2nd Look: ON3P Jeronimo, 181cm

Ski: ON3P Jeronimo, 181cm

Dimensions (mm): 126-96-120

Turn Radius: 21.4 meters

Actual Tip to Tail Length (straight tape pull): 181.5cm

Boots/Bindings: Salomon Falcon Pro CS / Marker Jester, DIN at 9

Mount Location: manufacturer’s mark, -3cm from true center

Days skied: 4

[Editor’s Note: Our review was conducted on the 10/11 Jeronimo, which was not changed for 11/12, except for the graphics.]

Having read Mark Connell’s initial review of the Jeronimo, I was eager to take them for a spin. I’d used the K2 Kung Fujas as my everyday ski last season, but found myself growing increasingly tired of their very soft flex. With dimensions and a camber profile nearly identical to the Kung Fujas, the Jeronimos are different primarily in their much burlier flex. Given this, and as I was looking down at them on the lift (and loving the top-sheet graphics for reasons I can’t fully explain), I had some pretty high expectations for how the skis would perform.

Conditions in Summit County on Monday, March 21st were in full spring-mode. A day at Breckenridge brought everything from firm groomers in the morning to big, super slushy bumps and a park laps in the afternoon.

After a couple of runs carving under the Super 8 chair, I was satisfied with the Jeronimos. For their dimensions and width, purely carved turns are easy to engage, and edge hold during short radius turns is solid. However, with longer arching turns at much higher speeds, the Jeronimo’s edge stability is noticeably lessened, but not terribly so. I can attest to Mark’s experience of a “wobbling” feeling in the downhill ski at speed: consistent and firm edge pressure becomes more difficult to impart on the ski as speed increases.

The Jeronimos are happy carving stable turns with a radius dictated by their sidecut, but over-drive the ski – force it into a more aggressively edged turn – and you’ll find yourself losing stability quickly. In my experience, this is a common characteristic of center and near center mounted park skis: they demand a more neutral stance. With less length and effective edge in front of you, it is easy to over pressure the cuff of the boot, causing the tails of the skis to wash out.

The rocker on these skis is somewhat abrupt, with what seems like a relatively short running-length. As a result, I found it easy to feel the length of the skis effective edge and the camber underfoot that supports it. In the same vein, I was happy to find that, due to their stiffness, the rockered portion of the Jeronimo’s tips and tails stayed quiet and relatively chatter-free at speed on hardpack. (I can’t say the same for my K2’s.)

Let’s say it one more time: these skis are pretty stiff, and you’ll want to stay away from bumped up hardpack. Vibrations and hard impacts are easily felt, and dampening the ride is left up to you. I got worked trying to aggressively shut down speed in a few cruddy runouts.

As for their performance in the park, the Jeronimo is far from forgiving. Don’t expect to save a 540 by buttering out the last bit of rotation. In fact, the word “buttery” doesn’t belong anywhere near the skis’ description. I found my shins punished by the stiff tails after landing backseat on a backflip. The Jeronimo’s stiffness and mounting point make full-on park skiing more difficult than it has to be. I’m no wizard, but unless you’re competing in the Winter X games, look for something else if you want an all-mountain ski that will spend most of its time hitting tables.

The Jeronimo is full of tradeoffs. I definitely agree with Mark that the Jeronimo’s performance improves drastically in just the slightest amount of soft snow. They were happier driving through prominent windslab and sun-crust (Wednesday on Loveland Pass) than any other park-oriented ski I’ve ever been on. While far from ideal for hard, less-than-stomped landings in the park, the Jeronimos were a blast for hitting a backcountry kicker, simply because of the softer conditions. They’ll easily handle a choppy in-run then punch though a bombed-out powder landing where a softer park ski might get bucked around.

In just a bit soft snow, the Jeronimo already makes for a good everyday charger, and with a few tweaks, it could be a better than decent park ski.

Bottom line: the 2010/2011 ON3P Jeronimo is for strong skiers who (1) prefer the playfulness of an all-mountain twin tip (2) are not willing to sacrifice fast charging performance for buttery park-steeze, but (3) like to get their jib on when conditions are soft.