January 8 marked the first day this season with an above median snowpack water equivalent at the Snowbird SNOTEL. Hooray. LCC is back, at least temporarily. The recovery from the storms over the past week in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon has been remarkable. The skiing yesterday for a non-powder day was really great, with great groomers you could carve the hell out of and an open and well covered (or as covered as it ever gets) High-T providing access once again to "real skiing."
Although deep powder is the pinnacle of skiing, I always pinch myself on sunny groomer days like yesterday because I didn't know weather and snow like that were even possible when I was a kid in upstate New York.
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| Looking down Mambo and remember my roots |
Sadly the forecasts are dismal. I don't know if I've ever seen the Utah Snow Ensemble completely flatlined for a 10-day period, but it is.
Actually there may be a couple of members in there that produce a skiff of snow here or there as I see a couple of whiskers poking up just a bit in the middle panels, but for all intents and purposes it's over for at least the next week. The good news is that it's January and between the low sun angle and cool forecast wet-bulb temperatures, Mother Nature won't be spoiling the snow on upper-elevation aspects on the north half of the compass. The skiing should hold up about as well as it can without a refresh.
And, given the conditions this year and my plans to be in Austria in a few weeks, I'm looking for a front-side all-mountain ski for groomers and off-piste skiing when it isn't deep. Although I'm a reasonably proficient technical skier, given my advancing age, I appreciate a ski that doesn't require huge energy input. If you have suggestions, add to the comments.
I have a K2 mindbender 89Ti as my frontside ski and it's wonderful- skis groomers almost as well as a dedicated carver but is much less demanding and can still be taken off-piste. They also make a 99Ti if you want more off-piste performance. If you don't already definitely check out Blister review, they're the best ski reviewers in the business and their full reviews are free to read.
ReplyDeleteElan Ripstick 96 black edition is exactly what you are looking for. Carves like a dream, handles off piste competently, and is the most intuitive and fun do it all ski I have ever had (20+ pairs of skis owned)
ReplyDelete60+ YO commenter…. 90 underfoot (+/-) with 16m radius. Trying the Dynastar MCross 88 186cm in the next few days so cannot report on that ski specifically- yet. But should be close.
ReplyDeleteSince everyone so far has listed the wide side of narrow, I'll add the Head Titan, Nordica Steadfast 85 DC, Stöckli Montero AR, and Völkl Mantra 84 to the mix. All capable of high speed trenches on dern near any kinda stuff, but still off-pistable to those for whom waist width isn't a measure of manliness. Or, if you realise you actually just want pure horsepower, the Rossi Arcade 84 and the Blizzard Anomaly 84. The Mantra, Arcade, and Anomaly 84s are all the narrowest of their lines, so there are wider options.
ReplyDeleteI will second the "mid-skinny" skis. The ski I now use the most is 86 under foot (home made or else I would recommend models). Enore and Mimi has a good list of skis. If you would like a pair made I am happy to oblige though I do not build with metal, which you may want for the type of ski you are thinking about. I really love this blog and would love to give back in anyway!
DeleteCan't wait til you go to Austria, as the Steenburgh Effect should kick in strongly
ReplyDeleteVolkl kendo 88 width(now called mantra 88). Carves easily on groomers and works fine on powder days such that I don’t even use my powder skis anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe Volkl Kendo is what I ride. It's German quality with two sheets of metal and relatively lightweight. I'm on a 2017 model, they got a little softer later on. There are some used models on KSL. You don't need to spend a lot because nearly all of the new tech in skis was mature by 2017. My used models were in mint shape, and also the narrowest skis in the entire used skis section of the shop.
DeleteArmada Whitewalker 121. Great everyday driver. Does it all.
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