Individual Review Long-Term Review: 2020 Augment All Mountain 77 Ti-Carbon

[Philpug]

@Philpug I'm echoing @James question above.....If Augment is making an aggressive move into the premium ski market, do they have a North American marketing/distribution plan that they were willing to share? Or do you think that the company is going to reply on the website for orders/sales? Very cool that there will be more coming from the Pugski crew about Augment. Look forward to it......

Define aggressive? At this point, they are looking to go through a select dealer network. These are not skis for every shop or every skier. I would say that they willbe starting with premium specialty shops and/or ones that have a strong race pedigree. I am sire they will be looking for one shop per region as opposed to finding them on every corner in an Aspen or Vail.

 

[PNWRod]

Some info from their site:
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Torsional Stiffness
A longitudinally softer ski that is stiff torsionally will hold fast when you engage the sidecut but will have a speed limit. A ski that is longitudinally stiff but is softer torsionally will cut a straight line through crud.
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https://augment-sports.com/ski-fitting/ski-stiffness/

I hadn't really thought about it but that is precisely my experience with the little quiver of sticks that I have.

 

[James]

@Philpug I'm echoing @James question above.....If Augment is making an aggressive move into the premium ski market, do they have a North American marketing/distribution plan that they were willing to share? Or do you think that the company is going to reply on the website for orders/sales? Very cool that there will be more coming from the Pugski crew about Augment. Look forward to it......

Just a few places. They only make like 6k skis a year now.
Just something better for distribution than Blossom. Which is not hard.
At this point there's not that many in Europe. None in Chamonix. None in Verbier. Cham might be less of a market, and Verbier has Xonde.

 

[wallyk]

Define aggressive? At this point, they are looking to go through a select dealer network. These are not skis for every shop or every skier. I would say that they willbe starting with premium specialty shops and/or ones that have a strong race pedigree. I am sire they will be looking for one shop per region as opposed to finding them on every corner in an Aspen or Vail.

So would it be correct to classify Augment as a NextGen Kastle or given their racing heritage a more boutique version of Stockli, or hybrid of the two? Or with their custom flex selection, is Augment just a different ski company? Regardless, Augment's arrival to the U.S. is both exciting and interesting....from the cheap seats, Augment appears to be a NextGen ski company all together, but my ability to assess the current state of the global ski manufacturing industry is at best quite pedestrian........ tried to hunt down a pair of the Croc 77 last year in London and Geneva but was unsuccessful. Looking forward to more information as it arrives.

 

[ARL67]

Why do so many complain about Blossom; what am I missing ?
We all know they are in Montreal. Phone them and order a set. And they are actually not that expensive IMO.
Or is it that folks want a dealer network to be able to demo ? Of course, price will go up then if another layer of hands need to be paid.

I live in flat-land Ontario, so when I want to buy a wide travel/trip ski, I have to buy on faith/reviews as I have next to zero options to demo most anything over 88 out my way. What's the difference between that and a new kid on the block "boutique" front-side ski. Croc already had/has a solid reputation, so as they move forward with new branding and customizations, the user base will need to have faith ( not unlike DPS in the early days ) that the product being delivered will be stellar for the application at hand.

FWIW I had a set of Whiteout 176, they were not a standout for me, nor for the guy I sold them too. In hindsight, I probably should have been on the 170.

If more buzz continues on the Augment, I may order a set ( Medium- ) for pickup next Feb 2020 on our guys-trip to the Arlberg.

 

[Tony S]

@Philpug I'm echoing @James question above.....If Augment is making an aggressive move into the premium ski market, do they have a North American marketing/distribution plan that they were willing to share? Or do you think that the company is going to reply on the website for orders/sales? Very cool that there will be more coming from the Pugski crew about Augment. Look forward to it......

Yeah, I wonder if they're doing the Canyon bike thing.

 

[Goldmember]

Also from the cheap seats: Augment and Original+ seem to share some similarities, with their customizable product line and approach. Interested to see how their skis compare. Assuming one asked for the same thing of course!

I had a day on the Croc GS Masters ski last year. I think this ski is now the Augment GS WC Pro. Was really impressed with it how it skied and the build quality.

I hope both Augment and Original+ do really well with their approaches to offering reasonably priced, customizable, high-end skis. While i’ve yet to get my hands on an Original+, the one data point I read about in a thread from @cantunamunch on the mod 8 sounded very positive.

@Philpug Curious if you (or anyone else who has skied the AM77) have been on the Original+ mod 7?
Salzburgerland Sibling Shootout?

 

[Tony S]

It's amazing how they managed to come up with a crummy name and then abandon it for one that is even worse.

"Augment" - It's like drilling a big hole for your breath candy.

 

[James]

Here's the catalog:
https://issuu.com/tesma/docs/augment_skis_catalog_2018_2019/18?ff

There's two gs skis. An fis one and a cheater.

 

[Philpug]

Here's the catalog:
https://issuu.com/tesma/docs/augment_skis_catalog_2018_2019/18?ff

There's two gs skis. An fis one and a cheater.

@ScotsSkier has been on both, reviews coming. Same with the SL skis, FIS and cheater.

 

[cantunamunch]

It's amazing how they managed to come up with a crummy name and then abandon it for one that is even worse..

Hah. Completely aside from the silly shape of the "Augment" sound, learning word meaning from a dictionary (and Augment quite obviously did) is like learning to hunt from an encyclopedia: completely lacking in ground truth.

This is why I laugh whenever someone uses a dictionary definition to justify their own wild-ass concept of meaning - including native speakers.

