My top ten most influential skis ever list

[Horton]

Not the 10 greatest skis ever but the 10 most influential or historically significant (non-wood) skis ever. Of course this is just wintertime conversation and conjecture.

 

Goode 9100

Goode Nano One

Taperflex Apex

Kidder Redline

Connelly HP

O'Brien Sixam

HO CDX/Phantom

HO A1

KD 7000

EP Stiletto

 

Ok Argue!

 

 

 

[pgmoore]

My first realish ski was a Kidder Redline (junior). My second real ski was a KD 7000. So, I have a particular affinity for those two entries on your list.

[gregy]

Some of my best skiing was on a Connelly HP. A college teammate was getting into 38off on his although he told me his were not stock.

[aupatking]

O’Brien TRC we all wanted one

HO Extreme was the 80’s game changer

Connelly Concept was solid....solid

Jobe 1600 going Edge-to-edge tunnel when folks were still putting bumps in their rails. (I just reread and sounds wrong, just wrong. Leaving it)

I’ll concede the Redline

El Bruto with the tunnel

Goode 9100 and I don’t like to admit he did anything good. (He really has)

HO A1

Goode Nano 1 (just can’t argue)

D3 X7

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Agree on the Kidders. Would throw the Connelly Shortline in there.

[thager]

Nope. @Horton got every one!

[LeonL]

Only owned one of those, the KD 7000. Agree.

[pcmcon729]

I think @Horton is pretty damn close, although, I would drop the HO A1, and Sixam, and add Connelly Concept, as everyone had one. The Goode 9100 was an absolute game changer. When I got the 9100, not many folks in the northeast had one yet. I felt almost like I had an unfair advantage on that ski.

[liquid d]

The El Diablo "Lil Monster"! Woohooo...and...the Maherajah

[Horton]

@pcmcon729

I pondered the Concept. Connelly sold the $h*t out of those things. Perhaps they sold way more than the HP. The difference in my mind is that the HP arguably influenced many other ski designs from other factories.

 

The A1 and the Sixam were clear game changers.

 

Around the time the A1 came out, I went to the California Pro-Am and payed attention to what skis were being ridden by elite skiers who did not have a factory ride. At that time unsponsored pro skiers were overwhelmingly skiing on some Goode or the HO A1. It was the ski of choice for skiers in the know.

 

Besides that I think that it was one of the first completely unique designs of the modern all carbon era. The DNA of that ski can be found in many skis today.

 

The Sixam was the best ski Mapple ever designed and the first non-Goode that was really fast. It had some manufacturing & longevity issues so maybe there are not a huge number of them out there.

[DaveD]

With the love that the Vapor has gotten on this site, I can't believe that's not on the list.

[JAS]

Not sure if the Concept or 5 buckle vest but certainly on my list.

[eleeski]

Where's the Leeski?

 

 

Eric

 

[Than_Bogan]

I broadly agree with the list. I think if it is sorted then the 9100 and the HP are 1,2.

 

I predict the c-65 will be on such a list in a few years.

[6balls]

Loved the Stiletto (after owning Comp's and FX200's...GX3 not so much). Also loved the KD 7000 and virtually all KD/D3 that followed til I jumped ship in 2010. Not influential in the market but best and most consistent scores ever on a Razor from 2010 to 2015.

Denali 3.1 was just awesome--love the thinking behind their ongoing designs.

[The_MS]

Need to add the Tech-1 and Monza. Take the Phantom off the back of the CDX.

[Horton]

@DaveD Which Vapor? The 14-15, 16-17 and 18 are totally different skis. If the list was my personal favorite skis ever you can bet at least one of the Vapors would be on the list. I am going to say a ski has to be a few years older before it can be on this list.

[mikegile]

HO Mach 1 might make the list.

 

What about the tunnel design of the Torque Supercomp!

[thager]

@Mike Gile Best blowout ski ever! Coolest top design though!!!!

[Horton]

@Mike Gile yea that could be a major oversight on my part as long as we are talking about the original O'Brien Mach 1.

[JC McCavit]

O'Brien Competitor edge to edge concave. Ski let the regular Joe's ski right past the better skiers riding EP and Connelly Shortline.

[Rich]

The better Obrien way back was either the "special" an all white version of the original obrien competition. The really good competition had a red painted bottom that you had to take the paint off of. The less desirable mach 1 had a aluminum top and had the color on the bottom impregnated in the glass. That ski was too stiff according to Leroy Burnett. Leroy Burnett designed that ski along with the Connely HP. Bob Lapoint rode the Obrien competition usa for years with different painted tops in early to later 70's. It became a painted top jobe, maha. I still have one in my garage. Great ski!

