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Elan 888 vs Fischer Watea 94 vs Volkl Mantra

wa-loaf

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I skied primarily on my 94 Watea's this season and absolutely love them. I think they do everything well - powder, chowder, crud, groomers, pretty manageable in the bumps too. That said all my previous skis have been 74 (Dynastar 4800's) or narrower underfoot and I never demo'd I just bought the Watea's on a whim a year ago, so maybe I'd raving about any ski in this class...

Mine are the 07-08 season w/ different graphic but same ski otherwise.

What size do you have?
 

SkiingInABlueDream

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What size do you have?

178. Oh yeah, and glades & trees too - they rock. Im always amazed how light and tossable they are. I have Marker Griffins mounted on them. It's probably worth mentioning that I weigh close to 200 and still tend to drive the ski more than ride it (a product of the 80's baby! :) so theoretically maybe Im on too little ski which obviously could yield "tossability", but on the other hand I've never felt like the ski was close to wimping out on me, whether charging a groomer or any flavor of crud.
The only negative I can say about the ski is that the top surface layer, whatever it's called, is sort of fraying and peeling off near the tips of the skis. I haven't decided yet whether I think it's normal wear & tear or defect.
 

ERJ-145CA

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115_1547sm.jpg


I've got 70 days on my 78's and I love them, so much so that I'm thinking of getting another pair after this next season, I think I'll go for the 174's instead of my current 167's. They've never let me down yet. Also the wood area above the name near the tail of the ski is actually clear plastic so you see the real wood core. Now I believe it is a picture of wood printed on the top sheet.

BTW the board is my wife's and my kid's skis are seasonal leases so he doesn't have those anymore.
 
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wa-loaf

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Really put the 94s to the test today. Let just say that I'm extremely happy with them.
 

mondeo

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I'm still waiting for my first powder day with them. First full day on them was Saturday, a lot of tree skiing. Novice tree skier who's skied bump skis exclusively for the last 10 years + first full day on new fat skis in trees = bad idea. Got a bit better in the bumps with them though, just need to break the stance a little and they're ok in powder bumps. Think I might need something around 80 under foot for a tree ski.
 

wa-loaf

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What kind of conditions did you ski them in?

Yes, powder, powder bumps, wind scoured hardpack. It might be because I have the 186's but they are not super quick in the bumps, you have to work a little to swing them around in some cases, but definitely manageable. Absolutely awesome in the chopped up powder, great in the deep stuff too. In the deeper areas I found that they don't hit bottom or rise to the top. Just kind of cruised around in the middle which was nice. Held a nice edge on the few places where the wind had blown the snow off.

I got used to the "bumps" just being big 3' -4' piles of snow that you could plow right through that when I finally hit a real bump I double ejected and did a nice forward flip.
 

WJenness

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I got used to the "bumps" just being big 3' -4' piles of snow that you could plow right through that when I finally hit a real bump I double ejected and did a nice forward flip.

Ha! I did that with my 84s yesterday! Mine was a combo though... first real bump sent me in the air, came down about 1/3 way up the second real bump, double eject, chest slide about 100ft... Knocked the wind out of me a bit, but didn't hurt myself... It was kind of fun, actually.

-w
 

bvibert

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Yes, powder, powder bumps, wind scoured hardpack. It might be because I have the 186's but they are not super quick in the bumps, you have to work a little to swing them around in some cases, but definitely manageable. Absolutely awesome in the chopped up powder, great in the deep stuff too. In the deeper areas I found that they don't hit bottom or rise to the top. Just kind of cruised around in the middle which was nice. Held a nice edge on the few places where the wind had blown the snow off.

I got used to the "bumps" just being big 3' -4' piles of snow that you could plow right through that when I finally hit a real bump I double ejected and did a nice forward flip.

Awesome, can't wait to try mine out in similar conditions! I have the 186's too.
 

Edd

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Wa-Loaf and Bvibert...I'm curious since you both got 186 about your height and weight.
 

bvibert

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I think you'll be happy.

I took them out tonight for the first time. Not ideal conditions for them, but I wanted to try them out. It was mostly groomed, packed, sugary type snow, with some patches of hard pack mixed in. The Wateas handled making high speed large and medium turns with no problems. It was really a lot of fun on a trail that I don't normally ski when it's groomed.

Very happy with the skis so far, can't wait to try them out on conditions they're more suited for! :beer:
 

wa-loaf

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Wa-Loaf and Bvibert...I'm curious since you both got 186 about your height and weight.

5'9" 215lbs

The Wateas handled making high speed large and medium turns with no problems. It was really a lot of fun on a trail that I don't normally ski when it's groomed.

I think the turn radius is 21-22m so short turns are not it's forte.
 

wa-loaf

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Just came here to say the same thing...

SAC having a ski gear blow out tomorrow between 10am and 2 pm MST (which is what? 12 - 4 here?) If the Watea's are going to show up again I bet it'll be then.
 

BeanoNYC

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SAC having a ski gear blow out tomorrow between 10am and 2 pm MST (which is what? 12 - 4 here?) If the Watea's are going to show up again I bet it'll be then.

Damn...I keep on getting scooped on the ODAT site news! I'm hoping my 84s show up so I can get a price adjustment!
 
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