You know matt it is funny that you mentioned the shop thing. When i brought mine to the morons at ski market here in RI they were like what are those? When i picked them up the guy who mounted them sure did remember doing my skis, he liked em but like everyone else in RI they are stupid. I am the only person in my whole state that skis on igneous. Impressive huh? I am itching to ski them but am its not gonna happen this weekend. Its not worth it yet, waaay too warm. Maybe next weekend they will have a lot open. ~CHris Matt Duffy wrote: > 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? > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont. > > To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont. To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html