Mythic Rider, Bridge, Snoop, Lord, 888 and 88s. On Getting Fatter.

I have been looking hard and posted previously here on the subject for a ski that matches and improves on the experience I had on a Dynastar Little Big Fat (116/88/103) last year. I've had it in my head that the mid-fats are where it's at for me for the ONE SKI quiver from obsessive reading of reviews and videos online of every midfattie board in the range and I may have learned some things. Well, I learned a LOT of things from late-night surfing, like I learned who really shot Kennedy (it involves pigeons), but that's for another time . . . .

 

In the mid-fats I have scoped in on these skis in order of what I think is a match:
 

Dynastar Legend Mythic Rider	122/88/110
Volkl Bridge	130/92/112
Atomic Snoop Daddy	127/88/113
Salomon Lord	128/87/115
Elan 888	128-88-108
Head Peak 88	126/88/112

The Mythic Rider seems to have the float and crudbusting, but also a soft tip to initiate turns well in trees and some moguls and these are my current choice in a 178. It's also been suggested that if I were a slightly better skier that the Legend Pro (128/100/118) would be a better choice at my weight.

 

The Volkl Bridge despite its width underfoot seems to be a fast on-piste, but turnable in trees ski, possibly because of the twin-tip that allows to skid a turn despite its stiffness. I've owned two sets of Volkls, an old Freestyle back in the 80's and my current Volkl Vertigo Motion in a 184 cm. Given my limited skills I wonder if I can turn this ski comfortably enough to enjoy those trees or become one with them when failing to.

 

The Snoop Daddy seems to be softer, more playful, even better at initiating turns while still being stiff enough for the crud busting and the shovel for floating in powder. But I wonder if it would be stiff enough for someone my size.

 

The Salomon Lord seems to be a do-everything ski, easier to initiate a turn than the rest in the list, but wide enough for powder and still stiff enough for on-piste cruising. It seems to get big reviews elsewhere, but not much love here. Same question about my relative mass.

 

The Elan and Head were two skis that were recommended to me, but I don't know anything about them other than they're also considered to be "all-mountain" skis.

I'm 6,' 235 lbs and 57 years old. I bike and cave dive and am active otherwise and I am a solid 6 to 7 level skier, comfortable on blues and starting to get some chops on the easier blacks. But I also like BBQ . . . .

 

No problems on the blues and some blacks in the trees at Wolf Creek in ankle-deep powder, and had a blast skiing the blues at Taos, although I was not comfortable on the Taos blacks. Taos was a bit icy on the black slopes and they seemed more challenging overall.

 

I've been skiing  my 2003/4 Volkl Vertigo Motion 184s which I think I bought too long when I started back skiing again. I'm now comfortable on them on blue and black groomers back East but had real trouble when conditions got cruddy and icy in Taos so I rented the Dynastar LBFs at Wolf Creek and really liked these fatter skis (168 cm) at that time. Thus the inclination towards the Mythic Riders which I think at my skill level and weight might be a good choice for me, but I wanted input on these other choices at the 11th. I came close to buying a 172 cm MR and actually had one in hand, but decided that it was in fact too short and decided on the 176-179 area that these choices encompass.

 

We're going back to Wolf Creek and Telluride this spring and I know that ideally I should be demoing skis before buying (it'd be nice to live close to a mountain), but our time there is short so I'm hoping to make a good choice in a sale, demo or used ski this year and then demo some new stuff next year and make a more informed choice then.

 

Thanks,

Joel
Atlanta

Edited by joeldm - 1/31/10 at 5:28pm

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

I took a close look at the Dynastar Big Trouble and at 92 underfoot, it is in the ballpark, but in the end availability and pricing kept me looking at the Mythic Riders, Snoop, Lord and Bridge. One poster (above) said, "Volkl, Snoop and Mythic very carve oriented" and that's what I took away from this review, "2008 Mid-Fats Reviews: Snoop, Watea 84, Mythic Rider, Volkl Bridge" (http://www.epicski.com/forum/thread/65551/2008-mid-fats-reviews-snoop-watea-84-mythic-rider-volkl-bridge)
 . . . but in other reviews I got that the Snoops were a bit soft which made them easier to turn but less friendly in crud.

I like the Snoop a lot, but I think it's ultimately too soft for me at my size. The Salomon Lord was hard to get a clear picture of, but I finally decided that it's more of an on-piste than off and a bit softer for easier turning, while the MR and Bridge were both good on-piste but stiff enough to really shine off, especially in crud . . . for me. And it is all about me!

The Bridge was a real contender and seemed to be in line with the MRs with all of my needs, comfortable on-piste, good in crud, powder and stiff enough, but able to carve well in the trees without having to force it. And the Bridge was also attractive given that I've owned two Volkls (an 80's-era Freestyle and my current Volkl Vertigo Motions) in my years skiing. And there was a Bridge available online and at a good price, but it had some miles on it.

In the end the deal I found was for a "new" demo 2008 Mythic Rider ("skied once" we'll see when I get it Wed) with demo bindings for $350 shipped. I did look at some actually new 2009 MRs, but by the time they were shipped and bindings mounted they were over $500. At $350 I can ski them this year and then take another look again in the fall and probably sell the MRs for what I paid for them.

I kept hearing that the Mythic Rider while maybe not as "carvy" as some of the other mid-fats, is a solid and confidence-building ski which for an improving 6-7 skier is very attractive.

Thanks!
JoeL