piste since the snow was so fluffy up to my waist/chest at times and you could not always see rocks. My skiing has increased 10 fold on these skis in the back country, chutes, and bumps.

All my ski gear and skis are actually lost somewhere with US Air. Hopefully I will hear back from them today since I race tonight at Pat's. It is sad if I do not get anything back because I have over 5k in gear in those two bags and they only will cover a 1/4 of that price if they do not turn up.


I still can not get over how fast they got damaged though but I must admit I ski hard and go where I want. I have chunks of ptex missing and the front tips are so banged up. France was a joke though with the lack of respect with people walking all over your skis in the lift lines and pushing each other out of the way. I was stopped on the side of the trail and I had a French person come down the trail and actually carve over the top of my skis. That total set me off the deep end and I chased after him and beat his ass with my poles!!! He was quite shocked! :angry:

 

[hammer]

France was a joke though with the lack of respect with people walking all over your skis in the lift lines and pushing each other out of the way. I was stopped on the side of the trail and I had a French person come down the trail and actually carve over the top of my skis. That total set me off the deep end and I chased after him and beat his ass with my poles!!! He was quite shocked! :angry:

Sorry if this goes a bit off topic, but I wonder if the "lack of respect" that you ran into in France is just cultural aggressiveness combined with a different idea of personal boundaries.

I experienced my share of this similar behavior at Charles De Gaulle airport on my way to Frankfurt, Germany on business. As a result, I try to avoid connections through Paris when I go to Europe, and I'd be somewhat reluctant to go to France on a vacation.

I don't want to come off as bashing the French, though, so if anyone's had a better experience when in France, please share...

 

[beswift]

Things are different in France, that's the way it goes. The skiing over your tails goes along with the way the women cut in line at the Supermarkets (or anywhere else). You get used to it. Even a supermarket can drive you crazy there because it is actually an American concept of marketing, not a European one. They don't cut you a lot of slack, but have you dealt much with the Chinese? The French aren't as up-tight as German's are regarding their instraments and equipment. The idea that you build to last or to own forever, they find rather ridiculous. In addition they make fun of the way the English Q up everywhere. I found that rather annoying as well when in England. They also know that you don't damage a ski that way, only the cosmetics. Having bright, clean gleeming things to show off is an American habit. On the Riviera beaches you can tell the American gals because they roll over before you can see their tits. In Ft. Lauderdale, the local boys will suround the German girls to stare at theirs. How provincial do you want to appear? As to the Airport, I wonder if the way it is run would be due to the French or the foreigner's which run it. I brought a new alarm clock in with me on my last trip. They took it out of my bag after the plane landed, never notified me or the airline about it, and it's prabably being used by some African to get up and go to work sweeping the streets right now.

 

[ctenidae]

I've never had any problems in France, though I ahve seen groups of Americans and Germans getting hassled and spoken rudely to. Of course, I would have hassled and been rude to these particular people in the US, as well. Most of the time Americans have problems abroad, it's because they're behaving so, well, American. There are other countries and cultures in the world. Adjust.
That being said, I'd be pretty peeved if someone carved over top of my skis, too- not just because they ran over my skis, but because they got that close while moving. Rude is one thing, dangerous is another.

 

[hammer]

I've never had any problems in France, though I have seen groups of Americans and Germans getting hassled and spoken rudely to. Of course, I would have hassled and been rude to these particular people in the US, as well. Most of the time Americans have problems abroad, it's because they're behaving so, well, American. There are other countries and cultures in the world. Adjust.

I don't mind adjusting if I can; I despise and am embarrassed by "ugly Americans" that I see when I am abroad. But, if adjusting to the local culture includes discarding what I consider to be common courtesy, then I do have a problem.

BTW, ftrain, I do not blame you for going after the jerk who carved over your skis. If anyone did that to me (or even worse, someone else in my family) then I'd be :angry: too.

 

[ftrain]

It is just a cultural difference. It is not that I am American and they are French. The do it to their own people also. French speak their minds openly and do what they want. It is all about yourself with little regard to everyone around you.
Another thing that was quite funny was the amount of people talking on cell phones on the lift lines. Quite rude for amercian but acceptable by the french.

I could care less though because I was their to ski and I neven skiied so much vertical or skiied so hard in my life. :beer:

As for Germans they are quite fun. Last year at St Anton was a crazy party. Bars all over the slopes from top to bottom. Those people know how to party!

If you want to be pampered and respected go to Italy. The one day we skieed their I never had better service and people were so polite. It is amazing how a 20 minute car ride can change the way peopel treat you.

 

[RossiSkier]

I ended up getting the Rossi B2.

SWEET! I want a pair of B2's bad!

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences FTRAIN.

 

[RossiSkier]

I was stopped on the side of the trail and I had a French person come down the trail and actually carve over the top of my skis. That total set me off the deep end and I chased after him and beat his ass with my poles!!! He was quite shocked! :angry:

This guy is my new hero!

 

[thetrailboss]

I ended up getting the Rossi B2.

SWEET! I want a pair of B2's bad!

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences FTRAIN.

Those look like some nice skis...hope everything works out.

FTRAIN...you ski at Pat's regularly?

 

[ctenidae]

I demoed a pair of B2's last week. I think it would be a great ski in the right hands, but I didn't like it. It's very flexible, and takes a lot of work to maintain control. I found that if I leaned too far forward or back, the ski would flex a lot, and dig that end in. I could lean back lightly and lift the tips. Probably a good thing that the ski will force you to center yourself, but its more work than I'm able to do at this time and still enjoy myself. They did strike me as a ski that could be fantastic, though.

 

[ftrain]

FTRAIN...you ski at Pat's regularly?

I race at Pat's each Wednesday night on my company team. It is a fun place to get out on Wedneday and make some turns, race, and go to the bar afterwards to watch the crashes caught on tape for that nights racing.

I live in bedford, NH so it is just a short drive. Afterwards at the bar it is a good time since it is full of all the people that raced that night and a good amount of people I work with.

Mike

 

[ftrain]

I demoed a pair of B2's last week. I think it would be a great ski in the right hands, but I didn't like it. It's very flexible, and takes a lot of work to maintain control.

If you stay on grommed runs and do not ski glades or bumps then this ski is not for you. I will take a Atomics any day over the B2 for crusier runs. At high speeds the B2 is not that stable. I must admit that the marker bindings I have make the ski nice and flexable and with a flip of the switch they become pretty stiff.