kid-kapowi have a lot of time on the old pows in 181, the freeride horsepowers in 179, and some on wundersticks in 182 and fff in 175. I have recently also gotten some UFOs - both 100 and 115 - and some wreck115, but have yet to ride any of them.
wundersticks (i wrote the review on evo's 18 wundersticks) - in general i like these a lot. Coming off the pows the shape was a bit unusual for me with significant tip taper, and they are quite a bit softer, especially in the tips. That being said, i have really gotten to like em. They are plenty stiff underfoot and in the rear, they carve well and the tips planes well as well. The wunders are the first mid wide ski that i have used in pow, and they were amazingly fun there. That being said, i have only six or so days on them (half of it in superwindblown coastal pow, the rest in superlight dry pow), so my experience is kind of limited.
I have always loved my pows, though to be honest, they are a bit too much skis for me when it gets tight in the trees or very steep - meaning in spots where big arcs are just unfeasible. My technique isn't good enough to muscle them around, and i am not the heaviest of riders either. They remain my favorite flat out ski though, and as my skills improve i am sure i will go back to them again and again. The wreck115s are softer than the pows and about 150grs or so ligher, but due to their lack of taper i expect them to maintain the charging characteristics of the pow. I also expect them to be equally fantastic in variable snow. I have set the wrecks up with some Tectons and they will see their fair share of resort based touring this year. The UFOs are significantly softer than the wrecks again. There is seemingly good support underneath your feet, but the tips and tails are a significantly softer. Together with the taper, i expect them to be an absolute riot in softer snow. I am also expecting them to be kind of like the wunders in that they are not the stiffest tip to tail, but still are tolerably damp and light weight aka good in variable snow. I am unsure how good they are as a charger though. The ufo100s are even softer than the 115s again - they are really quite soft, especially in the shovels, and a lot softer than the freeride horsepowers that i am replacing. I never got on very well with the horsys though - though they were fun to carve and bomb down the hill with - and it will be interesting to see how the UFO100s will behave. I think the decent support underfoot combined with soft shovels front and back will make em very versatile, though it will be interesting to see if they get chatty at high speed in variable conditions.
I guess the big news from Mervin is that they will soon release Wundersticks in a 118 version, and personally i think those will be a better fit for me than the UFO115s. That being said i will stay on the UFOs for this season and potentially get the 118s for next year - unless the UFOs turn out to be poor at charging (i expect they will be very playful) :) I only rode the ff5 three days to try a shorter ski. I tried them in the 175 length and the pows in 171. Both were very fun skis indeed, but in the end i found out i prefer longer skis. Overall i prefer the shapes of the UFOs over the FFFs.
and yeah, finding info on Lib skis is not the easiest. Two of the best sources on new info on Lib skis are what i gather are two of their ski developers, found on instagram as Crawdad41 and adamcu280. The wunder118 information got dropped by the former two days ago, though they have seemingly been on the skis since at least mid last season and have been dropping steady hints ever since :)
**This post was edited on Oct 17th 2017 at 2:09:31pm
I've been hunting info on Libs since feb this year. It's bloody hard to find.
It's nice to pick someone's brain that's skied so many of the Libs over time. - it's rare to find. I've tried contacting lib direct but got no love.
Ive loved my FF5 with dukes they've been awesome. Had them since 2014 Although Suited for more pow/back side of the mt, I found them to be surprisingly good front side too at slow and high speed. I come out from Aust and ski Jackson WY 6 weeks a year (it's all the holidays I can get) and mostly ski out of the gates there when the conditions permit.
I did set up 2 new skis the wreckreate 100 and the 115 this last season with the kingpin ( my first proper AT binding) and scarpa RS freedom. But they really kicked my arse. They were just too burly for me, I'd try turn these things and they'd just send me straight. ( I'm 6'3 and 90kg) I struggled both out the gates and inbounds too. I wasn't sure if the binding or new boot had anything to do with that feeling thou- any thoughts? I'd be interested to hear how you rate them. Would it be worth me trying these with an alpine binding/ boot?
At this stage I'm looking at getting rid of the wreckreate 100/115 and swing back on the UFO 115 and was very interested in the wunderstick as a 2 ski quiver. I noticed the other reviewer on evo with his at the top of Cody peak... Loves them everywhere- Apparently leaving his quiver behind gathering dust.
reading your post can you tell me if the ff5 and ufo115 are similar or different skis? The basic dimensions read the same they look the same on line but 2mm diff under foot not sure about the rocker /taper.
Im really trying to sort out my quiver for next trip over in Jan. Esp after the let down of the experience with the wreckreateS- it killed a week or so of my trip. It's hard now- i can't demo the Libs in Jackson anymore ( LINE either which is my other ski after the treehouse closed there) no one stocks them there which is surprising.
I have 2x King pins to play with
a duke and
Griffon
Open to advice
I want to be able to cover Laps on the pass, hikes off the tram and tear laps inbound with my 10yr old son... Not asking for much I know.., haha
Out of interest do you ride for lib? Or have any affiliation with them?
Have you had the chance to get on the sick day104 or pescado ... They're the other 2 skis I'm looking at- thanks again
