western daily driver

[gmcunni]

I appreciate this is an eastern-biased forum but indulge me ;-)

looking at end of season sales and hoping to pickup something new for next year. Currently on Line Prophet 98s. I like the width but hoping to find something a little more lively.

purely based on reading i've become interested in this list -

1. blizzardbonafide 97
2. nordica enforcer 100
3. K2 Mindbender 99TI
4. Salomon Stance 96
5. Salomon QST 99

anyone have knowledge of these or can suggest something else to consider?

 

[deadheadskier]

Have read great things about the Head Kore series as being lightweight and lively. The 99 should get a look from you

 

[jimk]

I'm currently using a two year old pair of Bonafides for most days at Snowbird. I have a narrower ski for firmer days and wider ski for deeper fresh powder. but i find that 95-100 mm underfoot range to be ideal about 70% of the time.

 

[dblskifanatic]

I ski my fat skis when skiing out west because we ski mostly ungroomed and ski groomed only to get to the lift. I would like to get something in the 105 range for western skiing.

 

[JDMRoma]

Have read great things about the Head Kore series as being lightweight and lively. The 99 should get a look from you

I have the 93s, very light and lively for sure and can hold speed with little to no chatter. The 99 or even the 105 for out west would be awesome !

 

[gmcunni]

I'm currently using a two year old pair of Bonafides for most days at Snowbird. I have a narrower ski for firmer days and wider ski for deeper fresh powder. but i find that 95-100 mm underfoot range to be ideal about 70% of the time.

i've heard many good things about the bonafides. from reading, seems like this year they made some changes to design.

 

[gladerider]

good thread.

i am looking to get one of these:

1. blizzardbonafide 97 (not sure which length. looking to try 177 and 171) in the next couple of weeks
2. nordica enforcer 100
3. elan ripstick 96

heard great things about bonafide. heard they are using different mix ratio for each lengths to keep the stiffness balanced throughout the lengths.

 

[jimk]

I was on the bonafides for this run yesterday at snowbird:

But to be honest, probably 70% of the people on the mtn had skis wider than 98mm underfoot this day. but these are conditions when the locals bring out their fattest skis.
My son was on rustler 11, 192 cm, 116mm. BTW, he's got about a half dozen skis, but these seem to be his daily drivers this year. He's used them in the five days I
've skied with him.

I've heard good things about 3 skis mentioned by glade rider. If I'm not mistaken, my version of the bonafide is a little less stiff than early ones, good for me as old guy, but maybe not as good for younger hard charger. Best to demo skis if you can.

just to further confuse, we skied for a while with a local on 93mm underfoot, believe he said they were a version of nordica enforcer but not sure. can anyone tell by topsheet?

 

[gladerider]

i do most of my skiing in NVT. would be lucky to get out west one or twice a year.
i am looking at the bonafide because:

1. getting back into skiing switching over from snowboarding
2. starting to enjoy carving more than i ever had
3. on line chronic 92 now. it's a fun ski but not really for carving
4. i think i would like less chatter at the tip and firmer grip
5. 30+ years ago when everyone had long skis, i was on 180 and 203

not sure bonafide is what i need. i heard it is great for carving. firmer grip. planning to try it out in during my next trip to the big K

 

[gladerider]

I was on the bonafides for this run yesterday at snowbird:

But to be honest, probably 70% of the people on the mtn had skis wider than 98mm underfoot this day. but these are conditions when the locals bring out their fattest skis.
My son was on rustler 11, 192 cm, 116mm.

I've heard good things about 3 skis mentioned by glade rider. If I'm not mistaken, my version of the bonafide is a little less stiff than early ones, good for me as old guy, but maybe not as good for younger hard charger. Best to demo skis if you can.

just to further confuse, we skied for a while with a local on 93mm underfoot, believe he said they were a version of nordica enforcer but not sure
View attachment 50697

would you ride the bonafide in the east?

 

[jimk]

would you ride the bonafide in the east?

Yes, here's the version I have, 2018?, i bought them used one year ago:

This version bonafide seems to turn/carve almost as easily as the lx85mm kastles I own. full disclosure, the kastles are what i consider my eastern/hardpack ski.

 

[thetrailboss]

Have read great things about the Head Kore series as being lightweight and lively. The 99 should get a look from you

I was going to suggest Head Kore. It may be a bit too damp though. Nordica Enforcers are pretty nice but also a bit damp in my experience.

