All Mountain Ski Quiver Killer Comparison - Sierra Jim
There is a trend these days to say that the plus-or-minus 98mm skis are the perfect ski width for everyone in the west, and that is not necessarily the case. It’s important to remember that trends sometimes fail to recognize the skiers’ capabilities and their preferences.
There are plenty of skiers out west that are well suited by frontside skis and a lot more (maybe even most) that are best suited by the roughly 88mm skis. Naturally a quiver of skis is the best of all and more is always better. Where the 98mm ski fits in is for the skier with one ski, roughly a 50/50 priority towards packed vs. soft snow usage, and the capabilities to ski that terrain.
The 98mm ski can also fit very nicely as the middle ski in a three ski quiver for the west and could well be the wide ski for an eastern or Midwestern skier who doesn’t really need a specialized ski for deep snow.
As always, this category is loaded with talent and also with differences. The differences can range from relatively dramatic to very subtle, the differences are almost never about the width. The 5mm width difference from the narrowest to the widest of the skis we’ll review here are not definitive. Some of the skis in this category have been modified recently either in flex or in shape or in both for a little more bias toward softer snow while others maintain a roughly equal terrain and snow bias.
The Blizzard Bonafide returns to the lineup unchanged for 2015 except for a major change in graphic design. This ski has been a runaway best seller and consensus winner in critical reviews for the last three years.
At 98mm in width and with a flex that’s on the stiff side of medium, the Bonafide is right in the wheelhouse for the western all mountain expert skier. The mid-90’s to 100mm range is always the most competitive width category on the market, and this year there are several interesting new offerings. While everything in this range has some tip rocker, this is one of a very few that has some tail rocker as well. The following review is compiled from several years of testing of the Bonafide.
I started skiing on the Bonafide in the spring before the general release so I have almost three years on it now. During this time, I am in constant comparison mode between various skis and this remains as one of my personal favorites.
One of the most revealing tests that I did on the Bonafide was over a year ago now at an industry event at Mammoth. In that instance, I got the Bonafide into some chalky, refrozen crud that had a little skiff of wind-blown, wintery snow over the top of it. The Bonafide initiated easily in this very rough snow and released without getting hung up on the coral heads.
Although I normally ski a 180, I tried the 187 length in those conditions and found that it felt very nimble and maneuverable considering the length and it rolls in and out of crud, junk and powder with the ease that you’d expect from a ski with tip and tail rocker. When skiing out of the mixed snow and onto the groomers, the Bonafide grips as well in the cambered section as any conventionally cambered ski in this width range and feels very well damped and stable.
Throughout the 2014 season, snowfalls were rare indeed and I had been skiing on narrower more packed snow oriented skis. Then, in the late spring, we got one of the season's rare storms and the Bonafide came back out on a day with about 10-12” of new. That little snowfall did not require a really wide ski and the Bonafide showed that it is still the standard bearer for this category of ski in mixed conditions. There are a ton of great skis in this width range and personal preferences will vary but the Bonafide still hits closer to the center of the target for my tastes than anything else.
Rocker, or early rise, has become nearly ubiquitous in the world of all mountain skis and much of what you see sort of blends in and looks the same. Sure, every manufacturer has their story of how much rocker is just right, and where on the ski it should be and all that - but these are really variations on a theme. For 2013, Dynastar introduced something very different to this category.
The High Mountain series has some of the rocker story that others use, but it also has an innovative shape. The HM 97 has a sharply rockered and tapered tip profile combined with a conventional cambered ski body and the camber runs all the way to the tail. In addition, the tail has a very pronounced taper that creates a defined rear contact point.
The construction of the High Mtn. 97 is fairly conventional, in that it uses a very light wood, glass and carbon sandwich with a moderately stiff flex. The combination of shapes, camber, rocker and flex creates a ski with a very different and unique feel that was named “Gear of the Year” when it came out by Outside magazine.
Last year, I got time on the HM in softer mixed conditions; some boot-top-deep crud, and some chalky and crusty wind-blown snow at Mammoth. Through all this, the HM was amazingly quick, and it was one of the most nimble feeling skis in this width. The Cham HM is so nimble that is actually feels shorter than it’s real length. In all of the conditions that I skied, I preferred the 184 rather than the 178-182 that I’d normally test in this category. Interestingly, for as quick and turny as it is, the High Mountain 97 feels pretty powerful when busting through crud and it has better grip in the cambered section than you’d expect from the lightest ski in this category.
