Scott P4 Alpine Ski

I agree with most of the other reviewers here. P4's are so good, they left me scratching my head....where have you been all my life? I am 6'2", 225, expert-level backcountry specialist. Am a ski snob / technogeek and try almost everything during the course of a season - Gotamas, Mojos, Wateas, Sugar Daddys. Mounted 191 P4's with Fritschi Freerides, Scarpa Spirit 4. I bought them on a whim, had barely heard of P4s. I was looking for a super-fat with a sidecut in the low-20's, was wondering if that would make a powder ski manageable inbounds, the specs looked good on paper. First day I went backcountry in snorkle pow and they were of course terrific, nice soft tips, easy turn initiation. 2nd day skied on slightly icy groomers at Deer Valley and they were STILL great, skied the hard snow like a GS ski about 88 underfoot. I could crank full-speed turns at around 80% before the arc started to break up. Came home and threw my Head SuperMojos in the trash can. They're a bit heavy for major skinning days, simply because 191 x 108 is a lot of material. So I keep a pair of K2 Superlights around for those 4-hour uphill grinds, but once I get to the top I'm wishing I'd brought the P4s for the descent. A truly amazing ski. I wonder if the engineers at Scott are really this good, or if they just got lucky. I may buy a pair of 191 Punishers next season just to find out.

First off, I'm 5'9, 170lbs and an aggressive expert skier. 181cm P4's are 40g heavier than my previous 179cm K2 Seth Vicious, yet are MASSIVE in comparison. The ride is much like the 1st gen 176 Gotamas; smooth, stable, and energetic, but with much greater carveability on groomers. I think that the sandwich construction (beautiful, Austrian build-quality) with dual ti layers is responsible for the smooth ride. The running length is rather short for a 181 ski so I mounted them at 1.5cm back from boot center. I am considering moving this back another 1cm for better high-speed stability. They are super easy to turn in trees and do OK in bumps, but prefer wide-open, fast lines. I'd consider these a big mountain jib ski because they can handle rough terrain but still have pop and are fairly easy to get airborne, not to mention stomp landings in powder. The only downsides are the slightly porkish weight and short running length. If this ski had less of a twin tip, it would make a better big-mountain ski and feel less short.

I found a good deal on these and bought them without trying them. I had ridden the Volkl Mantras and Katana, the Line Prophet 100's, K2 Seth and Coomba... I feel the P4's blow all of these skis out of the water in terms of all round performance. They are a ton of fun in the powder, they hold a fantastic edge on groomers and pop you out of the crud, and are even somewhat maneuverable through the bumps. They started to chatter a bit when I hit some icy groomer pitch but if you dig into the hill a little bit harder than you normally would you will hold the edge (not to mention you will flat out rip!). A great ski for a great value.

I had my heart set on picking up a pair of Gotamas after skiing them @ Alta. That is until a friend let me play on the P 4's. This thing is nimble as hell in the deep stuff, and rips through the bumps and crud! Groomers were no problem. I couldn't believe I was on a ski that was 108 underfoot.

skied my first days on these in colorado this weekend on new deadbolt 4frnt bindings. They performed above my expectations in bumps trees and groomers. Skiing the goods on the p4 has left me utterly infatuated with their versatility, but more importantly showed me how well they performed hucking cliffs, shredding pillows, and arcing powder turns. This ski can be skied everyday and on the epics, because thats just how sick they are.

Busted out the new backcountry setup w/ fritschis two weeks ago in Cooke City. They were the real deal. My light touring setup friends couldn't believe how weightless they were with all the extra length and girth (191's). Dropped in on perfect above the knee deep snow and was instantly grinning on finding a tool that fits my aggressive and free-flowing style. Can't wait till the pack is deeper and see how well they stick some big hucks at mack turkey