From Dawgcatching's Short Reviews of 2011 sub-80s, 1/13/11
Dynastar Speed Course ti: new ski from Dynastar, basically their all-around race carver for 2011. Skied in 178cm, and it has a 71mm waist or so.
Conditions
1st day: manmade, hard snow at Winter Park, at the US industry demo. Definitely the skis of choice for these days: most everyone was ripping around on frontside type skis, and I don't think I have ever seen such a high concentration of reallygood skiers (like ex-World or Europa Cup level) in one place. These conditions were made for the skis tested here; a good carver makes a bulletproof day a hell of a lot of fun. Definitely the most fun skis, especially on that kevlar-vest like groomer down to the base area, were the most powerful, pseudo-race skis. We all had big grins on our faces.
2nd day was in mostly softer snow and groomers, at Alpine Meadows. These skis still performed well (4 inches of crud isn't going to slow down a frontside type ski), although it wasn't the pure hard snow of Winter Park.
3rd day was mostly hard snow (rain over snow, then frozen) with some crud thrown in. Pretty good conditions to test out edge hold, although the snow wasn't as predictable as the 1st and 2nd demo. Still worth demoing these skis though, especially on groomers.
About Me
About me: 5 foot 9, 155lbs, competent all-mountain skier, and could zipper-line expert-level bumps for the first time in my life by early spring. Probably ski 40-50 days per year. I tend to enjoy big open, high speed bowls, bumps, trees, fast groomers. My skiing speed is fast to full-on.
Review
This ski was a joy. It was somehow less demanding than the 4x4, but quite GS oriented. Whereas the 4x4 was snappy and powerful, this ski was just smooth, damp, extremely stable, and had a cadillac ride. Speed limit was off the charts, but the Course ti had an ease about it that is hard to explain. Mainly, it was a huge sweet spot that allowed me to go anywhere on this ski. It was not that aggressive hooking up or exiting: very smooth and predictable. Overall feel was that of a luxury sedan with a monster engine. I wanted to buy one on the spot, as a general frontside, go fast ski. It was a whole lot of fun. Classic Dynastar in feel: this is how their race skis feel, although they tend to be more demanding and less fun.
Conclusion
Another highly recommended ski, although hard to get.
