Decisions Decisions.....a 99 or a 114?

[PisteOff]

Let me preface this with saying I own a pair of Soul 7's, and not the HD's so they're great in the powder but suck everywhere else. The other several pair of skis I own are race stock with the exception of a pair of Rossignol Pursuit HP's which are damn near race stock.

The Soul's really disappointed me as an all mountain ski. So I am looking at buying a set of boards with the Utah Gathering in mind. I'm leaning towards the 4Frnt MSP at 99 and the Line Sick Day 114. Those are the two at the top of my list right now and it's highly probable I could mess around and buy both of them.....BUT....I also like the Atomic Vantage CTi 100, the Moment Deathwish, the Nordica Enforcer, Black Crowes Atris, and the new Head Kore 105 looks like a great ski as well. There are some other surfboards out there like the Line 114 that I've looked at as well. Part of me just wants a great do it all big mountain ski but part of me also wants a set of surfboards..... So just to get a bunch of feedback to sort through I'd thought I'd throw this out there......

 

[Ken_R]

I own the Moment Deathwish in 190cm and really like em. They are superb as an all mountain ski for western resorts. They can be a bit rough if its super icy and firm otherwise they rip everything. The more snow the better of course but they hold great on steep and icy faces. They morph into whatever you want them to be.

 

[dlague]

Nordica Enforcer, Black Crowes Atris, and the new Head Kore 105

FWIW

These are the three that I like most out of all that you mention, The Enforcer has gotten great reviews and I have demoed them in the past and liked them a lot - I assume the Enforcer 100, Black Crowes have good reviews with a softer shovel design to initiate a turn and a stiffer tail to generate pop out opf a turn. They also seem to hold their on on groomers. Head Kore line - they are light and perform well in all categories. I have read a lot about this line. While many go after the stiffer Monster line the Head Kore is designed to offer performance on powder days and yet be a daily driver. This is a ski that I am keeping an eye out for.

 

[epicentre]

Personally, in regards to one-ski-quiver all-mountain type ski, I like going as narrow as I can while still able to maintain some float. For my size and weight, that means a ~95mm ski. There used to be a thread somewhere where you could calculate via size, weight, surface area of ski etc what size and width ski you need for float, but most skiers will be able to figure that out intuitively with a little bit of experience. For me 95 is the max width for comfortable carving, while the minimum width for some, but not great, float.

If I were in your boots, the question I'd ask myself- what width allows me to have off-piste float but still be comfortable on groomers? And do I want to keep my Soul 7's? If so I'd get a narrower all mountain ski like an Enforcer, if not I'd get a fatter ~105-115mm do-it-all. Or just throw all caution to the wind, and buy both an all mountain and a big fat pair of powder boards, come on you know you want to..

 

[Tom K.]

It sounds like you're keeping the Soul 7s? If so, I'd add a pair of 95-100 mm skis FAR before a pair of 114s.

I've got both, and use the 95-100s at least four days for every day I use the 118s.

Except last season. WOW!!!

 

[PisteOff]

It sounds like you're keeping the Soul 7s? If so, I'd add a pair of 95-100 mm skis FAR before a pair of 114s.

If I were in your boots, the question I'd ask myself- what width allows me to have off-piste float but still be comfortable on groomers? And do I want to keep my Soul 7's? If so I'd get a narrower all mountain ski like an Enforcer, if not I'd get a fatter ~105-115mm do-it-all. Or just throw all caution to the wind, and buy both an all mountain and a big fat pair of powder boards, come on you know you want to..

So, just for the record, I am 6'1" and 205. I see no reason to dump the Souls. I've kept most of mine and my son's old skis and all of his boots as he has grown. Family members and friends borrow them all the time when they come over and go skiing with us at our local hill. My son is now 5'11" about 155-160 lbs. I would give him the Souls for a pair of powder boards or leave them in the rack for a loaner powder board for family and friends. As I mentioned in another post in another thread, I have 6 kids and 13 grandkids and they have friends, cousins, etc. I also get nostalgic and ride all the different stuff from time to time.

