Long winded ramblings about the "Best Ski Ever"

[Horton]

I am starting Ski Reviews this weekend so it is time to talk about the “Best Ski Ever”.

 

I get a fair amount of crap about cheerleading every ski as the next “Best Ski Ever”. Part of this is the Ballers trying to be funny (I may ban you all :-) Part of it is Ballers not reading carefully. Partly it is because it is true.

 

Yes, I said it. It is true! The best ski ever is one of the new skis. Sometimes it is a tiny bit better. Sometimes it is a game changer. Sometimes your buddy loves it but you can’t make it work or the other way around. Confused yet?

 

The business of selling slalom skis is ridiculously competitive. Every factory is scratching for any advantage. Continuous improvement is what they must strive for. Look at other industries: Do you think a 2013 computer is better than a 2008 computer? Is a 2013 Chevy truck better than a 2003 Chevy truck? Is your three year old phone as good as the newest iPhone or Galaxy S III? Any TV today vs. 5 years ago. You may not agree with all these examples but you get my point.

 

Skis seem to advance in 2 or 3 year cycles. The Nano One is the first big ski of a new generation. Many skiers gained a lot of balls on the Nano One. It was a big deal. It was clearly the most talked about ski of 2012. Not every skier loved it but it had a real impact. As a result, every ski designer, engineer and marketing VP in the sport muttered a number of obscenities, put on another pot of coffee and went back to work.

 

By the end of this year there we will have taken a measure of a new batch of skis. For the most part they will be better than the last batch. The result is we the skiers will get better skis. The next “Best Ski Ever” might be the Mapple or A3 or Quest or Strada II(?) or Nano Two (?) or a SansRival or a Razor or … and then the cycle starts all over again.

 

[The_MS]

07 Monza

 

[Horton]

@MS you tell yourself that.

[gregy]

Thats funny, before I even clicked on the post I was thinking @MS and Monza.

[Wish]

No no no no. The ski we just dropped a ton of money is THE best ski ever. There can't be a better ski. And yes, I'll keep telling myself that.

[A_B]

9100 240 AMP. No ski since then has given me the same wow factor.

[Than_Bogan]

Well said. It should be the case that the best ski ever comes along every year. That's progress.

 

More interesting to me are the largest jumps. So far the 9100 was by far the biggest jump for me. The Nano One might be second -- it feels like a very big jump for me. But it's not close to the delta that the 9100 brought me.

 

P.S. You call THAT long-winded?? Amateur.

[The_MS]

If I could get Eddie to pull the mold out and build me another with the same flex as my 07, I would buy it and sell the N1. Actually @Mrs.MS would get the N1 so I always have it as a back up.

[thager]

@ MS Buy a 67" 6.0 so I can buy it from you for less.

[BraceMaker]

When I was last on a Goode I was light enough that I had a 140 amp.

[JC McCavit]

For the times...O'Brien Competitor then first year of the Monza and now the Strada.

[Horton]

@Than_Bogan the first version was twice as long but it was too rambling. Hint Hint

[lpskier]

EP Comp 1 and Connolly Concept. These skies mark the transition from the Dark Ages to modern slalom skiing.

[Horton]

@Lpskier I think there are some gaps in your timeline. Here is my rough list

 

Stoneages

Taperflex Apex

Kidder Redline

EP Comp 1

O'Brien Competitor

Saucier

 

Dark Ages

Connelly HP

HO Extreme

Duvall VA

Jobe 1200

 

Early Modern

EP Stiletto

Goode 9100

HO CDX

Connelly Concept

KD 7000

 

Modern

O'Brien Sixam

D3 X5

HO Monza

HO A1

Fischer

Goode Mid

Goode Nano One

 

 

[eleeski]

Great list @Horton! But you forgot the Leeski that the modern skis copied.

Eric

[SkiJay]

... and getting the most out of each evolution of the ski has influenced a similar evolution in skiing technique. Or is it the other way around?

