New breed

By John Carpenter Ranked #231 - Alpine Park and Pipe Skis February 23, 2009

Some quick background: I'm 5'7" and 175#. I would call my skiing style "power based" more than finesse. This is my second center-mount ski. I have the spiral version, but I'm putting my comments on the main page for this model.

Yes, Center-mounts ski differently. Mainly, you have more tail behind you. This means you will probably forget about it in the bumps or get a surprise on a step-up, but not much else changes. Yes, you need to center-mount these, otherwise they ski really weird.

I am skiing a 171cm and the ski skis short, but has pretty good float. The "butter zones" mean that the ski tips and tails will flex when you pumped these in the powder. I found that this makes them ski like a softer ski in the powder and let me chophop out of the powder. That being said, they still hold an edge pretty well and carve like mad. Anyone who can't ski powder with these doesn't know how to ski powder and probably needs to bulk up a bit. Believe it or not, these skis reward those with big gun legs more than stiffer skis. They won't float for you, but they have so much pop they are a ton of fun if you have the junk in the trunk to use that flex pattern.

In the park and pipe and just generally screwing around, they are very poppy and get you plenty of boost at the lip. On re-entry, the butter-zones allow the ski to be very forgiving.

My one complaint is that the ski is squirrely at high-speeds (i.e. 25-30mph and above.) if you stay on base. Basically, don't hold these flat and straightline a groomer. The symmetrical design means they start kicking around. To counter this, just stay on edge and carve big, fat arcs burning your knee and dragging your hand all the way down.

Wicked fun ski. Not a do-everything-"properly" ski, but definitely a do-everything-"fun" ski. And it's that what it's about?

View Details: Line Anthem Alpine Ski

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