Variable / Chop
In firm, bumped-up conditions and dense snow, the skis seemed happiest just rallying through this stuff. Again, they’re fairly straight, and pretty stiff. They aren’t designed either to get all turny or excel at slow speeds.
Having said that, with these detuned a lot, it will be interesting to get the MVP into trees and bumps and see how much more easily they pivot. After all, these do have a lot of rocker, they’re just also relatively straight and stiff. In Las Leñas, they were not the smooth pivot machines that the Atomic Automatics were (and the Automatics didn’t have the high-speed stability of the MVP), but I’m excited to continue to play with the tune and see how I can tweak these.
Pow
No real surprises here. The combination of the MVP’s stiff shovels and ample rocker meant that, despite their more centered / less traditional mount, I wasn’t getting any tip dive, nor did I ever feel like the shovels were folding up on me. There were no wacky balance issues on this ski, either, despite the significant rocker. The tails have a substantial, smooth, and supportive flex.
The runs I had where we were in deeper snow, the MVPs planed nicely and still felt best at speed, skiing centered, light, and loose. (Once again, this probably shouldn’t come as a surprise given that this is a comp ski that is an evolution of a model Praxis used to make called the Mountain Jib.)
Some Obvious Statements, Speculative Pondering, and Early Conclusions
1) The Obvious: The more you’re looking for this to be your deep-pow ski, the more I think you’d be wise to soften up on the flex. Kevin’s model is on the stiff end of the medium / stiff spectrum, and if I didn’t have a fatter ski for deeper days, I’d probably opt to go slightly softer. (But I do have fatter skis for deeper days, and I like the flex of this particular pair, FWIW.)
2) The Speculative: This is a pretty stiff, pretty center-mounted, pretty rockered, relatively fat ski. That all makes for an interesting combination, and, again, I wish I was able to spend less time adjusting the tune to taste and spend more time getting used to this ski. I know that, originally, Praxis was going to give this ski a more subtle rocker profile, and I am personally curious what that would look like, since, as I’ve said, I wouldn’t be breaking out a 110mm ski on bigger storm days. I think the subtler rocker profile / increased effective edge length would allow this ski to carve and track a bit better, and I think the shovels are substantial enough that tip dive would still be a non-issue. As always, it just depends on what you want or need a ski to do.
3) The Provisional Upshot: The MVP presents an interesting combination of a playful design (forward mount, significant tip and tail rocker, permits powerful slashes) mixed with a big-mountain / serious-business design (stiff flex, modest sidecut, high-speed stability). The more directional and traditional your style, the less confident I currently am to guarantee that you will adore this ski. (You might prefer one of the MVP’s relatives, the Praxis Freeride or the Praxis Rx.)
Having said that, I’m a directional, non-jibby skier, and now that I’ve got these skis tuned the way I want them, I can’t wait to get them up to Taos, Alta, or Jackson, to see how they handle tight trees, bumps, etc.
But you know who I am confident will like this ski? Strong, playful skiers. This ski—especially our particular version of this ski—is a true hybrid. Some people ski really hard, and some people ski really playfully. If you do both, I think you’ll be a fan. And part of the reason I think this because Jason Hutchins skis hard and plays, and he already is a big fan, so you should now read his initial review of the Praxis MVP.
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Why can’t Praxis be an European company. I need here some Protests and Mvps to test. ;-)
Nice review as always. Personally I had expected that the Mvp is more Jib oriented.
Thanks, Euroskier. Really, the only surprise for me was how deep the rocker lines go.
More info about the flex would be helpful. The Praxis website lists 4 available flexes; I assume that Kevin’s pair was made in the “stiff” flex? If so, could you provide a comparison to some other skis so those of us who aren’t near enough the factory can get a better handle just how stiff the “stiff” flex is?
Don’t need a pair, but I bet the 196 Protest in a stiff flex would be money for pow-day charging.
