You can kind of judge how fast each ski brands base is just by watching xgames slopestyle vids.

Dolan why are you thinking about ski companies base materials and how fast they are at 2 am. Get some sleep next time

Bro was 100% baked when he wrote this.

He might have a point, in an interview Evan said that his head skis have race bases so they go faster.

dolan you’ve really been putting out some banger content lately NGL

This fails to take into account any preparation or care given to the skis before comp. If someone has a race tech wax and prep their skis and someone else is using skis they just hit streets on last night. It’s not going to matter much what bases they have

So many other factors to take in account. Weight, base prep and weight of the skier. But your going places keep going my speed addicted scientist.

KCoCMdolan you’ve really been putting out some banger content lately NGL

GilsonSkisThis fails to take into account any preparation or care given to the skis before comp. If someone has a race tech wax and prep their skis and someone else is using skis they just hit streets on last night. It’s not going to matter much what bases they have

From what ive read the base matters more than the wax. An extruded base or shitty sintered base with a full fluoro overly is going to be slower than a base used by head/volkl/atomic for gs/sg/dh races with a universal hydrocarbon wax.



the wax makes very little difference in the face of base differences in speed.

this isnt true fam. the bases on all the park skis you just mentioned are all dogshit... so it comes down to a matter of base grind and wax ... a slope run is short, the wax lasts that short time, a few coats of wax for the right temperature will send you fucking flying.

the reality is that most of these skiers dont understand the importance of equipment, dont have ski techs, etc.

an extruded base with the proper base grind and wax for the conditions .... is faster than a generic wax, grindless, sintered base.

this all ties back to why tanner is the goat of halfpipe skiing... he used sintered bases, with custom base grinds, custom wax for every single pipe contest. the wax type needed for some halfpipe events changes by the hour... tanner always had someone with him doing this work on like 10 pairs skis.

scratchskier321this isnt true fam. the bases on all the park skis you just mentioned are all dogshit... so it comes down to a matter of base grind and wax ... a slope run is short, the wax lasts that short time, a few coats of wax for the right temperature will send you fucking flying.

the reality is that most of these skiers dont understand the importance of equipment, dont have ski techs, etc.

scratchskier321an extruded base with the proper base grind and wax for the conditions .... is faster than a generic wax, grindless, sintered base.

scratchskier321this all ties back to why tanner is the goat of halfpipe skiing... he used sintered bases, with custom base grinds, custom wax for every single pipe contest. the wax type needed for some halfpipe events changes by the hour... tanner always had someone with him doing this work on like 10 pairs skis.

you should do some research and read what the scientists and xc ski techs say.

The base makes a phenomenal difference in how fast the ski is.

it is clear that armadas bases, while they may be durable, are pretty damn slow no matter what you do. The jury is in on this. Everywhere on the internet ppl mention that armada bases are slow or lackluster in the glide dept.

Watch the vid i posted and compare mceachrans run on heads to quinns run on armadas. Do you really think the speed difference is just bc mceachran happened to have a good basegrind/wax and quinn happened to have a shitty one?
This could be true but it becomes very unlikely when you consider how these observed speed differences between head and armada park skis line up perfectly with the comments and reviews of the bases of armada and head park skis. The uhm c base head use on their park skis is almost surely the same base head uses on their race skis. Ive never read a comment about head caddys or framewalls that doesnt commend the speed of the bases.

there is a huge diversity of bases used in park skis. Saying “all park skis have the same base” is fucking ludicrous. Armada likely uses a generic base that they market as a secret in house formula.

The base grind done to skis in the factory before they are shipped out is said to be much better than 99% of base grinds that you could get at a ski shop to strip off an texture a new layer. So its much better to wax and take good care of your skis from the very moment you get them. That way you dont have to do some garbage aftermarket base grind that might actually make the bases worse.

i guarantee you all the skiers in the slopestyle vid were using the right wax for the conditions.

for what you are saying you would have to assume quinn is the biggest fucking retard in the solar system for using the completely wrong wax on his armadas. But thats ridiculous. Quinn is not an idiot. He didnt use the wrong wax. Its just that his armadas bases are just hopelessly slow. He is the heaviest rider in the lineup and he still was having issues getting and keeping enough speed in the jump section.

Just watch the video

DolansLebensraumyou should do some research and read what the scientists and xc ski techs say.

The base makes a phenomenal difference in how fast the ski is.

it is clear that armadas bases, while they may be durable, are pretty damn slow no matter what you do. The jury is in on this. Everywhere on the internet ppl mention that armada bases are slow or lackluster in the glide dept.

Watch the vid i posted and compare mceachrans run on heads to quinns run on armadas. Do you really think the speed difference is just bc mceachran happened to have a good basegrind/wax and quinn happened to have a shitty one?
This could be true but it becomes very unlikely when you consider how these observed speed differences between head and armada park skis line up perfectly with the comments and reviews of the bases of armada and head park skis. The uhm c base head use on their park skis is almost surely the same base head uses on their race skis. Ive never read a comment about head caddys or framewalls that doesnt commend the speed of the bases.

there is a huge diversity of bases used in park skis. Saying “all park skis have the same base” is fucking ludicrous. Armada likely uses a generic base that they market as a secret in house formula.

