Ski: 2021-2022 Line Pescado, 180 cm
Available Lengths: 180 cm
Actual Length (straight tape pull): 178.9 cm
- (166.2 cm from the tip to the start of the tail cutout)
Stated Dimensions (mm): 158-125-147
Blister’s Measured Dimensions (mm): 157.5-124-144.5
Stated Weight per Ski: 1950 grams
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski: 1808 & 1809 grams
Stated Sidecut Radius: 19 meters
Core: Maple/Paulownia (Line calls it, “Partly Cloudy”)
Tip & Tail Splay (ski decambered): 66 mm / 22 mm
Traditional Camber Underfoot: ~5 mm
Recommended Line: -9.85 from center; 79.6 cm from tail
Test Location: Mount Bachelor, Oregon; Arapahoe Basin, CO
Days Skied: 6
[Note: Our review was conducted on the 16/17 Pescado, which is was not changed for 17/18, 18/19, 19/20, 20/21, or 21/22, apart from graphics.]
Note: We’ve been waiting to update our First Look and Flash Review of the Pescado once we got to ski it in some legit, deep pow. Well, that happened today. Mount Bachelor received 50+ inches of snow in the past week, and it snowed all day and night yesterday. So today was a full-on pow day, and it’s time to update our thoughts on the Pescado. But to start at the beginning…
Intro
Here’s what Line has to say about the new Pescado:
“/pes.’ka.do/1. A fish that has been caught. This ski is a fish out of water! A directional surfy ski has been in the mind of EP for years. With bamboo sidewalls, Partly Cloudy Core™, a veneer topsheet with a timeless graphic, the Pescado fuses the best of surfing, art and skiing.”
Line and Eric Pollard made quite a splash at SIA with their new Pescado, which features bamboo sidewalls, a veneer topsheet, and a swallowtail cutout in the tail.
But let’s back up for a minute:
Weird Thing #1: Pollard made a Directional Ski?
Pollard describes the Pescado as his ultimate directional ski.
Huh?
Pollard is one of the pioneers of the switch pow skiing movement, and is pretty much the poster boy for non-directional skiing.
Pollard’s explanation in this video about his motives are quite interesting, and this is worth watching:
https://youtu.be/YEevr8lqIzY
In sum, this is a radical departure from Pollard’s other skis. And yet, Pollard explains that there is actually a deep underlying commonality with this directional ski and his very non-directional skis: “The Pescado follows that same approach to ski design: creating skis that are playful and allow for different maneuvers.”
Weird Thing #2: 180 cm
It’s pretty uncommon (though again, not unheard of) for a ski to be built in only one length. In this case, that stated length is “180 cm,” and a straight-tape, tip-to-tail measurement of this ski is 178.9.
(Interesting aside: when Pollard began to dream up this ski, he envisioned it coming in at 178 cm. So there you go.)
Weird Thing #3: That Tail
Swallow-tailed skis are extremely uncommon these days, though again, not entirely unheard of. The inspiration, here, is derived from surfboards and snowboards, and so one of the huge questions, here, is how this swallowtail will actually affect on-snow feel and performance?
We’ll come back to the tail and its performance in a minute….
Weird Thing #4: That Sidecut
We’ve seen swallow-tailed skis in the past—DPS made one back in the day, and many of you may remember the swallow-tailed Volkl Katana and Sanouk from back in the day. But in each of those cases, those swallow-tailed skis came with a big-to-huge sidecut radius, in the neighborhood of 30-45 meters.
The Pescado is a swallow tail in a relative short length and (by comparison) a tight sidecut radius. In other words, this ski looks like it will want to turn rather than powerslide it’s way down the fall line.
Weird Thing #5: That Camber
So this is supposed to be a surfy ski … but most “surfy” skis don’t come with this much traditional camber underfoot – about 5 mm.
If that tells us anything, it’s that the Pescado is not supposed to be some super drifty ski (like the DPS Spoon). The Pesado is supposed to surf and carve soft snow.
Good Question #1: Flex Pattern (Is the Pescado a Powder Noodle?)
Not really. The Pescado is quite light (some of you may have seen an advertised weight of “3900 grams per pair” (i.e., 1950 g per ski), but our skis are coming in just over 1800 grams.
But the flex pattern of this ski isn’t super soft. I’d break it down this way:
Tips: 5 or 6 out of 10
Underfoot: 9
Tails: 7
Good Question #2: What’s All of This Supposed to Add Up to?
