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EmperorMA

Putting on skis
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... but most skiers will have a longer day on the Evolves. The e-100 though is a real ski.
I’ve now been on my Evolv90 in 8” of fresh, heavy chop, light chop, wet & heavy crud, ice, pristine corduroy and slush. It has handled all well, and I only wished for something different in the heavy crud, where they were a bit grabby.

They did so well on ice that I didn’t wish for a narrow carver.
 

Ron

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... but most skiers will have a longer day on the Evolves. The e-100 though is a real ski.

Oh but the time you are on them :). They aren't that demanding in a 8-10 (soft). I am still a big Evolv 100 fan (and selling a pair now)
 

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Glass Cranks
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Thank you for this extremely helpful post/review. It sounds as though you had ideal testing conditions, and your report reminded me that I've never been disappointed with a K2. I just ordered a MB 90Ti 177. I read your reviews when you originally posted them, and I have to say that EVERYTHING you reported was right in line with my experiences (and/or suspicions) regarding the skis in question. We are also of similar weight and ski the same region. I was simply looking for a bit more "lively" Brahma 180, and knew that I wanted more camber in my next ski. My 3-ski quiver will now look like:
K2 TurboCharger 165
K2 MB 90Ti 177
K2 Pinnacle 105 184
I'm not a K2 fanboy at all, but I guess there IS something to be said for sharing the same terrain with the R&D guys. Right? Anyway, thank you again for the thorough post (and follow-up post). It was very helpful to me.
 

Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
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Only one of the class I have skied are the Enforcer 88's and I bought them without a demo after spending about 50 days on the Enforcer 100's. The 88's is no where in the same league as the 100 off piste, perhaps not the same planet. The 88 carves well on western hardpack and is a bunch fun in the bumps and pretty quick.

All in all the Enforcer 88 is not the ski I would recommend as a crud buster.
 

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Glass Cranks
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Great choice of skis! You've got everything you need to handle most resort conditions.
Thanks Doc. I did take your Liberty opinions into consideration as well, but don't have any real frame of reference for their products, and it would have been a real shot in the dark. Maybe an Origin 80-something with a 20M radius would have scratched my itch. I do like bamboo.
 

markojp

mtn rep for the gear on my feet
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Only one of the class I have skied are the Enforcer 88's and I bought them without a demo after spending about 50 days on the Enforcer 100's. The 88's is no where in the same league as the 100 off piste, perhaps not the same planet. The 88 carves well on western hardpack and is a bunch fun in the bumps and pretty quick.

All in all the Enforcer 88 is not the ski I would recommend as a crud buster.

FWIW, I think they work well in crud. The issue for you is more likely the width. 88's just aren't as forgiving, especially compared to a ski like the Enforcer 100.
 

DocGKR

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Concur with markojp--I have owned the Enforcer 88, 100, 104, 115; each is a great tool for specific conditions. I find the 88 to be the best, most versatile option for resort, non-powder day, on trail use, as the do reasonably well on groomers, bumps, trees, corn, slush, and will handle up to 8" or so of new snow, including busting through cut-up crud snow.
 
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ski otter 2

Making fresh tracks
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But, as I'd guess you'd probably say too, I'd much rather be on the Enforcer 100 in real crud, with some powder/chop here and there, rather than the 88. (Even though, I agree, better the 88 "as most versatile option for resort, non-powder day, on trail use," right up to the slush and new snow part: once it's surfing the slush or powder (or lots of crud), I'd prefer the Enforcer 100 and the K2 MB 99 or wider.) The Enforcer 100, in particular, is probably the top ski in that width for crud/chop that I've been on - apologies to the Bonafide folks, and beats a lot of wider skis in that way also. And the new 20/21 E 100 version is to me pretty much equal to the 88 at groomer carving now, big improvement there, even though it's wider!

(Okay, maybe the K2 Mindbender 99 at least matches it all around, but not sure yet. I'd have found out by now if things hadn't closed.)

And I'd still love to try the Enforcer 115s. Bet I'd like them (though I didn't much like those softer tip and tail 110s).

Say, @DocGKR, are the 115s sort of like the old Nordica Helldorados, as I sometimes fear? Or are they a complete improvement? ogsmile
 

ski otter 2

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Yes, a Blizzard Brahma (at least until this coming year change?) is great for a ~ 90 ski at crud. I keep almost getting it.

And yet the ski in that width I most have a hankering for is the newish Black Crows 88 Orb, in both 179 and 184 (18/19 and 19/20). (Both fantastic!)
To me, this ski is killer, except probably to a much heavier and/or more powerful skier, I'm guessing.

It used to be that the Black Crows Orb and the Corvus were the only skis in the B.C. line-up, according to their reps, that were fairly stiff and powerful, designed for advanced to expert. Blistergear, back then, loved the Orb as an equal to the Brahma, and preferred it off piste.

But the Orb didn't sell. So they softened it up - to me, wrecked it. Dang. Oh, well.
(And they began gradually making the Corvus more user-friendly also, in the past few years - more successfully, seems like.)

Then a year ago, for 18/19, Black Crows stiffened up the Orb again, back to approximately what it had been before, according to the reps - and to me, when I demoed it. Success! And now again the Orb stands out as the odd man out among skis in the Black Crows line-up, the only one stiff as the Brahma, for instance. And yet Blistergear, to me, stopped tracking it accurately: they missed that for three or four years in there it had been softened up to match the rest of their line-up, but no longer! And they missed that it was supposed to be the same stiffer ski as before. (It sure felt that way to me, in agreement with the reps I talked to.)

The Orb these past two seasons got me excited and surprised all over again, for both the 179 and the 184, when I skied them and recognized an old friend resurrected. I'd love it if anyone else got on these also, and found them at least good.

