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Black Crows?

graham418

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Is there no love for Black Crows skis here? I haven't seen any reviews here. They look intriguing, and their line-up is so varied between models. I saw a few people on them in Mammoth, and a few at Jackson, but nowhere else.
Does anyone here ski on them? Any thoughts on them?
 

peterm

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Cantankerous

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Funny you should ask that question---(for me anyway).

I skied the Black Crows Anima today at Deer Valley--I think its 116 under foot--I skied a 182. 9 to 10 inches of fresh snow. Yes it plowed through anything--powder, chop--but other than that it was just a big and heavy ski--not very maneuverable. Now--of course a 116--should require a lot of snow to make it happy---but this ski's defining attribute --just seemed to be that it's big and heavy--I cant imagine who would be love the 186 or 187; someone with legs of steel. Yes maybe this ski is ideal for heli-skiing in Alaska--but other than that --I personally can't see their appeal. So--no love for the Anima --for me at least.
 

chris_the_wrench

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Ive been skiing the Atrtis for a few weeks now. Here's my quick review. I'm 6'3" 200 lbs 100 days a year skiing the Atris in 189.7 I typically ski more "Charger" type skis, Mantras being my favorites.

First thing I noticed is the more forward mounting position compared to other skis Ive owned. They aren't a mid-mount, but more like a -7-8cm. This really forced me to adjust my skiing style from really concentrating on driving the tips, to more of a 'neutral' stance. Im still driving the ski tips, but I find I can't forget the tails on the skis(theres alot of it back there). In retrospect I would of mounted them 1-2cm behind the line.

They handle the brand new soft fresh stuff like most 109mm waist skis do. When the pow gets clumped up into tracked out/crud they don't blast through it like my 'normal' skis but rather bounce over it. With Mantras I have no problem ripping 50+ mph gs turns through tracked out plow, the Atris have a speed limit(40'ish) since they can get mis-directed easier.

Where I find they shine is in the tight trees and bumps. They pivot so nice and easily!!!! Slash turns to dump speed, so easily!!!! With Mantras I can survive the bumps, with these I go looking for bumps. They are so PLAYFUL I go looking for little kickers off tree stumps, or doubling up bumps.

Im used to skiing very 'serious' skis, but these skis are simply FUN. I like them so much Id consider a skinnier Black Crow for low tide days.
 
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graham418

graham418

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I was looking at the Camox, thinking it might be a fun ski, and wondering how it may compare to a Ripstick 96
 

DanoT

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I spent 2 days last season before Covid demoing Atris (108mm underfoot) and they were so good they forced me to buy a pair. Previously I have owned and demoed skis over 100mm wide but not really liked any of them all that much. Not the case with the Black Crows Atris.

The light weight of these skis make them easy to throw around in the powder and they don't throw me around in the cut up snow in the pm of a powder day.
 

tch

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Sounds a lot like there are family traits at work here.
I ski the Captis (now discontinued, I think), 90 underfoot, as my east coast, soft-snow ski. It is soft-flexing, easy to pivot, light. I would not want them as my only ski for "typical" east coast (hardpack) conditions, but when it snows and it's ungroomed, or in the trees, they are the ticket. They are a lot easier to deal with in those conditions than my usual MX78's.
 

DB Cooper

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I just got a pair of Atris’ last week. Demoed them against the QST 106 and the M-Free 108. To me, the Atris was more maneuverable without giving up much in terms of stability. Easy to get around in trees, handles powder well, and performs much better than expected on the groomers (western) back down. I am very happy with my purchase thus far. My only regret is that I haven’t gotten out on them yet this week while we are in the midst of an epic Utah storm cycle!
 

Snowflake2420

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I have the Atris Birdie as my touring skiing and it's performed flawlessly. Easy to maneuver, can still ski powder well, not heavy, not chattery.
 

Ken_R

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Is there no love for Black Crows skis here? I haven't seen any reviews here. They look intriguing, and their line-up is so varied between models. I saw a few people on them in Mammoth, and a few at Jackson, but nowhere else.
Does anyone here ski on them? Any thoughts on them?

see my sig below
 

locknload

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I have the Atris's as well. Very fun, surfy ski. They will get deflected in heavy chop, but in anything remotely soft, they are a blast.
 