Let’s parse out Pollard’s own claims about the performance characteristics of the Pescado:
“The swallowtail allows the ski to have both more effective edge when you need it…”
So what does that mean? Well, “more” effective edge is good for carving. “Less” effective edge is good for drifting and smearing. I.e., it seems that this ski is supposed to carve soft snow well, but this is not likely to be a very “loose” ski – a smeary, drifty ski. That is indeed different for a pow ski this wide.
“…and less tail in the form of a cutout when you don’t need it.”
Hmmm, when “don’t” you want a tail? Well, when you’re trying to get the tails of your skis to sink in deep snow, in order to keep your tips up and planing in deep snow.
And you might be thinking … wait, isn’t that what pintail skis are supposed to do? Reduce the surface area of the tails so that the tails sink a bit and help the tips plane up?
Yep, exactly. Only other thing here, though:
Swallow Tails vs Pin Tails
Pin-tailed skis are also heavily tapered to keep the tails from getting hung up or “stuck” in deep snow. I.e., pintails are supposed to make it easier to turn in tight spaces — in addition to reducing surface area so that the tails sink in deep snow and the tips stay up in deep snow.
But swallow-tailed skis keep that effective edge, so that the ski will (allegedly) still carve that deeper snow. Swallow tails aren’t trying to loosen things up as much as a pintail design does…
Good Question #3: Swallow Tails vs. Pin Tails – Can you Really Tell the Difference?
We have no idea. But we’re going to go find out soon.
Ok, back to Pollard on the Pescado:
“Creating a tail shape like a swallow gives these skis a very unique feel because it changes the torsional rigidity. And basically, that affects the way a ski flexes in a turn and the way it rebounds when you exit a turn.”
It definitely makes sense that the tail will affect the torsional rigidity of the ski. But exactly what that affect is — and how it feels on snow … we’ll have to go find out.
Finally, this is how Pollard closes:
“Admittedly, [the Pescado] is not for everyone. But there are people who are going to fall in love with this ski. It’s going to change their approach to skiing, and open doors for them.”
Good Questions #4 – 14
#4: What skiing style (and stance) feels most natural for the Pescado?
#5: How specialized is this ski?
#6-7: What does it feel like on groomers? Do you notice the swallowtail?
#8: Does the Pescado suck in everything that isn’t deep pow?
#9: Exactly how different does the Pescado actually feel from other ~125mm-wide skis in perfect pow?
#10: Is it a good slush / deep-slush ski?
#11: What happens if you get too backseat?
#12: How easy is it to snap / break that tail?
#13: What size skier will appreciate a 180 cm ski with minimal taper?
#14: What happens if I try to go skin on these?
Note: Become a Blister member to read our Flash Review of the Pescado
NEXT: The Review
Full Disclosure
The Pescado is short (180 cm), light (~1800 grams), and turny (19 meter sidecut radius) and Blister reviewer Brian Lindahl and I both tend to like skis that are long, heavy, and relatively straight. And the Pescado is a pretty weird ski in the first place … so it seemed kind of likely that Brian and I would both simply hate this new ski.
Well, when Brian and I skied the Pescado last spring, we didn’t hate it. In fact, both of us thought the Pescado was a ton of fun. Brian said about the Pescado, “This is a very playful ski, and it’s the shortest turning ski I’ve been on in a while. In soft slush it was pretty well composed, despite feeling like a lighter ski. Lots of pop. I skied it differently than how I normally prefer to ski (like I’m mad at the mountain), but with that switch-up of style, the ski was simply a lot of fun.”
Jonathan’s Quick Answers to “Good Questions #4 – 14”
#4: What skiing style (and stance) feels most natural for the Pescado?
Neutral, but Brian and I both felt like we could get on the shovels of this ski. It was obviously not designed to be some charger, but given its fairly solid flex pattern and mount point of almost -10 cm behind true center, Brian and I both stayed fairly light on our feet, but weren’t afraid of getting on the shovel and skiing pretty hard and fast.
#5: How specialized is this ski?
Far less specialized than one might expect. Brian and I skied the Pescado over the course of a couple of weeks in June at Arapahoe Basin, so the conditions ranged from bottomless slush to a mashup of firm crud to slush moguls. But at no point did either of us feel like we needed to get on something narrower or stiffer to deal with the conditions.