I spend thousands on skiing every year. A couple pairs of skis isn't going to kill me. I am definitely interested in everyone's opinions on their favorite boards for big mountain days. You can read all the gear review editions of the mags and it's immediately obvious which skis are missing from the testing and which brands are favored by different publications if you've followed them over the years. So, while it is valuable information it isn't necessarily without bias and it most certainly isn't a complete sampling. I planned to do a lot of demo days last year but a cancer diagnosis saw me spend January to March engaged in that battle rather than racing or taking any trips out west. I still skied locally, but very carefully given the location of the tumor and the risk of rupture. So now I am hitting it hard this winter having booked three major trips already and I am looking to gear up for it. I appreciate everyone taking the time to express their opinions.

 

[BC.]

Keep the Soul 7's as "loaners"......take a chance on that Head Kore 105.....

Totally intrigued by both the Kore 93 and 105..... If you spend "thousands" on gear every year...why not take a chance??

 

[tch]

Since you seemed to be soliciting lots of opinions, here goes:
Speaking ONLY as an avid reader of many, many reviews/experiences, it seems like the Enforcer fits very nicely. They would seem to have the "guts" that the Soul 7's don't, but also a fair bit of their playfulness in style. And, even at your weight/size, they would provide the float you want.

But...you can look at my signature for the value of my opinion.

 

[PisteOff]

Keep the Soul 7's as "loaners"......take a chance on that Head Kore 105.....

Totally intrigued by both the Kore 93 and 105..... If you spend "thousands" on gear every year...why not take a chance??

I don't necessarily spend thousands on gear, but rather the sport in general. Passes, trips, etc. Some years are gear heavy. I am intrigued by the Kore. I am likewise intrigued by the rework done by 4Frnt on the MSP that had all the Freeskier testers raving......there's so many good boards to choose from.

 

[PisteOff]

Since you seemed to be soliciting lots of opinions, here goes:
Speaking ONLY as an avid reader of many, many reviews/experiences, it seems like the Enforcer fits very nicely. They would seem to have the "guts" that the Soul 7's don't, but also a fair bit of their playfulness in style. And, even at your weight/size, they would provide the float you want.

But...you can look at my signature for the value of my opinion.

I agree, the Enforcer has been a solid board since it's inception. If I went with two pair of skis, a mid 90 all mountain and a pair of surfboards then I would have the Enforcer at the top of my list for a mid 90 ski.......

 

[PTskier]

What does "All Mountain" mean to you?

To me it means that in the morning I might get a run or two on untracked or lightly tracked shallow stuff, then the rest of the day on crud or groomers. Once or twice a year I will be on deep snow for a few runs. I don't need a 100+ ski even for the deep untracked snow. I like to ski in three dimensions in the snow. You?

Decide what "All Mountain" means where you ski and buy skis that fit that situation.

 

[jmeb]

I'm trying to think of any terrain or snow I'd rather have a Soul 7 on than a Nordica Enforcer or Moment Deathwish -- and I can't think of any. (I only pick those two because I have ~2 full days on Enforcers and ~15 on deathwishes.)

If I was buying one ski to replace and I skied in a place with regular soft snow I'd probably lean deathwish as it sort of suits my style more (centered, jibby). But given your race background, Enforcer all the way. Or the Armada Invictus Ti.

I see you live in Michigan. I'm guessing you'll have more fun on a capable AM ski that excels in crud rathern than a surfboard. If you get deep conditions on a western trip, demo.

 

[Ken_R]

I used the Soul 7's for about 10 days and they were very fun skis if I skied slow. At speed they are sketchy as #$%^^. They also did not feel great on old untracked and obviously in chowder. I actually loved them in difficult bumpy terrain where the flexibility of the skis and easy turning helped when navigating cautiously down the hill. They are decent skis for a "sidecountry" touring setup.

That said the Deathwish absolutely destroy them in any condition I can think of. At 190cm one has to be pretty aggressive on them but they are generally well behaved. You certainly have the size to handle them (I am 6-2 185). They go through typically roughed up resort powder conditions like nothing.

I have a pair of Head Monster 88's for when it has not snowed in days. Head makes awesome skis so I would at the very least demo a few of their skis.

To me an all mountain resort ski for out west has to be able to handle any condition and terrain well. Performance on deep untracked is not really a priority (although the Deathwish excelled in that too) since it is such a rare and fleeting snow condition on any ski resort. Most of the time its either groomed, roughed up groomed, powder over firm or chopped up pow and of course bumps and scraped off hardpack thrown in the mix.

