Dana Dorsett  writes:


piercing,
> >high pitched whine [snip]
>
>Do they really sing a bit for you?


   Yeah... and what a voice...


>I had some Blizzards of the '80s that
>had a ~400hz ring to them


    What are we talking about here? Tuning forks? Triangles?


>when you knocked them together that was also
>audible at speed on hard snow with the edge set. (Not enough high
> >frequency dampening in that case- fun though they were! :-)


    Funny you mentioned "knocking them together". The first thing I noticed
about them was just that, as I was taking them out of their packing. It was
more of a deep, bassy punching sound than a some wind chime. If you were to
get clunked over the head with them, it would, uh.. mega hurt.

    With edges set in that compressed granular, uneven and awful surface,
they made a searing whine like a hockey skate-sharpener. So that is what you
would call "not enough high frequency dampening"? Seems like that was a
_positive_ effect to me. The skis were super dead-on stable and sliced into
it EASILY. I've skied that type of surface on skis with those fancypants
'piezo-electric dampeners' before, and must say that the Igneous skis
vibrated AT LEAST 5 times less! Plus they sounded *really* vicious when
rounding corners. For whatever trivial value "sound" is in a ski, the
Igneous certainly are screamers!

    You did make me think a while back when you first mentioned the dampness
factor, as well as torsional rigidity. To that, I now say:

     Dampness shmampness! I don't use aerodynamic racing poles, I don't wear
a spandex racing suit, and I've put the whole 'dampness' debate as far
behind me as the dampness in my kid's diapers when he was a baby!

     For whatever torsional rigidity is worth, I tested how much I could
"twist" my other skis and compared the results to the Igs. If I exerted
myself, I could indeed twist the mass market skis minimally. The Igs were
*impossible* to twist.

     Maple wood core remember! I think that's the main key to any and all of
the qualities I've seen thus far (though the extra wide steel edges probably
are responsible for that awesome,  full sounding, eminating screach).

     Also, keep in mind that those old, yellow Salomon DR9 bindings have
that frivolous  red rubber boot underneath, and other "suspension" gadgets
for people looking for that extra one millionth of a second on a race
course. Not even a slight factor in the way and the where I like to ski. I
like the bindings 'cause they don't prerelease; they're big and beefy just
like the skis they're mounted on. The DIN goes up to 14 (and I weigh 145)
and convieniently - they match up with the graphics on the skis quite well.
(I had this in mind when choosing the graphics, but again, trivial).


> >The feel to those things are totally different.
>
>OK I'm interested- different from what?



    Different from anything I've ever tried in my young skiing exhistance.
(This is my 9th season).



>    How do they stack up next to say, the X-Scream Series, K2 Seth
> >Morrison, or other mid-to-fat cruiser skis?



      Well, gotta be totally honest, I haven't tried any of those particular
models. I have used Volant Powerkarves, which I thought were great. I only
got to use them in powder, so what kind of test was that? When I ski powder
on the Igneous, I'll be sure to let you know what I think. The dimensions
are 108-76-100, so I'm thinking they'll at least be 'ok' ;)

     The next closest comparison (in fatness) would be my Elan SCX's. I'll
always have a place in my heart for those shapely red darlings, but I can
tell you they would have sucked yesterday. Just not enough meat in
comparison to my latest boards.

      An employee of the Downhill Edge in b'town (where the binders were
mounted) was in awe. He said that he recently worked for K2, and the Igneous
design reminded him of the AK Launcher, only the Igneous just seemed like a
lot more ski. You shoulda seen the scene I caused by walking in there with
those things. It took about 45 seconds to develop a small crowd around them.
Mostly, it was employees taking turns drooling, oohing and ahhing as they
passed them back and forth. They all checked them out completely & flexed
them with "oh wow!"s
and asked me to 'please stop by after you've skied them to tell us what
they're like'. I talked about them a bit, including the all the soggy, rigid
technical jargon I'd heard as skepticism. The invariable response to that
was a scoffing smirk as if to say 'that's ridiculous' and one guy even
"Um... I THINK your friend is trying to make you paranoid. I'd be jealous
too. I AM jealous!"


     When I picked them up (amazing how they turned 'em around overnight,
when everyone else was waiting 10-12 days), the guy who mounted them came
out from the back room with them and said: "These things are sweet! Let us
know how you like them..."


>
>>>In the windpucked moguls, it was a little tougher to stay right on >>>top
>>>of

>
>I'm curious was this a "banana peel" effect, like the skis seemed to >want
>to accellerate for the fall-line ahead of your anticipation, or >was it
>more like they'd cut the fall line if you didn't consciously >steer for it?
>(First impressions are important!) You can learn to >ski bumps on most
>anything, but some are just more natural-born-bump >skis, ususally skis
>with a lot lesssidecut than the Igneous line.  >Did you feel like you were
>getting air-mailed on them at all?

     Well, let me reiterate: WINDPUCKED MOGULS. I found myself in the
backseat on my first run and a half in the bumps, but once again, WINDPUCKED
MOGULS. It would have taken at least as long for me on any skis to get used
to that compressed, unforgiving, crater bump field. The snow had the
appearance that a bizillion soccer balls had been pounded into it
everywhere. The surface of the moon is probably smoother. Considering that,
a run and a half to get a rythym was better than I would have hoped for,
even on my bump-specific skis.

     So, to go back to the models & brands you asked me to compare them too,
which of those are designed for repeated poundings of the most abusive
nature AND come with a 3 year, no questions asked warrantee?


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