The worst ski ever made

#61

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12/22/04 at 6:44pm

Alfonse
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Location: Vermont baby!
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I dissed the dynastar airflows earlier but today at MRG I saw someone skiing a pair under the single, he was ripping it up too. MRG has the strangest assortment of equipment, tele boarders on downhill boards I even saw a downhiller on a pair of Black diamonds.

Alfonse

#62

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12/22/04 at 7:48pm

ant
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I tried the Fels in 97, and they were outright weird! Oddly enough, I tried some Max Zeros the same day, and liked them a lot. (this was at whistler, they had a big demo event going in the April festival).

#63

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12/22/04 at 9:41pm

Attacking Mid
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Location: Colorado Springs, CO
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I don't recall why, but I once had to ski in some Salomon SX 70 rear entry rental boots. The best ski in the world would have been worthless in those boots.

I also recall a demo day in the mid 80's where I skied most of the Dynastar line (I worked in a shop at the time that carried Dynastar). I think it was the Omesofts that were the biggest noodle I'd ever skied.

AM.

#64

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12/22/04 at 11:17pm

Captain Strato
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The worst "real" skis in recent memory was the K2 X-15. It was decent in soft snow, but couldn't hold an edge to save it's life. I felt like Bambi on the ice pond. Helpless!

I've since sworn-off K2's forever, and went 180 degrees the other way to Volkl and Atomic. The Aussies and Germans understand bite.

Edge grip counts.

#65

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12/23/04 at 8:45am

Betaracer
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Location: Whistler, BC, Canada
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Aussie is an Australian, not Austrian. Boxhead is the correct term.

Proud to be the offspring of a boxhead and a kraut.

Reminds me of that scene in Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carrey pulls up his limo beside the hot blond.

paraphrasing...

JC: What's that accent?
HB: I'm Austrian.
JC: Well, G'day mate.

#66

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12/23/04 at 9:04am

newfydog
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Location: Bend, Oregon
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Betaracer

Aussie is an Australian, not Austrian. Boxhead is the correct term.

.

The question then arises, how does one tell a Boxhead from my Scandinavian ancestors, the Squareheads, particularly now that the Squareheads win Alpine races and the Boxheads win Nordic races. Then there is the distinction as to whether a given Squarehead is a Swede or a Norwegian, or an inter-racial combination of the two (also know as Nordic Combined).

#67

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12/23/04 at 3:15pm

bjohansson
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With Besser plate bindings to boot! My dad tried those bindings on a pair of Rossi ST Comps. The consept was noble, but the execution sucked.

#68

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12/23/04 at 3:51pm

nealric
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I would think the first pair of skis ever made...

No edges, no bindings, 8 feet long

#69

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12/23/04 at 4:51pm

telerod15
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Location: Maryland
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Quote:

Originally Posted by bjohansson

With Besser plate bindings to boot! My dad tried those bindings on a pair of Rossi ST Comps. The consept was noble, but the execution sucked.

The spring loaded cam assembly is identical to Voile releasable telemark bindings. Voile obviously bought the design from Besser, I'm still using that design. Voile CRB is the best ski binding. Only one with safety release in all directions.

Welcome to Epic! Thanks for pointing out the Bessers on Phil's TRS the skis. I was tempted to say something about those myself. Like cable bindings and leather boots, some old technology doesn't die, it just goes nordic.

#70

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12/24/04 at 10:14am

skiluvn
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Joined: December 2004
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Worst ski

Elan Stealth, me too! The guy in the ski shop where I purchased it told me it was far too advanced of a ski for me (joke)...I thought it was just plain scarey!!!

#71

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12/27/04 at 11:32pm

Orwell
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Worst Ski Ever??? Oh, that's easy ...

Great thread, but you all have forgotten a whole class of classic vintage ski junk -- the skis sold at department stores during the 60s and 70s. I learned to ski on a pair of wooden, edgeless messes from Montogery Wards. Those things should have been sold with leg splints and plaster casts. They had no lamination of any sort, just thin layer of paint. They sported cable bindings and, if memory serves, snapped one of my ACL's in about, oh, 10 minutes? But you know what, I learned to ski on them.

I probably disagree.

