After 80 inches of snow last week, Baker had a rain event that shutdown the mountain Tuesday and Wednesday. This often happens mid winter. Usually when the rains stops the temperature drops and everything turns to coral reef. Fortunately this time it stayed in the 40s, so when the lifts started back up today, the rain gave us
Corn Snow in January! Rain is awesome -- sometimes.
Perfect conditions to try out my new Rossignol Hero Elite LT Ti: 177cm, 71mm underfoot, 18m radius, R22 plate with SPX Rockerace 15s.
Wow! These skis are fun! Flexing side by side with my Hero Athlete SLs, they felt perhaps a little stiffer and I was concerned this LT would be too long in the turn. Maybe it's their longer reach enabling more bend, because carving various turn shapes was comfortable and controllable. Of course they take a bit more speed to come online, but nothing scary and they were quite easy to release sideways to apply the brakes. Brushed short turns where enjoyable too.
I wanted to get these in the bumps, but everything today that was not groomed was heavy, a few inches deep, and super tail grabby. I ventured onto Honkers once, but embarrassed myself: the snow latched on to my right ski and wouldn't let go. I ejected and tumbled a few feet.
I haven't had my SLs out this year, but I think these suit my personality better: longer turns at a little higher speed. Then again, maybe I'm using the added stability of the longer length as a crutch. I need to spend more time on both of these narrow Rossi race skis. But it's hard when your home mountain snows 80 inches a week.