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2020 Augment SL World Cup Pro

SkiTalk Test Team

Testing skis so you don't have to.
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SkiTalk Tester
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Mar 5, 2017
Posts
1,202
FairToMiddlin: Here’s a not-new Austrian company, with a new name. You might have heard of Crocs skis (or perhaps not), but they ran into a bit of copyright trouble with the rubbery clog thingies, so now it is Augment. As a price point, Augment makes skis in the Kästle/Stöckli/Renoun realm, so not cheap, then. But what it offers that sets it apart is the ability to pick your flex. No, really: you can have any ski it makes, from WC FIS to all mountain, in your choice of stiffness on a reverse 1-to-10 scale (1 being Ligety, 10 being rather soft). The SL I was able to get on was labeled a 6, which ended up being a little softer than the usual non-FIS recreational SL, and a good bit softer than any other FIS SL I have been on. Still, the handling was intuitive, and expensive in feel, if not as strong as I expected. If Augment can get past the “well, what does a 5 feel like to you?” with initial buyers who haven’t been on its skis, they have a previously unavailable niche, with a very enticing twist.

Check out @Scotskier's Long-Term Review HERE.
 
Awards
Who is it for?
The discerning, and deep pocketed.
Who is it not for?
I didn’t see any jibby skis in the lineup; this a directional company.
Skier ability
  1. Expert
Ski category
  1. Race
Ski attributes
  1. Groomers
Segment
  1. Men
  2. Women

Specifications

right ad
Available sizes
155, 157, 165
Dimensions
114-66-99
Radius
12m@157cm
Rocker profile
  1. Full camber
Construction design
  1. All new
Binding options
  1. Flat
  2. System
  3. Plate

Last edited by a moderator:

XSki

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Posts
99
Location
Gulberg
Me: male, 5.11", 180lbs, very advanced/expert but no local hero.
Conditions: combination of fresh on piste with scraped off hard spots. Later on also very hard/icy slopes. First trip: Foggy and on second trip, 'Kaiserwetter'.

Augment SLpro 165
This one is more difficult for me since I have no - well, very limited - experience with a SL ski. Not even with short turn carvers which are SL only in name. My only short turn ski is a very old Dobermann SC (MY2006). This ski is used for years for indoor skiing on bad, sandy, man made icesnow. Sometimes I took it out to the mountains if I tried new sharpening techniques or bevel angles. So to say, my mobile lab.
On my last skiing trip before the C-misery, I skied them for a day when there was little snow and hard pistes. I sharpened them tip to tail (just for fun). To have such an agile, short turn, fast edge action ski under my feet was very funny since I hadn't ski like that for a while. That made me think that a new SL would be a welcome part of my quiver. After reading some - especially here - I got interested in an Augment. Not especially but it was on my radar by then. Luckily I stumbled on a pair of flex 5 Augment SLpro with a nice discount. So I pulled the trigger and bought myself a pair of SL's.

Well, after more than a year there was finally an opportunity for a try-out. In Italy I skied them for the first time in less than ideal condition. Low light bordering on real foggy and soft(ish) snow. Although not ideal for testing SL ski's, I could feel that these things had ample power and provided a lot of confidence. After a couple of runs I dared to let it run more freely but it scared me quick enough. They generated so much speed in so little time that I pulled the emergency brake even faster. After some drills and short high(er) speed runs, I came to the conclusion that I needed to learn and learn fast. The SLpro's were stable enough, very stable. Soft piles of snow and uneven underground are no problem for the ski. The weakest link was me, especially in the low light conditions. I did not dare to go fast enough and they do need some speed.
What can I say more about these ski's? They are smooth and quick. On a moderate steep slope, I could achieve high edge angles and turn very quickly. But as soon as things went from moderate to fairly steep I couldn't bend them in a tight enough radius. Very quick edge to edge action resulted in a route which was too much in the fall line in stead of crossing the fall line. If I wanted to cross the fall line I couldn't carve anymore. They pick up speed so quickly that I was too slow in my actions. Perhaps I am not quick enough, perhaps I am not strong enough or I am lacking the proper slalom technique. Definitively need some practice. By the way: in discovered this on my next trip in France where the light was splendid. Sunshine all over the place so perfect sight.

