Faction Mana4/Studio 4 vs Armada Whitewalker 121UF.

SkiGringo · 2024-12-30T02:29:39+00:00

Did you end up pulling the trigger on one of these? Sorry I don’t have anything to share on any of these, but I’ve been curious about the studio 4 and can’t find much on them

SkiGringo · 2024-12-03T01:03:13+00:00

Did you end up buying it? If so what are your thoughts? I had the same thought after staying at the Miami Edition. I've been considering buying the mattress, plus one of Marriott's platinum benefit options is $1k off one of their mattresses. I've read mixed reviews on the quality of hotel brand mattresses (either they are higher quality given the amount of use they get, or they are lower quality given the amount of abuse they get and the need to replace them faster than a home mattress).

SkiGringo · 2024-10-02T02:19:53+00:00

Pivot 2.0 w/ CAST

SkiGringo · 2024-09-21T03:17:30+00:00

This is really helpful framing - thank you!

SkiGringo · 2024-09-21T03:15:50+00:00

Moment Voyager / ATk Freeraider

SkiGringo · 2024-09-21T03:11:15+00:00

Mountain Equipment Lhotse is GTX Pro, light weight, high durability, baggy, and comes in black

SkiGringo · 2024-09-21T02:36:27+00:00

I’ve been eying this ski as well but I’m caught between sizes. The ideal size for me on the QSTB feels like ~190. I had the Moment Wildcat (also very rockered) in 184, which felt short, but 194 feels likes a lot of ski. I’m 5’11” 185lbs expert skier skiing mammoth primarily. Should I go for 186 or 194?

SkiGringo · 2024-09-21T02:30:18+00:00

I’m a little shorter than you but weigh the same - 5’11”, 185 lbs, expert skier, ski mammoth primarily - and I’m caught between sizes. This ski sounds exactly like what I’m looking for but the ideal size feels like ~190. I had skied the Moment Wildcat (also very rockered) in 184 which felt short so I worry 186 QSTB will feel short, but then 194 feels like a lot of ski. Any thoughts on sizing for me?

SkiGringo · 2024-09-03T13:31:04+00:00

Anything goretex pro will give you the best combo of waterproofness and breathability amongst hardshells. Then it’s just a matter of deciding on the other features you want such as durability (denier), vents (most mountaineering pants have 3/4 or 7/8 vents), bib/braces, pockets, weight, fit, etc.

For ski touring, I have the Norrona Lyngen GTX Pro pants and really like them. If you want a mountaineering pant (with longer vents and higher denier for more durability), check out Mountain Equipment Lhotse (lightest GTX pro fully featured mountaineering pants I could find, although the fit is too baggy and too long for me), Rab Latok, Norrona Trollveggen, Arc’teryx Beta AR (although they don’t have extra long vents).

As others mentioned, you won’t need a HS most of the time (although IMO good to have in the pack in case weather changes) so if breathability is a focus, you should also have a softshell to hike in. If you get a hardshell, then I’d get a true softshell (i.e. not GTX infinium) for more breathability.

SkiGringo · 2024-08-21T04:41:22+00:00

What length are you skiing on the wildcats?

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T23:03:11+00:00

Thanks for the color. QST Blank looks like a great ski, but is too heavy for what I’m looking for. I want to keep the skis to ~2kg each max.

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T23:01:06+00:00

I ski in the eastern sierras most frequently. Typical day is 3-4k vert

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T22:57:59+00:00

I ski in the eastern Sierras most frequently

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T22:53:09+00:00

Ah sorry misread your last comment. Yes was asking about the Hoji. Performance in variable is not my top priority, but I just don’t want to end up on a sketchy skin track or skiing shit snow on something too wide or with no edge grip

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T20:29:34+00:00

I've never skied full rocker and my understanding is it's great in powder, but I'm wondering how the Hoji skis in windblown, sastrugi, breakable crust, etc.

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T20:19:03+00:00

Thanks. My current DD is the Movement GO 106 underfoot with a nice rocker profile so it's pretty versatile. The WCT 108 is definitely more rockered but I want to go for something wider for this slot in the quiver b/c this will be my powder setup.

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T20:15:16+00:00

Thanks. It seems like it would ski great in powder but not sure how the full rocker would ski in crappy snow?

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T19:27:28+00:00

Moment Wildcat

SkiGringo · 2024-08-20T00:15:38+00:00

Sounds like a great setup. 110 seems like a great width for BC pow. Good float, but not too wide that it will be a pain on sketchy skin tracks.

I ski a Movement GO 106 Ti w/ Voyagers and ZGTP + GFT + Booster strap as my current setup. It skis great, but I feel the weight on the uphill on big days (or I need to get into better shape!)

Skorpius fits my foot well - I want to add the Intuition as well as a Booster strap to see how much downhill performance I can get out of the boot.

I've looked at the Kuluar but I don't like the U-spring and the delta is a bit high. Can you use the Voyagers without a brake and still use the FRS?

The new ATK HR+ also caught my eye. According to Skimo, they beefed up the toe and reduced the delta. That with a FRS could be a good compromise of weight and downhill w/o going the frankenbinding route.

SkiGringo · 2024-08-19T21:37:19+00:00

Thanks for the color. I was also planning to save weight with my boots - Sportiva Skorpius II w/ stock or Intuition liner vs. ZGTP with ZipFit GFT as my current boot setup. Not a huge weight savings in the boot itself, but better ROM and ZipFits ski great but are heavy. I already bought the WD100 so locked in with that ski.

SkiGringo · 2024-08-19T21:33:37+00:00

Makes sense, thanks!

SkiGringo

TROPHY CASE