Midfats that you can drive but aren’t boring?

soupcanHey y’all.


I am looking to replace my pair of jeffery 108’s that as much as I want to love, I just don’t get along with. I don’t find them to be as stable as I would have hoped and I don’t feel like I can push into them as hard as I would like. Additionally to that I don’t find them to make up for the the lack of power with a loose playful feel. End all be all, I think it is a great ski but maybe not a great ski for me.

some skis I am looking at are the nordica enforcer 104 frees, the firscher ranger 102 FR, and the moment commander 108. Essentially I am looking for that elusive playful charger.

Am I missing anything that I should look into more?

thanks for your help.

stats about me:
short 5’7”
165lbs of pretty much strictly legs
skiing for over 20 years but I just don’t spin and flip much at all. Maybe a single 3 a day off a cat track or something like that.

Dr.ZorkoI really liked the J Slacker for what I think you're describing. I posted an in-depth review earlier this week. Check it out if you're interested: https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/In-Depth-Review-2022-Skis-Slacker-Roofbox

vermontanaPicked up some Commander 108s this season to fill this slot in the quiver for me. Based on the limited reviews I've read - I chose them because they seem to be gassed up chargers yet still able to pivot and be somewhat playful for a metal ski. Hoping to get them mounted and some runs in by the first week of December so I can report back here.

soupcanI am a bit worried the slacker is too light and not enough back bone for when conditions get a bit gross but I will take a deeper look.

Sounds good looking forward to your feedback. What size did you get and how tall/how much do you weigh?

thank you both

sambuswellI love my 180 J skis metals for this type of ski. I also have kartel 108s but they feel way more powder oriented than the Js. The metals do everything well, but are best in light chop or wide open stuff. I got some 189 hotshots to try but haven't had them in the right conditions yet

mystery3Black Crows Corvus could be a good option.

animator-10 mount point and flat tail does not convey “playful” in my mind

animator-10 mount point and flat tail does not convey “playful” in my mind

mystery3To be fair he's looking at the enforcer 104 free and commander 108 so he doesn't really want anything too playful or with a really freestyle mount point.

PimpChimpininsert fauna skis promotion:


HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF FAUNA SKIS? WE MAKE SKIS FOR FREESKIERS, MADE BY FREE SKIERS. IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE OUR ALPARKA SKI WOULD BE PERFECT FOR YOU!!

BradFiAusNzCoCaYou’re all about Vishnu yet you’re hating on another brand getting out there and doing it independently? Have you even heard Emmett’s most recent episode with Two Planker? The lack of awareness.

Also, Alparkas aren’t midfat so the joke doesn’t even make sense


**This post was edited on Nov 24th 2021 at 11:48:05am

soupcan. Rereading the blister review I probably would have been better off on the woodsman but they didn’t get any love last year it felt like

RH406They get tons of love on the Teton gravity research ON3P thread. Not enough freeride skiers on NS to judge a ski isn’t made for park at all

slimkumquatMaybe look at the deathwish 104? I’m a little lighter than you and own the normal deathwish but I think they said they stiffened up the 104 and I can definitely load the tips up and drive them on the 112s. Rode a Fischer ranger before buying the deathwishes and am happy I went with the moments although they may still be too soft for what you’re looking for… could also look at some k2 Mindbenders all the homies I’ve seen ski those seem to fit your style.


Like someone said above most chargers aren’t exactly playful and i wouldn’t recommend having a -10 cm mount ski as a 1 ski quiver if that’s the role it’s gonna fill

**This post was edited on Nov 24th 2021 at 7:10:37am

vermontanaYo Soupcan, if youre still considering them - I've gotten about 5 full days in on the 188 Commander 108s in Whitefish, MT now and got a good feel for their traits. Mounted at farthest forward line (-7 I believe) Need to preface this with the fact that these are the chargiest/heaviest skis I've owned, as I've been on mostly playful, twin-tips previously. (prodigy 2,3, CT2, Armada jj) So I can't really compare to other similarly constructed skis.

They are the most confidence-inducing ski I could imagine, I was lapping a cliff zone off our expert chairlift and going bigger and farther each hit than the previous run while still landing like I couldn't be touched. If I landed backseat at all I just rolled back into the sweet spot and kept skiing. They actually weren't the ideal ski of choice for the conditions (foot or so of blower powder over a thicker base) but when conditions got mogul-y and chopped up later in the day, I could arc turns blasting through anything and feel untouchable, and they provide so much energy coming out of turns. They floated decently in deep snow too if I remembered to keep my tips up.

As for playfulness, they actually pivot and can slarve decently well, I think this is due to the tip rocker and most of the weight being underfoot. I got them into some tight trees and never felt like I was out of control, or couldn't pivot where I wanted to go. I spun some 3s and they definitely take some work to spin around, but its doable. For downsides, if you don't consciously weight the ski they can take you on a ride, and overall they are pretty demanding. For a bell-to-bell day my legs were beat compared to my powder skis (JJs). Also if you want to do much switch riding, probably not the ski, I ate shit hard while skiing switch into a transition, forgetting that I was on a directional ski, user-error. They land 180s onto groomers just fine though.

TLDR; you feel invincible on them, they have decent agility when needed, they are pretty demanding (as probably most metal chargers)

soupcanThanks for the review here. Nice to hear it from another consumer. I still haven’t pulled the trigger on anything (dam trucks). I’m still tossed on size with that ski. The 182cm is a bit smaller than what my preference is lately but 188 seems massive. Played really well with skis in that 184-186 size lately. tried the enforcer 104fr in the 186 and it was great but still a bit tossed.

soupcanThanks for the review here. Nice to hear it from another consumer. I still haven’t pulled the trigger on anything (dam trucks). I’m still tossed on size with that ski. The 182cm is a bit smaller than what my preference is lately but 188 seems massive. Played really well with skis in that 184-186 size lately. tried the enforcer 104fr in the 186 and it was great but still a bit tossed.

hot.pocketDo not get the 188.

PimpChimpinYou’re 5’7 get the 182

PimpChimpininsert fauna skis promotion:


HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF FAUNA SKIS? WE MAKE SKIS FOR FREESKIERS, MADE BY FREE SKIERS. IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE OUR ALPARKA SKI WOULD BE PERFECT FOR YOU!!

FruitBootProMocking Fauna is an L, all my homies love Fauna

hot.pocketDo not get the 188.

BigPurpleSkiSuitThis really goes against everything I've ever learned here

hot.pocketI say don't get the 188 because he needs the 194.