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.