#72

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12/28/04 at 7:53am

MilesB
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Location: Los Angeles
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You can still buy snowboards like that at K-mart.

#73

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12/28/04 at 11:45am

acsguitar
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Joined: October 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Post Count: 151

Pocket Rockets are sweet....Great all around ski..powder park groomers...performs well on all of them....

Worst skis ever?? I don't know east coast demo skis?

#74

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12/28/04 at 12:41pm

Philpug
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Quote:

Originally Posted by skiluvn

Elan Stealth, me too! The guy in the ski shop where I purchased it told me it was far too advanced of a ski for me (joke)...I thought it was just plain scarey!!!

I think you might be right

Click. Point. Chute.

#75

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11/11/05 at 3:24am

Philpug
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Resurrection time....

Rossi Quantums with that plastic see through tip.

Dynastar ID's the the asymetrical core'

Stay tuned for worst "Boots of all time" coming to a thread near you

Click. Point. Chute.

#76

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11/11/05 at 4:34am

TAH
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Joined: November 2005
Location: Whistler
Post Count: 89

Atomic Metron's
Quote from Atomic,
"The ski only ski you need, kinda like a Swiss Army knife"
Yes I can est my meal with only a swiss army knife but I do prefer a seperate knife, fork and spoon.

#77

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11/11/05 at 4:38am

slider
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Joined: June 2001
Post Count: 4,523

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeluvaSkier

After thinking this one over i think i have come up with the worst ski ever built. I will catch a lot of criticism for this probably... but here goes. I decided to use a modern ski example though.

Rossignol Cut 10.4

The Rossi 10.4 did offer itself to being a rental ski which has brought many people to the sport of skiing, as well to the world of shaped skis. That being said... it is probably the worst shaped ski that i have ever skied on. After a few runs of skiing the 10.4 i went back to my straight Rossignol Slalom skis. I had skied the Volant Zip carve before the 10.4 and it out performed the 10.4 hugely. Overall, the 10.4 was no more than a rental ski. It did/does nothing well at all. It has remained unchanged for about 7 - 8 years now... aside from graphics. It was easily out performed by most late model straight skis. I feel that its low performance envelope and wide availibility/use hurt the adoption of shaped skis by expert skiers... as in many cases, this was the first shaped ski that they were introduced to.

Later

GREG

I broke a ski last year and skied the rest of the day on a Rossi 10.4 cut rental. Yes they do suck. Could not ski off-piste with them. Threw me all of the place. However,they did carve on the groom.

#78

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11/11/05 at 5:54am

eblackwelder
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Joined: January 2005
Location: MA
Post Count: 427

I bought a pair of 190 Lange SL back in the late 80's. They have no "life" to them. They suck in all conditions. Since I was a poor high school student, then turned into a poor college student, then a poor married home owner with kids, I skied them waaaaay longer than I should have.

#79

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11/11/05 at 8:42am

vail99
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Joined: September 2005
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The Fritzmeir Duo

Any skis by:
Sarner
Molnar
Lacroix

#80

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11/11/05 at 8:43am

vail99
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No actually the worst ski ever was the Nishizawa WeeWill!

#81

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11/11/05 at 8:50am

roundturns
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Location: McMurray,Pa.
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I remeber that green Molnar ski from the 70's. It had a honeycomb construction I believe. Didn't the Sarners have goofy asymetrical tips?

I thought the expensive Lacroixs were considered very good handmade skis. They were expensive for sure.

#82

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11/11/05 at 11:14am

cal to colorado
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It had to be the Salomon Axendo 9's...a truly horid ski..63.5 mm waist and a huge wide tip..hooky to the point of being dangerous..I blame these things for the first and only real injury I have ever had (knock on wood) in 30 years of skiing (torn meniscus, sprained MCL)..I landed some air and they took off sideways like a scalded jack rabbit... I threw mine in the dumpster after that episode...didn't want anyone else to be subjected to these pieces of crap

I still see these out there

#83

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11/11/05 at 12:43pm

carbonissimo
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Joined: September 2005
Location: Park City, Utah
Post Count: 770

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dino

Sure, I'll bite. Had a pair of Hexcels 25 years ago that stunk!

