Wide Daily Drivers for the West: 100-110mm Ski Comparison - Sierra Jim
Starting a few years back, there was a significant trend among good skiers - particularly out west, to go wider and wider with everyday skis. These skis became more common, as did rocker - and pretty soon we were seeing skiers on the hill with 110-120mm wide skis on non-powder days. You'd here tips flapping and turns skidding - and for the most part, people were having fun. But technically proficient skiers quickly found they weren't really the best choice for hard or rough snow.
Now, as we head into the 2015 season, we find the trend mentioned above has started to reverse pretty significantly and many ski widths have started to come down out of the 120+ range. The fact that out west, we have now gone a couple of seasons without significant snowfall is no doubt one of the reasons for this. Another reason might be that the ski makers and skiers in general have figured out that for the skier with a decided soft snow bias and “one ski quiver” appetite, these mid 100s are pretty darned good. For sure, some skiers will still be very happy with wider skis than these for everyday use, and a lot of skiers will settle back to the 98-100mm range. These skis in the 102-110mm range have a more decided soft snow bias than the 98-100’s, but they do a much better job than “powder skis” when it has been some time since the last snowfall. It’s also fair to say that it is a pretty rare powder day that one of these skis isn’t wide enough to handle things.
Blizzard is one of the few brands with two offerings in this width range, and they are quite different skis. Starting with the Cochise, Blizzard has had a highly successful run with this ski for some time now, but for 2015, it comes back to the linup with some subtle changes.
The newest version is somewhat softer than in years past, and it has some camber added to its previously flat cambered configuration. While, cambered vs. flat vs. full rocker is a personal taste thing, for my way of thinking, this slightly cambered version of the Cochise has taken a very good ski and given it a wider audience.
A couple of years back, we tested the Cochise extensively in soft, mixed, and deep snow. Here is a sampling of what we thought then...
“We had a Cochise in 185 in the store for much of this very heavy snow year for Tahoe - the Cochise is truly versatile but it is certainly more biased toward soft and heavy snow than toward packed conditions. By not having a cambered section in the center, the Cochise sacrifices a little stability at low edge angles and it does not engage as quickly as skis with more camber.”
Most of the caveats in those earlier reviews are now gone. When I tested the 2015 Cochise, I immediately felt that it engaged more readily with less angle than was required before. In skiing the rough, off trail conditions at Mammoth, I found that the new Cochise had a more positive feel at lower angles and in turn transitions than in the past.
This is still a pretty burly ski and it takes a fairly aggressive pilot to get the best from it. However, the older version really required angles and speed for it to feel comfortable and stable while this new version is more tractable at lower speeds.
While blasting through the wind scoured crud at Mammoth, I felt that the Cochise still had plenty of stability but it felt much more reliable in the transitions between turns where the older versions got a little “squirmy” when the angles or speeds were low.
I think this ski is notably improved and much closer to a daily driver type of ski for the western expert skier. I would however, still say that this ski is generally not recommended as a learning tool for an intermediate.
The Peacemaker was the new for 2014 model in Blizzards “Free Mountain Twin” grouping. It returns unchanged for the 2015 season.
The Peacemaker is similar in build and rocker/camber to the Gunsmoke, and is the same width category as the Cochise, but for all the seeming similarities, the Peacemaker skis pretty differently than either of the other two.
This is one of the lightest and quickest of all the skis in the 102-110mm range, and it is one of the best of all of them in bumps. The Peacemaker has good grip underfoot and the damping is good, but (like many of the skis in this width range), this is not a ski that excels on really hard snow.
On snow, the Peacemaker dazzled with its nimble feel and it snaked through the rough and frozen windpack at Mammoth better than most of the skis in this width range. As you might expect, the Peacemaker was much quicker than wider or heavier skis on groomers, bumps, and in tight spots like trees.
The Peacemaker's forte is really the mix of conditions that one finds when off trail in the west. This ski favors a lighter touch over powerful input from the skier and it is well suited for a finesse type skier looking for a wider daily driver with a notable bias toward softer conditions.
