Skiing Magazine

I don't how many people here subscribe to Skiing magazine,
let alone read it cover to cover.

But since it's time for end-of-season sales on 2004-5 skis,
I'm rereading their gear tests from the October 2004 issue.
Here were the top-rated skis in each category, with sco

All-Terrain Expert Rossignol B2 10.3
All-Terrain Intermediate Nordica SUV 11.2
Big Mountain Pro/Custom K2 Made'n AK 11.5
Big Mountain Expert Atomic M:EX 11.8
Slalom Racing Volkl P60 11.8
Carving Expert Nordica 14XB 11.9
Grand Slalom Racing Rossignol 9X 12.1
Carving Intermediate Atomic C:9 Puls 12.1

Does this indicate Grand Slalom and Carving Intermediate skis
are the best (other skis in those categories also scored high)
or is it just some anomaly in their scoring?

Parenthetical remark: my word, some ski designs are uuuuuugly.
No wonder everybody's switching to snowboard: aesthetics.

Bill Tuthill wrote:

[snip]
Does this indicate Grand Slalom and Carving Intermediate skis
are the best (other skis in those categories also scored high)
or is it just some anomaly in their scoring?

Since there's no information given about methods, all you can conclude
is that the folks scoring the giant (not grand) slalom and carving
intermediate skis raved about them more than the folks scoring the other
skis.

--
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.

Mary Malmros wrote:

[snip]
Does this indicate Grand Slalom and Carving Intermediate skis
are the best (other skis in those categories also scored high)
or is it just some anomaly in their scoring?

Since there's no information given about methods, all you can conclude
is that the folks scoring the giant (not grand) slalom and carving
intermediate skis raved about them more than the folks scoring other skis.

They do divulge the meaning of scores. What confused me is that
some skis are rated for Off-piste performance, while others are rated
for Corduroy instead, so the scores are not directly comparable.
Best off-piste ski was the K2 Make'n AK, which scored 4.3 for its
combination of Powder, Crud, and Mogul handling.

If there are moguls, it's not proper off-piste! (unless the underlying
terrain is bumpy).

So they did not rate off-piste skis for ability to hold an edge in
steep couloirs? I'd hate hit an icy spot that I have to negotiate
(unless I'm ready to climb back for hours) with skis that just cannot
deal with that kind of ****. "Big Mountain" should mean big mountains
that can throw everything at you, right?

wrote:

If there are moguls, it's not proper off-piste! (unless the underlying
terrain is bumpy).

So they did not rate off-piste skis for ability to hold an edge in
steep couloirs? I'd hate hit an icy spot that I have to negotiate
(unless I'm ready to climb back for hours) with skis that just cannot
deal with that kind of ****. "Big Mountain" should mean big mountains
that can throw everything at you, right?

Yeah, good points.

Did you ever hear about the K2 ski called the She's Piste?
Good pun on the French.

Skiing magazine covers icy conditions under "hard snow grip",
one of the three components of Corduroy (the others are confidence
of traversing and ease of making short turns).

In another thread you said you have the Volkl Supersport 6 star,
which rates 3.8 for corduroy. In that category, Carving Expert,
the Fischer Worldcup SC rates 3.9 and Nordica Speed Machine 14XB
rates 4.0, but 3.8 isn't a bad score.

I don't think you need another pair of skis.

On piste I'm fine but I do think I need a pair of semi-fat off-piste
skis for those big mountains. Decent powder is always easy to ski but
I'm looking for tools for dealing with difficult snow days after a
dump. My limited experience with rented semi-fats taught me that with
those one can ski the difficult snow with less effort and more speed.
I'd like to hear some recommendations..

wrote:
On piste I'm fine but I do think I need a pair of semi-fat off-piste
skis for those big mountains. Decent powder is always easy to ski but
I'm looking for tools for dealing with difficult snow days after a
dump. My limited experience with rented semi-fats taught me that with
those one can ski the difficult snow with less effort and more speed.
I'd like to hear some recommendations..


Put in the effort and time to learn to ski a heavy, long, and narrow GS
ski and you'll be happy in crud and chop. And it won't loose edge grip
if you happen to hit an icy spot in that couloir. Why always look for an
easy answer?

lal_truckee wrote:
wrote:

On piste I'm fine but I do think I need a pair of semi-fat off-piste
skis for those big mountains. Decent powder is always easy to ski but
I'm looking for tools for dealing with difficult snow days after a
dump. My limited experience with rented semi-fats taught me that with
those one can ski the difficult snow with less effort and more speed.
I'd like to hear some recommendations..

Put in the effort and time to learn to ski a heavy, long, and narrow GS
ski and you'll be happy in crud and chop.

Yup. Longer, heavier, and less sidecut seem to work better in the crud
and slop. I might add stiffer and damper to the spec.

That said, you probably don't want to go as long, narrow, etc. as Lal.
Everything in moderation, you know...

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

Well, I loved to ski in said conditions with the long, heavy and narrow
GS ski in the old-school days but now I want to take advantage of the
new wider off-piste skis. Before the current carving skis I considered
skiing on groomed runs an almost complete waste of time but the fun
with new skis changed that (to a degree). I have a feeling semi-fats or
fats could be equally revolutionary off-piste, my limited experience
with fatter skis tells me that they are more stable in difficult snow
conditions and faster (due to more float) in heavier snow.

So, any recommendations for big mountain semi-fats or fats for 97%
off-piste use?

wrote:

So, any recommendations for big mountain semi-fats or fats for 97%
off-piste use?

These were Skiing magazine's highest rated skis for the purpose of
big-mountain non-corduroy schussing. I don't know if you should
deduct points for a mismatch between power and finesse; I did not,
just added Speed + Turns + Crud (off-piste). K2 be da brand.

Speed Turns Crud Power/Finesse
K2 Made 'n AK 3.4* 3.8 4.3 41/59
Atomic M:EX 4.0 4.0 3.8 66/34
K2 Seth Pistol 4.0 3.5 3.9 71/29
K2 Apache Chief 3.6 3.6 3.8 55/45
Rossignol B3 ** 3.5 3.7 3.6 51/49

* downgraded because it over-turns at high speed
** rated in Expert and Custom categories, averaged