I took my new rockered Condors out for a couple of hours this morning. After reading through the ‘love them or hate them’ thread, I really wasn’t sure what I was going to make of them. These things are WIDE, even compared to my Revolts, and I’ve never used a rockered ski before.
I’m 65kg, 176cm tall, (143lb / 5'9") and using Spruce rise / release bindings. The conditions were very mixed - hardpack groomers, a dusting of new snow, patches of blue ice, and big piles of lumpy powder from the snow cannons.
First comment would be that I like them. I don’t LOVE them, at least not yet, but I certainly don’t hate them.
In mixed conditions like this morning, I would usually do a kind of skidding semi-carve on the Revolts to avoid catching an edge, or sliding out on ice patches. As far as I can make out, this is almost the ‘Slarving’ technique Jack has been talking about (though I suspect mine doesn’t look as elegant as it's meant to). Doing the same thing with the Condor therefore wasn’t really a big deal, and the extra width made the turns feel a lot more stable and less jittery than the Revolts. The Condors really didn’t seem to mind what kind of snow turned up - patches of powder, lumps of ice, whatever.
This is where they really seem to excel - I didn’t have to keep a careful eye out for a change in the terrain. As long as I was doing the skidding turns, the boards just went over whatever was in front of them without any additional effort. I’d normally have to make sure to pull the tips of the Revolts up as they hit a powder pile, or brace my legs as they hit an ice field, but on the Condors I didn’t really need to.
Where they were a bit disappointing was where the conditions were much better. When there is a nice wide groomer with a bit of soft-pack snow on top, carving the Revolts in wide, easy curves is a huge amount of fun. It feels smooth and effortless, and I would be in a very upright stance that doesn’t really tire my legs out at all. On the Condors, it took a lot more work to do the same thing. It wasn’t effortless anymore - it needed a very low stance, and my quads started to burn fairly rapidly. I’m going to try out some different techniques to see if I can do better, but it just didn’t feel as natural.
I’ll look forward to trying the Condors out in deep powder, which I suspect will be awesome. In dicey conditions (like today) I think the Condors will also be the best choice, since they seem to be able to happily take any rubbish that’s thrown at them. In perfect conditions, the days when being on the mountain is the most fun anyway, I would rather be on my Revolts. I’m therefore probably never going to have as much fun on the Condors as the Revolts - not because the Condors are inferior boards, but because they will only make sense in ropey conditions.
I’m not finding them as a revolutionary as I was hoping, but they are a nice addition to the R8 lineup, and so far I’m really pleased I got one of the first batch.
Scribbler
I’m 65kg, 176cm tall, (143lb / 5'9") and using Spruce rise / release bindings. The conditions were very mixed - hardpack groomers, a dusting of new snow, patches of blue ice, and big piles of lumpy powder from the snow cannons.
First comment would be that I like them. I don’t LOVE them, at least not yet, but I certainly don’t hate them.
In mixed conditions like this morning, I would usually do a kind of skidding semi-carve on the Revolts to avoid catching an edge, or sliding out on ice patches. As far as I can make out, this is almost the ‘Slarving’ technique Jack has been talking about (though I suspect mine doesn’t look as elegant as it's meant to). Doing the same thing with the Condor therefore wasn’t really a big deal, and the extra width made the turns feel a lot more stable and less jittery than the Revolts. The Condors really didn’t seem to mind what kind of snow turned up - patches of powder, lumps of ice, whatever.
This is where they really seem to excel - I didn’t have to keep a careful eye out for a change in the terrain. As long as I was doing the skidding turns, the boards just went over whatever was in front of them without any additional effort. I’d normally have to make sure to pull the tips of the Revolts up as they hit a powder pile, or brace my legs as they hit an ice field, but on the Condors I didn’t really need to.
Where they were a bit disappointing was where the conditions were much better. When there is a nice wide groomer with a bit of soft-pack snow on top, carving the Revolts in wide, easy curves is a huge amount of fun. It feels smooth and effortless, and I would be in a very upright stance that doesn’t really tire my legs out at all. On the Condors, it took a lot more work to do the same thing. It wasn’t effortless anymore - it needed a very low stance, and my quads started to burn fairly rapidly. I’m going to try out some different techniques to see if I can do better, but it just didn’t feel as natural.
I’ll look forward to trying the Condors out in deep powder, which I suspect will be awesome. In dicey conditions (like today) I think the Condors will also be the best choice, since they seem to be able to happily take any rubbish that’s thrown at them. In perfect conditions, the days when being on the mountain is the most fun anyway, I would rather be on my Revolts. I’m therefore probably never going to have as much fun on the Condors as the Revolts - not because the Condors are inferior boards, but because they will only make sense in ropey conditions.
I’m not finding them as a revolutionary as I was hoping, but they are a nice addition to the R8 lineup, and so far I’m really pleased I got one of the first batch.
Scribbler
Comment