So I finally got to demo the Rustler 9 in a 168 and 174 at Snowmass on a powder day. The 168 felt a little insubstantial and squirrely. The 174 was a lot of fun, especilaly in fresh pow, but definitely got pushed around a bit in the chopped up snow later in the day. Every mound of snow felt like a jolt, as they do get pushed around a bit. The 174 was defintely the winner on soft groomers, but both kind of sucked on really firm groomers before the snow began to fall.
With that in mind I continued my quest for the perfect 90-something do it all western ski. I demoed the Volkl Mantra M6 (170), the K2 Mindbender 99ti (172), and the Nordica Enforcer 94 (172). Hated the Mindbender, it just felt dead and heavy. No energy in that ski. Loved the Mantra but it also felt a little heavy and required a little too much input for this 57 year old. Which brings me to the winner, the Enforcer 94. Funny thing is I was looking for a big brother to my Enforcer 88s, which I adore, so I guess that's where I should have started. The 94 has nearly all of the groomer/carving performance of the 88 but defintely adds a lot of crud busting and soft snow capability. It just felt so right and intuituve to me. I must be an Enforcer kind of skier. Only question is whether to get the outgoing 23/24 or the incoming 24/25. (If you're thinking 88 and 94 are awfully close, that doesn't bother me as long as they feel different enough to me. I have never gotten along with anything over 96, maybe due to my light weight.)
Looking forward to reviews of the new Enforcers. (Sorry to redirect the Rustler 9 thread!)
