A couple of days later, that 2–3” of buffed-out snow in the Castle and Ballroom areas was denser as the sun had baked it a fair amount. I noticed that the skis floated easily through the denser snow, but, again, the tips and tails seemed to stiffen in order to stay above the snow, as if the flex of the ski had an intuitive sensor.
There was sufficient stiffness underfoot, yet the way the flex of the tips and tails seemed to vary felt different from what I have experienced before with the other skis I’ve tested. The Kodiak seemed stiff sometimes, soft others. As a result, the ride was still smooth and the skis floated and carved through this snow with an amazing degree of consistency.
The next few days at Alta had pretty much the same conditions of denser, sun-baked snow with pockets of lighter windblown snow mixed in. I got used to this feeling of the tips and tails adjusting to the contour of the snow and how that affected the effective edge length, either increasing it or decreasing it. As I continued carving Alta’s larger, open faces, I was pleasantly surprised by how this “adaptability” did not affect the tail support in particular. Landing larger airs and carving with my downhill foot was extremely enjoyable.
I headed into Eagle’s Nest and more of the steep tree skiing off West Rustler. Considering how stable the Kodiaks were on groomers, I was concerned that they would have problems coming around quickly in the trees. But my first time riding the center spine in Eagle’s Nest proved that the Kodiak could be maneuvered in tight spaces with ease. The tails released easily, and I never felt as though the edges were too long.
All skis with normal camber underfoot can be flattened easily. What made the Kodiak different for me, a guy of 140 lbs., was the ease with which I could flatten out the camber (and thereby increase the amount of rocker in the tip and tail) when standing on flat snow by simply shifting my bodyweight. Flattening the Kodiak’s camber seemed to affect the tips and tails more than it does on other skis. Perhaps this is part of the reason I found the Kodiak so surprisingly nimble in tight spots in the trees.
The first issue I noticed with the Kodiak actually seems to have been a mount issue. Nonetheless, it deserves mentioning, as the situation is applicable to any ski mounted with HammerHeads.
A late-night snowstorm had dropped 6–8” of snow. As I dropped off the back of the High Traverse and cut right over into Eddy’s High Nowhere, I felt the Kodiak’s tips dive. I found myself in the backseat on the traverse till I made my first turn down the left side of Eddy’s, and, sure enough, the tips dove again. I then cut over to Thirds to see if the tips would stay afloat on a less severe slope angle. No dice. The tips dove the entire way down Thirds.
Judging from how well the Kodiak’s tips stayed above the snow in 2–3”, this must have been a mount problem. Where H2O mounted the HammerHeads seemed to be mounted too far forward. Unfortunately, it’s not possible with HammerHeads to adjust the mount position.
I recommend mounting these skis one or two centimeters back from the recommended mount point if you are mounting them with a 75mm tele binding so that the ski will float nicely through deeper powder.
* A plea to the industry: This is why all manufacturers should mount their telemark demo skis with NTN bindings: NTNs have 1.5cm play both forward and backward from the center mount point. In this case, I could have easily found out the answer regarding tip dive on the Kodiak.
The second issue I noticed began when the temperatures rose into the high 50s and low 60s in Little Cottonwood. The direct effect of the heavier and wetter snow was that the relentless edge grip and intuitive tip and tail that I had come to love in fresh and variable snow became a hindrance. The edges dug into the snow even more, with a death grip, bogging down the ski. Just to put your mind at ease if you are thinking that this sounds like the fault of the warm temperatures, the Wailer 99’s edges released just fine in slush and heavy warm snow.
In her review of the H2O Gear Kodiak, Stella Selden also addressed this, stating that she needed to lighten up her stance and pressure in order to release the tails, and then she was able to ride the ski more comfortably. I experimented with this technique with no positive results. The lighter I skied, the more the Kodiak seemed to want to hold on. The Kodiak didn’t appear to like these conditions, at least not mounted where they were and tuned as they were. Perhaps detuning the Kodiak heavily in the tips and tails would make the ski more suitable for wet, heavy conditions, but I can only speculate.
Overall, the Kodiak is a great tele ski that’s stiff when you want it to be and damp when it needs to be, and is awesome for stomping airs with the supportive tails and super fun for throwing 360s, albeit with a heavier swing weight than some skis. With the proper mount position (to combat tip dive), and as long as the temps keep the snow cold and dry, they are lots of fun and (I’ll say it again) provided an experience I’d never had before on skis.
I would definitely recommend the Kodiak as an all-mountain ski—maybe not as versatile as the DPS 112 RP, but much more so than the Bluehouse Radius and the Wailer 99. It may be a bit heavy for a touring setup, but it is a unique and very supportive experience, and one that you may really like. As the fattest ski I’ve skied, 120mm, it didn’t feel like it was huge, and it carved amazingly well. The innovative dampening qualities and unique design of the Kodiak are a lot of fun and will allow you to push your limits.