i'm in the same boat VTjibber, i'm headed out to Alta next season and am having a great time trying to decide which fucking AWESOME ski i want to buy. i've got the nordy enforcers (98 underfoot) right now, so they're my "mid"fat all conditions pair.
i've been trying to decide between:
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4frnt EHP - My thoughts: is the tail rocker in the 186 going to be enough for switch? they specifically say that they're pin-tailed slightly for more tail sink for mach-ing, so that makes me wonder. other than that, i've heard so much good stuff about them it's ridiculous.
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Moment Bibby Pros - Have a buddy on this year's Melees, and he loves them. they are floppy as fuck, but he has a good time riding alta storms with them. i was excited when he told me that the bibby's are basically stiffer melee's, same size.
- JP/Juliens - I hadn't even thought about these, but they sound fucking awesome. maybe from what I'm hearing from this thread they're a little too pow-specific? I'll be doing some BC, but I want something with some versatility. I think some more feedback would help with this one.
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Praxis - Another buddy has the 185's and FUCKING LOVES THEM. Rev camber/sidecut, rode them for 2 weeks straight in Alta in december. This tells me that JP/Juliens could be a good choice because
really the differences we're arguing about here are tiny as hell, and you'll be able to ride any ski after a few days of getting used to it.
---> Praxis is
also coming out with 4 new skis, each of which seems very interesting, and given their bomber construction are viable options:
praxis page
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K2 Hellbents - Let's be honest with ourselves here - most of us got boners watching IDEA, and they make the Hellbents look fucking awesome. Serious floppy issues, but a jibber's best weapon. Switch in pow like crazy, soft flex for tasty butters, wide for super float... another serious competitor for my $$$.
There's too many fucking skis out there right now, I'm having a shtload of trouble/fun trying to decide which is going to be best for Alta / cliffs / deep snow / all-mtn jibbing / SWITCH IN POW / Backcountry schralping / crud blasting. Any thoughts will help. I think ultimately whatever ski choices we make, there's a ton of awesome options out there right now.