The look of the High Mountain speaks freeride all the way, and for sure that is the primary characteristic. However, the camber and the firm flex generate good solid grip at the contact points and a secure feel when the ski is on edge. The performance of the HM on cold, chalky, winter snow was good, but this really is a ski that is biased toward softer and mixed conditions. This ski is quite a pleasant surprise and it provides a very good alternative to the extra light AT skis that tend to get all fluttery when in challenging conditions.
For 2015, Line is replacing the long running Prophet 98 with this new model that shares some characteristics of both the outgoing P 98 and the remaining Sick Day 95. The shape of the SN 100 is roughly similar to the Sick Day as it has subtle taper in the tip and tail and a low early rise. The SN 100 uses a metal matrix that is roughly similar to that used in the P 98, but it adds an elastomer sidewall in place of the more traditional phenolic type materials. The combination of materials and shape would suggest that this is a blend of those two existing skis and that’s a pretty close assumption.
I tested the SN at Mammoth this year along with all the rest of this group of skis and then also had one in the shop for some weeks in March. At Mammoth, the conditions were not ideally suited to this width range, as we had very little soft snow. What we did have in the off-trail portions of my test run were firm, wind scoured and pretty rough snow. There was a little soft snow blown in by the ever-present wind, but there was very little depth to the snow that had filled in a little between the irregularities that would eventually become bumps.
On my first pass down this rough stuff, I started with short radius turns, and then made a few bigger ones, where there was space to do it. In dodging in and around the half formed lumps, the 179 cm Supernatural felt easy and very nimble, with the transitions between turn shapes and various snow conditions coming easily. The grip on the scoured spots was good, and the ride was surprisingly smooth. As the test slope dropped away, I made a long traverse to my left to get some more vertical and a bit steeper pitch.
I was back to short turns at first, and again, the light and toss-able feel made this patch of bumpier snow very easy. A little slip in position got me in the back seat for a second, but the SN didn’t punish me for it. About half way down this last pitch, the terrain opened up a little, and allowed me to push the speeds up a bit. I found the SN 100 likes short to medium turns best, and the 179 length felt a little short, as it was getting knocked around a bit when I tried to push it too fast.
Out on the groomers heading back to the corral, I ran the Supernatural through all turn shapes, and it was very comfortable at all but the highest speeds, and on all but the very hardest snow I could find. The SN also felt pretty well damped on the roughest snow, and that was a surprise, given the light feel of the ski. I left the Mammoth test feeling very impressed by this new offering.
Later, I got the chance to ski it again in maybe 8-10” of powder/crud during our one late spring storm cycle and was totally impressed once more as the ski floated, planed, flexed and made the soft snow feel seamless.
This is a very good ski that is sort of middle ground at almost everything one could throw at it. This is a medium flex ski with a nimble and light feel to it. The best turn shapes are short to medium (at least in the 179) and the rebound is there, but moderate. Edge grip is good for this category and the damping much better than expected.
The Supernatural 100 is a great middle of the road between playful and aggressive and is a notable improvement over the popular P-98 that it replaces.
After several years of touting the lightweight “sidecountry” ski concept with the Steadfast and the Hell and Back, among others, Nordica has moved on in their marketing push, and also in product development. The new NRGy series includes several models that are in fact still pretty light skis. However, they are not hanging their marketing hat on the ‘touring’ concept.
The last generation of skis were in fact, very, very good, but this new collection is much more modern in concept. The NRGy 100 is the flagship of the new collection, and it shares the shape concept of the Vagabond/El Capo from 2014 while introducing a new construction to this shape.
The NRGy 100 uses a fairly conventional core with a metal matrix topsheet that is sculpted to reduce weight. The 100 uses a low tip rise that is fairly long, a very minimal tail rise and significant taper at both ends - especially in the tail. The flex of the NrGy is medium with a softish tip. This series is a major departure from the prior models, which were pretty stiff - especially so in the flat tail.