 

[thetrailboss]

I was on the bonafides for this run yesterday at snowbird:

But to be honest, probably 70% of the people on the mtn had skis wider than 98mm underfoot this day. but these are conditions when the locals bring out their fattest skis.
My son was on rustler 11, 192 cm, 116mm. BTW, he's got about a half dozen skis, but these seem to be his daily drivers this year. He's used them in the five days I
've skied with him.

I've heard good things about 3 skis mentioned by glade rider. If I'm not mistaken, my version of the bonafide is a little less stiff than early ones, good for me as old guy, but maybe not as good for younger hard charger. Best to demo skis if you can.

just to further confuse, we skied for a while with a local on 93mm underfoot, believe he said they were a version of nordica enforcer but not sure. can anyone tell by topsheet?
View attachment 50697

I was at DV. How were the crowds at Snowbird?

 

[JDMRoma]

I was on the bonafides for this run yesterday at snowbird:

But to be honest, probably 70% of the people on the mtn had skis wider than 98mm underfoot this day. but these are conditions when the locals bring out their fattest skis.
My son was on rustler 11, 192 cm, 116mm. BTW, he's got about a half dozen skis, but these seem to be his daily drivers this year. He's used them in the five days I
've skied with him.

I've heard good things about 3 skis mentioned by glade rider. If I'm not mistaken, my version of the bonafide is a little less stiff than early ones, good for me as old guy, but maybe not as good for younger hard charger. Best to demo skis if you can.

just to further confuse, we skied for a while with a local on 93mm underfoot, believe he said they were a version of nordica enforcer but not sure. can anyone tell by topsheet?
View attachment 50697

Yes those are Enforcer 93s !

 

[jimk]

these might be a buy: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/nordica-enforcer-93-177-with-attack-14-bindings.22765/

 

[jimk]

I was at DV. How were the crowds at Snowbird?

I did not ski Sat, got a covid vaccine at dan's pharmacy instead!
Crowds at snowbird on Sun were very manageable. My son knows the game pretty well. We had parking reservations for Snowbird, but he knew that Alta's lots were fulling by 830-9am and there was a big early rush for people to fill those, so we went up around 930 and no traffic by then in LCC. We skied mostly gad2 and gadzoom with small lines. Saw a big crowd on little cloud and figured mineral was mobbed, did not go back there. i skied peruvian later in the day and it was very manageable.
how was dv?

 

[Edd]

I was going to suggest Head Kore. It may be a bit too damp though. Nordica Enforcers are pretty nice but also a bit damp in my experience.

I can say for a fact the Kores aren’t damp. There’s no metal in them. JDMRoma mentioned no chatter, which I’ll mostly agree with but you DO feel the snow surface, which some may not love on firmer days. I don’t mind it personally.

The 180 93s are my eastern daily driver but I think they’d make an excellent western DD also. Good on firm snow but even better off piste. I skied 18” this season and they handled it really well. They’re the closest to the promise of a do-it-all ski that I’ve tried.

That said, I’m shopping for a new carver, and the Stockli AX Laser is looking pretty good, with sales starting soon.

 

[gladerider]

is there a demo day coming up sometime soon in VT?

 

[thetrailboss]

I can say for a fact the Kores aren’t damp. There’s no metal in them. JDMRoma mentioned no chatter, which I’ll mostly agree with but you DO feel the snow surface, which some may not love on firmer days. I don’t mind it personally.

The 180 93s are my eastern daily driver but I think they’d make an excellent western DD also. Good on firm snow but even better off piste. I skied 18” this season and they handled it really well. They’re the closest to the promise of a do-it-all ski that I’ve tried.

That said, I’m shopping for a new carver, and the Stockli AX Laser is looking pretty good, with sales starting soon.

Good to know. Thanks

 

[thetrailboss]

I did not ski Sat, got a covid vaccine at dan's pharmacy instead!
Crowds at snowbird on Sun were very manageable. My son knows the game pretty well. We had parking reservations for Snowbird, but he knew that Alta's lots were fulling by 830-9am and there was a big early rush for people to fill those, so we went up around 930 and no traffic by then in LCC. We skied mostly gad2 and gadzoom with small lines. Saw a big crowd on little cloud and figured mineral was mobbed, did not go back there. i skied peruvian later in the day and it was very manageable.
how was dv?

By today's standards: average.

By old DV standards: very busy. Lines were usually about 5 minutes long as a single. Empire had longer lines.

Main runs were pretty firm overall and got skied off pretty quickly. The woods were pretty tracked out and bumped up. Lady Morgan Glades were all bumped up. I've never seen it that bumped up before.

Some good snow in other places though.

It's too bad that ski areas feel that to be "viable" they have to engage in a "race to the bottom" in terms of experience.