![]() ![]() I don’t hate many things, but I hated those skis. The Völkls may be fun for some people, but I couldn’t get them off my feet fast enough. The Mindbender was ok, but the tails didn’t allow me to unhook them and dump speed or whip a really fast turn when needed. I enjoyed them quite a bit and they felt great in the air, landings were solid. They were like Soul 7s with the weaknesses improved (not fixed). ![]() On the terrain I have to ski to link the good stuff they were a problem.īoth the Sender and Sender TI felt good. In the terrain I like to ski the Souls were a good get out of jail free card. To make the corrections I need a ski that is quick to turn with a reasonably soft tail to smear around and dump speed. While I do love to ski fast and hard I do make mistakes and those mistakes need to be corrected or I may find myself hitting a tree. I like to ski very fast, generally much faster than most people skiing the terrain I like to ski. Pow, steeps, trees, chutes, bowls, bumps, drops, jumps, that is my jam. When I get to choose the run it is always double black off-piste. I am 6’-2” 180 lbs, 46 years old, I ski roughly 50 days per year, and like 70% of people am an expert. I would love for this new ski to improve on that performance, but I don't need a carving ski. On moderately hard snow groomers I can make the Souls carve pretty well, though they are limited in their speed and a bit bouncy/chattery when going fast on firm snow. That is maybe once or twice a season in the PNW. This ski will be skied nearly every day of the season with my cheater GS skis only coming out on the truly hard snow days. I would like something with better edge hold on firm snow. That said if someone offered me a replacement pair of Souls I would pass. It is miserable on hard snow or ice, but on soft snow it is very enjoyable. ![]() I know the Soul is much hated by serious skiers, but I had a ton of fun on that ski. ![]() I ski in the Washington Cascades 95% of the time, so snow is abundant but heavy. I need to replace my Soul 7s with something of the same general width as my everyday driver. I am still looking at a bunch of the other suggested options and there are so many good ones. I wouldn't want a ski I had to drive really hard off-piste because that hard forward stance is not conducive to being balanced in the air, nor floating deeper snow on skis of this width. Off-piste I rarely think about I am skiing, I think about where I want to go and what the snow is like there. Maybe that is an adaptation to the float of my Souls or maybe it is just how I ski. My issue is that when carving groomers I am hard on the front of my boots but off-piste in soft snow I am much more centered. I have been paying a lot of attention to my stance as it relates to terrain lately because so much of the performance of these skis is determined by how hard you push on the shovels. Has anyone ween on both the Wildcat and Woodsman who could speak to the carving ability of the Wildcat as it compares to the Woodsman and the playfulness of the Woodsman compared to the Wildcat? Those two characteristics seem to be potentially the differentiators between the two skis. That’s a combo that we think a lot of skiers will like - especially if you value stability over a super light, super nimble feel." "The Woodsman 108 is quite stable, pretty playful, versatile across a lot of conditions and terrain, and accepts a wide variety of skiing styles. The Woodsman, according to Blister, maybe tends more towards the damp, charging end of the spectrum without as much playfulness. Blister's statement of "Who is it for" on the Wildcat sounds like me "High-intermediate to expert skiers who ski with more of an active style and who prioritize agility, playfulness, and strength in their mid-fat all-mountain ski." I chatted with someone from Moment and he talked up the strength and long effective edge on the Wildcats as to why they can carve and charge in spite of their rocker profile. The Wildcat and the Woodsman both look really interesting. I was a bit surprised by the amount of tail splay. They only had shorter lengths, so nothing that fit for me to purchase. I had the chance to put my hands on a pair of Wildcat 108s at a shop in Bend, OR. ![]()
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