Powder Ski Comparisson - Sierra Jim
Testing powder skis for our 2014 buy was challenging in several respects. First, it’s best to test them in powder with some depth to it, and last year, we didn’t have many opportunities.
The second challenge was that the market is changing and consumer preferences are ahead of the manufacturers in what they seem to be looking for. These days, the skier is saying they want a powder ski but they are starting to ask about non-powder performance more than they have in the past.
The result is that the skier is likely to be looking for a somewhat narrower ski than in the past and sales of skis over 120mm in waist width have slowed dramatically in the last year. In fact, the more popular powder skis currently seem to be in the 112-118mm range, and many of the skis in this width range have toned down the amounts of rocker and taper from what they might have had in the past.
While we tested all the skis we bought for this year, we were unable to test some of them in deep snow. Fortunately we were able to test in deep snow last year and some of the models that are unchanged got some good powder runs during last year’s sessions. Those that got tested this year were compared at Mammoth on the same rough and broken snow that we tested the all mountain skis on.
The Patron has been in the Nordica lineup for a couple of years now and it is one of the most popular powder skis on the market. The Patron has a conventionally shaped tip and tail (meaning minimal taper) and a notable amount of tip and tail rocker. The Patron has conventional camber in the center which comprises a little over half of the total length of the ski. The cambered section is pretty firm in flex while the tip and tail are softer.
In use, the Patron flexes really well in deeper snow, and that factor combined with the large rockered section gives it a very nimble feel. This allows the skier to ski tighter lines in the trees with confidence knowing that they won’t have to work too hard to turn it.
I had a Patron in my own quiver for a year and found it to be exceptionally maneuverable in tight spots. The Patron also has a wide range of speed capability in deep snow. In shallower, heavy snow and cut up crud, the Patron wants to be skied at medium speeds rather than at “mach schnell” and in those conditions, this ski is probably best at “slicing” the crud rather than trying to “push” through it.
The rough, wind scoured conditions at Mammoth this year were not a great test venue for skis this wide, and most of them just felt unnecessarily “big” in those conditions. The Patron felt solid underfoot and stable enough in the majority of those conditions and had a light, quick feel.
However, when I skied it into the areas where wind had sculpted some semi-bumps the wider tip was not as maneuverable as some of the more tapered skis. The rocker in the tail was enough to help the tail to release and that was no problem at all.
Out on the groomers, you are going to feel the tip flap around on skis with this much rocker, however, because the tip of the Patron isn’t tapered much, it will quiet down somewhat if you can build some edge angles.
Underfoot, the Patron grips very well and it carves well for this category. I’d classify the Patron as medium in flex for this category and it has great balance of characteristics for powder use but also for the “day after” as well. The Patron has been one of our most popular powder skis since its introduction and still remains so today.
The JJ has been around for quite a while and along with the original Rossi S7, is credited by many as being the ski that revolutionized powder skis. Of course, a lot of skis can claim to be revolutionary but the S7 and JJ were the ones that started to swing the pendulum away from the really wide ( 120-130mm or even more) skis.
Skiers found that the JJ with its large rocker and taper was floaty enough for almost any snow depth despite the fact that it was “only” 115mm wide.
When I first tested the JJ a few years back, I was skiing little quick shots through the trees at Mammoth and there was enough snow depth to feel what the ski could do. The JJ was so quick and nimble feeling that I found I could aim at a little gap in the trees and dart right through. It was so easy, that I was almost laughing out loud.
Later in that season, I was able to ski it again at Sugar Bowl and there, the terrain was more wide open. I found that the most comfortable way to ski the JJ in the wide open spaces was at moderate speeds so that the ski didn’t get knocked around too much when the snow was cut up.
When skied outside of deep snow, the JJ has reasonable grip underfoot but the tip and tail are disconnected enough that you’ll feel some tip flap.
When skied at Mammoth for this year’s test, the JJ got run through the gauntlet in the rough crud and wind scoured terrain off of chair #1. The JJ was remarkably quick turning in the half-formed bumps and weird inconsistent snow, and the heavily tapered and rockered tail would release with ease.
If there was a downside,it was that the ski got knocked around by the rough conditions a little more than some. There are some skiers that like to ski the JJ all the time, but we really recommend it as a powder specialty ski.
This is a new ski for this year, and it fits right into the newer style of powder ski that many skiers are starting to look for. The 112 has the full package of tip and tail rocker and also taper at both ends, but all these factors are a little more moderate than on some K2s in the past.
This more moderate approach to powder ski technology will allow the skier a little more flexibility in snow conditions than some of the skis like the justly famous, but somewhat limited “Pontoon,” for example.
