I’m looking for a new one ski quiver for Whistler area after riding the Armada TST for 4 years and definitely want something with a more playful tail. Im 5’8”, 165lbs and an aggressive skier. Mainly directional but spend most of my time on steeper lines and playing under the lifts and popping off the variable terrain. No terrain park action. I’m thinking of the 185 Moment Deathwish or the 186 K108. I demoed a 174 Deathwish and loved how playful it was, but found I was getting bucked in soft chop at high speed in big bowls. Not sure if that could simply be sorted by getting 185 length. Sounds like K108s will be better for soft chop but will they be as playful given they are heavier by about 200g per ski? Thoughts?
Dec 5 2017 11:59AM
Think the longer length will indeed be better in chop but even with the longer length of the same ski, you will lose some playfulness. As you are not skiing park, think you'd be okay still with the longer length on the Moment. The Kartel 108 is a more damped ski and better in the crud and to get higher performance in crud usually the sacrifice would be higher weight but the softer tip/tail flex of the K108 combined with it's rocker it's still a very playful ski. I'd maybe consider the the 181cm K108 as a good compromise between crud and playful performance with your size. The 186cm would be even more stable but not as easy to throw around so not sure if it might be a touch big when going down tighter chutes etc. for you at Whistler.
I'm 6'2'/175 lbs and brought 191cm skis to Whistler that were great on open terrain but a touch long in tighter areas and wished I had a 181cm-185cm ski instead. Think you might be the same with the K108 on a size down.
What size were your TST skis? What bindings are you pondering putting on them as something like an Attack 13 will save you a few hundred grams of weight over comparable bindings from some other companies.
Dec 5 2017 1:45PM
Forgot to mention the other reason I'd recommend the 181cm Kartel is that ON3P measure their ski length after pressing rather than before so they measure longer than most manufactures. A twin tip that is called a 184 cm usually measures with a tape measure about 1.5-2.5 cm shorter than that as length is lost in the pressing process when the tip and tail are bent up. So a 184cm Moment actually measures 182.5cm and a 181 Kartel would measure 181cm or so and the 186cm Kartel would be as long as most twins that are stated as "188/189cm".