OK, time for an update. I bought a pair of 170 cm No 1 SCs from Phil about a month ago, so it’s time for a longer-term update. They are tuned with 1* and 2* bevels. I generally prefer softer-flexing skis with a 12-16 m sidecut radius and like a narrow ski on the front side. My daily driver ski for tele is a 164 cm Blossom Great Shape with the same dimensions. As noted elsewhere, I am a male, weigh 145 lbs, 6 ft 0 in tall, and am 68 years old.
I love my SCs. They are energetic, quick, bouncy, playful, powerful, fast, stable, damp, connected to the snow, utterly predictable. They provide lots of rebound have a good strong tail. They do precisely what is asked of them and urge you to go faster.
Basically they ski like the soft-flexing slalom skis (dialed to 9 and no 11) they are. They engage and come around quickly, so they are wonderful for short turns in the fall line. Balance and timing are critical, though, as they are so quick that I don’t have a lot of time to correct before things get out of hand. That said, they are remarkably versatile for a ski with their short radius chops. I compared them to an (OLD) pair of Rossi 9S WCs with a 9 m sidecut and soft tip and so skied quite similarly but the Blossoms were clearly superior to the Rossis in every way.
The SCs have a 14 m sidecut but ski more like a 10 or 12 m ski, probably due to the soft flex. That, along with strong torsional muscle, allow the edges to engage very quickly and hold tight through the turn. They then deliver strong rebound and edging above or in the fall line brings instant and strong acceleration. And it doesn’t matter if it’s firm, boilerplate or icy – the edgehold is tenacious.
Despite the quick 14 m sidecut radius, they manage long turns very well. That said, you can’t drop your hip and load them up in the fall line because if you do, they grip, flex and turn hard. They are much, much more stable in high-speed turns than I expect from a 14 m ski with that much edge hold and rebound. And they don’t wander on flat run-outs as much as I had expected.
In moguls, they are very well-behaved in soft bumps but get progressively grabbier as the bumps get firmer. The soft flex mitigates that a bit but it also helps them grab and go. My skills working on the delicate feathering that it takes to ski firmer bumps on them are a work in progress.
Cut-up, lumpy groomers are handled with aplomb at slow and high speeds. No surprises, no getting thrown around. I have never ridden a better ski on scraped-off groomer with a mixed bag of slick boilerplate and loose piles of scraped-off.
At 71 mm underfoot, they are not powder skis, but hold their own and are still fun in up to 8” of sierra pow. The soft flex probably helps in that department. I recently had a very nice day off piste with 6-8” of moderate sierra powder over coral reef.
Finally, they are great to teach on. It is surprisingly easy to skid turns for beginners and they will slide sideways at will but, being what they are, the occasional flat 360 is a challenge. And I would want to be on something else off-piste on a big powder day.
And my co-worker has yet to forgive me for letting him ride them, spoiling his Head iTitans (new this season) for him.
YMMV, but I love these skis.