Last season, we just didn’t have the chance to ski the Shreditor in any deep snow. I did ski it at Mammoth in the rough wind scoured snow down there and also in a little 6” trickle late in the season.
Through all that testing, the 112 felt smooth and compliant and very balanced. K2s are known for a damp feel and this one was no exception. In that rough snow, the 112 rode it out comfortably and there was just enough taper to let the ski get in and out of the half formed bumps better than many of the wider skis.
Out on the groomers, the Shreditor 112 had enough grip under foot to be comfortable and the dampening helped keep the tip flap down. Within the powder ski category, this is about middle of the road in stiffness, and it has good utility for a few days past the storm.
Salomon has been one of the leaders in rocker technology for some time, and they have introduced many variations on the theme. A couple of years ago, they launched a new collection called Rocker2, which were largely twins with significant rocker.
Last year, they supplemented the collection with a couple of models with flatter tails and lower tip rocker. This year they fleshed out that group with more models, made them into a complete collection and renamed them “Quest” while reserving the Rocker2 name for the more heavily rockered twin tip models.
The Quest 115 was around last year as the R2 115 and is unchanged for this year except for new graphics and of course the new name.
The 115 has a substantial tip rocker but minimal tail rocker and is on the firm side of medium in flex.
In testing last year, we got the 115 into some good deep snow and the rockered tip planed very well. The firm-ish tail did not bend as well as some of the softer skis and so it took a little more effort or speed to get the ski turning in tighter spots or slower speeds.
The payback for that, however, was that at higher speeds, or when the snow was skied out, the 115 was among the very best of this category. Fast forward to this year, and there was no fresh snow to test in, so like all the other wider skis, the Quest 115 was tested on the rough stuff at Mammoth.
The 115 was not as easy to smear around in the tighter, chalky semi -bumps as the softer and more heavily rockered skis. However, in the areas where there was some more room to turn, the Quest was stable, comfortable, and able to power between the scoured off stuff and the little pockets of fluff in the gullies.
Within this category, this is one ski that feels relatively “normal” outside of the deep snow and in crud or even packed snow it feels much like a very wide all mountain ski.
The Automatic is back for its second year in the Atomic lineup and is unchanged except for graphics. The Automatic has a long tip rocker with a lot of taper in the tip but the tail rocker and tail taper is much more subdued.
The Automatic has a flex that is on firm side of medium for this category and the flex is pretty even throughout the length. That means that it isn’t overly soft in the rockered sections like some of the skis in this category.
Last year, we got to ski the Automatic in a lot of conditions, but this year we were limited to firmer snow and that wind scoured crud at Mammoth. The reviews here are a compilation of both years results.
When I skied the Automatic in deep and soft snow, I found that the big tip rise planes very well and the big taper is highly maneuverable. In untracked snow, the Automatic is easy, and in tracked out and choppy snow, the Automatic feels more stable than most skis in this category.
When I got the Automatic into the rough and wind scoured stuff at Mammoth, this shape really worked well. The highly tapered tip was easy to steer into the narrow spots between the half formed bumps and it could snake down into the narrow gullies that were sprinkled with some blown in sugar snow.
The tail is almost as maneuverable as some of the more heavily rockered skis, and it is tapered enough and rockered just enough that it releases easily.
Within the powder ski category, this is not the most powder specific but it is one of the very few that have the feel of being comfortable in almost almost any condition.
We don’t usually suggest this width ski as the only ski you would own, but we do think the Automatic is very useful for soft/mixed conditions and even soft groomers for several days after the big storm days that we all dream about.
Some years back, Rossi introduced the original S7 and it was a sensation. For several years, that ski and similar highly rockered and tapered designs were considered the state of the art for powder skis.
Times change however, and skiers tastes do as well and last year, powder skis began to evolve somewhat. Recently, skiers have started to ask about powder skis that were maybe not quite so specialized as they might have been just a short year or two ago.
Rossignol went with that flow and when they introduced this new ski, they kept the name Super 7, but it turned out to be quite different than it was in the past. This entirely new ski still has a fair amount of tip rocker and taper but the tail is somewhat stiffer, wider, and less rockered than it was.
In addition, even though they removed the metal from this new version, the overall flex is a little stiffer than in the past, and Rossi has added a very lightweight honeycomb insert at the tip and tail.
The result of all these changes is a ski that is very much in tune with the more versatile type of powder ski that skiers are looking for these days.
Out on snow, the first thing I noticed was that the Super 7 felt a lot more stable than the older versions. Even just traversing out to my testing area at Mammoth, the new ski had more snow contact, a more positive feel from the tail and less flutter and flap from the tip.
When I reached the pitch, the first part was the shallowest and had the most traffic, and so there were more bumps forming up than in any other section. I rolled right into short radius turns and the Super 7 took a little more input to get turning than some of the softer or more rockered skis.
