Let’s hear it: What did you think of these? Thinking about these vs. Helio 105s….
Spent a half day demoing the Helio 116 and I own a pair of the FINDr 86’s…yes opposite ends but gimme a second.
Based on this review it seems like the philosophy of shape/ mount/ weight carries all the way through the FINDr line. Based on Blister’s review of the 106, I feel like it does a much better job executing that philosophy in the thinner side of the line (Love my 86’s).
Seems like now a days it’s worth going with more rocker and a more forward mount as you get wider, for all the reasons Cy outlined. Especially if you want to ski tight steep stuff (jump turns were a breeze on the Helios). The Helio 116’s I demo’d I didn’t want to give back, compared some other directional 105+ light skis that left me meh (even a three letter company’s). The day was also far from ideal conditions wise being heavy rain saturated snow (thank god not ice) but in the coliours at Alpine I was loving them. I’d be interested to know Blister’s take on how they think powder board design features should change as the weight changes (like Jonathan’s tip taper theory)
Yes, I’m wondering as well. the backcountryskiingcanada website likes the G3’s much better than the Helios 105s. But then I heard some really good things about the BDs.
Demoed both the 175 Helio 105 and 172 FINDr 102 back to back this past weekend. Despite similar dimensions and weight, they skied very differently. The Helio felt more like a slarvy powder ski than I would have guessed, drifting around on the wet crud I was mostly on. They did ok on the icy sections once the edge engaged, but it did take a minute to get there. It skied like a powder ski, in other words.
The FINDr only really got good for me when the snow was smooth and you could carve medium radius turns. On the slightly deeper, more roughed up snow at the start of the run, they didn’t feel either locked into turns or slarvy. Kind of neither. A big vague. They didn’t get tossed too badly, but just didn’t feel locked in either. Hard to explain. Once the pitch backed off and the snow was smoother, they felt really nice. Damp for a carbon ski.
Only a couple runs on each at a demo, so no deep snow or touring, so YMMV.
Jonathan,
I’m 5’11”, 175lbs, aggressive skier….would you recommend a 184 or 189 in the G3 FINDR 102? I ski in western Montana, all conditions, 2000-6000′ average climbing/day…mix of trees and open glades, chutes, and bowl skiing.
not so patiently awaiting the rest of this review =D
Let’s hear it: What did you think of these? Thinking about these vs. Helio 105s….
Spent a half day demoing the Helio 116 and I own a pair of the FINDr 86’s…yes opposite ends but gimme a second.
Based on this review it seems like the philosophy of shape/ mount/ weight carries all the way through the FINDr line. Based on Blister’s review of the 106, I feel like it does a much better job executing that philosophy in the thinner side of the line (Love my 86’s).
Seems like now a days it’s worth going with more rocker and a more forward mount as you get wider, for all the reasons Cy outlined. Especially if you want to ski tight steep stuff (jump turns were a breeze on the Helios). The Helio 116’s I demo’d I didn’t want to give back, compared some other directional 105+ light skis that left me meh (even a three letter company’s). The day was also far from ideal conditions wise being heavy rain saturated snow (thank god not ice) but in the coliours at Alpine I was loving them. I’d be interested to know Blister’s take on how they think powder board design features should change as the weight changes (like Jonathan’s tip taper theory)
Yes, I’m wondering as well. the backcountryskiingcanada website likes the G3’s much better than the Helios 105s. But then I heard some really good things about the BDs.
Demoed both the 175 Helio 105 and 172 FINDr 102 back to back this past weekend. Despite similar dimensions and weight, they skied very differently. The Helio felt more like a slarvy powder ski than I would have guessed, drifting around on the wet crud I was mostly on. They did ok on the icy sections once the edge engaged, but it did take a minute to get there. It skied like a powder ski, in other words.
The FINDr only really got good for me when the snow was smooth and you could carve medium radius turns. On the slightly deeper, more roughed up snow at the start of the run, they didn’t feel either locked into turns or slarvy. Kind of neither. A big vague. They didn’t get tossed too badly, but just didn’t feel locked in either. Hard to explain. Once the pitch backed off and the snow was smoother, they felt really nice. Damp for a carbon ski.
Only a couple runs on each at a demo, so no deep snow or touring, so YMMV.
Jonathan,
I’m 5’11”, 175lbs, aggressive skier….would you recommend a 184 or 189 in the G3 FINDR 102? I ski in western Montana, all conditions, 2000-6000′ average climbing/day…mix of trees and open glades, chutes, and bowl skiing.
not so patiently awaiting the rest of this review =D
Any plans to test either the Seekr 100 or 110?
Also curious of any plans to test the seekr.
Thirded.