And I think this answered one of my biggest questions: is the Pescado some weird toy that should only be broken out once or twice a year, and only be purchased by those who already own a quiver of 4-5 skis? Answer: No. If you are intrigued by this ski and like the sound of what it has to offer, you could easily pair it with 1 other ski to handle very firm conditions, then break the Pescado out whenever conditions were soft — not even deep, just soft.
#6-7: What does it feel like on groomers? Do you notice the swallowtail?
Perhaps a lot of credit should go to its traditional mount point, but all in all, the Pescado is a lot of fun on soft, spring groomers. As I noted in the Intro, this ski has a traditional mount point, a lot of camber underfoot, a lot of sidecut, and soft shovels that are easy to bend. And all of those things added up to making this ski — at least in soft snow — feel very carveable and fun; neither Brian nor I felt like the ski’s width or its swallow tail made the ski unpredictable in a carve. Again, fun.
#8: Does the Pescado suck in everything that isn’t deep pow?
Definitely not. Again, it is important to reiterate that we initially were skiing soft snow to deep slush, but we were skiing the Pescado pretty hard and fast, popping off moguls, playing. It handled like a good all-mountain ski, not some super niche ski that required perfect pow conditions in order to not feel terrifying. I can honestly report that Brian and I never experienced a sketchy / scary moment on the ski. We just kept saying to each other how fun and predictable the ski is.
In difficult, deep chop, we did not have high expectations for this ski, and figured that those who prefer more traditional chargers would hate it. This ski is for those who want to play and pop, not those who primarily want to billy goat around down sketchy, steep, technical lines.
But in pockets of deep, soft chop around Mt Bachelor today, the Pescado felt far more composed than I expected it to. No, this isn’t a chop destroyer. But I expected the Pescado to feel far twitchier than it did today.
#9: Exactly how different does the Pescado actually feel from other ~125 mm-wide skis in perfect pow?
I want to think more about this question, because I ultimately think I’ll just have to compare it to other specific ~125mm-wide pow skis. So we’ll save that for the Deep Dive. But a few notes after today’s pow day:
(a) I never once experienced tip dive on this relatively short ski. Not once, even in very deep stashes of pow. The Pescado’s big shovels and traditional mount point kept the ski planing well. And presumably, the swallow tail helped the cause here, too, though I can’t say how much or little the swallow tail cut out assisted the ski’s flotation. All I know is that this is the shortest pow ski I’ve ever been on, and I never felt like it lacked flotation.
#10: Is it a good slush / deep-slush ski?
Extremely #@!%-ing good. If we proved anything definitively last June, we proved this.
#11: What happens if you get too backseat?
The interesting thing to say here is that I honestly don’t know, because the tails always felt quite supportive and forgiving. Neither Brian nor I felt like we had to be super careful not to get into the backseat. The ski has a big sweet spot — and that proved again to be true today at Mount Bachelor. There were times when I was definitely riding the tails of the ski when jumping off of blind rollers, and the tails were always supportive. Far more supportive and forgiving than it seems like they should be.
#12: How easy is it to snap / break that tail?
I don’t know, and we didn’t subject the skis to any 15+ foot drops to firm landings. But we certainly jumped off cornices a bunch and over some ever-widening sections of rock and dirt, and the Pescado held up just fine. I mean, I think it would be stupid to assume that a swallow tail will hold up just as well to abuse as a ski with a traditional tail, but neither of us were babying this ski.
#13: What size skier will appreciate a 180 cm ski with minimal taper?
Well, Brian and I both weigh between 170 – 180 lbs., and neither of us were complaining about the short length. Again, I think given the -10 cm mount point, we always felt like we could get on the shovels of this ski, and yet we never felt like we were working with too little tail. So I feel confident in saying that if you don’t tend to ski the mountain as fast as possible, but instead like to make lots of turns and keep a mellower pace, I suspect that skiers in the 200-210 range will still really enjoy this ski. Bigger skiers than that, however, and I’d feel less confident about my speculation here.
Only thing I want to add here after my day at Bachelor: in soft snow, at least, you can skip the part about skiing at a mellower pace. You can ski the Pescado very fast, I only suggest that in chop, you adopt a more neutral, poppy style. Get this ski in there air off moguls. Jump and pop and ski as fast as you want.
#14: What happens if I try to go skin on these?
We didn’t do any touring, but if you really are set on throwing skins on the Pescado, I think you could just shorten your skins and clip the tails to the center of the swallow-tail cutout, and I suspect you’d be just fine.