The really aggressive skier that is looking for speed at every opportunity might prefer the Cochise. When looking at the Blizzard collection, the Peacemaker is better suited than the Cochise for improving skiers as well as advanced skiers of moderate aggressiveness.
Nordica jumped into this width category last year with two new ski models that are based off of their tried and true constructions from the Hell and Back, and the late Enforcer. Both of these new skis had entirely new shapes to go along with this new 107mm width.
For 2015, Nordica has consolidated their offering into one mode,l and while both skis last year were really good, they chose the El Capo as the more versatile of the two. The El Capo has metal top and bottom and a solid wood core. This is a construction that Nordica has proven over the years to be exceptional.
It is worth noting that this skis has a very long material length, and a 185 is every bit as long as many 188s, but the low rockered sections at tip and tail are pretty long, so the running length is not so long as the overall look might indicate.
My first run on the El Capo came last year at Mammoth, and the first turns were down the tightest bumps on the infamous sidehill off of Chair 1. These weren’t real bumps in the sense of calling it a mogul field, but rather they were only about half formed and firmed and scoured by the wind. Right away the tapered tip helped the ski to snake easily into the turns, and the tail released very easily and never threatened to hang up.
I broke off the quick turns right near the bottom and made a hard left traverse at pretty good speed. Because the hill is dropping away to the left, this gives the sensation that you are skiing around a giant round ball and that you are actually going uphill as you traverse to get more turns. When I had gotten the room, I dropped back down the fall line and this time, I opened it up to medium-high speeds and the El Capo was still easy and nimble, but the rough traverse and the varied windscoured snow was no challenge either.
One more traverse left and I got to the steepest part and here I went from short to medium to long turns in quick succession. The El Capo wanted to make a medium-long turn and seemed to be waiting for the throttle to be cracked. The faster I went, the more the El Capo wanted to go for it. The bend was continuous from the tip to the tail and felt just right, and like the old Enforcer of years gone by, the flex seemed just right with stability; grip and damping that are top notch.
Among the skis of this width range, the El Capo is one of the closest to fitting the needs as a daily driver ski for the western skier. This is not a powder ski with some of the rocker taken out. Rather, this is a truly versatile ski that handles packed conditions as well as most of the 98mm offerings, yet still holds its own with the best of the mid 100s as a ski for deep snow. We’d probably suggest the El Capo to a skier that has developed skills.
The Shreditor 102 is the narrowest of this series of skis that are marketed by K2 as the Sean Pettit pro models. The 102 is on the softer side in flex, and has the tip rocker that one would expect but also it has substantial tail rocker as well. This ski was only tested out west.
In the mixed and variable conditions at Alpine and Mammoth, the Shreditor 102 was most at home in soft conditions and at moderate speeds. This is a very easy going ski with a jibby, playful feel and a silky ride in soft conditions.
On the really rough stuff at Mammoth, the 102 was easy and snakey, but it got knocked around a little if I skied it too fast. K2 has always been known for damped skis and this one was no exception. Despite getting deflected a bit in the rough stuff, the Shreditor 102 felt comfortable and inspired confidence.
Out on the groomers, the 102 had average grip but was smoother and quieter than expected given the fairly short (179) length. This is definitely a soft snow biased ski and is best suited for lighter skiers or for heavier skiers that do not have “charge” really high on their agenda.
This makes a great powder ski for a lighter skier, a skier with a passing acquaintance with the terrain park, or a moderate personal speed limit.
Dynastar Cham HM 107:
Following is a recap of the 2014 test review. The HM 107 returns unchanged for 2015 and it still remains as one of the best in category. Our opinions have not changed, so the review remains as before.
The High Mountain series from Dynastar has the same mold shape and profile as the Cham 107 but the High Mountain does not have metal layers. Rather, it is built around aramid fibers as the main structural layers surrounding the light wood core.
