Atomic LT11

[ctenidae]

Wondering if anyone has skied or knows anything about the Atomic LT11's.

I am Miss Ctenidae and I am an advanced skier. I currently ski on Salomon Crossmax 9's and would like upgrade. I do love everything about the Crossmax 9's, with the exception of their edge grip and them wanting to go straight down the hill. I am not a moguls skier, but I do want a ski that will allow me to ski them on occasion. I am 5'8 and 120 pounds, so I am not looking for a ski that will be too demanding. From what I read, the Atomic L11's seem like a pretty good ski.

 

[KevinF]

The LT11 is essentially a GS race ski for mortals. It was designed to do one thing -- make big turns while carrying a decent amount of speed. Making short turns, going slow, taking it easy, relaxing, etc. is not what that ski was meant to do. Can you do all that on the LT11? Sure, but it's not what it was meant to do. There are other, way more versatile skis out there.

 

[ctenidae]

The Original C here- thanks for the reply, Kevin. That's more or less my concern on the LT11's- we like to wander around on the mountain, though we do spend a lot of time on groomed, though mostly blacks and steeper blues. I'm afraid a dedicated ski type (regardless of specialty) won't be a lot of fun for ranging over the mountain.

Any ideas, generally, for a general purpose, leaning towards carving big turns, ski for a strong athletic woman?

 

[bigbog]

Dynastar, Fischer

Miss ct,
1) Dynastars are not your non-torsionally-stiff Dynastars of the past! Even though 81mm in the waist, this season's Legend 8000 is a more energetic ski, with a less damp feel to it... than in the past, can carve with any ski...and when told to, can tighten it's turn radius considerably...like riverc0il, I luv these.
2) Their Contact 9s, 10s, and 11s have been described as versatile.
RealSkiers (just navigate to the ski reviews)
3) I also love my Fischer RX6s as my other boards, but more of an "on-trail" ski.... A somewhat neutral, versatile ski that lets you define what you wanna do, much like the 8000s, only with narrower waist and less floatation...however, this ski most surprisingly performed in areas of 10" of fresh mixed with crud @Sugarloaf...late on a powder day that turned cold & wet.

$.01

 

[tjf67]

Hello,
Check out K-2 line for women. The luv line will allow you all the features you are looking for with a decent amount of edge grip. I have skied K-2 and notice it is a plusher ride but when you jump on them they perform.
If you want a little ski with more edge grip but all over the moutain performace check out volkiis womens ski. I ski the ac4 now and it is a lot like the recon with more edge grip.
From personal experiance with atomic they have to much side cut. The performance is there but you cant really dilly dally around on them or they get squirley.

 

[NYDrew]

Tried the LT11, not a fan. These days go with the quiver, they really are great.

quiver = a ski that does all, ie. metron, zenith

 

[drjeff]

My wife has very similar stats to you, in terms of size/ability/terrain type preferences, and she's demoed LOTS of similar type skis this season. As of right now, her preference have been:

1) K2 Burnin' Luv - this is the favorite, she's just waiting to get 1 more demo day on them in some soft conditions before I put the VISA down and get them for her. Loved this skiis ability to turn short and long and had enough energy in them if she really went after a turn, but the ski as she put it "stills lets me be lazy". Great Edge grip

2) Volkl S5 - Her cuurent ski is the Volkl Four Star and this is the updated version of them. Really good Edge grip, great for big turns and likes speed, but is solid at lower speeds/shorter turns, although not quite as easy slower/shorter as the Burnin' Luv

3) Head Fast thang- Likes shorter turns, a little more work at longer turns, felt very damp/stable to her

4) Atomic ST11 - A bit heavy feeling (shop attributed some of that to the demo bindings Atomic uses), solid, stable (almost too solid fer her tastes as she said they didn't feel as lively as others shes been on. And it did not like if you "got in the back seat" while turning

5) Head Wild Thang - Very, very very interesting graphics (think bright pink/bright green paintball fight over them) which as the shop folks told my wife, can turn off some people. This ski is the Fast Thang, but wider (exact same flex/geometry, just extra width)- a little more user friendly at longer turns, but on the hard snow she tried them on, they felt like they would wash out if she wasn't "on" them as she was finishing her turns

6) Nordica Olympia Victory - I'll preface her remarks about this one with the fact that she took them out immediately after skiing the Burnin' Luvs- Just seemed to be okay at every thing, but great at nothing

7) Atomic Izor 9:7 - Just wanted to go fast and straight, felt very difficult to her in softer snow/short slow turns, "not fun at all" if she wasn't centered to forward and being aggressive with her turns - and just like the ST11's physically felt very heavy

That's it(so far) - and yes she's demo'd alot, but each time out, she'd ski the skiis on the same 6 run sequence of trails at Mt Snow so while the snow type varied from day to day over the 3 days she'd demo'd so far, the terrain has been the same for comparison, and everything she's demo'd has been between 155 and 165cm. I should probably just buy the Burnin' Luvs for her right now before people start to think she's got a thing going on with the shop guys since she's been in there so much this season!

 

[ctenidae]

Nice info, all. Many thanks.