Tight Trees & Pow
Today at Bachelor, this is where the Pescado really shined. The ski offers a lot of float in a relatively short, lightweight package, and it all added up to a whole lot of fun. And I should also add that the combination makes for a very non-fatiguing ride (for anyone who feels like they tend to get worked over and exhausted in deep snow).
Bottom Line
Both in spring slush and in deep pow, the Pescado has proven to be a remarkably fun ski. It has a big sweet spot, it handles all-mountain duties more predictably than we suspected, and it has proven to be more versatile than we ever imagined. For a place like Bachelor, I’m not sure that I can imagine a more perfect pow ski: it feels light and quick in tight trees; it feels super poppy on all of Bachelor’s side hits and pushed-around piles of snow, and on clean groomers, you can carve this fat fish with a lot of authority.
NEXT: Rocker Profile Pics
(Click on images to expand)
I like how the video only showed him skiing on his twin tips!
Seriously? They only show him skiing twin tips when he’s actually talking about his other skis. 90% of the skiing he’s on the Pescados.
Sounds like Eric got on a pair of Moment Comi’s, loved them, saw how great they are in powder and crud, and came up with his own spin on them.
Dang, could this be a good “big” ski for a 195 pound guy who worships his 185 Hell & Backs?
It sure sounds awfully similar. Please build a 190 next year!
Oh, and killer review, as always!
#13 Always an issue for me.
I can’t be the only guy in the 230-250# range who wants to have fun skiing, can I? Just because I’m a big dude (for a skier) doesn’t mean I want to charge all the time. Pollard is tiny compared to me. There’s no way in hell his ski — or most skis in this niche — are going to work for me. Which leaves me feeling once again like the fat kid in gym.
Just wanted to chime in that I have a friend who’s 300+ and loves the Pescados. If you’re not looking to charge through heavy crud you can still have so much fun it’ll feel unfair to everyone else around you. Few skis actually have as much surface area as these do, and the tips hold up surprisingly well.
If you’re looking for a ski to ski pow, it’s damn hard to top. They’re insanely quick and very confidence inspiring. If you’re not landing switch or dropping 50 footers, they’re serve you damn well. I’ve never had as much fun in 12-60″ of powder as the Pescados.
Dude
Volk or stokli got us big boys covered
buy a different pow ski then lmao…
Regarding skinning on this ski:
In the video you see him skinning up and he has indeed clipped the skin to the cutout in the tail, I think of it as a super deep tail notch.
I have toured on mine. 166cm to the notch, I recall.
What up boys? Thanks for the review. I’ve always been a Bibby/ Governor/ OG Squad 7 guy but I just ordered a set of Pescados today. I figured a light and maneuverable ski might be a good idea to have in the quiver too. And we’re getting loads of super light snow here, so a surfy ski is going to be fun.
I have a quick question: I might put a Marker demo binding on it, which is not my style, but I want my wife who is a Fernie pro patroller to take the ski out too. Do you guys at Blister use Marker demos so you can swap skis around? If you think there is too much slop in those then I will just put some Pivots on the ski and keep it to myself!!
THANKS
Thanks for the review. Just out of curiosity – how do you feel this compares to other Pollard’s skis e.g. the Magnum Opus (which I currently ski)? Also, based on the review it seems like it could be a one ski quiver for all powder skiing (soft conditions, regardless of how deep)? It is certainly quite light ski so with a light binding (e.g. Marker Kingpin) it seems like it could fit everything from lift accessed powder in the Alps to heliskiing in Sweden to day-touring in Norway?
Saw 2 pair of these side by side at Kiroro, Otaru a couple of weeks ago. i thought they were custom from a Japanese ski builder, didn’t realise they were from a mainstream company. They looked beautiful and I wanted a pair. 180 is too small though.
How does the construction/build quality look? Are the edges super flimsy and bases paper thin?
They do look very fun.
This is a really lightweight fat ski, Maz. Not the sort of ski that we’d recommend subjecting to a bunch of rock hits, etc. It doesn’t need deep pow to be fun, but we’d recommend good coverage.
I’ve broken three skis on three seperate occasions now. The first time I somehow got a delamination in the tail. The second ski I hit a rock on a take-off on a cliff, which snapped the whole ski under the binding, and the same thing happened with my new pair when I hit a tree-stump in a landing. I love the ski so much, but it’s just to flimsy for me.
Been looking at this, and the new Spur after your early review/brief comparison … I’m 6’2″ 230# though. I love the way this sounds, playful, but can ski fast. I don’t care at all about groomers or heavy chop. Basically, trying to figure out what might behave as this does for you for someone my size/weight.