Out on firm groomed snow, the NRGy 100 feels smooth and easy to initiate. The ski steers very easily at low angles but he tip does not engage much until some angle builds up. When speeds pick up and you find some room to run a little, the NRGy engages and bends easily. This ski is very comfortable and damped, with a modulated amount of rebound at cross-under.
Although this is a lighter ski, it demonstrates none of the flighty feel of other light constructions. In medium-to-long turns at higher angles, the tip and tail quiet down, and feel secure, and edge grip is very good. The transitions between turn shapes are among the easiest in this class.
For my second run, I took the 100 into the rough mixed and chalky conditions that I tested everything else in. Dropping into the first set of turns on a moderate pitch that was covered in weirdly variable snow, I immediately felt that the NRGy had found its home. In slicing and dicing all the different conditions in this pitch, the NRGy just flowed comfortably through everything.
In the chalky semi-bumps, the grip underfoot was secure, and the well-tapered tail would never hang up as it slithered out from in between these widely spaced bumps. The soft snow piles interspersed between the chalky stuff didn’t faze this ski a bit. In the last stretch of this exposure, the bumps were not formed up and the steepest pitch was a mix of wind-blown snow and firmish snow that felt a little like Styrofoam, in that it was crunchy but not really hard.
Later in the year when we got a little snow, we all got the opportunity to ski the NRGy 100 again in some more traditional powder/crud situations. In the last two sets of conditions, I was able to shake the ski a bit, but to do so, I had to ski those conditions faster than I normally would. I think the NRGy 100 is kind of a “Hero” ski in that is so easy in mixed, broken up and variable snow that it will give the skier confidence.
This ski in a 177 is not for the very hard charging skier that wants to power through everything. Rather, it is for the more finesse oriented expert skier. This is a ski with a bit of a soft snow bias, and best suited to medium to medium-high speeds.
The Mantra has been in the Volkl lineup a long time, and throughout that period it has remained largely unchanged. This long-running ski has at times been Volkl's best seller nationwide and until just recently, it had been the most popular expert all-mountain ski in the Tahoe region.
Until this year, the last change to this ski was the addition of a modest amount of tip rise for 2012, but that didn’t change the character of the ski much, and it has remained the same since then. When Volkl announced that an all-new Mantra was in the offing for the 2014-15 season, it was highly anticipated.
The new version is slightly softer in overall flex than it had been, but it is still very firm. The main flex difference is that the flex pattern is now more even, with the extremely stiff tail of the past being modified somewhat. Certainly the biggest news about the new Mantra is that the conventional cambered profile has been replaced by the extended low profile shape which is a continuous full length rocker.
I had a couple of opportunities to try the new Mantra early on, but I wanted to wait and go head to head with the other skis in category so I held off until Mammoth. I made more runs than usual on the Mantra, and also skied it again later in the year. My first run was a long traverse into the off-piste section under Chair One, and then immediately into the wind-scoured and chalky firm semi-bumps.
At lower speeds and lower angles, the full rocker ski feels a little odd at first. It’s not that its unstable, but it just feels a little disconnected. Then as speed and angle picked up a little more, the ski started to engage and feel solid. Once the ski is engaged, it feels stable and grippy through the middle of the turn. However, when the ski comes off edge in transitions, the disconnected feel returns until the ski goes up on the opposite edge. This isn’t as disconcerting as it may sound, but it is pretty different from the old version, and also from cambered skis.
This pitch had some little pockets of blown-in snow with some depth, and once the Mantra was in snow as deep as the ski is wide, the vague sensation went away. These little patches of softer snow showed the biggest area of improvement for the new Mantra. The old ski was just so stiff that it didn’t bend well at moderate speeds in soft snow. This new one is still pretty stiff but it is more balanced in flex and the mild, full rocker helps the ski to come around as well.
When the rough and varied off trail pitch at Mammoth spit me back out on the groomers, I went into my normal routine of varied turn shapes. At low speeds and low angles, the smeary feel was back again for a split second until the angles built up. Then, when the ski began to engage, it became progressively more solid. Through the middle of the turn, you just couldn’t shake the ski no matter how hard you pushed it. Coming off edge, and transitioning under the skier, the smeary feel returned again until the ski was fully redirected into the next turn. Throughout all of the varied turn shapes, the ski felt about as grippy as it always has. The hard snow grip is near the top of the class when engaged and as is typical of many Volkls, the Mantra is more lively feeling than damped feeling.
