2011 Fischer Watea 94

 I got to try the brand new 2011 Fischer Watea 94's today 3/28/10.  Ok - maybe not so 'new', since according to the Fischer rep, they are structurally the same as this years 2010 model, except for a slight change in the graphics.  First, for the changes, the top sheets carry the wood theme all the way to the tips and tails, with just a little white and black swirl design. They do look good.  Now, for what matters:  I loved these skis!  Conditions were thick, deep spring snow.  Since I tried these late in the day, there were plenty of deep trenches and the adjacent, thick mounds.  Me: 47, 225#, 5'10".  I skied the 170 length.  When I first clicked into the bindings and pushed off, I immediately felt naturally balanced on these skis.  Many times, when you're demoing skis, it takes a few seconds to a few turns to a few runs to find the correct fore - aft balance point where the ski performs the best. I think it also depends somewhat on your physiology, but these skis felt perfectly balanced for me  from the moment I stepped into the bindings - that's a great feeling, considering the skis I've been using this entire year don't feel as 'naturally' balanced as the Watea's did!  As I mentioned earlier, I skied 3 runs on these at the very end of the day, when my legs were already tired from demoing skis all day - but that didn't seem to matter - these skis felt so stable, so easy to ski in the deep spring snow, it just glided through all the junk like it was as smooth as silk!  These skis also felt very lively. Even though I was a little tired at the end of the day, I found myself diving straight into bumpy stuff that I normally avoid even when my legs are fresher.  These skis did exactly what you told them to do, carve, smear, jump - they were the perfect ski for the conditions! I have to say, these skis inspired confidence in these conditions.  I used to think that some of the other skiers out there were just a lot better than I was in this type of snow, now, I realize that being on the right ski makes me look (or at least feel) like one of these better skiers!  Yes, I'd highly recommend the Fischer Watea 94's - they were my favorite ski of the day!  I'm just trying to think of how I can buy these without my wife finding out !

Thanks for mentioning that, I was just thinking about that also - I did purchase the Watea 94's (flat) - got a good deal on them.  I also purchased bindings seperately, but not the ones that were on the ski that I demoed.  Boots will be the same for next year, so that is not a variable.  I think I will take your advice and check ramp angles on the bindings I purchased versus the ones that were on the demo skis.  Can a shim be used to duplicate ramp angle, or is that a bad idea ?  The bindings I purchased are returnable, so if ramp angle is different, I can get the same ones that were on the demo skis.