I’ve got billygoats for charging heavy/chopped up/inbounds afternoon and day after the storm. Don’t need this to extend even to those days. I was writing these off until I saw the comment above about the 300# skier digging these. Do I go ahead, or will I fold them up/lose the stability?
Hi, Jeff — I know Skadi (above) is saying that his 300 lb friend is having a blast on these — and that is awesome.
But I can’t say that I can confidently recommend these to you at 6’2″, 230 lbs, in part because these are only 180s, but the other big thing is that these are a *really* light construction. You hit anything hard on these, and there could be trouble. And gun to my head, I think I would have to recommend the new Spur over these for you – just a bit more surface area.
So if you are really really intrigued, you could try them, but I am at least 55 lbs lighter than you … and I just can’t say with confidence that you’ll be just fine on these. I’d think a 187 Praxis Protest or the 189 Spur, or a DPS Lotus 124 or Lotus 138 would be a safer bet. But I could be wrong…. Sorry that I’m terribly unhelpful on this one.
For all the other big guys looking for float, keep looking if you ski dry fluffy powder. I’m 6’2, 245lbs and was looking for more float than than my 186 Volkl Two’s provided. I took a chance on these after reading some of the comments here. We had a 75cm day last season and once up to speed I decided to stop leaning back hard and center myself. This resulted in a powder cartwheel. They’re no 189cm K2 Pontoon and you still have to lean back hard in the deep stuff. They are however the lightest most flickable tree ski I’ve ever been on. Hoping to re-mount them for this season with a demo binding and try them at -20mm to -30mm and see if it helps for more float without screwing up the handling too much. If they made this in a 195cm I’d order them tomorrow.
Update: Pulled my FKS14 and remounted with Jester Demo’s. Drilled them to go from +center to -40mm with my size 326mm BSL (Used a 290 front and 345 rear). I’ve been testing them at -20mm to -30mm and am impressed. You can still rip groomer at -30mm if required. -25mm seems to be where I’m settling providing float and handling without having to lean back too much. I had my first wheelie out at -30mm in set-up powder the other day but most of the time really like the short tail. It’s very easy to push/jump around in the tight soft stuff. I haven’t had another 75cm day but quite a few 30cm ones. Pretty glad I didn’t give up on this ski.
Final end of season update, -30mm is the magic for me at 245lbs. Next time I’d just mount a Pivot/FKS at -30mm and forget it.
Love these boards, so stoked I took a chance on them. Pretty unique shape in the market, and although way different, to me these fill a similar role to my old 185 JJs – killer float and maneuverability in pow, yet still playful and carve-y on resort groomers, and light enough to pop airs and spin on with confidence. I’m 5’9″, 165ish so 180cm length wasn’t an issue, and don’t miss the twin tip at all on a pow ski. It’s refreshing to ride a traditionally mounted ski again… forgot how fun that shit is!
It feels more versatile and effortless than a 187 Protest. While those are super legit in fresh snow and bigger terrain, I found them too big, heavy and straight to really shine as a resort powder ski. Nothing against the ski, it’s just the nature of someone my size on a ski that big. But will definitely bust those out for the best of days and and potential cat / heli trips that I can’t afford.
Cheers to Pollard and Line crew for mixing it up a bit. There’s plenty more design elements to be borrowed from surfboards… hope they make an asymm version next \m/
I’m looking at these I”m 200lbs 6′ I would love to hear some feedback directly from any of the bigger guys trying these skis. As an east coast skier, 180 doesnt bother me, short helps for trees etc, but I do worry about being flimsy. I know they’re going to feel noodly compared to my race skis (I still coach) but that’s what I want them for!
Did you ever demo the Pescado? I’m the same size as you and am thinking of demoing them after our next dump.
Thanks for this review. I appreciate it was sometime ago but I’m doing some research for my next ski and considering the Pescado/Sakana and DPS Wailer 112 Alchemist. Probably a very broad question, thoughts appreciated. I’m relatively light at 150lbs and 5”8, skiing mostly in Japan so love Pow :)
I’d also like to know how this might ski for somebody in the 5’8″ and 150 lbs range. Does it really ski that much shorter? I’m looking at this and some of the lighter armadas for something playful.
I was struggling to find the right powder ski for myself for years. I’m a 5’9’’ 165 lb traditional/directional skier and have tried Volkl Shiro, Blizzard Spur (old one), Moment Bibby and Rossignol Super 7 RD. There was always something missing, either too heavy, not enough float, too much tail… etc.
