LINE ANTHEM, FROM MY REVIEW.......
Overall
Overall, this is the most amzing ski i have ever skied on. Durable, cheap, solid. Not much more to it.
Performance
The first day i used these (today) i was at Mt Hood Meadows, my home hill. We had soft, fresh snow on the groomers with about 6-8 inches of fresh fluffy powder on the non-groomed runs. They performed PERFECTLY in everything i encountered. Some people, especially the ones who have never even ridden or seen this ski, are saying that due to the felxiness of the ski they are unable to charge, unable to handle high speed, unable to handle chopped-up crud. Once again, these people are WRONG. They can hold an amazing edge at high speeds, and are not to flexy for regular skiing. Due to the eliptical sidecut, the harder you pressure the ski, the more it will turn. This is very true, you have to feel it to believe it. SWITCH!! Due to the symmetrical/center mount nature of this ski, they ski the exact same switch. I have never skied on anything more solid switch, they carve great and butter the same as forwards.
Design
All i have been hearing about on the forums is how the graphics look gay, or how they look like a truck stop t-shirt that truckers wear, or that Line screwed up this year with the graphics. To all the haters out there: shut-up. When you are riding this ski, it just looks black due to all the snow being on it and its dark color. Personally, i love that look. When you are on the chair with no snow on them, i think they look pretty sweet. Everyone always asks, what kind of skis are those? What are those graphics of? I think Line hit it dead on with the graphics this year, especially with the flip flop image so it looks the same backwards.
Value
I was going to get these skis last year, but due to the screw-up with KISS and the topsheet, i had to wait till this year to get them. BOY, WAS IT WORTH THE WAIT! I bought these from untracked.com, the best ski shop i have ever used, for retail of $379. This is a steal for this great of a ski! I paid almost as much just for bindings, which are Look P18's, the last year of the turntable heel. This is such a great price, and Al's Ski Barn (untracked.com) mounted my bindings for free before shipping them to me, also free of charge.
Fit
I am 6'3" and i ski on the 178 length. These lenght is absolutely perfect. My bindings are mounted at true center, there is plenty of tip and tail, and they are proportional to my size.
Characteristics
The butter zones in the Line Anthem are amazing. Period. To everyone that says they are too flexy to charge stuff, you are wrong. They feel super stable at high speeds, then when you are just messing around with butters, the ski always hinges in the same point, butters are easy and super fun with this ski. These are also fairly poppy, not the most pop I've ever felt, but they are definitley not noodles.
Durability
I must say, due to early season conditions at Hood, i have truly broken in these skis. I have about 4 fairly "nice" hits on these bases, but so far, they have held up actually very well. I ran sideways over a huge rock once, and straight over one another time. The edges barely got dinged-up, and some p-tex has escaped from the hold of the base, but to a fairly low extent for the amount of force that i hit the rocks with. No topsheet chipping at all due to cap construction. These held up great for a big first day abuse session. I am not worried at all about delam either, Line has worked so hard the alst two years to correct the problem they had with the early invaders, and Lines warranty is also amazing, in the case of something happening to them.