Philpug

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Is there no love for Black Crows skis here?
It is not for the lack of trying. Over the past few years Black Crows have had some of the worst run demo tents that we ahve experienced. They were either empty of representatives or when were able to get their attention to actually get on the skis, the tunes were awful and not representative of hwo we knew the skis should ski so it got to the point we stopped trying.
We were able to get on the Justis (below) that did ski well...
...all because at last year's Trade Fair word got to BC of the issues we have had...then things shut down. We have new representatives here in with west so I am hoping for better interaction this coming season. I did ski on the Orb 8.8 back in Waterville Valley and that skied well and will be adding a review page for that ski.
 

DanoT

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The shop where I used to work became a Black Crows dealer last season. A premium price and not well known, and as of the Covid shut down in March 2020 the shop had not sold a single pair...except to shop employees. I bought a Atris , one of the supervisors bought a Birdie, another bought 2 Black Crows (I don't know which models), someone else bought some and on a pow day this year I ran into a former store supervisor who was also on the Atris.
 

In2h2o

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I was looking at the Camox, thinking it might be a fun ski, and wondering how it may compare to a Ripstick 96

The 2017 Camox Birdie has been my daily driver and I have the 2018 Ripstick W as my backcountry ski with a pin binding.

The Camox/Camox Birdies have been updated in the past two years, I have not been on the newer lengths models or lengths in the Camox. I did demo the 2020 Captis Birdie and Orb Birdie last year. Same fun factor!

Regarding the Black Crows, I question whether the core was changed in the past model change - according to the BC video for 2021 the Camox/Camox Birdies only have a wood core. In the prior 201/2018 model Evo and other sites state that they had Aramid (Kevlar®), Carbon, Wood other sites mention carbon and wood in the newer models. Some sites say reinforced under the foot?

The Ripsticks have also undergone some changes, I believe stiffening up and changing lengths a bit?

Differences? The Camox has a longer turn radius 18 vs the Ripstick at 15, Ripstick has a flat tail, Camox rocker camber rocker. Both skis for me are great in powder (the Ripstick has great float for its narrow size) and the off piste conditions I typically ski. The Ripstick is more of a jack of all trades which is great in the back country although I do enjoy carving the Ripsticks on the mountain more than the Camox. On the other hand the camox birdies are sooooo playful, and super fun in soft snow.

Not sure if that helps as I'm on older models and an average size female, but they are both fun skis and I enjoy both for their intended purposes.
 
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Ken_R

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Is there no love for Black Crows skis here? I haven't seen any reviews here. They look intriguing, and their line-up is so varied between models. I saw a few people on them in Mammoth, and a few at Jackson, but nowhere else.
Does anyone here ski on them? Any thoughts on them?

Black Crows are basically much better looking Atomic skis :ogcool: , at least for the younger and/or more hip crowd. Kidding kidding. They are different skis and pretty unique. Generally most Black Crows have a nice medium stiff flex but still quite manageable and none are super heavy. They are nice and balanced. some are very lightweight and softer but none are noodles.
 

chris_the_wrench

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Blister just dropped a review of the Camox. I'm VERY skeptical of most 'reviews' done by 'professionals' but I do enjoy theirs and give them some weight.
 

DB Cooper

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Blister just dropped a review of the Camox. I'm VERY skeptical of most 'reviews' done by 'professionals' but I do enjoy theirs and give them some weight.
Haven’t read this as I am not a subscriber, but is the camox just a narrower Atris? I went into this season with the goal of achieving a 2SQ and I now have an enforcer 88 and an Atris, but my experience on the Atris now has me reconsidering and got me thinking about adding something between the two, a role the camox might fill nicely...
 

chris_the_wrench

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Haven’t read this as I am not a subscriber, but is the camox just a narrower Atris? I went into this season with the goal of achieving a 2SQ and I now have an enforcer 88 and an Atris, but my experience on the Atris now has me reconsidering and got me thinking about adding something between the two, a role the camox might fill nicely...

I think you nailed the Camox as being a skinnier Atris. Similar construction, flex, sidecut. Your current jump from a 88 to a 108 would fit perfectly with the 97 waist of the Camox.
 

chris_the_wrench

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I just saw that Black Crows will be doing a demo next Friday & Saturday(2/26&2/27) at Grand Targhee. I can't make it down there, but maybe some others can.

 

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