HO VTR - First Rides

[Horton]

This is going to be a fun review. After the first ride I know this ski is not like any other ski on the market. Thank gosh for a ski with some personality!

[MrJones]

The Denali didn't have "personality"? :)

[skidawg]

the Vapor doesnt' have personality?

[Than_Bogan]

@Horton That'll teach you to try to write a compliment! :)

[MrJones]

In all seriousness, I agree with you Horton. I rode the VT-R demoing skis this spring and liked it. It does feel different, not in a bad way at all, but as you say it has personality.

 

Have fun with the review.

[Horton]

Missed my first pass. Ran the next sketchy. Third was better. 6th pass crushed 35 and back to the dock. Interesting to say the least.

[gregy]

I fell at 1 ball first 2 tries. Started getting the hang of it after that. Felt like it had potential. May have been the setup I had but it had much less roll resistance compared to what I was used to and it turned really well as long as you just let it do it's thing and not force it.

[gginco]

@horton 6.930, .730, 2.485 29.5 (67") Take all the angle you want and then a few degrees more and it'll be reward you for it!!!

[Horton]

I rode it today with totally different settings. Not quite as "entertaining" but felt very good. I suspect this ski and I are gonna get along just fine.

[mmosley899]

@gginco your settings are not anything like mine! But second set on the ski I skied right up to my average. I definitely like the ski...

[aupatking]

Of the three guys I put on that ski, we all got through our first sets and none of us disliked the ski, but the only thing that any of us could say was, "it's a different animal" for sure. One of the guys that bought one is progressing to shorter line lengths faster than any of the rest of us. He's catching up with me a little too quickly.

[Horton]

Settings today.

6.900

2.500

.735

8

29.5

 

Next set i am taking out a bit of depth

[Ilivetoski]

I would be interested to see what you think of your bindings a notch forward. I think I know what will happen, but telling you would ruin the fun

[Horton]

@Live2ski that is not an appealing sales pitch.

[Jweber]

@Horton what length VTR are you on?

 

[Horton]

67

[Booze]

@Horton - That's the same thing that happened the 67 I demo'd at the TX BallSpray tourny. Actually I missed 2 28's. It was cool having WA drive/watch. And, yes, it is a different ski. Not anything like an A2 or S2 IMO.

[Ilivetoski]

I skied my V type 2 sets on Tuesday and first set tonight. Ran 32 on it which I have not been doing on the R. @AdamCord happened to be out at our lake tonight and I asked him to make an adjustment and watch from the boat. Back to back to back 32s, and ran over the top of 3 ball at 35. I have never even gotten a pull to 3 ball at 35. I had 2 passes I could have gotten around 3 ball. The adjustment, and Adams coaching, have me feeling like 35 is going down soon

[Ilivetoski]

The adjustment was ten thousands forward btw, made the offside feel sooo much better out of the buoy

[Horton]

Here is a little video. Off side is a little rough - I need to add a little fin plus my gate pull out timing is all wrong.

 

https://youtu.be/h4URPTRAL1Q

https://youtu.be/QLV64sKRhVQ

[Horton]

Tweaked on the fin this morning for rides 8 & 9. 32 and 35 are now effortless.

 

Sadly my IQ goes down a bit at 38 and I am yet to run it on this ski. Off side one balls at 38 are insane good so it is only a matter of time before I drop a 38.

 

[brettmainer]

If you wait for the wisdom of a M4 skier, you must also wait for his aged body. Pretty sure that is an ancient Chinese proverb.

[acmx]

@brettmainer too funny!!

[Horton]

@DaveLemons 8 rides in the last 5 days

[ALPJr]

Update?

[Horton]

With a bit of luck the actual review will be published late this week

[Hockdog]

@brettmainer, aren't you a M4 skier?

 

Wait till you hit M5, then you'll see and be able to......uhh, wait.......I need a minute.....ummm.....oooh, bright shiny thing!

[TravisNW]

Loving the super long shallow fin set up that I never thought I would love. I was having trouble on the vtr I felt like it didnt want to come back to the wakes at the finish of the turn and instead would run down the course making it feel really fast. After changing to these settings this will definitely be my ride for regionals and nationals.

 

Magic numbers for my 66"

6.990

2.470

.735 measured with calipers from tail to wherever it makes contact on the rear bevel. On a longer ski you might try forward more to .750

Wing 8 though I'm thinking of dropping to 7 or 6

Bindings stock

 

[wskier]

@Horton it almost looks like your to early. Your turns look great on both sides. Can you show us a 38.

[ALPJr]

Mid-review

[Horton]

I rode the baseline ski last night. I will ride VTR maybe 4 rides and then start writing the darn review. I like the ski a lot but it is very different and it's going to be challenging to describe accurately it in text.

[The_MS]

@Horton Let me know what pylon camera mount you are using so I know which one not to buy.

[Horton]

@MS that is a R&D mount. The next version is way better.

[The_MS]

I hope so

[TravisNW]

Looks good, but as I mentioned earlier the settings to try are the ones formerly mentioned. It has been said that the focus is actually on tail slide, as it is believed to be an important factor for running the shorter line passes. The testers and by testers I mostly mean the tester whom I'm sure you could guess has been running shallow long settings as a constant from ski to ski throughout the development of HO from VTR on. The ski worked for me at 34 with typical shorter deeper settings or near stock settings but it definitely wasn't coming back to the wakes without some work at 36. It was like a boomerang that wouldn't come back. The increased length gave the ski a subtle bite throughout the turn and you know this ski was designed to run passes.

 

Gate needs work, get that turn initiated and over with, its so long and slow that your not getting max direction and space into one. Just my two cents.