My top ten most influential skis ever list

[aupatking]

I still see A1's at tournaments today. Nomads too. Like @Luzz said, the D3 X7. The X7 is still, incrementally, around today so I suppose it is more influential than the Nomad, but they were everywhere.

[tru-jack]

Taperflex Apex, complete with the 'Wetboot', high wrap binding. I remember heading back on the ferry from Toronto island with my dad and a friend's dad carrying their brand new Apex skis purchased at the world championships in 1979, right after @jMacSkis uncle Joel just won the world championship. Same friend and I picked up Sammy Duval redlines a few years later. good memories.

[Bdecker]

Clearly, I was on the wrong ski most of the past 40 years. Maybe that’s my excuse!

 

I did have the phantom and CDX (as well as the Mach1), these never really worked for me, but I didn’t really understand ski setup or frankly the correct way to ski the course at that point. Still lots of room for improvement in both categories today.

 

The first game changer for me was the D3 X5, and I suspect I could bolt onto one of those today and feel instantly at home. I also think the Connelly F1 and the Radar Vapor have had a huge influence on the sport.

 

Never tried a Goode, always prices just above the “beg for forgiveness” threshold with my CFO. I have ridden the C75 and that feels like it will make the list someday once more are out in the wild.

[Horton]

@Luzz I see your point but I consider the 9500 to be derivative of the 9100. I think the X7 might also be derivative of the KD 7000.

 

 

[BMG73]

I seem to recall every other skier was on a VLX in 93 or 94.

[paul413ski]

Goode 9700 even if it did fall to bits

[Jordan]

How about a word or two about what made each ski on the list stand out? I know for me the one that always comes to mind is the Taperflex Apex. A friend had one, and the second I tried it, it just turned better than any ski I had tried before that. Now,I have no idea why though, at that age I knew nothing about skis.

[eleeski]

Chuck Stearns made the earliest pure slalom skis.

 

Maharaja wood ski defined modern ski basic shape.

 

O'Brien Mach 1 (EP built?) was the composite breakthrough ski.

 

Hexcel slalom ski (later the Ajax LaPoint) was a materials game changer.

 

Goode (9100? and others) made light skis available and popular.

 

Wileys made real performance bindings.

 

Leeskis made ski manufacturers consider wide skis.

 

Denali revolutionized mold construction as a ski design tool.

 

Reflex figured out hardshell boots.

 

Horton made fins matter (or was it Schnitz? LaPoint wing?)

 

We do have lots of quality options. Thanks to everyone who helped the evolution.

 

Eric

[Nando]

I'll throw out my list, going back a few years, because I'm an old fart:

 

O'Brien Comp- the original wood one- the basis for modern slalom ski shapes. Kind of the last of the long line of wood skis and the most evolved.

EP Comp 1- largely an O'Brien shape with state of the art composite construction- for the time.

Taperflex Apex- a flawed design, but one that introduced a bunch of changes in concave and bevel designs. When it came out everyone had to have one.

Kidder Redline- refined a lot of earlier ideas into an extremely user-friendly ski.

Goode 9100- a classic with many attributes and few flaws.

Connelly HP- fit so many styles.

Mastercraft- took the Maha Lapoint design and refined it into a hugely popular ski.

HO Phantom- one of the first speed-control skis- I tried my old one recently and couldn't believe how aggressive it is.

HO A1- one of the first Zero Off skis- there may be a better example.

Denali C65- the 75 is probably a quantum leap beyond it, but the 65 is a pretty radical departure on a lot of design levels.

I also loved the Mapple T3, but it was kind of a rarity. Certainly a different approach to the torsional vs. longitudinal flex issues, though.

[Horton]

Leeskis made ski manufacturers consider wide skis.

[dvskier]

@Horton You're not giving Eric credit for being a trendsetter?

[BMG73]

Woa 30 pandas

[Horton]

@dvskier

Socks and sandals? Yes, for that Eric is a trendsetter.

[bigtex2011]

Bassett Graphite 7000

[Horton]

@bigtex2011 Seriously? Are you fishing for a Panda?

[bigtex2011]

haha. I liked it. It was way better than the Connelly Concept with that crazy fin and the clear plastic fin block protector

[andjules]

@bigtex2011 the Bassett marketing influenced me vividly!

[APB]

Easily the Radar Vapor.

[eleeski]

@BMG73 I've already got infinite pandas. I am the panda trendsetter.