I had been critical of the older version of the Mantra because it has been so stiff that for some skiers, it was not particularly effective in soft snow, and that usually is one of the key conditions you buy a ski of this width for. This new version is notably better than past versions when submerged in the snow. There is a different feel to the ELP rockered ski and as with some other models with this feature, this one may take some getting used to.
While fans of the old ski will certainly find the feel of this one to be very different, I think that it is quite an improvement and especially so in soft snow with any depth. The legendary Mantra is now more accessible to mid level skiers than it has ever been yet it won’t let the true expert down.
Excerpt from my 2014 review of the Rossignol Experience 98:
"Right near the end of the Winter Park intro last year, I had finished the narrower all mountain skis and so I tested a few of the many 98’s on my target list. The Rossi Experience 98 was built around a beefy core with a double Titanium platform. It has a wide tip with an extended sidecut and a small tip rise."
"I took the Ex 98 to the same frontside test hill that I had skied the narrower skis on. While some of the other skis in the 98mm group feel soft and easygoing, the Experience immediately felt big and powerful. The Experience 98 wanted to make big, fast turns and speed and snow conditions were not an issue as far as stability. Near the lower part of the run, the trail drops into a steeper pitch and I cranked the Experience into some shorter turns. The ski handled the transition well but that first short radius turn took some input from me. Grip and stability are in the top three for this category. Near the bottom of the run I reflected that this is a ski for a power skier rather than one who prefers a finesse style."
I include the above in my 2015 review, because even though the Experience (now 100) has changed, the above impressions on packed snow have not changed. The new Ex 100 is stated as 2mm wider than before but the biggest news is the addition of the “air tip” from the “S” series of skis. The swing weight is lighter, and the flex is maybe a little softer, but the feel on hard packed snow is practically the same to me. This is possibly because last years 180 cm size is now a 182.
I tested the Ex 100 in mixed conditions at Mammoth this year and in this venue, the new version did feel somewhat different. The Experience 100 still exhibits both the positives and the negatives that a stiff ski embodies but the somewhat softer flex is noticeable in mixed and soft snow.
The positives naturally are the stability and power that the ski gives the skier when riding out really rough snow or punching heavy crud. The negative is that it takes some speed or muscle to get the ski to flex in softer snow or tight bumps.
The new version is maybe slightly easier to bend in the soft stuff although the wide tip and tail and the new longer size still make this ski challenging in bumps and tight spots. This would be a “charger” rather than a “floater” in snow of any depth and it is certainly the category leader in blasting through crud.
The Exp 100 is still one of the stiffest skis in this class, but it has been made a bit friendlier in the soft and mixed conditions that are a requirement for this width category of ski. Despite some of the ballyhoo of it being all new and different, I still give this big ski a bit of a hard snow bias and it is certainly suited for stronger skiers. Just about what it was before.
The first part of this review is excerpted from last season’s testing at Winter Park:
"When we started thinking seriously about adding Stockli to our mix last year, it was initially because of their success on the World Cup, their re-entry into racing in the US and also the spectacular nature of their frontside skis. In the past, some of the Stormrider series of all mountain skis had been excessively stiff and they weren’t the sort of thing that I thought would sell. However, the new SR series is not that way at all. The Stormrider 95 is firm in flex for sure, but it is not the stiffest ski in class. In fact, the flex is very even throughout the length of the ski, including right near the tip where there is no noticeable ‘hinge’ point caused by the subtle tip rise."
"On the flat upper part of the run the SR 95 felt surprisingly easy to ankle roll and ski around at slow speeds. Initially, I attributed that to the short size (174), and was then concerned that it would feel too short when I got to the steeper spots. When I got room, I started my normal progression of short to medium to long turns with progressively higher angles and speeds. Through the whole run the shortish ski displayed great grip and was stable, smooth, and damped. When I got to a pitch that was scraped down to the point of shiny, the SR stood out the most. The Stormrider carved like an X-Acto knife and it displayed the best damping of any of the wide skis that I took onto that pitch. I skied away from that little pitch basically sold but really anxious to ski them again out west."
