Post by JimRatliff on Mar 24, 2014 19:03:34 GMT -7
I skied the Superior SC for a couple of runs in 4-5" of fresh snow back in January and was surprised at how easy it was to ski in soft conditions. This past weekend I demoed the same ski in frozen conditions. It had been 50 degrees the day before, but froze solid that night and remained frozen the next day. I was equally pleased how well they performed in conditions they were designed for.
About me. 65 year old, level 7 skier. I prize versatility above all else, and prefer moderate speeds most of the time. I also realized several years back that "higher level" skis (including most that are recommended by the magazines) are actually too stiff to effectively bend into an arc as part of making a turn.
I have been extremely happy with my Fischer Progressor 800's, but was wanting a bit of an increase in performance if it didn't cost to much in versatility and was looking at a slalom footprint with sub 70mm waist. Of course, I didn't know back in January that I would be responsible for a groundswell among my fellow demoers (both of whom were surprised at my wanting to demo slalom skis and both of whom subsequently bought sub 70 waisted skis since).
The Super Race is last year's model, and while I didn't demo it, I believe that it would ski much the same. The primary difference with the Superior is a bit of early rise in the tip. This may be responsible for how good the Superior felt in the soft conditions of January. Note that the sidecut is the same even though the dimensions re different.
Numbers for 165 length.
Superior= 120-67-100. 14m sidecut, Fischer skier suitability rated 7-9 on Fischer's website
SuperRace=117-67-99 14m sidecut, Fischer rated 9-10.
P800=122-74-103. 12/17 progressive sidecut, Fischer rated at 5-8.
This time I initially put the bindings at plus 8mm from the default, which has become standard for my Head and Fischer skis. In this configuration I could really feel the strength of the tail. I began to see a disadvantage to the progressive sidecut - it sort of hides/limits the tail of the ski. I decided to try the bindings at the default position, and this is where the ski worked best. I could feel the entire edge on the hard snow, could even feel the tail contributing to the turn. As expected, the grip on the frozen groomed surface was excellent. Ski would readily do whatever turn shape my tipping asked for. As important to me, it was really amenable to my brushed turns on black slopes without trying to hook up into a carve unless I asked.
An end of the day anecdote. Midwife and I had stopped mid-trail and some guy skied by leaving pretty good shorter turn trenches in the snow. I decided to jump in and follow his turns, and was amazed at how easy it was to make much shorter turns than he was. Bragging a bit, but my railroad tracks in the snow were cleaner and more uniform than his.
I don't know if I will buy a pair or not, but these are nice skis and a purchase would be a no brainer if I didn't already have a nice pair of relatively new "narrow" skis..
This time I initially put the bindings at plus 8mm from the default, which has become standard for my Head and Fischer skis. In this configuration I could really feel the strength of the tail. I began to see a disadvantage to the progressive sidecut - it sort of hides/limits the tail of the ski. I decided to try the bindings at the default position, and this is where the ski worked best. I could feel the entire edge on the hard snow, could even feel the tail contributing to the turn. As expected, the grip on the frozen groomed surface was excellent. Ski would readily do whatever turn shape my tipping asked for. As important to me, it was really amenable to my brushed turns on black slopes without trying to hook up into a carve unless I asked.
An end of the day anecdote. Midwife and I had stopped mid-trail and some guy skied by leaving pretty good shorter turn trenches in the snow. I decided to jump in and follow his turns, and was amazed at how easy it was to make much shorter turns than he was. Bragging a bit, but my railroad tracks in the snow were cleaner and more uniform than his.
I don't know if I will buy a pair or not, but these are nice skis and a purchase would be a no brainer if I didn't already have a nice pair of relatively new "narrow" skis..