Last week I got to “enjoy” some icy conditions at our local hill and test some interesting ski models from Armada, Movement and eventually Elan (two carving skis). I was about to test as many fat/freeride ski than possible in that evening but to be honest I got a bit bored on sliding the fat-waisted skis on icy snow after a while. And to my surprise ended up skiing on some short supercarvers (Elan Speedwave 12 and 14) that absolutely ruled the boilerplate conditions.

This test is not comprehensive – as the conditions were concrete like hard pack only. On the other hand, one could say this was the ultimate test on how wide skis perform on very hard snow.

I got some problems with my camera and only got few very lousy pics. Well, not the best trip this time but at least I got some observations on the skis and how they perform on very hard snow…

Ok, let’s move on to the ski testing:

Conditions: boilerplate hard pack

Resort: just another of out little mole hills but decent pitch to get just a couple of turns in…enough for some ski test observations.

Armada The ANT 191cm is a stiff and straight big mountain ski

Measurements: 133-107-123mm

This ski (image above) had no problem to hold an edge on the hard stuff, which is nice for a 107mm waist ski – but only if you only have enough speed and wide enough turns. For our little hills here, this is kind of a boring ski though (you get very few turns per run) but otherwise Armada ANTs left a very good impression.

The ANT reminded me a lot of the old Head Monter 103′s I had a few years ago -  but were only significantly lighter. The dimensions are also pretty much like the first generation Atomic Big Daddies

This is clearly an “all business, no bullshit” big mountain charger made for (pretty damn) good skiers. The weight to stiffness ratio is impressive (stiff but quite light). I would probably get schooled skiing these all day long in a place like Chamonix or LaGrave…

The only complaint I would probably find is that the recommended mounting point felt a bit too centered for a skis like this. And I remember reading from TGR forum that many people have mounted their Armada ANTs -2cm from the manufacturer’s reference point.  (But you got to remember the “father” of this ski, Anthony Boronowski, spins 900′s on every direction on this monster…so his preferences might differ a bit from us ordinary hacks!?)

Armada JJ 188cm – suprisingly works even on a hardpack, believe it or not!

Measurements (five-dimensional sidecut): 126-136-115-133-121mm, rockered and tapered tip and tail, sidecut and camber in the middle = Armada’s “elf-shoe” technology  (Armada JJ right on the picture above).

I could not believe skiing these planks on boilerplate could be a bit fun. But to my surprise these were not as bad on firm stuff as you would expect from a 115mm wide skis.

I guess the nature of this ski is pretty much double-sided: on the soft stuff you can just slide/pivot around but on the hard stuff it is more than possible to get the small sidecut and camber in the middle working; on snow this firm (we had at the test night) you got to weight the downhill ski very hard though. Not the most fun skiing, but I am still impressed how well Armada JJ could handle the boilerplate snow!

The binding mount felt really centered (for an old school mogul guy like me). For soft snow I’d be tempted to mount just a bit further back (1-2cm?). But this is just guessing – as the Armada recommends using the reference point to get most out of the little sidecut in the middle. The rockered tip is supposed to work in soft and deep snow even when you ski quite centered

The centered mounting point allowed for easy “switch” skiing (if that is your thing) and I felt I could go and shred some (soft) kickers with ease on these skis. Armada JJ’s are light and the “swing weight” is even smaller (because of the shape of the ski).Playful is the word that comes to one’s mind when skiing the new Armada JJ’s. I am definately trying to get a new test ride on these, with softer conditions!

Armada ARV 185cm is a well thought-out true all-mountain ski

Measurements: 130-95-119mm

Skied with Alpine bindings by me, and with telemark bindings by a friend – and we both dug the ski. Friend compared this to a 06/07 K2 Seth – only a slightly stiffer and straighter feel. For me the ski felt a tad soft at first but it didn’t matter once you started to make turns. Seems like Armada ARVs have a good combinations of longitudinal flex and torsional stiffness.

Armada ARV Still felt somehow wide on the difficult conditions we had but could carve some half-decent turns (on almost pure ice), it just required lots of effort (short, mogul style turns felt easier for me on this ski than longer carved turns, on these conditions).

The recommended mounting point is somehow centered but not too much, there is well enough tip for skiing “traditionally” (and “switch” is still very easy). I’d say Armada ARV is a good all mountain ski for our Lapland hills, smaller/not-so-snowy resorts all over the word and for those that want one ski that can take anything from off-piste to park skiing

Movement Goliath Sluff 184 cm – this ski didn’t quite impress me

Measurements: 134-99-118 mm

I was digging the shape of the Movement Goliath Sluff when I got these on my feet: the binding mounting point felt quite “old school” and the ski had some serious taper in it, I got the feeling that this is pretty much like the proper all-mountain/big mountain ski should be. However, it didn’t work as well as expected on the rock hard snow. I don’t know if the edges were just dull or if the edge bevels were somehow weird (= prepared for the soft snow not the boilerplate). It felt like the ski started the carve but the couldn’t hold it well enough into the end of the turn (could be because of the quite tapered shape too?).

Not too much “pop” in Movement Goliath Sluff either. This would probably be very predictable and versatile all-mountain ski in bigger resorts and softer snow but I have to say I wasn’t impressed with the carving capabilities (but take this with the grain of salt, dull edges / wrong bevels might have affected on this feel)

Movement Thunder 177cm – fine for couloirs and touring?

Measurements: 122-89-111mm

I only skied two runs on Movement Thunders, so take that into consideration…Pretty similar feel with the edges than on Goliath Sluff – dull edges or wrong edge bevel?

Movement Thunder is a quite straight ski and also pretty stiff – good for couloir skiing and touring? (But I wouldn’t say the ski is extremely light, maybe just average weight?)

Didn’t impress that much on the firm stuff, edge hold was fine but it was still kind of hard to do clean turns.

Elan Speedwave 12 and 14, 168cm – pure carving machines

Measurements 116-70-105mm

I dug skiing the Elan Speedwave 12‘s after the fat/mid-fat on the firm conditions and thought the ski was the sh** on the icy surface…Then the rep guy told me to try the stiffer version a.k.a Elan Speedwave 14, which were still significantly stiffer than Elan Speedwave 12 and just railed the icy snow -I almost felt like ice skating (whether that is a good or bad thing is up to you?)

I haven’t skied a proper carving ski for a year or so and got to say that for given conditions this type of ski rules – I had more fun on these than on any other ski that night.

I cannot say much about the features of the ski because I haven’t that much experience on this type of skis. Maybe just that sometimes even with the versatile “all-mountain” skis of today, it is better to take the right tool for the right job…

If you want a solid carving ski for the prepared slopes that is stiff and just rails on the edges on the smooth and hard stuff, I think this is the one! Also, one thing to add is that for this type of a ski, more stiffness can be good – and I am not usually a fan of über-stiff skis. But if you are not light-weight and know how to put a ski on the edge, stiff ski like Elan Speedwave 14 is great for rock solid conditions, no chatter or ski wandering around, just pure bliss of perfect carves. If I had more dough at the moment I could buy a set of these, just to add to the quiver. After all, I guess almost every skier could benefit from a pair of pure carving skis in his/her quiver, skiing a day or two once in a while with skis like these would make wonders to one’s technique (park rats and lazy powder hounds take notice!).