It looks like you are using an ad blocker. That's okay. Who doesn't? But without advertising revenue, we can't keep making this site awesome. Click the link below for instructions on disabling adblock.
After finally pulling the edge out of my HG Stingers, it was a blessing to get on some brand new skis to beat on. And as always, I do love breaking new skis in the old fashion way. That is, by ripping them up on the mountain and actually using the edges. Going from a full cambered ski to a hybrid rocker camber rocker, I knew I wouldn't have quite the grip as a full camber. But we will get into that in a bit.
In the past two seasons I have skied on two pairs of fully cambered, relatively stiff skis and two pairs of heavily rocker camber rocker'd skis (both of which claimed to be super soft but weren't actually). Those skis, respectively, are the HG Stinger, Revision Dime, Vishnu Wet, and The Vandal 2.0 of course. All symmetric, because lets face it there is nothing better than a symmetric park ski. Just a little background so you know where I'm coming from in this review. The Vandal 2.0 actually has a very similar rocker profile to the wet, but with more sidecut and wider. The Vandal 2.0 is definitely stiffer and snappier as well.
So back to ripping the Vandal 2.0 on the hardback. It definitely grips well on the icy stuff when you find it. The skis are pretty stiff underfoot and have a good amount of camber. I would prefer a little less camber as they could definitely get skittish / jittery at high speeds having a stiff camber profile within 133 cm. The Majesty Lumberjack is flat underfoot and felt much more predictable than the Vandal 2.0.
Playfulness; everybody's favorite question. Are the Vandal 2.0s playful? If you get up on the rocketed portions of the ski then yes you can butter around and do wheelies and all that fun stuff. Can you press the ski like a pair of invaders back in the day? Not so much. Finding tranny can be a little tough if landing switch as the tips and tails don't really curl up. I caught my tails many a time coming down into a sharp tranny. Switch tranny finds are always harder anyway.
Majesty markets the Vandal 2.0 as an all mountain freestyle ski. It definitely handles jibbing around the mountain from icy days to a foot of snow very well. No park ski is going to float like a pow ski or carve like a race ski. Just like no pow ski is going to be as nimble in the park like a true park ski. Bridging the gap is very hard and every brand has tried it. I think Majesty has is right by keeping the waist relatively narrow for todays standards at 92 underfoot. It's quick on rails, and with all the rocker it does actually surf through the soft snow decently well. While they do not get up on top of the pow, they don't nose dive and suck you into another dimension. It's actually really fun getting under the snow and having control. The Vandal 2.0 surfs and slashes through the slush with ease. Spring skiing is a blast on these.
Durability. Only one pair of skis has wowed me beyond belief in the durability department. I would say the Vandal 2.0 is right on par with every other park ski. I have 11 edge cracks after close to 50 days. Only one of those cracks was slightly separated from the sidewall, everything else is very intact. Face it, if you ski on rails you are going to get edge cracks. I have had sidewalls get mushed in and had chunks of edge fall out and had edges separate from the sidewalls on many popular brands. I was very impressed that even the centimeter chunks that are all broken apart have stayed intact with the ski itself. The bases are in great shape. I have no core shots or deep gouges and I have definitely done some grass skiing. Topsheets are in good shape as well. They are a glossy top, so scratches are inevitable. There is zero delimitation and very few chips; those that are there are minimal. Durability is where I like to focus, because park skiers are the most abusive on their skis. The Vandal 2.0 passes in my book.
Who would I recommend the Vandal 2.0 for? Any of you out there that can only afford one pair of skis and have to deal with variably conditions throughout the year. If you live somewhere that only gets minor snow storms (1 foot or less) or just a few storms a year, these will work very well for you. They are a lot of fun hauling ass all over the mountain. Nimble in the trees, will last longer than your knees in the bumps, and I could not find a speed limit. If you want to leave your mark everywhere on the hill, vandalize it with some Majestys.
Comments