I was up at Brighton yesterday for the Backcountry Base Camp portion of the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market along with contributing writer John Crowley, in from San Francisco. There, many manufacturers of everything from skis to snowshoes to airboards have their stuff available to try.
For most skis we took two runs each: one groomer, one off-piste. For the latter, despite the warm day (temps pushing 40, no wind, and unrestricted sunshine) we found some nice dry chalky north-facing snow by traversing way out skier's right off the top of the chair.
I skied the new G3 El Hombre super fats, the G3 Reverend, the Karhu Jak Team, and the Black Diamond Havoc, all mounted AT. This was, of course, hardly the ideal snow for fatties like the El Hombre or the Jak Team, but I offer the following thoughts:
For most skis we took two runs each: one groomer, one off-piste. For the latter, despite the warm day (temps pushing 40, no wind, and unrestricted sunshine) we found some nice dry chalky north-facing snow by traversing way out skier's right off the top of the chair.
I skied the new G3 El Hombre super fats, the G3 Reverend, the Karhu Jak Team, and the Black Diamond Havoc, all mounted AT. This was, of course, hardly the ideal snow for fatties like the El Hombre or the Jak Team, but I offer the following thoughts:
- G3 El Hombre - This is a new ski just announced last week and won't be available until August 1. I had a hard time getting these things on edge and keeping them there on the groomed. In the crud they of course skied better, but it was firm, so it was hard to keep them on rails there, too. I'm sure that they'd be much more at home in loose snow.
- G3 Reverend - Much more versatile than the El Hombre, these were OK on the firm groomed, but would also be more at home in loose snow. Still, they could easily be an everyday ski. I found myself fighting to stay forward for some reason, and at one point even took the ski off mid-run to verify that they weren't mounted too far back. On our second run I had an easier time finding their center, and got more comfortable.
- Karhu Jak Team - I didn't like them. Super-wide (130mm in the shovel), with a deep sidecut (100 mm under foot), they looked like clown shoes. The progressive sidecut is deeper in the forebody than in the tail, so they were quick to initiate a turn, but I had trouble keeping these on edge on the firm snow, too. Combine that with what I felt was an excessively heavy ski, and I shed no tears when it was time to return them to the tent.
- Black Diamond Havoc - These were John's favorites as they're a better fit to his style of skiing (he's a former member of the U.S. Ski Team Development squad) with a narrower waist. They were also my favorites for the type of snow we were skiing yesterday. They held an edge well, were quick to initiate a turn, and were stable at speed. They were OK in bumps as well. While I liked them on yesterday's snow, yesterday's snow is an anomaly around here, so I doubt that I'd be happy having these as my everyday skis living in Utah.