That's strange, my Hexcels were incredible.

:

#84

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11/11/05 at 12:46pm

Atomicman
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Location: Bellevue, WA
Post Count: 6,138

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Strato

The worst "real" skis in recent memory was the K2 X-15. It was decent in soft snow, but couldn't hold an edge to save it's life. I felt like Bambi on the ice pond. Helpless!

I've since sworn-off K2's forever, and went 180 degrees the other way to Volkl and Atomic. The Aussies and Germans understand bite.

Edge grip counts.

smart move! I knew you meant Austrians!

#85

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11/11/05 at 4:58pm

Captain Strato
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Location: Broomfield, CO
Post Count: 2,619

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atomicman

smart move! I knew you meant Austrians!

Yeah, I got righteously lampooned for that one. Lesson learned: blockhead it is!

I was born in Denmark, so I'm a purebred squarehead. If I had married an Austrian, what would our kids have been? Actually, I probably don't want to know.

Regardless, I won't trust K2's again. Peace of mind is arcing outrigger turns, with pickaxe edges. Love it!

I'm sure K2's have improved their edge-hold since, but I suspect it's still not their strongest suit.

Those stinky X-15's left an indelible impression. Never again!

#86

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11/11/05 at 6:57pm

Minnesnowta
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Joined: September 2005
Post Count: 13

Any ficher SC, they have a turn radius that is too short, it's like 8 meters or something like that. They just aren't even fun they are so soft. That might have something to do with the fact that I weigh about 200lb though.

#87

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11/11/05 at 7:09pm

Uncle Louie
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Was I the only one to ski the Olin Mark III ?

Now there is a ski that sucked !

#88

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11/11/05 at 8:52pm

jeffr
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Joined: November 2005
Location: Quebec Canada
Post Count: 191

The Axiendo line

Quote:

It had to be the Salomon Axendo 9's...a truly horid ski..63.5 mm waist and a huge wide tip..hooky to the point of being dangerous..I blame these things for the first and only real injury I have ever had (knock on wood) in 30 years of skiing (torn meniscus, sprained MCL)..I landed some air and they took off sideways like a scalded jack rabbit... I threw mine in the dumpster after that episode...didn't want anyone else to be subjected to these pieces of crap

I still see these out there

I had that ski for a long time when I was giving ski lessons (I had other staright skis for freeskiing purposes). That was in 96-97, can't remember, but I remember them being 182 and having shape, wich was new and exciting for someone using straight skis... But I quickly found out that I liked the pencils better! The tail was so soft that you could hardly carve anything other than soft pillowy snow and it couldn't hold an edge to save it's life. I don't remember them being hooky, just plain out awful at everything, even looking good (funky top sheet with some sort of blue booger motif on the bases). I used my father old washed-up bandits (first gen) afterwards and boy oh boy, what a difference. Students came to me and told me that I was skiing better!

When I retired them, I tried to give them away by just abandoning them in front of the house with a huge sign that said: For Free!. Nobody took off with the ugly beasts... on the same street that mail boxes and trash cans go missing on a regular basis...

#89

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11/12/05 at 12:08pm

Utah49
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Phil you need a new name here, Your like Frankenstein bringing old dead threads back to life. This was started back in March 2003! Que the Organ music, a flash of lightning arcs toward a pair of Stainless steel Volants from under the shroud there is movement. Another flash of lightning! And out of the crypt comes the Monster wearing a pair of old flexon boots!

#90

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11/12/05 at 12:29pm

HeluvaSkier
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Joined: August 2000
Location: Buffalo, NY
Post Count: 6,625

Maybe we should redefine the critera and say what ski exemplifies the worst use of ski building technology/performance compared to what was available during that time period.

My vote is still for the Rossi 10.4... but the 2002 Volkl Sl's that were supposedly "race stock" but were just a retail ski with a new tip on them run a pretty close second. After that season I watch just about every racer I knew switch from Volkl to Fischer... Since that season Volkl started selling their good skis to racers (sandwich ones) and luckily they perform great.

Later

GREG

I Ski.

All-Mountain: A common descriptive term for boots or skis that are designed to perform equally poorly under a variety of conditions and over many different types of terrain.

The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.

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