danz 0 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 To all those interested... Just got back from my 2-week Niseko adventure...what a trip! Will get a journal entry going soon.... On to the gear. This was my first time on the Vokl V-Explosive. They are a fat twin-tip ski (120-95-112), 180cm long. I love em! First thing I noticed, well, they were really fat! I thought my upgrade last-year to mid-fats was a big step, but this is a whole different ballgame. At first I was a little intimidated...I didnt think I would ever be able to control them, or get them on edge...truth is they are a very responsive ski. Noticeably stiffer than other comparable fat skiis (way stiffer than toque's fischers...), it makes for a nice companion in the trees. The v-explosives will never be able to compete with my atomics on the groomers and general piste runs (quickness, responsiveness, springiness), but once you duck that rope they excel. They do carve nice arcs on the groomers, but it is a much more passive process than my atomics. I didnt get to truly appreciate Gandalf until I got onto the Peak at Hirafu. It is long, wide open, and always deep up there...my first instict was to go into my 100-turns approach to powder fields that I had to do with my atomics (long arcs would force my atomics to dive in)...it only took me 2 turns to realize that this wouldnt work, and it was not the will of Gandalf. Once I opened up my turns the skiis really flew down the mountain. I found myself riding my tails alot more and guiding the skiis with my body weight more so than with boot pressure (I am still not sure if this is how I should be doing it...). If I applied too much boot pressure, the ski would actually float less...wonder if this is because of its extra stiffness. These skiis also recover nicely from drops and hits...I was able to make way more recoveries with these skiis than I used to be able to make...I just hope I dont start getting lazy riding these puppies... all in all, a great ski! I am really happy with them and look forward to more open powder runs with Gandalf. I should also mention that Gandalf's facial expressoins changes depending on how you ski. He also has the power to change the weather...and the universe he holds in his hands glow in the powder! db can vouche for all of this... danz Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 COme to Hakuba and huck some cliffs glad you liked them. One if your on the tails your riding em wrong. ride them the same way as you would any other ski. center balanced so that you control the ski. The first time I used mine I had the same probs you did. Again when I used my crazy bigs same prob but I figured it out after 2 runs. hands forward and charge the mountain think ATTACK think SPEED use your tails only when you want to slow down. Link to post Share on other sites
Siem Reeves 0 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 have to agree on the riding on the tails thing. my pow airs are mounted closer to the center of the ski, so to compensate, i used to have to lean back so i wouldn't go sinking and then diving into the powder. i'm finding it hard to stop doing that on the big stix. i dunno how much toque weighs, but for me at about 50kg, the 170cm big stix are pretty stiff... yep, gotta remember i don't need to lean back!!! they are so wide that i can get away with steering with one foot in the powder (so much for using both your feet in deep snow...). LAZY LAZY LAZY. telling myself to "attack" (and i've done that often) only works sometimes. i think i need something that will give me a good painful jab in the bum if start leaning back. hold on, that's jared... nope, actually, his tactic is more along the lines of "what are you doing? ski, you fruit!!!" hey, with all this new gear everyone is getting, maybe we need new piccies of the updated quivers Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Gandalf rips. I took them for a burn and mastered them in half a run. It is true, danz was skiing in the back seat most of the time. Just joking. Those scary little bastards do indeed control your fate on the hill. Several times we sat on the chair lift bent over talking to Gandalf (much to the funny faces of the Japanese people that saw us talking to skis). Anyway, if we asked for snow, it woulkd start before we alighted from the chair. If he was happy, the universe in his hand would glow. As danz said, even his expression changed. Very scary skis. I crap you not. I was on the hill xmas day, total shite snow, sorry, ice. My phone rang, it was danz announcing his arrival at the Niseko gonola, he was coming up top meet us. Literally that moment it started to snow, by nighta we rode powder. It didn’t stop the whole time that danz and gandalf were in Niseko. You want it, danz and The G will deliver. I am going to a club with danz and his skis next weekend. I will pick up. Just stand at the bar with his Gandalf ski and it will happen. You have to be careful what you wish for. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 After seeing them I wouldn't call them Gandolf but maybe Merlin instead. As for my Bigstix. They are so beautiful. Like big land yaught. So smooth. They just float beautifully through the snow. Air? No problem. Such a huge platform. So soft. As for Stiffness. These are soft skis. I weigh plus/minus 80kg and am on the 180. But in Powder this ski ruled. It could go from super hero turns on wide faces to quick nimble turns in the tight trees. Also this has pretty much ruined me for skiing on my 1080's. Can't stand them anymore. The bigstix are just so nice. Link to post Share on other sites
mogski 0 Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 Forget Gandalf, forget Merlin, forget BigStix! You are nothing without your PocketRocket(s)! Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts