Replying to Magnum Opus, Bent Chetler 120, or Black Ops 118? Help finish out my quiver, newb skier.
I am a fairly new skiier. This will be my 3rd season. I ski around 35-40 times a year, and would consider myself a cautious advanced skier. I am 44, 5'10 190 pounds. I ski at Whitefish MT. I mostly ski the trees and some backcountry, mostly inbounds. I am not a hard charger, don't ski switch, dont do tricks, like to jump but nothing crazy. I would like to learn to butter this year. I want to ski a little bit faster this year, but I like to feel like I am in control. Last year I hit 40 mph on the GPS and that was about as fast as I felt comfortable.
I started off on Sir Francis Bacons (108 underfoot) that had been drilled out 3x and were super soft and I didn't really like anything about them. I bought Magnum Opus and skied on them all season. Definitely struggled on them when I wasn't sking in the trees or powder. They were terrible on hard pack snow, but that could have been my technique as well.
Last 2 years I was skiing with some cheap 80-90 flex dalbello boots, this year I have upgraded to the Atomix Hawx 130 xtd. I am pretty stoked about them.
I bought some 2017 special edition 180 Blizzard Brahma 88s this year for the days where I will be skiing the groomers with the wife, or when night skiing and everything is tracked out. Hopefully this will be a good ski for me when I decide to charge a little harder this year.
I also bought some 174 Line Sakanas. I am hoping that the tight turning radius, short length, and light weight will be the perfect tree ski for me. I have heard that they are fun to carve on as well, so these hopefully will be my everyday driver. I'm guessing that I will more than likely use these except in the deepest powder days.
For the days where we get deep powder, should I just keep my Mag Opus, or look at getting something new? The BC 120 and BO 118 are both at the top of my list, but I am not sure which to go with. With the major difference between them being the weight. If I don't want to go fast, should I avoid a heavy ski like the Black Ops? Would the extra weight give me more confidence at speed with the added stability? How hard are the heavier skis to turn in tight skies or when trying to jump turn in the steeps? Are the Bent Chetlers that much different from my Magnum Opus that I already have?
Sorry for all of the questions, but I am trying to avoid spending money on more skis that are not going to make a major difference in my skiing experience.
Click to expand post