[Horton]

hard question to answer. I would say it all happenes in parallel. it is all evolution

[kmenard]

I am going from the dark ages (HO extreme) to a Senate C...should be an interesting transition :)

[Horton]

@scotchipman

 

No. I think you have missed my point. Each one of these skis was ground breaking when it came out. There is no best ski in each group, only a most evolutionary ski at one point within the era. If you had the issue date of each ski and the newer ski was not better than the previous it should not be on my list. Further more, there are some freak'n awesome skis that did not make the list because they did not make a big splash or because they were not that much different from their predecessor. I think the most under appreciated ski in the last 5 years is the Fusion. In 5 years I doubt we well talk about he Fusion the way some of us talk about the old Red and Blue Sixam but the Fusion is really freak'n good.

 

Since you bleed Orange and Black more than Dave himself: You will notice that I included the 9100 but none of the other traditional shaped Goodes. I assume that they got better nearly every year but nothing ground breaking. The Mid or the N1 make my list because they made everyone stop and look.

 

For the record, I totally made up the list and the eras after 3 beers so I might have even screwed up the chronology, the logic and I am not sure the Duvall belongs on the list. I am not even going to claim it is well thought out.

[JC McCavit]

So much is personal preference. I really liked being reminded how cool all the top skies were in their hay day. What is even cooler is that every year we get to see another batch of awesome skis we will savor in our watersking memories. I can't wait to see next years skis, I wish I had time to try them all.

[The_MS]

Stoneages

Cypress Gardens Tech-1 is the second best ski ever

 

[Horton]

@MS I trust you since you were in your prime when that ski came out.

[KcSwerver]

Moving from a Connelly Concept to a Goode 9900... Get ready to die

[ALPJr]

Nice list of skis Mr Horton. I am considering updating my ski this year and will be checking your reviews closely. Here's my ski timeline: Obrien Competitor (wood); EP Comp X2; Connelly Concept; HO VTX, HO Phanton. I'm leaning towards an HO (xl, s2, a3) and I like the look of the Apex boots. I'll need to get Dave Spencer to agree to set it up for me though. He set up my Phantom in 2001 and I have not changed it since.

[The_MS]

Ricky and Lucky rode the Tech-1 to many titles.

@Horton I was also skiing behind a 78 Ski Tique.

[lpskier]

For me, Stone Age was Taperflex (Formica and a carpet), Northland (Saber and Shark, both Warren WItherall signature models), and Mesle (a 62 and then a 66). Was the Tech-1 really a Cypress Gardens ski, or was it made by EP? I have a recollection of the Tech-1 and the Comp 1 being the same ski, but I could just be imagining that.

[thager]

Strange that the O'Brien Mach 1 (red/blue) was not mentioned with the early stone age skis. Here it was about an equal mix of Saucier, O'Brien, EP in the early 70's. Muscle skiers loved it.

[Horton]

@thager an oversight

[6balls]

I always felt KD and later D3 have been under-appreciated. I'm not on one right now, but these skis have evolved to consistently be great skis year over year and it continues today. Just like @horton mentions above the fusion may never have that long term "status" position, when there is no reason that it shouldn't. Great skis time and again from that r/d department often overshadowed by the latest buzz from elsewhere. 7000, CR7, X5, X5 Pro, Nomad, Nomad RC, Z7 and ST, X7, Quest...find me a stinker in there???? These were and all are great skis from a company with great build quality and customer service.

[MattP]

Im glad i was not even alive for the Stone Ages, Dark Ages or Early Modern skis...

[The_MS]

@MattP You missed the hay day of Water skiing. ESPN Hot Summer Nights, Bud light tour and the Nationals were even on the Wide World of Sports.

[MattP]

@MS I know... My goal is to help the sport get back to the stage it once had.

[The_MS]

We need a beer sponsor. It didn't hurt to have Camille, Leachman, the Larson twins and other babes standing around in dental floss.

[sbink]

The 9700 gave you about 3 extra buoys and allowed you to use a little shorter ski.

It was a gift from God,oops I mean Goode.

[Dusty]

Hey John- What effect/influence do you see the sponsored Pro skiers having with the "best" ski? In a lot of conversations over the years- I have often heard words to the effect of "I know it's a great ski, but I have never been able to ride a ski that 'so and so' prefers or helped design" or whatever. Due style or technique or whatever, some "best" may not work for "the best"?

[Horton]

A ski design is a direct result of the designer. Sometimes the design is driven by a pro skier and sometimes it is someone else.I suppose a truly great slalom ski is the result of genius, black magic, alchemy, and luck.