Big and burly (and ugly) but quick

By Rob de Luca January 21, 2009

First of all, if you still have reservations about Ninthward making durable skis, don't. I picked up a pair of the Rory SFS 183's on a great deal, figuring I'd use them as an early-season pow/rock ski, and so far they have been bomber. They are now made in Elan's factory (Slovenia), and mine have taken some beatings without much to show for it. Big thick edges, thick sidewalls, and hard bases. As far as performance, the 'shop flex' out of the box was stiffer than I thought it'd be, but on hard snow it feels like the flex goes through the entire ski, rather than being soft in the tip and tail like most noodly fatties. I've skied them everywhere in all types of conditions, and the best way to say it is that they are big, fat, damp planks that still like to turn in trees and tight spots. They don't feel super-poppy to me, but with Rossignol 150's they are not light, so that could have something to do with it. To be honest I am not a park and pipe skier so that doesn't really matter to me. I wanted a tough, fat ski to run over rocks and stumps during early-season thin coverage, and I am getting everything I want out of them, and more. As a side note, I hated the graphic at first, but it's growing on me in a 'never seen anything like this before' kind of way.

View Details: Ninthward Rory Silva Pro SFS Alpine Ski

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