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- Nov 12, 2015
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Hey Augment, if you ever feel like sending pair out to Stowe for "testing" I'm game. Sounds like a pretty sweet ride.
death of the Head Monsters
I was able to get a ride on the SC (Sport Carve) though at the 164 r13 size. Absolute blast on the firm groomers at Mammoth. I did not get into the bumps with them though I think they'd be totally comfortable in there. As with the AM77 and AM88, they are super smooth and just beg you to go a bit faster and turn a bit tighter. Another fine ski from Augment.I had the opportunity to demo some Augment skis during the 2019 NZ winter season. I'm a lightweight low intermediate skier and surprisingly, was still able to have a good time on these skis. I didn't try anything as wide as the 88 but did try the AM 77 (not the carbon version) and two lengths of this ski - https://augmentskisna.com/products/sport-carving-on-piste-70
I actually had a great time on the carver - onpiste 70. I am 160cm/115lb and first tried this ski in the 156 length. My daily driver is the Black Pearl 88 in 159 length, so a 156 carver is probably on the long side for me. In this length I started having fun on the ski during my second run, once I'd got a bit used to it. I then tried it in 148 length and had a TON of fun. Despite being so skinny and turny it also handled the slush/softer snow just off the sides of the groomed trails nicely as well. They feel very damp and planted. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this ski. In the 148 length I didn't find them to be overly tiring either.
I ran into someone on the lift who owned that same ski and she loves them, has taken them all over the mountain, on and off piste (not powder ). I'd be interested to hear if others have been on this particular one?
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As far as the Stockli feel, I would say even more solid and damp, a bit more teutonic than say a comparable Stormrider 88, more like the original Kastle MX88. Camber is very traditional.So do Augments have the same super damp feel that Stocklis have?
Is this a high camber ski or low like modern Volkls?
Knowing what you don't want is as important as knowing what you do.Thanks Phil.
Had me at damp feel, lost me at trad camber.
I've grown to love the current Volkl Rocker lines- low camber and low long rocker.
So glad to hear you had 4 good days and your legs held up! Even though your Taos trip was short, sounds like it was part of the build up for this trip. Bravo!Just got back from four days at Deer Valley using the bonus spring days from my new 2024-25 Ikon pass. They good a foot of snow the prior day and the groomers were done as only Deer Valley (and Sun Valley and...) can do it.
This time the weather report dictated I bring my standard groomer machines - my Head e-Race Pros from last season (L180cm/R16.3). This time I brought along my new/used demo 2019 Augment AM88s that I bought last fall in a bourbon-infused Internet surfing expedition from Powder7 for under $300 shipped. The Augments are L187cm/R23 and I don't know which flex. The flex numbers might be under the Look demo bindings or maybe they weren't put on their demo skis.
With the Heads and Augments in my two-pair Sporttube case the airline's scale showed less than a pound under Southwest's limit... Wish I didn't love having multiple pairs of skis so much.
I took one run on the Augments at the mini-Gathering at Taos but was dead tired at the end of the day. This time, with my cancer surgery far in the rear-view mirror and a fresh set of legs, I felt like I could really give them a try. The best part about having them at Taos was the tune I got from Alain Veth at Le Ski Mastery.
First, as @markojp mentioned above, staying in the fronts of my boots throughout the turn was key and, without requiring much more focus than that, wow. If my Heads were Porsche Caymans the Augs were BMW M5s. Absolutely the ultimate Deer Valley carving machine and I even took a couple of blue bump runs just to see what they'd feel like in that environment. The Taos mogul method was no problem whatsoever for them so long as I didn't expect them to flow right over the wrong part of a steep bump.
I don't know where a guy would ever find a used pair (not from me!) and it looks like Van Deer isn't building an AM88 these days. Wonder if there's a stash of these in some corner of the old Augment factory?