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Incredibly stable at any speed and they'll just keep going forever until you hit something massive, and then they just shoot your knees into your stomach and everything's fine. I wouldn't recommend these to small people or people who struggle with staying forward, you constantly have to have your hips forward. They like to make big turns and the steeper it gets, the better these skis are. You can make plenty of turns on steep terrain, but as the trail flattens out, you basically have to go straight or make long turns on edge. Therefore I recommend staying away from flat bumps and flat trees, the only way I could get them to turn was by jumping off bumps and turning them in the air. Overall these are ridiculous and incredibly fun, and they didn't beat the shit out of me
Performance
First Impression:
First time I clicked in these I couldn't get over how big and heavy they felt. I was coming from riding 180 Tahoes so these felt big and burly. First time I started moving I assumed I would die on christmas eve, however after the first turns I had fallen in love
Groomers:
I took a few runs all over Mt. Snow on groomers just to get a feel for these before taking them in anything else. They do not like to turn, but will reluctantly lay over if you keep them on edge the whole time, which requires going pretty damn fast. They're so stable though that I could effortlessly stay on edge the whole time without feeling out of control or getting tossed around. I had several moments of skiing where I looked around and realized how fast I was actually going, but when riding Garbones you feel none of it. They are STABLE, STABLE, STABLE, nothing will stop them except you. Once on edge they don't like to toss speed, they're really not slashy at all because of the stiff tail, therefore making them hold an edge extremely well, sometimes too well...
Ungroomed/Natural Terrain:
I then headed over to the North Face and skied fallen timbers, or whichever was to skiers left of Chute. It had not been groomed all season, but I wouldn't call it bumped out. I trusted my skis by then so I just launched into it and started blasting through bump after bump and even said "holy shit" to myself because I couldn't believe that I hadn't gone over the bars yet. I just got going faster and faster and the skis kept plowing through anything that came their way. I wasn't super shocked because I knew Garbones were made for that, but it was still pretty impressive to feel how stable they are. I found it very difficult to make narrow turns while keeping them on edge so i had to work to toss them side to side in order to get them to turn, especially on flatter trails. If you keep them on edge you'll get going so fast that something will inevitably take you down. Same story on Ledge, just super stable and stiff but really don't like turning. The rocker tip let me throw them around though and did not make them feel like 192's in narrower sections
Soft Stuff:
There wasn't powder at Mt. Snow, but some soft snow over to the sides of some trails and these of course do well, but I didn't take them in deep enough snow to see how they did. They just cut through everything so they definitely like to burrow down to where the hard snow is so they can set an edge in, but I assume in more than 3 inches of soft snow that they would float fine
Trees
Steer clear of tight trees, but open glades are fine, the rocker makes these feel shorter so you can make plenty of turns to stay in control. I'd worry about flat trees, I find Garbones very hard to turn on the flats so I see that ending badly
Moguls
The ideal mogul ski is narrow, soft, and short. Garbones are fat, stiff, and long, so it's a match made in hell. BUT, they did surprisingly well. You can't really get in the bumps and follow a line because you really just can't turn these that quickly, but if you blast through the bumps and improvise it's pretty fun. I don't foresee these being very fun in true moguls that are big and consistent
Jumps
There were a few small airs on Ledge with perfectly flat landings and these weren't phased by it, if you set the tails down slightly before the tips these just set right down and rocket you away into your turn. If you land perfectly flat it hurts and the ski takes off without you being ready. Either way they take off when you land, so I found I had to lean more forward than normal to be ready when I landed and the ski rocketed away. Fucking around at the end of the day i tried spinning on these...no...swing weight was really intense and I was on the verge of eating shit
Design
These are secksy, a bit heavy but it's worth it to get the amount of burliness. Topsheet is nice and glossy, sidewalls and edges are super clean, all the bonds are on point, no tip separation out of the press, and bases are clean
Value
I got them super cheap brand new and they were definitely worth it, I would've paid more
Fit
LONG, I rode 192's, perfect for me at 6'1 with the rocker tip, I wouldn't want shorter. If you're weak or short, get the 182's, it takes a lot to power these skis
Characteristics
STIFF
REALLY STIFF
Durability
Hit some rocks and shit, no damage anywhere
The only damage was to the NS sticker I put on the tip...it got mutilated :(
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