The Cham 107 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 combination of shapes, camber, rocker and flex creates a ski with a very different and unique feel.This ski was marketed as a backcountry ski last year and sure enough, a couple of our employees skied it (and loved it) with Dynafits all last year. I have to admit that I had ignored this ski as a potential all mountain ski for alpine setups until I skied it starting at Mammoth and later as well. Those tests totally changed my thinking on the High Mountain.
I got on the HM 107 about halfway through my test agenda at Mammoth and like all the other skis, I got off the top of Chair 2 and made a beeline for the sidehill test arena off of chair one. Right from the first few turns, I was dazzled by how quick and nimble the 107 felt. This ski whipped into short radius, fall line turns quicker than any other ski in this width range despite the fact that at (190 cm) it was the longest ski that I was on that day. After a hard left traverse, I got to my second pass where I started to pick up speeds and edge angles. Through the medium radius turns and the tightest parts of the growing moguls, the HM was again amazingly nimble and the tail was very easy to release in the tighter spots.
One more hard left traverse brought me to the steepest part of the run that was also the most open. In this area, I the turns flow out into a longer radius and again, entry and release were seamless. In this area, the pronounced tip rise fluttered a bit but the dramatic rocker and taper kept it really easy to maneuver between the scoured bumps and ridges. When the pitch spat me out on the groomers, I had an opening in traffic and so I dove right down the fall line without stopping.
The taper and rocker of the “elf shoe” tip are dramatic enough that you can’t really engage it very much and so as speeds picked up on the groomers, there was a little bit of flutter from the tips. This was not significant and didn’t affect the stability of the ski and in any case it was not as much as some other skis in this width range. The tail on this ski is stiff enough and cambered enough that you can really stand on it and you’ll get a strong firm feeling at speeds.
To me, the Cham 107 was one of the biggest surprises of this test. I give this ski a soft snow bias and you have to live with the tip flutter a little but this ski is a great combination of solid and nimble and an all mountain ski for the west. This ski had very good alpine cred to go along with it’s great utility as a backcountry tool as well.
Following is a recap of last year’s test along with some further impressions garnered from this years experiences.
By the time I got around to testing the SR 107 in 2014, I had tested all the other Stockli models I was interested in and had already concluded that I was going to bring in the brand. Normally, this category would not be tested on the hard snow at Winter Park but this year, I did do a few and the SR 107 was one of them. To make a long story short, the grip and damping of the SR was at the top of the heap among this width range of skis. In fact the grip was better than many of the narrower all mountain skis.
Out West, I couldn’t wait to get the SR into soft and deep snow but conditions didn’t enable this at first. At Mammoth, I got the 107 into the weird conditions available there at the time. From the first turns, I felt that this ski was easy to initiate, and it smoothed out the rough and mixed conditions seamlessly.
The 107 is not abnormally stiff, but it does have the feel of a medium to long turn biased ski. Over the course of the 2014 season, we had number of customers buy the 107 before they had the chance to demo it. In fact, the ski was sold out before there was enough snow on the ground to send demos out. The universal appraisal was "WOW!"
This mirrored the opinion of one of our key testers from last year (a freeride competitor) who summarized her test card with the same one word description. The SR 107 has a slight tip rocker and the extremities are modestly tapered.
These factors along with the flex make this ski very maneuverable considering that it is one of the heavier skis in this this width grouping. While the SR 107 is not an inexpensive ski, we feel that it may in fact come the closest to a “do it all” ski in this width category.
Wow!!! I believe that is an accurate description.
When the intro season started last year, there was much interest in the new Soul 7 due to several factors. First, this was a new width range for Rossi where they really had not had much going on in the past. Second, Rossi was making a pretty significant move toward reducing rocker in many of their wider skis and this was a big move from the company that brought us the highly rockered and tapered S3 and S7. Third, and probably most interesting, was their use of a light, honeycomb material in the tip and tail in order to reduce swing weight.