The base grind done to skis in the factory before they are shipped out is said to be much better than 99% of base grinds that you could get at a ski shop to strip off an texture a new layer. So its much better to wax and take good care of your skis from the very moment you get them. That way you dont have to do some garbage aftermarket base grind that might actually make the bases worse.

i guarantee you all the skiers in the slopestyle vid were using the right wax for the conditions.

for what you are saying you would have to assume quinn is the biggest fucking retard in the solar system for using the completely wrong wax on his armadas. But thats ridiculous. Quinn is not an idiot. He didnt use the wrong wax. Its just that his armadas bases are just hopelessly slow. He is the heaviest rider in the lineup and he still was having issues getting and keeping enough speed in the jump section.

Just watch the video

not looking for an argument, was just trying to help. DM quinn on IG, he usually replies.

**This post was edited on Feb 19th 2021 at 11:30:21pm

No worries

Dolan you’ve convinced me. I’m selling my ON3Ps as we speak so I can buy some stiff ass heads.

ASAPCarterDolan you’ve convinced me. I’m selling my ON3Ps as we speak so I can buy some stiff ass heads.

Im not shitting on on3p but if caddies/framewalls were durable theyd be one of the best park skis.

I dont want to get back into telling armada to quit their slow af s7 bullshit and start using durasurf but i honestly have no clue why that wouldnt be a good move.

Assuming armada isnt stupid, you have 2 options:

either durasurf isnt as durable as the legend says

or,

Armada’s s7 base is so durable it makes up for its slowness by being indestructible.

DolansLebensraumIm not shitting on on3p but if caddies/framewalls were durable theyd be one of the best park skis.

I dont want to get back into telling armada to quit their slow af s7 bullshit and start using durasurf but i honestly have no clue why that wouldnt be a good move.

Assuming armada isnt stupid, you have 2 options:

either durasurf isnt as durable as the legend says

or,

Armada’s s7 base is so durable it makes up for its slowness by being indestructible.

it is lame that the pipe cleaner is gone and the main armada park ski is extruded base now... but i ski the s7 now with a base grind/infrared treatment and its fast af. so i dont really care the race base armada is gone.

Couple of thoughts

My new bent chetlers are fast as fuck, much faster than my older ones. Almost too slippery for when I'm stepping into some technical terrain. I would believe atomic is on to something. I don't ski much park but I find my atomics super durable considering the sharks I've nailed skiing them.

Atomic, Salomon, and Armada are all the same parent company. It's interesting that they don't have access to, or at least use, the same materials

My nordicas fresh and dry were faster than they are now waxed and with a base grind, so I think with the factory finish gone or from the new grind texture, they've definitely lost some speed.

scratchskier321it is lame that the pipe cleaner is gone and the main armada park ski is extruded base now... but i ski the s7 now with a base grind/infrared treatment and its fast af. so i dont really care the race base armada is gone.

Where do you get your info about armada using extruded base on their skis? Iirc most armadas use the s7 base and the armada rep told me the s7 base was sintered.



Honestly if the s7 base was actually extruded that might explain how quinn couldnt get speed for the jumps to save his life.

like if armada has been selling extruded bases on their adult line of skis and telling customers that its sintered then that is literally go out of business material.

Curious about where you heard armada used extruded

DolansLebensraumWhere do you get your info about armada using extruded base on their skis? Iirc most armadas use the s7 base and the armada rep told me the s7 base was sintered.



Honestly if the s7 base was actually extruded that might explain how quinn couldnt get speed for the jumps to save his life.

like if armada has been selling extruded bases on their adult line of skis and telling customers that its sintered then that is literally go out of business material.

Curious about where you heard armada used extruded

i thought this was wide open that everyone knew.... the base is colored with graphics LOL... now i why ur karma is -7000 ... you are a contrarian.

Have you ever heard of sublimation...?

scratchskier321i thought this was wide open that everyone knew.... the base is colored with graphics LOL... now i why ur karma is -7000 ... you are a contrarian.

Also, Dolan - Jesper said he uses one pair of skis per event because rails damage the speed of the base. Maybe that explains some of it

DolansLebensraumWhere do you get your info about armada using extruded base on their skis? Iirc most armadas use the s7 base and the armada rep told me the s7 base was sintered.



Honestly if the s7 base was actually extruded that might explain how quinn couldnt get speed for the jumps to save his life.

like if armada has been selling extruded bases on their adult line of skis and telling customers that its sintered then that is literally go out of business material.

Curious about where you heard armada used extruded

What is the race base on the edollos made from? They call it a comp series base. It’s also on the whitewalker and declivity series.