 

[Primoz]

I have basically same set of skis as you @PisteOff , Soul7 (still non HD version) for powder and ski touring, and Rossi WC stock skis (SL, GS and SG) for on piste skiing. While I really loved Soul7 for powder, even for fast lines if it was fresh light powder, it was anything but good on harder pack on on those run on groomers back to car, even if groomers were soft and/or chopped. For me, there was less to think what to get instead of Soul7, as I got chance to get free pair of new Super7 HD on end of last season, so I will see if they are any better (read: stiffer) when it comes to anything harder then fresh light powder. I got them one week too late on end of last season to try them, so I guess I'm not much of help at the moment, and I guess once I do have chance to try them (in about 1 month) it will be already too late for you

 

[BMC]

The fundamental choices are between a stiffer all mountain charger, or a surfy ski more exclusively devoted to powder.

If the former I personally can't see the point of going as wide as 114mm. If you want surfy you already have that, don't you?'

I don't think there's an awful lot of flotation difference between a 98mm and 105mm ski, and not do I think there's a huge difference in groomed snow performance. I'd personally suggest channelling your race ski background and look at 98-105mm ski from Head, Volkl, etc which are more differentiated from the Rossi.

Or...

Just sell the Rossis on eBay, buy some Line Sick Day 114s for powder and some Head Monster 98s (or 88s) and you're good to go. Covered.

 

[BMC]

Incidentally I love my Salomon QLabs, which can cover everything but super hard snow.

 

[PisteOff]

What does "All Mountain" mean to you?

To me it means that in the morning I might get a run or two on untracked or lightly tracked shallow stuff, then the rest of the day on crud or groomers. Once or twice a year I will be on deep snow for a few runs. I don't need a 100+ ski even for the deep untracked snow. I like to ski in three dimensions in the snow. You?

Decide what "All Mountain" means where you ski and buy skis that fit that situation.

To me it means simply that I can point it anywhere and it can competently perform. Naturally I don't necessarily expect greatness on an ice sheet but for all other snow conditions it should perform. I often ski bell to bell and I like to explore as much terrain as possible. I can ski loose and playful or I can lay it over it and let it rip. I don't have a lot of time in the deep stuff being from Michigan but I do get out west. I bought the Soul's and went out west for months in 15/16 and was really disappointed in their performance in anything but powder. 15/16 didn't turn out to be the great El Nino year everyone had hoped for. Now 16/17 on the other hand was awesome, but between work and cancer I didn't get a shot at it.

 

[Philpug]

@PisteOff , I agree with those who say to stay in the 90's since you have a hard snow ski in the Pursuit and One-oh in the Soul. You have aggressive in the Pursuit and playful in the Soul...what do you want THIS ski to be? There are a lot of choice and quite frankly few wrong ones. But I'd like to hear a bit more from you wo what you want/need from this ski before compling a what could be a long list.

 

[Monique]

To me it means that in the morning I might get a run or two on untracked or lightly tracked shallow stuff, then the rest of the day on crud or groomers. Once or twice a year I will be on deep snow for a few runs.

This makes me sad.

 

[PisteOff]

@PisteOff , I agree with those who say to stay in the 90's since you have a hard snow ski in the Pursuit and One-oh in the Soul. You have aggressive in the Pursuit and playful in the Soul...what do you want THIS ski to be? There are a lot of choice and quite frankly few wrong ones. But I'd liek to hear a bit more from you wo what you want/need from this ski before compling a what could be a long list.

Phil, basically everything I've said above. I'm wanting a competent all mountain ski. I am buying this ski for my trips this year which include the Utah Gathering. I want a ski that can traverse a big mountain resort, that I can dive into the deep with, bust out onto a groomer and rail across to another lift to head up to another area I want to ski. When the hill is chopped up I don't want to be in a dinghy in 6 foot waves or riding a couple rubber bands. I don't want to get halfway down a run and wish I had clicked into the other pair down in the locker. Those Soul's made me miserable out at Mammoth in Dec 15 with light coverage and only one 6" snowfall while we were there. So, I will be bringing the Souls and Pursuits with me. But I want a ski that can handle it all. Something that will rail and has good float and a nice swing weight. I'm looking at a lot of the right skis. Just very curious to hear everyone's feedback around here. I think this years offerings of all mountain skis may be the best I've ever seen. Thanks.

Edit-- Let me add that I wasn't a big believer in the "all mountain ski" a few years ago. Then I got tired of switching skis for conditions while watching others pretty much go where they wanted.....I'm a believer and I am ready to suck it up and spend some money.