Moment Wildcat 108, 184 Mounted -7mm from factory (-6.7cm) on Warden 13's. Skied at Steamboat. Boot to mid-thigh fresh. Wind affected.
I got up on the mountain this AM and found some really good testing grounds for the Moment Wildcat 108; boot to mid-thigh light snow, Lots of face shots. Visibility was really tough, low clouds, 20mph winds and heavy snow. In the deep, the 184 Wildcat 108's are super fun, they were really agile, quick and flickable. I loved them here, you could feel the stiffness in the fore-body but the tips absorb and flex well and the tail felt perfect supporting me well when finishing turns on the steeper terrain, I honestly didn't even notice the tail which to me means its doing its job. They are really easy for fun slash turns, hanging your tails in the pow. Its not a super damp ski but has a good feel with a lot of energy and pop. Although its not a light weight touring ski, it skis quite light and easy. Skiing down from the top of the Ridge off the top of the Morningside chair, it's fairly steep with lots of small evergreens, rocks and wind loaded swales. It was white out conditions, only allowing very limited preception of what I was skiing into. I was skiing in giant wind loaded lips, and pockets that were breaking on my thighs and then your feet would drop out from beneath you landing on wind-scoured, primary surface snow all in a few feet. It was a lot of fun and the Wildcat really does a fantastic job here. The ski was dependable and made these conditions manageable. On abrupt drops and hitting wind lips straight on, the ski did and outstanding job of keeping things calm and not jolting me off balance.
I don't jump off anything more than 3-4' but love to pop off small features like snow-covered trees, downed trees and small rocks and the ski is very stable and even if you were a little back, it was easy to recover and pull the ski back under you. On the steeper faces, the ski pivoted very well, it doesn't pivot as quick as the Dynastar M-free 108 but I prefer how this ski responds to input, I like that it wasn't too "turny", meaning that when you pivot on the steeps in tight slots, you really just want it to rotate 180* and stop; some skis want to keep rotating. The Wildcats are are plenty "surfy" though and you can ski it loose or more traditional, its quite amenable to either style. I attribute these traits to the Wildcats tapered tips and tails. The design isn't as dramatic as some, and the widest part of the skis (contact points) are located more towards the tops of the tips/tails which makes it a little less eager to pivot but the longer rocker profile and lightness makes the ski pivot just fine in tight trees. Here's where a factory mount (-6) would make the ski pivot a little quicker. There's a section at the top of Morningside (bowl) where there's a small knoll and drops off significantly on the backside. Because of where/how its positioned, the snow loads at the top and on the backside, when I skied up on it and dropped in, the snow literally was at my crotch, the skis stiffer body just went through the snow and at the bottom where there is a small compression, it flexed very well and I flowed through. Not all powder skis do this, those will softer tips will flex too much. Skiing some lower angle pow through small evergreens and undulating terrain was pure joy, the ski's playful side showed though and I was zipping around making quick, abrupt direction changes, riding luge sections between trees, popping off little features. Redirecting the skis in the air was effortless. This is where I think I enjoyed the Wildcat 108's the most. The ski responds to input very well and is smooth in the powder. Float is excellent. You could bury the tips but they never submarined or got bogged down.
The Mount point of -6.7cm is about right for me, a full CM might be perfect though. UPDATED THOUGHTS. With the ski's properly tuned, I am very happy with the mount location. its still super quick and responsive but I never felt the tips were too short or I was "feeling" them when driving the ski on edge. I never felt I needed more out front.
To Summarize, The 184 Wildcat 108 is a really fun, nimble and solid ski that can be skied loose or more traditional in powder. The Wildcats have a nice blend of traits that favor deeper powder and playful terrain. It truly lives up to what Moment calls their "Playful Charger". I will update this review once the ski's have been tuned and I get them back on the snow
DAY 2: I had the skis tuned by EdgeWerks located on the mountain by the Grand. They totally transformed the Wildcats! I didn't even detune the ski, they skied so perfectly. We woke up to 4-5" of really light powder. A "good enough" day to test the Moment a little more and to see how it would handle more open and firm-base skiing. With the ski now skiing as it should, I loved this ski even more. I started out on the Ridge area again, steeper faces, large bumps and small trees. The ski handles this terrain remarkably well. The Wildcat is a solid ski and I really appreciated the ability to push the tips into the bumps and swales and have it support me well. Its also solid underfoot so I trusted this ski when pushing it. So, I knew I loved this ski in powder and tight places but what I was truly blown away by how amazing this ski is on open terrain, I popped out of the trees onto the lower 1/3 of Buddys, a blue run with a nice pitch with untracked and broken 5". The Wildcat eats this terrain up! Put it on edge and it will blast through the snow like it's fresh snow with an uncanny calmness and stability. The Wildcat is easy to ski here. On broken and skied out fields, I have never skied so fast with total confidence. The ski remains composed and quiet and releasing the edges in the transition is smooth and confidence inspiring. You just need to shift your weight to the new downhill ski and move your mass into the new turn and the ski does the rest.
DAY 3. Just skied the Moment Wildcat 108's in champagne powder Knee deep and up to the crotch. The trees were totally loaded and untracked. I have never skied the trees with such ease and total confidence in a ski. I was skiing much faster but with more control through tight aspens. Skiing on the groomers with broken and piled snow was a blast. It is so stable and capable. I could either run them flat or put them on edge and rip. My friend skiing with me said he couldn't begin to keep up with me.
The Wildcat 108 takes my award for absolute best powder and tree ski.
For a 108 wide ski, the Wildcat is easy to get on edge and it arc'd far better than I expected. I was very confident carving on the groomers, It carved very well, arcing smoothly and calmly and even with the heavily rockered tail, theres enough there to support you through the turn. It's quite quick and snappy here and I really had a lot of fun mixing up turn shapes; hitting patch of untracked, then arcing over for a few turns on edge and hitting some pockets of fresh along the edges and then hitting a few powder bumps on my way to the lift. This was not "surviving" like you do on some powder ski's, this was all about fun. The -6.7 mount point never felt short and I never once wished for more out front. The Wildcat 108 is just a lot of fun. So I can understand the excitement and enthusiasm around this ski (and Im sure other Moments) and add myself to the fan club.
Can you say Wind loaded and flat light? I enhanced this pic to show some detail and its below the cloud line LOL. (day 1)
From 2/25
DAY 3
She also kills me for tight tree skiiing... For piles/crud/heavy snow I prefer a bit further back mounting on ski and just let my shins load up the boot for going through without much finesse.
