[review] - 181 4frnt MSP 04/05

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08-01-2007, 05:15 PM
lax

[review] - 181 4frnt MSP 04/05

shame on me for not reviewing it until now. i don't have much to compare it to, as it is my first pow ski and i folllowed it up with pow +s...

heres my go at it.

04-05 msp, 181
122-92-112

me: 5'11" 185
charger/dumbass/powfiend/jibber/hucker

locations: alta (3 months over the past 2 years) and a bunch of EC mountains.

let me preface my review with this:
i feel as though alot of the differences between skis is ridiculously overhpyed, all the minute differences in cores, stiffness, sidecut, and for length are ultimately minimal. this is my main gripe with the general tgr review; a difference of 5cm length, 5 mm sidecut, smidge of stiffness produces the dichotomy of ski suckage/awesometitylicktacular, i.e this ski sucks (cause it itsn't 1XX cms long) or it rawks (cause its the absolute stiffest board i could find). i find that any msp style skis all kill it (mid 90 waist, 120+ tip). unless a ski is at an extreme end of the stiffness spectrum, i feel it will ski very much like another ski with similar dimensions, but then again i don't have much experience. i'll probably contradict myself in my review, but for me dimensions, play the biggest role in a ski. i'm just sayin'.

i grew up on the EC, and fell in love with skiing maching down the steepest trail i could find (WV-true grit fro reference) on the floppiest of skis, the red scratch fs. i mean i just got used to floppy skis and how sketchy they felt, i thought this was how all people felt. i guess i'm desensitized.

anyways
i fucking love this ski. its light, and charges. with a difference from 92 to 122 mid to tips, looking down you just get stoke thinking about how it will perform on a pow day. the skis are nimble, yet still charge hard when conditions get chopped and you still feel teh need to go mach 3. they rip the chit out of groomers, alta "icy" conditions, and are comfortable going mach looney (stiff enough) and manouevering in the tight EC trees (light enought).

however, i found the only real, major difference between my msps and my pow+ was weight, unless i was hucking (pow+ = awesome huck-sticks). i just got too tired throwing the pow +s aroudn in the pow for them to be worth it. thusly the msps were just so much more manoueverable and fun for me, i felt like i could just play around in the pow and jump off shit, whereas with the pow+ you feel the need to truck the shit out of somethign all the time. i could easily lay down the same "trucking" lines with my msps with my pow +, i just had to suck it up and charge a little harder with the msps, again I feel this is minimal. whatever sketch line was a piece of cake with the pow + you just had to think about it a second more and throw yourself into a little harder with the msps.

whatever, i'm done ranting. please ask me questions i feel this is quite incomplete and i am makign an ass of myself.
08-01-2007, 11:03 PM
SponsoredByDuctTape

Quote:

Originally Posted by lax

...but for me dimensions, play the biggest role in a ski. i'm just sayin'.

Agreed. Hence.........

Quote:

Originally Posted by SponsoredByDuctTape

I've found that the only review needed is: 1) How stiff and 2) Dimensions. After that, I just buy it and get used to it.

Nice review, btw. I've been looking for a ski like this. Two questions: 1) Does it ski short or long (or like a 181)?, and 2) What is the tail kick like?
08-01-2007, 11:30 PM
dfinn

you mention ice at alta but did you get a chance to ski these on the type of real ice we get here on the wonderful east coast?
08-02-2007, 01:42 AM
ulty_guy

sweetness. i scored a pair at the end of last season for cheap and was looking forward to 'em as a generall all-purpose ski, sounds like they hit the spot. where did you mount them in relation to the 2 lines? thanks!
08-02-2007, 08:52 AM
lax

Quote:

Originally Posted by SponsoredByDuctTape

Agreed. Hence.........

Nice review, btw. I've been looking for a ski like this. Two questions: 1) Does it ski short or long (or like a 181)?, and 2) What is the tail kick like?

umm it has a pretty big nose, but the tail on my msp is really small. i would say b/c they are slightly stiff they ski normal? like i said above, i really find it hard to distinguish 5cm in length between skis and i haven't ski a ton of skis.

tail kick = ? meaning like if you're doing hop turns on s/t steep how much does teh tail interfere?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfinn

you mention ice at alta but did you get a chance to ski these on the type of real ice we get here on the wonderful east coast?

-i didn't sharpen my edges going back east at all, and usually only broke them out during fresh snow days. my strategy w/ all ice is to accelerate over it and get enough speed to lay teh edge into it. the msp set a nice edge i think, but i think as long as you liek to go fast and have sharp edges any ski can handle ice.
-translation- i didn't experience it that often. the alta "ice" i was atlking about it is legit though. the scratchy gnar bulletproof shit produced by freeze-thaw cycles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ulty_guy

sweetness. i scored a pair at the end of last season for cheap and was looking forward to 'em as a generall all-purpose ski, sounds like they hit the spot. where did you mount them in relation to the 2 lines? thanks!

i mounted em at the freeride line. i read somewhere that Matt Sterbenz ('s Pro model) rides his on the forward line for aprk and he says they still kill it in the pow, but i question that, as i have found myself tailgunning in the heavier pow.
08-02-2007, 01:57 PM
geo039

Quote:

Originally Posted by lax

umm it has a pretty big nose, but the tail on my msp is really small. i would say b/c they are slightly stiff they ski normal? like i said above, i really find it hard to distinguish 5cm in length between skis and i haven't ski a ton of skis.

tail kick = ? meaning like if you're doing hop turns on s/t steep how much does teh tail interfere?

-i didn't sharpen my edges going back east at all, and usually only broke them out during fresh snow days. my strategy w/ all ice is to accelerate over it and get enough speed to lay teh edge into it. the msp set a nice edge i think, but i think as long as you liek to go fast and have sharp edges any ski can handle ice.
-translation- i didn't experience it that often. the alta "ice" i was atlking about it is legit though. the scratchy gnar bulletproof shit produced by freeze-thaw cycles.

i mounted em at the freeride line. i read somewhere that Matt Sterbenz ('s Pro model) rides his on the forward line for aprk and he says they still kill it in the pow, but i question that, as i have found myself tailgunning in the heavier pow.

The MSP 180, even at the Freeride line, skis very center mounted and short. If I didn't move them to my park skis in my quiver I would have mounted them again at -2+
08-02-2007, 01:59 PM
geo039

Ulty,
Go for the Freeride line...or even -1/-2. If you want it for an all-around -1 will be $$$.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ulty_guy

sweetness. i scored a pair at the end of last season for cheap and was looking forward to 'em as a generall all-purpose ski, sounds like they hit the spot. where did you mount them in relation to the 2 lines? thanks!
08-03-2007, 01:54 AM
ulty_guy

thanks guys, i hate tail gunning, will go -1!
08-04-2007, 11:40 PM
SponsoredByDuctTape

Just pulled the trigger on a pair of 187s based on the reviews. Hope they're not too much for me.