 

[Augment Skis]

Phil....how is the build quality...finish detail...etc.? These guys are serious about their skis...I assume the product is top-shelf...can't wait to try some of their designs...been having trouble getting Augment to stop racing long enough to loan out some test skis! I hear nothing but good impressions from racers...curious about their more civilian models!

Eric, we'd be happy to get some demo skis to you to try. We just had a bunch in Vermont but had to send them to Canada for testing with retailers but there are other options to get you skis if you'd like.

 

[Augment Skis]

One of the things the Augment people told me they are doing is build custom race skis to spec - exact stiffness, shape, etc. The more you know what you want - or can bring in a ski or skis that represent what you want, the more they can dial it in for you, with modifications and finish of your choosing. For a price, you can be like the top racers dialing in custom, to spec, race skis - with the build and the finish detailed to a perfection none but the top racers ever get to ski on.

Neat, if you know what you want in some detail, or can get to that with their and other help. Expensive, though.

It will be interesting to see what sorts of experiments and projects come from this company. Hope they prosper, in some form at least.

Ski Otter, we're not making custom skis to shape but to flex. One of the many features that sets Augment apart is that you can dial in the flex either for the condition, i.e. fill out a quiver of skis that you know will allow you to adjust to the conditions, or you can find what flex works for you. The former makes sense for people racing and the latter in general is a nice feature that instead of just liking what's on the wall, you can find the flex that makes sense for your skill level, conditions...etc.

 

[Augment Skis]

Did this have a plate on it?
Denver Sports Lab carried Crocs allegedly. I don't see that now with Augment? Any dealers in the US?

We're actively working to get into retail shops. We have some strong leads on shops in both the US and Canada and once retailers commit, we'll update our retailer page. In the meantime, we'll also have a store up soon that allow you to order your skis and if a retailer opens in an area where online orders have been placed, we'll shift the order to that retailer.

Denver Sports Lab was the first retailer of Croc/Augment but they've made some changes to their company. We hope to get them back on board as a retailer for Augment soon.

 

[Augment Skis]

@Philpug I'm echoing @James question above.....If Augment is making an aggressive move into the premium ski market, do they have a North American marketing/distribution plan that they were willing to share? Or do you think that the company is going to reply on the website for orders/sales? Very cool that there will be more coming from the Pugski crew about Augment. Look forward to it......

Wally, what can we answer for you? We're distributing out of Park City, Utah with the independent distributor Lifelong Sports LLC. Lifelong has Reps working hard to get retailers on the skis. Our sales will be limited to one ski shop in any given ski town or city in order to give that shop a sizable territory.

 

[Augment Skis]

Yeah, I wonder if they're doing the Canyon bike thing.

Tony, that was the theory at first, the Canyon Bike method, but it has since switched to a more conventional method, with Lifelong Sports as the distributor for North America.

 

[AlpsSkidad]

This thread has really intrigued me and my hunt for a new ski. I’m completely unsure of which flex /size etc would be for me, but I found their inquiry/help form online. Filled in my information and all the data they requested. Unfortunately for me the Augment staff must be terribly busy or not really monitoring the information requests- as I have yet to hear back- it’s been a week. Hopefully I should hear something soon and potentially could find a place to demo a pair. If not, I am probably even be willing to buy a set to try out just based on what I’ve heard and the niche they fit in. Seems to be what I’m hunting for.

 

[Augment Skis]

This thread has really intrigued me and my hunt for a new ski. I’m completely unsure of which flex /size etc would be for me, but I found their inquiry/help form online. Filled in my information and all the data they requested. Unfortunately for me the Augment staff must be terribly busy or not really monitoring the information requests- as I have yet to hear back- it’s been a week. Hopefully I should hear something soon and potentially could find a place to demo a pair. If not, I am probably even be willing to buy a set to try out just based on what I’ve heard and the niche they fit in. Seems to be what I’m hunting for.

How can we help you? We're the US/CAN distributor but we work closely with Austria and are happy to help you get started in your hunt for the right ski.

Here's what we're noticing. The majority of skis that we've been selling have been in the 4-6 flex range but that pertains primarily to the race skis as those have been our best sellers so far. When it comes to the All-Mountain skis, I would listen to Phil's suggestion in posts above. We're finding that there's plenty of strength in a ski at a 5 so if you want a ski that's more supple, we would recommend staying in the "lower half" of the range meaning the softer side which is 6-10. We're confidently recommending to people to ski 6-8 for the All-Mountain 77. If you're intermediate to advanced I believe a 7 or 8 would be quite sufficient.

 

[James]

How can we help you? We're the US/CAN distributor but we work closely with Austria and are happy to help you get started in your hunt for the right ski.

Here's what we're noticing. The majority of skis that we've been selling have been in the 4-6 flex range but that pertains primarily to the race skis as those have been our best sellers so far. When it comes to the All-Mountain skis, I would listen to Phil's suggestion in posts above. We're finding that there's plenty of strength in a ski at a 5 so if you want a ski that's more supple, we would recommend staying in the "lower half" of the range meaning the softer side which is 6-10. We're confidently recommending to people to ski 6-8 for the All-Mountain 77. If you're intermediate to advanced I believe a 7 or 8 would be quite sufficient.

Any idea how a Fischer 78 flex in a 188 gs ski would correspond to yours?
Or : a Fischer 54 flex in 165 Slalom
15/16 Blizzard fis sl 165? Not marked.

 

[Philpug]

Any idea how a Fischer 78 flex in a 188 gs ski would correspond to yours?
Or : a Fischer 54 flex in 165 Slalom
15/16 Blizzard fis sl 165? Not marked.

Paging @ScotsSkier to the Pugski Courtesy Phone.