ARMADA ARV 96 vs K2 Poacher

I skied both and absolutely loved the ARVs. Very fun ski. Light, poppy, lively, good swing weight, the whole shebang. Wasn't that impressed with the Poacher. Felt very damp and unresponsive.

I would say go with the ARV. Just my opinion though.

ARV 96 is more lively and a ski that you can charge really hard on. The Poacher has a more forgiving flex pattern and larger sweet spot -- the assymetrical tip does help when skiing steeper stuff due to the shorter radius on the outside edge.

TheSkiMonsterARV 96 is more lively and a ski that you can charge really hard on. The Poacher has a more forgiving flex pattern and larger sweet spot -- the assymetrical tip does help when skiing steeper stuff due to the shorter radius on the outside edge.

correct me if im wrong but the marksman has the assymetrical tip, not the poacher.

I skied the next years ARV 106 and it was dope. The tip rocker made it super easy to butter around and they were super stable at the varying conditions at mt hood. Overall they have a pretty nice flex pattern and about a medium/soft stiffness.

I plan to get a pair of arv 96s where are all these people demoing them.

folks, can someone say for sure, which is a stiffer ski? ARV or the Poacher? My aim is to replace the old Volkl Bridge for the East Coast.

Thanks!

JohnsChunkfolks, can someone say for sure, which is a stiffer ski? ARV or the Poacher? My aim is to replace the old Volkl Bridge for the East Coast.

Thanks!

The poacher is stiffer and much more responsive. I skied the poacher, arv 96 and wallisch quite a bit in December. The poacher is the best all mnt and super fun in the park if you don't mind a slightly stiffer ski. The wallis has is by far the best in the park with a crazy amount of pop. The arv is the best in the soft snow but does not carve great as it is very torisionally soft. If you want a slower speed soft jib ski the arv is good but it does lack pop and stability compared to the other two.

I have bought ARV 96 and am very happy with my choice. Not stiff and not too soft I had fun everywhere in mountain =)

I'd say poachers. I demoed both and picked up a pair of poachers in a 177 (I'm 5'10", 140lbs and I use them for park and shitty condition all mountain days).
They are the most bomb-proof ski i've ever skied. Usually by this time in the season I would be on my third pair of skis, but my poachers are holding super strong with only a couple edge cracks and topsheet chips. I prefer a stiffer ski, and the poacher is pretty stiff for a park ski which translates to stability on rails, stomping huge jumps and stability when RIPPING shit fuck conditions, BUT are a little bit of work when going super slow into rails etc. I ski in banff alberta, so when we get snow they're not too shabby in the deep stuff but i definitely prefer my candide 3.0s. And, finally, although this shouldnt be a factor when buying skis, I LOVE the look of the tapered tip and tails. For some reason they just look amazing when they're spinning. But yeah, that's just me! Only thing I didn't like about them is while the general durability of the ski is amazing, the topsheet chips pretty easily but that doesn't affect the performance so i dont really care.

If you prefer buttering around and taking it a lil slow in the park, I'd say go with the ARVs.