[Rich]

that is an aluminum top, its slightly silver, the good ones were white called competition, not silver, called mach 1. The all glass one was white and had a softer flex

 

[lpskier]

O’Brien Competition and EP Comp 1 lead us from wood to glass.

 

Maha really stepped up the binding part of the equation.

[ALPJr]

EP Comp X2

[cruznski]

Great list! And in the course of history (that's a pun) I skied the Connelly HP, EP Stilleto, KD7000, Sixam (which I skied in a tournament as recently as 2016) and Goode 9100. Still have a wood 64" Obrien Competition which changed my world in the 60's. The Connelly Shortline. And have to agree with Taperflex but I do not recall the models thereof. Thanks for the concept of bringing his up. The Mahas , too- photo

 

[A_B]

Skis that took me to next levels:

 

9100/9500

Stilletto

HO Extrme

EP Comp X2

 

I got pregnant after the 9500 and still waiting to lose the baby weight.

[CBR51]

Apex, Redline, Concept/ Rocket, KD7000, Stilletto, SIXAM, Nano 1

[Nando]

The look on Dave Goode's face viewing the Leeski is priceless...

[bassfooter]

Seems you'd need the World Team Comp or Mach 1 in there, along with the EP Comp 1 or X2. Totally agree with @lpskier that these lead the way quite nicely from wood to fiberglass.

[swc5150]

I'd add the Connelly Concept

[wawaskr]

Funny.....at the end of this season, I hopped on my old 2005 Obrien Sixam (because I had sent my Goode XT back to have all the inserts replaced) and was AMAZED at how great that ski is - I had totally forgotten over the last 10 years. Consistently turns great on both sides of the course!

[andjules]

Wow, I owned 4 of those and got to ski another 2.

@Horton the one that makes me hesitate is the A1 - might have been more influential on the West coast? But as you say, it's DNA lives on.

Radar's green 14 Vapor seemed to be a bigger hit up here in central/eastern Canada.

[lpskier]

@andjules Shouldn’t you be lobbying for Saucier?

[bishop8950]

@Nando I was thinking the same thing

 

@horton great list. I can’t improve on that and the comments added since.

[DW]

@Horton : where would you rank the Fisher? I recall one element that impressed you was the manufacturing and quality of that ski and the potential knock on effect to the rest of the industry. It did seem to open the door for the Euro skis to enter the US marketplace.

[gsm_peter]

Could a high volume mid Range ski fit in?

If so I propose to add the Senate.

 

[Horton]

@DW the the Fischer was one of those super interesting outliers but I do not think it has really influenced the sport or the industry. If I was to do a list of odd ball skis the Fischer is for sure on that list.

 

@gsm_peter again this list is not the most successful, best or favorite skis.

[Gar]

Conelly Hook and Shortline, El Bruto, Skimaster, Mastercraft Mirage.

[swc5150]

x2 for Green Vapor

[Broussard]

@gsm_peter The senate is based off of the strada or vapor anyway.

[lpskier]

Oops. Wrong thread.

[KRoundy]

This first skis in my mind were the Kidder Redline and the Jobe Honeycomb. My dad has one of those O'Brien Mach 1's in his garage. His ski collection from the 60's and 70's is quite spectacular. I was thinking that the HO Mach 1 from the 80's was a pretty popular ski in its day too.

[teammalibu]

The look on Dave Goodes face while Eric explains his ski! Priceless!!

[Jaypro]

as it says "my most influential", no list can be complete without the first ski that you ever ran a full pass on. Granted, that is different for every skier, but it is also the reason all of us come this this forum every day. That ski, no matter what it was, was the most influential.

[Horton]

Working on my Stiletto review and thought I would bump this thread...

[Deanoski]

World team comp first full edge to edge ski Mike mac built

string 3

the rest of the list is spot on

[harddock]

Ya'll too young. EP Comp 1 was a game changer for many.

 

[Jody_Seal]

Western wood syderhoud

900 Duvall

1100 Duvall

Connelly HP

HO CDX

Connelly Concept

O'Brien Mapple

O'Brien sixam first edition.

Radar Strada

2019 Radar vapor pro build.

 

[Luzz]

@horton your list makes sense, tho it seems to me that the Goode 9500 would have to be in there. That ski came out and people just started winning on that thing. People still treasure the ones they have. Personally, I couldn't turn buoys on it, but I'd say that that over the Nano One. Also, the O'Brien Mapple has got to be there. What about the F1? D3 X7?

 

Okay, this is a much more complicated task that I anticipated. I give up