Im 5'9" 148 lbs looking at the 174cm Armada TST, want to make a descent touring setup but i will be primarily skiing by myself. I was wondering how well it performs as a frontside all mountain ski when I'm not skiing trees, pow, or side country.
Nov 24 2014 1:58PM
gear talk, but to help:
face it, you're on the east coast. you wont see more than 6 inches of snow more than 3 times this year. any wider park ski can suit as an all mountain ski for 95% of east coast resorts. If you don't ride park that's one thing, but its a relatively sloppy ski outside of pow from my experience. ( i rode some 186? last year for 4 days at steamboat. Fairly good for the first 2 days of fluffy snow, once it warmed up i took them out then switched to my park skis during lunch because i hated them. I'm a midwest skier, so all park and groomers for me except on my west trips for spring and winter break. Just some advice. Id recommend some alpha x's from a year back or the halo 2's because you're not very heavy. They're just wide, semi-rockered park skis. They work beautifully around the whole mountain, meaning fresh groomed hardpack to 6 inches of fresh if you ride them right. They're more fun than the TST also.
Nov 24 2014 2:00PM
Nov 30 2014 2:19PM
I think thats an awesome setup. Had two TSTs and baron setups over three years. They work awesome all over the mountain and deep snow. I think the perfect east coast ski. Not much of a park ski even though I've had some laps through the park on them. If you are an intermediate or Advance you might think about the 183 size. They have a lot of rocker in the tip and on hard pack can feel kinda short. If I never knew what I was getting into during the day I would grab these over all my other Armadas.
Nov 30 2014 5:03PM
kamron_708face it, you're on the east coast. you wont see more than 6 inches of snow more than 3 times this year.
he skis at jay which receives more annual snowfall than a lot of places out west. Only seeing 6 inches a few times a year is maybe true if you live in ohio, but most people are fortunate enough not to live in ohio
the tst is fine on groomers, past the tapered tip they have a ton of shape to them. I'm not sure how much they've changed since they came out but I thought they didn't have enough effective edge to really make them rippers.
Nov 30 2014 5:21PM
I use the 183 s as my touring ski and I have been pretty happy. They are somewhat light and pretty versatile. Resort wise they are lacking a little bit. They get bounced around in variable quite a bit. Ok on groomers, about what you would expect from that type of ski. For a resort ski I think there are a lot better options but for a touring resort ski they would be a good choice. Though if you are skiing the resort a lot more than touring I think a more traditional ski shape would be better.