When I got back on the SR 95 at Mammoth this year, there was (of course) no deep snow. But there was that one run that I always test on that has a great spread of mixed and generally rough, semi-bumpy conditions. In the tightly spaced lumps that would eventually become bumps, the taper and the rise in the tip allowed the Stormrider to tip into a turn easily and the round, even flex made it feel that the whole ski was working.
That flex did feel a bit stiff at the slower speeds and in the tightest bumps, but the SR 95 was not planky or cumbersome as some others in this category are. When the spacing of the bumps and clumps allowed it, the Stormrider would bend easily, slice through whatever was in front of it and pick up and handle speed with ease. Later in the season, we finally got some soft snow with some depth and whether it was untracked or completely hacked up, the SR felt the same.
This ski just flows through the mixed and broken snow like quicksilver. The turn exit was smooth and balanced regardless of the speed and this ski really felt like it smoothed out the rough snow well. The SR 95 gives the skier something that is pretty unique.
There is edge grip and damping that is at the pinnacle of this group, yet it is not a stiff ski. The performance in soft and broken or mixed snow is smooth as glass and yet this ski is not a noodle either. Combining these attributes into one ski is a rare thing and Stockli has done it with the SR 95.
Many of the skis in this category this year are remodels while there are a few that are completely new. This model from Armada is one of the new ones. While Armadas are built primarily by Atomic, this bears no resemblance to anything in the Atomic collection.
The Declivity is 95mm underfoot and has a medium flex with very modest rocker profiles and a gentle taper. The construction uses a light wood core, sidewall sections in the mid-body of the ski and top and bottom metal. Despite the metal layup, the thing that really sets the Declivity apart is the very light weight. Like many manufacturers, Armada is touting this ski as a crossover between alpine and touring usage and it’s certainly light enough for that sort of use. However, passing this over as just a touring ski would be a serious mistake, as this is quite good for lift served skiing by skiers that will never venture out of the resort area.
The first runs on the Declivity came at Mammoth and the first pass down the groomers were a nice surprise. This ski was exceptionally quick and nimble in short to medium turns and while some light skis can feel disconnected from the snow, in most situations, the Declivity does not have that feel.
There is plenty of edge engagement, even at low angles, and the grip is surprising for such a light ski. Moving on down the run, the ski felt nice and solid up to pretty high speeds and the grip remained good throughout. At the highest speeds and in GS type turns, eventually a little instability and tip flutter creep into the picture, but most advanced skiers won’t ski it fast enough to feel that. As would be expected, this is not a highly damped ski, but it’s not flighty feeling either.
On the second run, I hit the rough, off trail section and the Declivity was at it’s best in those conditions. The quick and nimble nature showed in the ability to slither and snake my way through the forming bumps very easily. I felt that I could just think about turning and it was done. The Declivity stays on the snow pretty well for such a light ski and when the off-trail conditions permitted a little more speed and angle, I could feel a nice, even bend pulling me through.
The chalky, firm bits were interspersed with soft patches of old wind blown snow, and the Declivity wanted to dance comfortably through all these conditions. This is a ski that likes medium speeds and playing with the terrain rather than overpowering it, and it has the feel of inspiring confidence when approaching a tight spot because you just know you can make that next turn.
Later in the year, I got the Declivity into some soft new snow and while it wasn’t deep, the declivity showed the same sort of feel. At higher speeds either on groomers or in the off trail, the Declivity can get tossed around a bit, but it’s not so springy that you feel like you are about to get launched. While the general description of the Declivity might vaguely resemble that of the long-running TST model, this ski is quite different and in my opinion a better all around choice. The Declivity has a slight bias toward soft snow but it’s really very capable at almost anything except the highest speeds.
It is rare for a ski maker to manufacture more than one model in any given width range and more rare still for us (Start Haus) to consider carrying both. Yet in the case of the Stockli Stormrider 100, it does make sense. The SR 95 and SR 100 for sure fall into the same width category and they have roughly the same construction. The differences lie in small nuances that Stockli is able to instill in these two models that are enough for each to have its own niche.
