I have the Blizzard Gunsmoke, which seems to do everything you describe above pretty well. I’d be curious to get a comparison. Thanks for review, it sounds like Romp is doing great things.
Hi Squawbomber,
Apart from being notably wider, at 114 underfoot (so it probably floats a little better), the Gunsmoke is heavier in the air and has a considerably more damp, stable feel in crappy conditions, so it can be pushed harder. It’s still quite a playful ski, to be sure, but it’s one of the more substantial / aggressive skis in it’s class – much more so than the Salomon Rocker2 108, for example. By comparison, the Romp 106 I reviewed here is one of the lightest, most playful skis in it’s playful ~106mm underfoot class that I’ve been on.
While it’s just a guess, I think the more comparable ski to the Gunsmoke is the ON3P Jeffrey 114, which we just started putting time on this week.
Thanks for reading!
Will
I am a big fan of Caleb’s handiwork at ROMP. We tested a custom pair of 100s and the ripping little kid ski called the 140 over the last couple seasons and loved them. ROMP’s shop is able to crank out pretty much anything you want. Caleb has a great ability to tease information out of a customer to find out exactly what characteristics are wanted in a particular design and layup..which is what you want in a custom ski builder. I encourage anyone looking to get a custom-tailored ski to check out ROMP and talk with Caleb about building your own ride to the specs you want. Quality, fit and finish have been excellent on the skis we tried from ROMP, and it’s great to talk to the people who will build your skis from scratch just the way you want them. Thanks for getting a review of ROMP skis out there!
I had a pair of 106s Caleb built with 25cm early rise in the tip and 20cm early rise in the tail, and found them to perform better than any ski I’ve tested, in soft snow, bumps, trees, even relatively hard pack. My go to ski here in VT and trips to Utah, Colorado and Austria.
Then I had Caleb built a similar pair of 106s dialed in for my 28 year old son too, which he’s finding equally outstanding.
I have the Blizzard Gunsmoke, which seems to do everything you describe above pretty well. I’d be curious to get a comparison. Thanks for review, it sounds like Romp is doing great things.
Hi Squawbomber,
Apart from being notably wider, at 114 underfoot (so it probably floats a little better), the Gunsmoke is heavier in the air and has a considerably more damp, stable feel in crappy conditions, so it can be pushed harder. It’s still quite a playful ski, to be sure, but it’s one of the more substantial / aggressive skis in it’s class – much more so than the Salomon Rocker2 108, for example. By comparison, the Romp 106 I reviewed here is one of the lightest, most playful skis in it’s playful ~106mm underfoot class that I’ve been on.
While it’s just a guess, I think the more comparable ski to the Gunsmoke is the ON3P Jeffrey 114, which we just started putting time on this week.
Thanks for reading!
Will
I am a big fan of Caleb’s handiwork at ROMP. We tested a custom pair of 100s and the ripping little kid ski called the 140 over the last couple seasons and loved them. ROMP’s shop is able to crank out pretty much anything you want. Caleb has a great ability to tease information out of a customer to find out exactly what characteristics are wanted in a particular design and layup..which is what you want in a custom ski builder. I encourage anyone looking to get a custom-tailored ski to check out ROMP and talk with Caleb about building your own ride to the specs you want. Quality, fit and finish have been excellent on the skis we tried from ROMP, and it’s great to talk to the people who will build your skis from scratch just the way you want them. Thanks for getting a review of ROMP skis out there!
I had a pair of 106s Caleb built with 25cm early rise in the tip and 20cm early rise in the tail, and found them to perform better than any ski I’ve tested, in soft snow, bumps, trees, even relatively hard pack. My go to ski here in VT and trips to Utah, Colorado and Austria.
Then I had Caleb built a similar pair of 106s dialed in for my 28 year old son too, which he’s finding equally outstanding.