Anyway, Jonathan recommended the Pescado earlier this year and I just got back from 10 days in Japan(Niseko/Kiroro) skiing on them. I also had Billy Goat with me.
I must say that after skiing Pescado in Japan and one day in deep but heavy Vermont powder it feels like I found what I’ve been looking for for a while. This is now my No. 1 ski for anything more than 7-8’’ of fresh snow.
In deep powder and open spaces I can ski this ski super fast and make big GS turns, but I can also get into trees looking for remaining powder stashes and make quick turns with lots of pop and energy. I guess the fact it’s super light and combined with the swallow tail makes it super pivoty and easy to turn in tight spaces. In trees it was light years easier and more fun than Billy Goat.
I could also ride this ski fast through tracked powder with no problems. In more heavily chopped up powder I definitely had more stability on the Billy Goat and could ski much faster, but even at that point I always went back to Pescado for that awesome flotation, quick turns and lot of pop in powder. I think I would just ski that ski all day long and milk every last ounce of powder I could find until it would be time to switch to something narrower and charging like Supernatural 108. That just might be my two ski quiver from now on, but I need to verify that :).
One day we went for night skiing and it was all groomers and the Pescado was a ton of fun carving and riding fast even on chopped up groomers. Yeah a heavier carver would be better but I had plenty of fun and would not justify carrying one more narrower/carving ski just for that, Pescado did the job just fine. In moguls I had too much tail and wasn’t enjoying it but I really didn’t care about that.
Since they are so light, in a few weeks I’m gonna take these skis to BC for a week of backcountry touring, mounted with tech bindings. After that I’ll ski them in Revelstoke and compare with Billy Goats and will share how they perform in BC snow. In terms of Japan skiing, it’s no brainer that this is the best ski for me.
Hope this helps somebody with making a decision :)
@Viktor How was the Pescado when touring? Any issues with skins?
I wasn’t 100% on buying these back in November for the 2018-2019 season in Colorado but they ended up being the best purchase for this last season. I’m 5’10” and 185lbs and absolutely loved them for this incredible season in CO. I spent roughly 25 days on these and took them on everything from backcountry snowmobile days with 24″+ of fresh to groomer days.
After coming off of snowboarding for 13 years it was nice to get on some skis that reminded me of surfing deep powder on a swallowtail.
At the end of the day I’d say these are a great addition to my quiver and can’t wait for the 2019-2020 season on these.
I had these mounted with Tectons and took them on a Japanuary trip, tons of fun. They were great with skins, just a little shorter. Only problem is I blew out the bamboo sidewall which seemed not that durable. Is blister going to take a look again now that they have full sidewalls?
Any experience with the Folsom PowFish? Curious how these two compare? They seem very similarly shaped but just a little more surface area with the Pescado.
Hi everybody!
I am moving to lowish altitude but really high snowfall area. Existing ski is a somewhat burly 98mm AT ski (Dynafit Beast 98), that skis fine on most any snow unless it gets deep or breakable. It shure is work in deep snow. Middle aged medium speed skier. Really Intrigued by the “fishy” Line shapes, as i loved Fish/Pintail Snowboards back in the days. SO, do I want a Pescado or Sakana?
Cheers!
Just wanted to toss in my two cents on these after about 25 days on them this year at Alta. For my style this is the most fun and oddly versatile soft snow skis I have ever been on! Note I didn’t say “powder ski”, although they excel in pow I am stunned at how versatile they are in any conditions that are reasonably soft. I expected to dread moguls and bumped up outruns but they are maneuverable that I feel right at home slithering through moguls in tree lines.
The width, mount point and presumably the nose shape deal with weird density changes extremely well allowing you to surf right over weird snow (we’ve had several uncharacteristically wind effected pow days at Alta this year).
They carve soft groomers so much better than any 125 underfoot ski should. This has me no longer bothering to take a morning and an afternoon ski to the resort on powder days. I used to swap out my powder tool for a heavier all mountain ski in the afternoon, but no longer.
In deep snow it feels like riding a dolphin. It has so much spring up out of the snow that I feel like I am turning in the air before diving back into the snow. So fun.
I’m 5’10” and 178lbs, ski style is lighter and more finesse driven, preferring short to medium turns and small rock drops and playful features. This ski totally delivers everything I was looking for in a soft ski package for my quiver.