Corresponding to that, they were using a translucent topskin in the extremities so you could actually see through the honeycomb material. Last year (2014) the Soul 7 was the big hit in a category that due to low snow conditions, didn’t really sell all that well.
The Soul 7 returns for the 2015 season unchanged from last year, and although we tested it again this year, our opinions have not changed and so here is a compilation of our review from 2014 and few new comments:
Out on snow, the Soul 7 got it’s first laps at Winter Park last year in the 2014 test. Normally, I wouldn’t test this category of ski on the firm groomers there, but this is an important category and I did test a few completely new models in order to a general feel for the category on conditions that are sort of at the “edge of their box” so to speak.
When lapping the groomed hard snow in Colorado, the Soul 7 was adequate if not outstanding in grip and damping. The Soul 7 did howeve feel very light and maneuverable in comparison to other skis of similar width and while it takes a while to go from edge to edge the overall feel was nimble. When tipped up and engaged, the Soul 7 has a pretty tight natural turn radius within the context of this category.
Out west, the Soul 7 was tested several times and it was clearly more in it’s element in softer snow and especially in mixed conditions. On the rough, wind scoured, snow at the side of chair one, the light and nimble feel of the Soul made it very easy to slip between the half formed bumps and the grip on the styrofoam-like scoured off spots was just right.
On the other hand, the light tip did get knocked around a little in those rough conditions. Later I got the chance to ski in a bit of soft snow that had blown around from one of our 6 “mega dumps” and this is where the Soul was at its best. The flex felt just right and ski would bend and come around with little input necessary from the skier.
Through all the testing, the recurring theme of light and nimble came forth. I would place this ski as a little soft snow biased and a nice choice within the category for any size skier that prizes off trail capabilities.
For some time, Armada has been thought of as a niche supplier to the yournger market. While well known for park and pipe skis, jibby feeling all mountain skis, powder oriented skis and other twin tips, they have not had a huge following among the more mainstream types of skier.
Recently however, skis like the JJ for powder and the TST for all mountain use have raised the awareness of this brand among skiers with no interest at all in skiing switch. For 2015, the Declivity and the Invictus have further improved Armada’s offering in the general all mountain arena.
When I first skied the Invictus, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The Invictus shares a sort of youthful graphic theme from the other models that are a little youth oriented like the TST for example. The Invictus has a much lower tip rise, less taper, and a stiffer flex than the well known TST, and as I discovered, this ski is very different.
I had liked the TST a lot for what it was in the past, but it was never a ski that I personally wanted to own. Pushing off from the top at Mammoth, the first thing I noticed the rattly feel of a heavily rockered tip was gone. When I got some speed, I rolled the ski up, it engaged immediately at the forward extent of the rocker, and the tail felt substantial, but not excessively stiff. There was still a light and nimble feel on the groomers, but the Invictus has a more solid and stable feel than I expected. There was much more of feel of the whole ski being on the snow.
I made a quick turn into the rough and chalky snow on the side of chair 1, and the jibby feel of some of the other Armada skis was gone. In the mixed conditions of wind scoured and widely spaced bumps, the Invictus was quick and playful without feeling like a toy.
As the pitch in this off trail section steepened, the speeds picked up and at medium speeds and medium turns, the Invictus was at its best. This ski felt nimble enough to dart through the weird terrain and stable enough to inspire confidence. If I got bucked into the back seat, the solid, unrockered tail gave me a good platform but there is enough turn up in the kick tail to allow the ski to release easily.
In the spring of 2014 I never got the Invictus into any deep snow, but I did get it into about a foot of day old powder late in the year. In that condition, the Invictus was easygoing, tractable and floated well while never feeling like the tip was the only part of the ski that was working. The Invictus does not have the feel of skiing short like the TST did, and the 178 sample that I tested was more substantial than last years TST in 183.
This is an exceptionally well balanced ski and is suitable for almost any level of skier above intermediate.