Armada ARG Limited Series Alpine Ski

Anytime the snow is soft take this puppy out for a good time. Picking these up before the big storms of January 08 this season was the best buy I have made since a car to get me up to Snowbird. When it comes to the powder, they obviously drop it like its hot. But the best part of these skis is when the powder is chopped up they make it feel like untracked pow. With all the rush at rope drops you can sit back and be ready for the goods all day long. The narrower tip up front versus the huge front of a ski like the Pontoon allows you to slice through the chop without it wanting to slap against anything in front of you. The construction of the ski is super playful and you have options to porpoise in and out of the snow or stay buried in your turns. Throwin' them on your shoulder to go up to Wolverine Cirque is not the lightest thing ever but anytime you are ready for slarvin' up the Cirque these are the ski you want.

I skied these skis in some of the worst conditions possible to ski a double reverse ski (reverse camber and reverse side cut). On anything hardpacked these skis pretty much suck. I know that they have a little bit of tradition sidecut under the foot, but if you try to set a carve on something fairly steep it isn't going to work. Once you get used to the ski you learn that you just have to slide and drag the tail to turn on really hard snow. When I did find some left over powder from a few days before and some crud snow these skis did rip though, which makes me really want to give them a go in Powder. These are one ski that I would never give to a novice or intermediate skier and say "go ski", because although most skis are manageable for someone at those ability levels, this one is not. All I can say is be careful on groomed snow!

Its hard to convince someone of the benefits of a reverse camber reverse side cut ski without just trying them yourself. However, do not try these skis without being prepared to buy. Because once you switch back to your regular skis, every powder run is spent dreaming about how sweet it would be on something rev/rev. Yes. The difference is that noticeable. These skis give you access to a whole new style of skiing. You start looking at the mountain in a different way. Basically, you start skiing like a snowboarder, and its damn fun. You can throw huge powder slashes with the best of them, easily dump speed after rocketing through a straightline, make turns in the tightest of trees with ease, stomp airs, and ski through chopped up pow like its untracked. On groomers they are very manageable, with the right tune these skis can carve(sort of) they do have sidecut underfoot, and traverse and ski groomers fine. These only get 4 of 5 stars because for a big guy like me(6'2" and 230) they are just not stiff enough to truly just charge down the hill and unleash terror. But after skiing these skis I had to get something similar, and when the dust settled from my spending fury, I had a pair of DPS Lotus 138s, now THOSE skis get 6 stars out of 5, but thats for a different review. Happy Shredding!

I have been watching the reverse camber explosion for the last couple of seasons and decided this would be the year to give it a whirl. The ARG is trully a unique tool, as some of the previous reviews and forum threads indicate there is definietly a learning curve relative to driving this machine. Once you figure it out, oh my. I mounted mine 1 cm forward from the -5 factory midsole as I like a more centered position. I have a binding which only had a 100mm width brake and bending them out to fit the ARG was no problem. The turning behavior of these guns in the soft snow is really magic. They love speed, and making those slashing pow turns will give you chills. Pick up a pair of these, you know the curiousity is killing you.

So I live here in the good ole powder capital a.k.a the SLC and there is nothing better than a good set of pow pow sticks for when its gets waist plus deep. Now I was kinda skeptical as to how well these would work...that was laid to rest yesterday as I continuously attempted to get my self stuck in waist deep fresh at the "bird"...I must say these sticks turn with the lightest of pressure in the powder no matter how deep it is and they can't really be submerged. Trust me I tried. They are kinda tricky at high speed on groomers and I might suggest mounting them a hair or two above the top factory mount of -5, so maybe like -3 or -4 not centered but definitely not less than -5 back. They will eliminate any issues in the powder Guaranteed!

The ARG's are the best skis I've ever been on, I can't believe how much fun they are. They're way more versatile than I thought they would be, and I've spent more time on them this year than any other ski. It's given that they're going to be sweet when it's deep and fresh.... but where they really excel is when it's chopped, cut-up pow, or even the gnarliest wind buff. They're super stable at speed, really light under foot on the snow and in the air, and really maneuverable in the trees or tight spots. You can make McConkey/Spatula like schmears, or open them up for big GS turns. I can't say enough good things about this ski. they definitely change the way you ski and look at the mountain.

I was a little skeptical at first, but it was all laid to rest after I got on the new ARG's. These things will float you over the ruts and allow you to send it whenever you want. There is a little learning curve involved in controlling these bad boys on the hard pack, but is definitely worth it when you're hitting the FLUFF!