Conclusion: I may have mixed feelings over these Augments, the ski's are certainly not to blame. They are good, they feel good, they are a bit too much for me for right now. The coming months will tell if I can be good enough to earn the right to ski these turn tools. I have high hopes because at the end of the day it was better than at the beginning of the day.

For the record: You can - perhaps 'need to'- read these observations with a grain of salt because - as stated before - I have very limited experience with SL ski's.
 

Paul Lutes

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Jun 6, 2016
Posts
2,611
Note to self: never test a precision, race design ski in bad light. Similar experience with a different brand - once the light improved, all was right with the Universe.
I'm still testing myself on a pair of AUG. SL FISs (165, flex 6), but the more I ski them the more I like them. I can only compare them to some Stockli SL FISs, but the Augments seem more sharp/aggressive/eager to Berserker the Hill. I decided to include this here (not exactly apples to apples, but .....Augment!) instead of starting a separate FIS SL thread because I'm a free-heeling weirdo, so pretty much an outlier no matter where I stick it. Ordered these ski last Fall, when supply chain issues were at their peak, so it took a while to get them, but it was well worth the wait. Hope that someone can chime in comparing to the more popular SLs.
 

XSki

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Posts
99
Location
Gulberg
Update

I have had the opportunity to ski these Augment SL Worldcup Pro a couple of times in Austria. Excellent whether, snow conditions very good most of the time. In the morning hard, then nice grippy snow bordering on soft.

Since I have to adjust to these skis I had to figure out how to ski these. Slow, slipping and sliding, does not work awfully good. You can, but they have a bit too much "race" in their souls and sharp edges to go with it, that slipping and sliding is a bit tricky. So, speed it is. Earlier on I wrote that on a moderate slope I can carve them and keep the speed in check by fast edging or using a larger turnradius. On a steeper slope I had to figure out how to bent them like Beckham. Turns out I had become sort of a lazy skier. This was a weird epiphany for me because I often ski with a lot of intensity, or so I thought. In my search for a tighter TR I thought "Lets go wild" and ski way more up front and with a lot more energy trying to bent the suckers. This was actually my mindset. I basically jumped on the skis to have the benefit of my full weight and dived into the valley to drive the tips as much as I could. Although not very sophisticated, it worked. After that it was a question of finetuning this method and trying out different things with the same "go for it" mindset.

Can I say something about these ski with more authority now? Yes and no. No because since I still have no other SL experience I cannot compare characteristics. Yes because I can say a bit more about the ski and the feel for me. For me they are still a handful; I needed to be fully concentrated on technique for bending. I still use too much blunt force but now - even on steeper slopes - I can feel the precision and power these Augments have in them. Where I felt - and sometimes still feel - intimidated by the skis, I feel a lot more at ease after some practice. I have had fun and am looking forward to ski them again. On easier slopes, where a had more control over them from the start, I appreciate the smooth, stable and precise feeling. And no complaints about edge grip in the early morning. I do think the need for speed is certainly there. At slower speed I felt the weight of these skis. Going faster makes them lighter and quicker, no surprise there. Edge to edge is as fast as you might expect, being a narrow, stiff ski. In terms of versatility I was pleasantly surprised. I feared a good dig-in followed by a nice salto more-or-less mortale when confronted with soft snow. But no, they followed my intended path and I kept my head where it belongs: on top. Even (moderate) piled-up snow in the afternoon was not a problem. Just bulldozer through them. Sometimes weight is a nice thing and builds confidence.
On rebound: it is there, I have felt it and I do like that but I had to put a lot - really a lot - energy into the skis to get it out. Although I do not like a skippy-ball mentality in a ski, I do like a bit more rebound than was offered to me. Will it be better after some more practice? We will see.
On turn radii: it is a SL but it makes fantastic medium turns as well. On the other hand, I wished several times for a more one-trick-pony: short turn only would have made my life on them a helluvalot easier :).
 

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