Do a lot of these companies actually have their own trade-secret base formula? Volkl publicly says their top-of-line racetigers use P-Tex 4501, an (admittedly high end) name brand base material. Their park skis are P-Tex 2100 or 3000. To my knowledge, the vast majority of bases are either Crown Plastics (Durasurf brand name), or Creative Plastic Solutions (P-Tex brand name). I totally believe that a lot of these competitive race ski manufacturers have good reason to keep their base materials secret, but I wouldn't be surprised if many are either off the shelf from the two big manufacturers, or a custom order product from them. I have a strong hunch Armada's S7 base material is just a customized blend from one of these two manufacturers, as I know that's also how they source their unique edges (Logan Imlach had a blog post about this from 2016 on Armada's website).

Anyways, my point is I think most base materials are probably made by the same two companies. Making it in house at a level that can beat a specialized company like Crown Plastics or CPS sounds really expensive and difficult. Even in more money-d sports, competing companies will outsource the same product. Look at Rally teams all running Reiger or Ohlins suspension, sailboats all using North Sails, even in F1, Honda uses an IHI turbo and Ferrari uses a Garrett turbo. I just find it hard to believe many ski companies would manufacture specialty plastics in-house, especially when a lot of them don't even have their own unique factories.

Only place I could compare it to, and this isn’t to discredit what you said - moreso because you brought up rally, is how F1 teams have their own oil and fuel compounds developed by fuel sponsors for their cars.
So I could see them contracting them out for a mixture or having an agreement with them/hiring a team within the manufacturer. I can’t imagine that they aren’t going crazy with their testing. Winning skis sell.

IsaacNW82Do a lot of these companies actually have their own trade-secret base formula? Volkl publicly says their top-of-line racetigers use P-Tex 4501, an (admittedly high end) name brand base material. Their park skis are P-Tex 2100 or 3000. To my knowledge, the vast majority of bases are either Crown Plastics (Durasurf brand name), or Creative Plastic Solutions (P-Tex brand name). I totally believe that a lot of these competitive race ski manufacturers have good reason to keep their base materials secret, but I wouldn't be surprised if many are either off the shelf from the two big manufacturers, or a custom order product from them. I have a strong hunch Armada's S7 base material is just a customized blend from one of these two manufacturers, as I know that's also how they source their unique edges (Logan Imlach had a blog post about this from 2016 on Armada's website).

Anyways, my point is I think most base materials are probably made by the same two companies. Making it in house at a level that can beat a specialized company like Crown Plastics or CPS sounds really expensive and difficult. Even in more money-d sports, competing companies will outsource the same product. Look at Rally teams all running Reiger or Ohlins suspension, sailboats all using North Sails, even in F1, Honda uses an IHI turbo and Ferrari uses a Garrett turbo. I just find it hard to believe many ski companies would manufacture specialty plastics in-house, especially when a lot of them don't even have their own unique factories.

There are a few points to remember:

1. A properly maintained sintered base will always be faster than a properly maintained extruded base.

2. An improperly maintained sintered base will suck to the degree that it is improperly maintained.

3. Just because you saw a guy go fast on one base does not mean it is a faster base than the slower guy's. See points 1 & 2.

4. You can have super fast and colored sintered bases. Marcel Hirscher used to destroy everyone on colored bases in slalom events:

5. Up until a certain speed it does not matter if your bases are colored or all black. When you need to go faster than slalom speeds, bases go all black.

6. If you want to go fast, make sure you have a sintered base, have the proper base grind, are using high end waxes, and are waxing them more than they are being used.

I think on a dumont podcast episode they were talking about Salomon having the “race base” on their park skis back in the early 2000s and how much of an advantage it was

scratchskier321i thought this was wide open that everyone knew.... the base is colored with graphics LOL... now i why ur karma is -7000 ... you are a contrarian.

Haha its funny how you try to both be an asshole and embarrass yourself at the same time.


Graphics on the base mean it must be extruded?

tell me more about how karma is a measure of knowledge....

haha. Dude with your autistic logic have you ever even wondered how crazy it is that on3ps were as fast as they are with a fucking extruded base? Lol, according to you they have graphics so they must be extruded.

way to embarrass yourself.



sintered bases can be clear, or black, or green, or multiple colors.

According to armada themselves the s7 base is sintered. If they lied about that then that would explain the slowness of their bases but im taking armada at their word and just accepting that the s7 base isnt that fast as far as sintered bases go. I wish there was a concrete way to tell the difference without using an electron microscope.

DolansLebensraumHaha its funny how you try to both be an asshole and embarrass yourself at the same time.


Graphics on the base mean it must be extruded?

tell me more about how karma is a measure of knowledge....

haha. Dude with your autistic logic have you ever even wondered how crazy it is that on3ps were as fast as they are with a fucking extruded base? Lol, according to you they have graphics so they must be extruded.

way to embarrass yourself.



sintered bases can be clear, or black, or green, or multiple colors.

According to armada themselves the s7 base is sintered. If they lied about that then that would explain the slowness of their bases but im taking armada at their word and just accepting that the s7 base isnt that fast as far as sintered bases go. I wish there was a concrete way to tell the difference without using an electron microscope.

carry on.