#onpiste

The Facts

Link to web page, length tested, underfoot width and sidecut radius:

SkiLength [cm]Width [mm]Radius [m]Armada Invictus 89 TI1798917.5Armada Invictus 99 TI1799921.5Blizzard Brahma1808819.0Dynastar Cham 2.0 871788715.0Dynastar Speed Zone 12 TI1747215.0K2 Speed Charger1757617.0K2 Super Charger1757218.0Nordica Enforcer 931779316.5 or 18.5Nordica GT 80 TI1748015.5Rossignol Hero Elite ST1676813.0Scott Black Majic Ski1777816.0Scott The Ski1759117.0Stöckli Laser GS1706816.1Völkl Code Speedwall L1787618.2Völkl RTM 811778117.9Völkl RTM 84 UVO1778416.1

Test Conditions

After a period of nice Winter weather, there were light rain showers on Friday morning. It turned cold again in the afternoon and stayed between -5C and -8C for the rest of the weekend. As you might imagine, the slopes got really firm. Perfectly conditioned some would say. We got a thin layer of fresh snow on top.

One run, known as Lundsrappet, we repeated with all skis for reference. It starts with three or four turns on steep hardpack, which mercilessly reveals poor edge grip. It then eases off a bit and invites you to do long, carving turns at high speed.

Given the large number of skis tested, we tried each pair for less than an hour. Needless to say, that is not even nearly enough to get to know new skis properly. So this test report reflects our first impressions. Still we felt that we got a pretty good idea which skis we would like to test more extensively.

The Feelings

The focus was on skis that would perform well, given the snow conditions. Other characteristics differed a lot: on the one end of the spectrum was Stöckli Laser GS, a racing ski, on the other end Armada Invictus 99 TI, an all-mountain/freeride ski. The rest of the skis had profiles somewhere in-between pure piste skis and freeriding.

Unsurprisingly, the racing and carving skis performed well on the hard snow. Not only Stöckli, but also the three models of Völkl skis should be mentioned particularly: all of them simply have stellar grip. But were they fun to ski? For a few runs, yes, but day in, day out –I'm not so sure. At least for me, a pure racing ski would be too tiring and monotonous. The Völkl skis are “all mountain” with a strong bias towards on-piste performance. All of these skis are competent carvers, but they lacked an element of playfulness.

I found the Dynastar Speed Zone more fun and snappy in all kinds of turns. Although the fairly wide shovels will clear a bit of debris, it’s clearly intended to be skied on groomed piste. Ola preferred Nordica GT 80 TI, which is wider underfoot and more of an all-mountain ski. It required a bit more effort than the Dynastars.

The Rossignols were a bit of a disappointment, a slalom-racer wannabe, but too soft to deliver. The ski was the shortest one (we were offered to test length 167) and the shovels were wobbly even at moderate speed.

We also failed to see the greatness of the K2s; they felt lifeless. One reason might be that we tried to ski them too technically. If you know deep inside that you’re a bomber, the K2s might be for you! The Super Chargers aim to be cruisers, whereas the Speed Chargers are built for higher speed.

The Dynastar Cham 87s flunked the hardpack test. Successful edging is of course a combination of material, technique and strength –so the skis might not be to blame; still I noticed that they skid where the other skis ripped. For the rest of the test drive, they were a joy to ski; very easy to turn, but without the snappy response some of the other skis have, unstoppable –they just blast through any obstacle. Although they are not too bad on piste, they are clearly geared more towards other parts of the mountain.

To our surprise we found some of the wider skis to have edge grip that was not far behind the piste racers/carvers. Given their versatility and playfulness, they were the overall test winners. On the top of the podium were the Armadas. Very stable, quick edge-to-edge, decent grip and sooo fun to ski. Ola liked the wider 99s, whereas I had a hard time letting go of the 89s after testing them.

The Blizzard Brahmas and Nordica Enforcer 93s were also very pleasant acquaintances. No problems on hardpack, easy to turn and fun to ski everywhere. The Enforcers felt quicker and easier to get into short turns, whereas the Brahmas held edge and handled speed better. Compared to Blizzard Bonafide, which I have skied in the past, the Brahmas felt less demanding physically: they are softer, narrower, but less rockered.

Scott the Ski was also fun and playful, solid grip and easy to ski. The narrower Scott Black Majic Ski I also liked a lot. Similar to The Ski: good grip, really quick edge-to-edge and quite forgiving –both were perfect for the conditions.

Blizzard Brahma: easy and fun to ski everywhere, holds edge and handles speed well.

Conclusions

The skis were tested on really firm snow and we made a point of testing edge grip on a steep, hard slope. To our surprise we found several freeride skis among the test winners. Really wide planks we didn’t even try, since the snow conditions weren’t right, but we believe the Armadas and several of the other skis would perform well also off piste.