Keith said that he’d locate this particular pair on the “stiff” end of the “medium/stiff” spectrum. These aren’t total beasts. But they are definitely stiff for such a centered ski that’s this rockered out. Line SFB? The MVPs are definitely stiffer. 12/13 Influence 115? MVP is stiffer. Kastle West 110? MVP as I recall, but Jason should answer that (he’s got the MVPs and West 110s with him). Fischer Big Stix 110? Definitely MVP. Moment Deathwish? MVP. Atomic Automatics? MVP. Bibby Pro? MVP, but now we’re getting closer. 191 ON3P Billy Goat? Probably the BG.
I’m having a hard time thinking of 110mm skis that have this much rocker that are stout, but don’t flex like the RC112s, either.
Excellent answer, as always. “Stiff” means different things to different people, so it’s really nice to have these types of comparisons.
Regarding your last sentence: Wrengade…or 186 Jeffrey (if you desire tail rocker)…maybe…?
Hopefully, we can find out for sure this season. Would love to ski the Wrenegade, and I’ve been very intrigued by the Jeffrey since I first learned of it.
I’m surprised by the weight of these skis. Do you know if there is anything different about the layup of Kevin’s ski versus the standard model? Praxis’ stated weight for the 187 tradtional layup MVP is 9 pounds, and my hybrid layup ones weigh in around 8.6 pounds. It seems odd that this pair weighs almost as much as a pair of Protests (2140 grams/ski as measured by Blister).
There could have been some differences in the core Kevin used, Ben.
But you’re right – looking at our measured weight for the Protests, I need to double check that, and will do so Wednesday morning. That weight for the Protest looks suspiciously light. Thanks for the heads up.
How would you compare the mvp with the katana? Which is a ski that I really like.
By the way, I read your review in the dps 99. I demoed the hybrid, at the same time as the bonafide, and I might ski differently, but I thought the bonafide skied a lot better. The 99 had a fee flaws, like dramatically straightening out a turn if you shift the weight back, grabby tips.
Hi, Rod – mostly, the MVP and the 191 Katana are very apples-to-oranges. (We’ve only skied the 191 Katana, which has a stiffer flex than the 184 Katana.)
The 191 Katana has no traditional camber, but full-length subtle rocker. The Katana has a far more traditional, directional mount than the MVP. The Katana is one of the best crud-busting skis I’ve been on, but there is nothing playful about it. We are really hoping to ski the 184 Katana this year, and that would certainly close the gap between the 191 Katana and the 187 MVP.
Jason and I both spent a good bit of time on the Bonafide, but found it kind of lifeless and very conventional-feeling. Our Blizzard contact thought that the flex of our particular pair might have been off, so we’re hoping to get back on the skis this season.
As for the 99s, I’m not sure that I’d call it a flaw of the 99s that they straighten out a turn if you aren’t skiing centered or driving the tips, but are getting back on your heels a bit. And the 5-point tip shape of the 99s might be more inclined to grap than a tip shape like the Bonafides, but a proper detune can usually go a long way to mitigate that effect. Neither Jason nor I had issues with the the 99s or the Bonafides in that regard.
Out of the this, the LSFB, R2 108, which would you say is the best on the groomers, and the most playful, poppy, etc. I like to ride pretty close to center, but im also a pretty hard charger as well.
Hi Jonathan,
These skis sounds a lot like our fave ski, Bibby 190 (except its 110 underfoot). I was thinking about buying last year’s Billy Goat in tour layup for some backcountry action. I was also thinking about buying the same bibby 190 and use it for backcountry (short tours) but then I read your review here and I’m thinking maybe I should go with the MVP. Your thoughts would be really appreciated as always. And I thank you again for introducing me to Bibby. And I got a ski for that I think you gonna love. Try Lib Tech Pow Nas. You gonna rock the groomers and hardpack andnice with that like you have never before. I bought the 181 but would have been happy w the 191 as well but I have a lot of skis in 190’s arena and I’m 5’10” , 170 lbs so I got it in 181 so tight chutes and trees. They turn on a dime!