On the other hand, this was pretty rough snow and immediately I felt the ski was getting knocked around less than it would have in the past. Going into the second pitch the slope was steeper but had less traffic on it, and so it wasn’t quite as bumpy and there were little pockets of blown in snow in the gullies and behind the rolls and knolls.
The S7 showed a nice combination of quickness and stability in the stretch and in the medium radius turns the light weight was noticeable in turn transitions but not detrimental in stability.
The very last pitch had quite a bit of room to pick up speed and in this area, the light tip felt a little fluttery but the tail was more solid than in the past and ski inspired more confidence at higher speeds.
There was no deep snow available during our testing this past season so interpreting powder performance is ques work. I suspect that the Super will not be a pure powder only ski in the sense that the older S7 was but rather it will have more broad range capabilities in mixed conditions and rough snow than it did in the past.
It is not that often that Volkl introduces a brand new powder ski, and when they do, it generates a lot of interest. The new “One” is no exception, and this new ski has generated a lot of early interest.
The One uses the ELP full rocker technology that Volkl uses on most of their skis. When we say full rocker, we are referring to the fact that the One has no camber section at all and it is one of the most heavily rockered skis in this width range.
The One is not a noodley or super soft flexing ski so despite the huge rocker, this ski is more stable than you would think from just looking at it.
We skied the One a couple of times last year, but deep snow was fully absent during the meat of the test season. In my one opportunity at soft snow, I found that the one was very stable and predictable when submerged in 6-8” of mixed new snow and chop.
In the rough and bumpy conditions down at Mammoth I found that the One was predictably a little prone to deflection but it was really much more stable and predictable than anticipated.
Deep snow performance is speculation since we just didn’t have any but from the testing we did do, I’d say that the One will be terrific in deep snow but a little out of its element when there is little snow depth. We feel that this will be a really good powder specialty ski.
The Norwalk is sort of an interesting combination of two other skis in the Armada lineup. This ski is a blend of the shape of the TST and the width of the JJ.
Like the TST, the Norwalk has a lot of tip rise and a long taper in the tip but this shape is spread across a width that is more similar to the 115mm wide JJ. The tail has a fairly pronounced twin shape but no rocker and the overall flex is medium throughout the body of the ski.
Last year, we got the Norwalk into some deep snow and it had the same super nimble feel as the TST, but obviously more float for the deeper stuff.
In shallower powder and cut up crud, the Norwalk has more the feel of a very wide all mountain ski than a powder ski. The soft tapered tip comes up in the snow and turns in really well but the more solid rear 2/3 of the ski has a more stable feel than the JJ.
This year, the Norwalk only got skied on the rough and mixed snow at Mammoth and in those conditions, it felt much more like a giant all mountain ski than a powder ski.
The tapered tip would steer into the tight spots better than most skis in this width range and the sharp twin shape in the tail helped the ski to release out of the chalky lumps and gullies. This ski does not have quite the snakey feel in those rough chalky conditions as skis with more taper in the tail and/or some tail rocker.
However, the payback for she skier is that between those rough scored conditions and also skiing the groomers, the Norwalk felt very normal and far less “squirmy” than some of the skis with more tail rocker or taper.
The Norwalk has the same light, playful feel that most Armada models are known for and this is a great example of the “newer” type of powder skis that folks are seeking out these days.
The Gunsmoke is the first of the wider “flipcore” skis from Blizzard to break away from the metal laminate, flat cambered configuration of the original Cochise and Bodacious models.
Those skis had a distinct feel with a very damp ride and quite a lot of power. The Gunsmoke has a more common rocker-camber-rocker shape with a minimally tapered tip and tail and notably lighter weight.
This ski is also not as wide at the tip as many others in this category. When you combine this shape with a pretty firm flex in the cambered section, you get ski with a light feel but a lot of power underfoot
Over the last two years, we have tested the Gunsmoke in a wide variety of conditions and snow depths.
In really deep snow, the Gunsmoke floats well but is not quite as nimble as some of the softer, more powder specific skis. On the other hand, in shallower snow and chopped up crud, the Gunsmoke is more stable than most skis in this category.
The rocker profile at the tip and tail are more moderate than many in this category and that, combined with the “flipcore” construction really helps the extremities of the ski feel quiet when in rough snow or when out on the groomers.
I have never skied on a rockered ski where the tip and tail do not flap around to some extent or get deflected when in rough conditions. That just seems to be the nature of the beast.
However, the Gunsmoke is much less prone to that feel than most other skis in that category. The result of this combination of characteristics is a ski that has capabilities that range well beyond deep snow and the day of the storm.