# A few skis tested...



## Rushski (Mar 11, 2011)

Was at Sunapee yesterday for the Nashua Ken Jones ski shop demo day.  They ran it well again, though a bit more of a pain in the ass as a few of the manufacturers demanded that people signed forms.  Seemed a waste as they couldn't track who was on what, when and especially not tie it to the forms...

Conditions: Snowing on the way in but just a little wet with plenty of fog and some wind.  Fog was the main problem as visibility was poor on top of the fine mist coating the goggles.  Believe most of the lifts were closed due to icing from the night before on top of very few skiers out yesterday.  If it weren't for the demo crowd there would have been more employess than skiers.  Snow did get skied out in places down the middle of trails with snow on the edges, especially on the steeper trails near the triple (Goosbumps, Flying Goose and Lynx).

Me: Can and do ski almost anything.  Though rarely (if ever) perfectly.  Probably a solid level 8 skier.  Normally ski a Fischer RX8 as my groomer carver and Blizzard Titan 8's as my midfats.

Started off on the strange new Salomon BBR...  Well...  Not exactly sure what they're aiming for with this oddly shaped pair of skis(?).  Easy turning but felt too forgiving for most.  Maybe it's decent in deeper snow but not inspiring as a hard charging cruiser.  Just not getting this one.

Nordica Hot Rod Tempest: Solid feeling with many turn shapes and handled small piles of crud when hit.  As usual a confident offering from Nordica with better graphics than most of their skis.  Felt like a truly trusty all-mountain tool.

Blizzard Supersonic: Even more solid ski.  Firm and a great carver on the groomed trails.  Stiff enough that any of the soft piles in front of were no match and the random scraped spots on the trails were handled very well.  Tons of grip.  Wouldn't think it would be great as a one-ski quiver as don't believe it would be great in anything deep or where a lighter, whippable ski would make more sense - bumps/trees.  Otherwise let this ski run or turn if capable.  Not for the meek or inexperienced.

Rossignol Experience 83:  Felt very comfortable in all situations encountered.  Not the greatest cruiser but can do it easily enough.  Not demanding and could probably be skied by most.  Dimensions led to feeling it could do most a New England skier could need.  Not bad.

Volkl RTM 84:  Similar in feel to the Rossi above but a little more solid and therefore slightly more demanding of a skier.  Would definitely ski this everyday.  Good all-around.

Fischer Motive 80 C-Line:  Again another very good all-mountain ski.  Carbon does seem to make it a little more solid than the regular Motives.  In that respect they have raised their own bar, as the original Motive is a highly regarded ski.  Both friends who skied this put as probably their second favorite ski of what they tested...

K2 AMP Aftershock:  Tried the Charger last March and liked it's quickness.  This is definitely not as quick being an 86 wide waist but still very turnable.  Definitely another candidate for an everyday Eastern ski that could handle most Western days as well.  Only got one run on these as it was getting late.  The only thing was there seems a quality question mark.  One tip was definitely riding higher than the other and seemd a little floppy, so to speak.  Last year the Charger had a tip protector that was nearly falling off, so definitely concerned with K2s quality even though I like how these skis ski...

Too friends around the same ability as myself had some thoughts on some of these skis and others as well - One guy loved the Nordica Fire Arrow 80 and he is used to skiing his old school 210cm K2 SuperG racing skis.  He loved the solid feel of these over anything else he tested.  Guess the "Pro" version of it has more metal to it, so he may have liked that even more if he had tried it.

Other guy liked the Blizzard Magnum 8.1.  Not sure if they changed it all from this years other than the more subdued (and better to me) graphics.  

To sum it up:  For groomer, high speed carving the Blizzard Supersonic felt best to me but didn't try the Nordica Fire Arrows.  As an all-mountain ski I would probably go with the Volkl RTM 84 but would have to try the Blizzard Magnum 8.1 if I were actually in the market...


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## Warp Daddy (Mar 11, 2011)

Solid Review -- Thanx R  !!


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## hammer (Mar 11, 2011)

Thanks for the review...

Just curious about the Volkls...I thought I read that the RTM series was going to replace the ACs.  I had AC50s as demos most of the time I was in UT and they worked well for me charging though the UT powder, but they were not as forgiving of my technique on the groomers.  Do you think the RTM 84s would be similar or would they be more like the AC30s?


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## wa-loaf (Mar 11, 2011)

Rushski said:


> Started off on the strange new Salomon BBR...  Well...  Not exactly sure what they're aiming for with this oddly shaped pair of skis(?).  Easy turning but felt too forgiving for most.  Maybe it's decent in deeper snow but not inspiring as a hard charging cruiser.  Just not getting this one.



Had the same impression.


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## Rushski (Mar 11, 2011)

Have never skied the AC50s, but believe most of what I've heard/read that the AC50 was pretty demanding.  Believe the RTM 84 is probably a bit more forgiving.  Two guys I skied with yesterday seemed to like them as well as I did (or close to).


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## tjf67 (Mar 11, 2011)

hammer said:


> Thanks for the review...
> 
> Just curious about the Volkls...I thought I read that the RTM series was going to replace the ACs.  I had AC50s as demos most of the time I was in UT and they worked well for me charging though the UT powder, but they were not as forgiving of my technique on the groomers.  Do you think the RTM 84s would be similar or would they be more like the AC30s?




I use the AC50 on solid days(groomers)  They are terrible in the poweder compared to a powder ski.  They dive through the soft stuff looking for the hard pack underneath to grab onto to.    The AC are the all mountain power ski. If the RTM is going to replace them I would assume they are going to be at the stiffer end of the spectrum.  Frankly I dont like my AC50 very much.


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## thetrailboss (Sep 24, 2011)

So has anyone seen or heard anything more about the Salomon BBR?  SKI magazine mentioned it, but then didn't bother to discuss it in the gear test.  :dunce:  Powder had it listed in the hardgoods catalog.  Weird looking ski.


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## wa-loaf (Sep 24, 2011)

thetrailboss said:


> So has anyone seen or heard anything more about the Salomon BBR?  SKI magazine mentioned it, but then didn't bother to discuss it in the gear test.  :dunce:  Powder had it listed in the hardgoods catalog.  Weird looking ski.



I tried it out in Tahoe. Would be a lot of fun in 6 inches of chopped up powder or crud. Not an east coast ski. I did not enjoy them on the hard pack.


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