 

@Horton Who was building wide skis before me? That's actually why I had to build my own skis as the narrow skis available back then were too narrow to suit me.

 

You all just wish you could be comfortable in socks and sandals!

 

Eric

[CParrish43]

The Sixam was one of my favorite skis of all time. It could run huge scores at tough places like the Masters and Moomba and just SMASH at places like trophy lakes etc. It was the first ski that Andy quit slam dunking on his onside turn. That was pretty cool too see with Andy and I watched him run a lot of 41’s on that ski !!! ( 36mph)

 

 

[AdamCord]

I'd have to agree with @CParrish43 on that one. I have a Sixam 1.0 that I pull off the shelf about once a year and ride. That thing can hang with pretty much all top of the line skis today.

[mfjaegersr]

3 pages in and zero mention of the Jobe Carbon V from 1986? It was reVolutionary.

 

 

 

?

[Stevie Boy]

@eleeski You have my attention, anybody that can generate that many Pandas, is on my favourite list, you truly must have a Great mind and clearly think Outside of the Box !

[DangerBoy]

I'm surprised that in all this discussion there's been virtually no mention of the Monza. I'm definitely about the furthest thing you can get from an expert on this subject but wasn't the Monza an important ski in its day?

[Horton]

@DangerBoy The Monza is not on my list because I have always seen it as derivative of the Sixam. The guys who were at HO at the time swear it is not true but dimensionally the skis "appear" to be identical.

[kc]

Interesting @Horton I’v never heard that before, but the Sixam and Monza are my most favorite skis of all times. Sixam was the first ski to get me on the podium at Nationals, and my tournament PB was on the Monza.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

@horton i remember that speculation when the Monza first came out - I put my sixam side by side with a Monza and outside of the “slot” around the fin common to both, they were totally different skis.

 

@Stevie Boy you are 1 for 2 about eleski. He definitely thinks outside the box (and very often outside reality), but if you think he has a “great mind” you must be bucking for the infinite panda club.

[Horton]

@Bruce_Butterfield I am certainly not saying that they skied the same. It seems obvious that the flex and rocker was completely different. I also doubt that the geometry was 100% identical but but I think they were extremely similar dimensionally.

[Nando]

I always thought of the Monza as the evolution of the phantom and when it replaced the Phantom, I got one- never could ski on that as well, though. Anyone know if the Concept was the first ski offered in 1" rather than 2" increments?

[The_MS]

The Monza was nothing like the Sixam.

[Horton]

@ms you mean the Monza skied nothing like the Sixam

[The_MS]

Not even same mold or DNA

[ALPJr]

What got me stoked and so far there has been 10.

Cypress Gardens Bronco Combos

Cypress Gardens Dick Pope Jr.

Western Auto Nash Slalom (yes bought at Western Auto in ‘75, nice wood and a fancy red strap on the front toe rubber)

O’Brien Competitor (traded the Nash for this ski - wood and I added double high wraps that I ordered COD from an ad in the back of The Water Skier in ‘76)

EP CompX2

Connelly Concept

HO Limited 9.7

HO VTX

HO Phantom

HO VtypeR

[skibrain]

What was the first edge to edge concave ski? Stiletto was first EP’s first, Competitor the first O’Brien. CG Tech 1 has to be in there pretty early. ??

[Horton]

Taperflex G100 and Apex was 1975 ish and I doubt they were first.

 

@skibrain the Stiletto was for sure not EPs first full concave ski. GX3 one other I can think of and I bet there were a bunch of others.

[Booze]

Why doesn't O'Brien re-release the Sixam?

 

[Horton]

@Booze for starters they are no longer in the business of high end slalom skis

[dwfrech]

John: Great recommendations. I don't disagree one bit. I would suggest testing 1-2 older skis. You just did that with EP Stiletto. Try the KD7000. I would be interested to see how far you go (buoys) with this one. It seemed a little less rail-sensitive to me. Very stable though. I don't know too many people who consistently test skis cross-brand (HO/Radar/D3/Denali/whatever). That is a tough gig. We don't have time (most of us) to mix any ski/any day into practice. I hope you find something good from the old lockers of ski history. Thanks John for sharing your insight.

[Horton]

@dwfrech my comments are a historical look back not recommendations. I don't think anybody should be skiing on most of these skis anymore.

[ForrestGump]

I just realized that I've had 7 of those skis on Horton's list. I'd put the Sixam and A1 as two of my all time favorites. For me, I ran a lot of buoys on the A1. Still think I got my all time highest score on it.