So I have to ask, has anyone outside of Black Crows noticed how great the changes to the Orb are, besides myself?

(No one else on this website, at least, seems to have noticed. )
 

DocGKR

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For me, the Enforcer 115 is NOT a Helldorado--the Enforcer is definitely more effective in crud and chop, as well as still offering excellent performance in fresh snow, fun in Spring slush, and decent performance on soft groomers for a 115mm wide ski. It is also more substantial than the Enforcer 110.

And yes, clearly the Enforcer 100/104 is better for surfing fresh snow, crud, and slush than the Enforcer 88, just like the Mindbender 99, Evolv 100, Mantra 102, and Ranger 102fr are as well.

Unfortunately, due to the shortened season, I have not yet shaken out the new 20-21 Enforcer 100, Bonafide, or Brahma, so cannot comment on them yet.

Over the past 2 decades I've spent a lot of time on All-Mountain Blizzard, Nordica, and Volkl skis, but have noticed over past several years that I was increasingly favoring the Enforcers for resort skiing. Alas, that may change, as this year I discovered the magic of Stockli and Liberty...
 

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Glass Cranks
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I had a chance to demo the 20-21 Bonafide's! ...I forgot all about this. Home mountain, 6" of high water content snow on top of pretty smooth and generally well set-up soft-pack. Ideal Bonafide conditions it would seem.? Marker Griffon demo bindings. Me 5'10" 140lbs. Skied for a decade(90's), snowboarded for 20 years, 3rd year back on skis. I skied Bonafide 177, 183, and the Rustler 10 180. Since I don't have any experience on the previous generation Bones, I won't attempt to describe any performance based stuff. What I will be very clear about, however, is that the 177 and 183 are COMPLETELY different skis. 177 at rec mount point was immediately wrong for me. -2cm was much better. 183 Bone felt smooth, balanced, intuitive, and like it was going to "wring me out" in under 3 hours! I immediately knew 2 things: The new Bones are not for me; And, people are going to NEED to demo both sizes for next season.
Also skied those Rustler 10 180's. This ski was really surprising. I can't imagine a ski feeling more like a snowboard than these do. They simply have to be on edge at all times to track. That being said, they track really well on edge. They are also really fun on the groomers, which is the last thing I expected. Despite the forward-ish mount point, I found that I could drive the shovels(within reason) and make a variety of really clean, dynamic turns. I felt the skis were both "flattering" and capable. I don't want 'em, but a timid, advancing skier who is still getting stuck between turns in heavy snow on intimidating terrain could LOVE them. Especially when you add their +groomer fun factor.
Since this is a "Cascade Crudbuster" post, I'll attempt to stay on topic and say that the Rustler 10 180 did get knocked around a lot when left unattended. It also smeared, slarved, and generally did well in 6" of baby-crud.
I WAS able to completely slay the crud on either size Bonafide. The 177 felt soft and short, and the 183 had a linebacker flex pattern. I didn't feel "nifty" or dynamic on either size that day.
 
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markojp

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With respect, given your background and size, a Rustler is a much more obvious choice.
 

Rod9301

Making fresh tracks
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For the nw, why not a wider ski like the mantras 102 or the katanas 108.

They will do everything well, including carving.
 

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Glass Cranks
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For the nw, why not a wider ski like the mantras 102 or the katanas 108.

They will do everything well, including carving.
It's the middle ski of his 3-ski quiver. He's a lighter guy, and could potentially be skiing that 105-ish ski as his pow slasher?
 

tromano

Goin' the way they're pointed...
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I still think there a good crud skiers and that any ski can be a good crud ski if it is suited to that skier.
 

markojp

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For the nw, why not a wider ski like the mantras 102 or the katanas 108.

They will do everything well, including carving.

Strokes for folks.... I just prefer a slightly narrower ski even in the PNW. Your mileage has every right and reason to vary.... I just don't care what others ski on unless they pay me to.
 

wachs

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
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New to this forum but I do ski quite a bit. Interesting topic and content. I sure am happy with 100 Enforcer at 193cm and mounted (per recommendation from a friend on this site) one centimeter back from suggested by Nordica. I have other skis as my son is sponsored by LibTech ski but the Enforcer is my 'one ski quiver'. On another side note: my 3 year old Enforcers started to come apart back in February, logo in base and also the top skin coming off at the tip and other random spots. I took them into the Powderhouse ski shop (Nordica dealer) here in Bend, OR and they were able to replace them through the manufacturer. Shocked and extremely pleased all the way around!
 

XSki

Putting on skis
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New to this forum but I do ski quite a bit. Interesting topic and content. I sure am happy with 100 Enforcer at 193cm and mounted (per recommendation from a friend on this site) one centimeter back from suggested by Nordica. I have other skis as my son is sponsored by LibTech ski but the Enforcer is my 'one ski quiver'. On another side note: my 3 year old Enforcers started to come apart back in February, logo in base and also the top skin coming off at the tip and other random spots. I took them into the Powderhouse ski shop (Nordica dealer) here in Bend, OR and they were able to replace them through the manufacturer. Shocked and extremely pleased all the way around!
So you mounted 1 cm towards the tail, right? What did that do for you? And can you tell me a bit more about you? weight, lenght, skiing background. I'm thinking of going the other way, 1 or 1,5 cm towards the tip because I feel the 193/100 Enforcer to be a bit sluggish compared to my previous 185/100 Enforcers. Thought I speed things up a little in terms of manouvrability.
I am 5'10/5'11 and 190lbs. Strong and fairly aggressive expert skier.

So, I am curious to know if you felt a lot of difference skiing it mounted on the line and 1 cm back (assuming you did ski it on the line before). Thx.
 

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