The SR 100 is built with thinner metal laminates and a slightly lighter core than the SR 95. The result is a ski with slightly softer torsion and slightly lighter weight to go along with a tighter natural sidecut radius.
On snow, the differences are subtle. The SR 95 has more grip and power, while the SR 100 sacrifices a smidgen of that. On the other hand, the SR 100 is decidedly easier in broken and mixed conditions precisely because the softer torsion allows the ski to release more easily. The SR 95 can and will satisfy the most demanding all mountain expert skier, delivering as much or more grip as anything in this category. We can consider the SR 95 as pretty much the ultimate expert level ski in this width range.
We should look at the SR 100 as a ski that delivers almost all of the hard snow grip and damping qualities but does so in a package that is perhaps just a little easier in mixed and broken conditions. This is not to say that SR 100 is better and also, not that the SR 95 is better. They are different.
The SR 100 may be a better fit for someone like myself that is a little older and wants most of the superb qualities of the SR 95 but in an easier going package. The most aggressive skiers will choose the SR 95 while the more laid back expert might well choose the SR 100.
Head has been known for some time now for their enormous success in international racing, and that has translated into good consumer awareness of their on-piste skis such as the iSupershape series. Recently, they have added the “Rev” series of all mountain skis to their collection, and this series is building momentum as well.
The Rev series has an unusually wide tip that is common throughout the range. This tip is generally the widest in each respective width range. When combined with a fairly low tip rise, this gives the Head Rev series the ability to engage the edge with pretty modest angles.
We skied the Rev 98 first last season and elected not to bring it in. Some subtle internal changes were made for 2015 and the new 98 is now very competitive with the rest of this category.
The first few turns on the 98 came on that patch of mixed snow and variable terrain at Mammoth. The Rev 98 felt very easy to get hooked up and it seemed to want to slice it’s way around the bumps, humps, and wind blown patches. The grip was good but not overpowering and the large amount of taper from tip to tail allowed the tail to release comfortably.
In the areas where the bumps had gotten bigger, the wide tip didn’t go into the tightest spots quite as easily as narrower skis did, but again, the tapered tail kept the ski from hanging up or feeling cumbersome. Like most Head skis, the Rev 98 is well damped and in the rough and wind scoured patches, it felt very comfortable.
Out of the rough off trail stuff and out on the firm groomers, the Rev 98 felt very versatile in turn shape and hooking up the tip into a carve was totally effortless. The grip was good for this category and the damping made the ski comfortable at higher speeds than I would have expected for a 177. This was a surprising ski on the groomers in that it felt very balanced and easygoing, yet it didn’t give it up when the going got rough or the speeds picked up.
I also got the chance to ski the Rev 98 late in the season in what passed for a “powder dump” for us last year. In the 8-10” of medium density snow the fat tip of the Rev planed to the top very well and it skis very easy. I’d give the Rev 98 a bit of a soft snow bias and this is a 98mm ski that you don’t have to be a superhero to ski.
Atomic Theory:
The Theory was a new model for us last year and we picked it up in order to have a softer flex ski with a little more playful nature in this category. Although the Theory sports a substantial kicktail, we wouldn’t call it a true twin because the sidecut is set back and the taper is greater than a typical twin. Most of this review is from last year’s test.
The Theory skis exceptionally well in soft and mixed conditions for lighter skiers and is very nimble in any kind of broken snow or mixed terrain. While not a true twin, there is enough kick in the tail for all but the most dedicated park skiers and they are not the target for this ski anyway. The Theory has a carbon fiber spine embedded in the core and this gives some stability and grip in the middle of the ski. On the other hand, the real forte for the Theory is for lighter skiers and softer snow, maybe with a few tricks in the park on their agenda.
For a skier under say 160 lbs. this is a great choice for a soft snow biased ski. An average weight skier might choose the Theory as an “intro” ski to off trail conditions. The Theory was exceptionally nimble in our off trail testing where the snow was chalky and semi-bumpy. A heavyweight skier with expectations for stability at speed would be looking elsewhere.
This ski suit an early-mid teen ski racer as a second pair of skis for when he/she is not on their race skis.