2024 Radar Vapor Review

[jhughes]

The ski looked super level and stable too, congrats Chris.

[Chris Rossi]

Very exciting for sure! Thanks for the kind words. 

[JAS]

I finished season on 24  Senate Probuild. Don’t think it will be long until a similar thread of its own gets started. A really nice ski. Great job Radar!

[Skoot1123]

Really excited to try the new 24 Vapor.  This just confirms it!

[SteveB]

Wife and I are at worlds and got to see Joel’s run in person!  It was amazing to watch him and the crowd went wild when he ran it. 

[Chris Rossi]

Congrats to Stephen Neveu for his podium finish at the Worlds!  He rode his 2024 Vapor to his first worlds medal. 

[Horton]

@Chris Rossi I went back and rewatched Big Steve. His 39 was just stupid and then his start at 41 was so good.

[Chris Rossi]

Two totally different build and style skiers with great results. Yes they are pros but nice to see them peak performing on the ski.

[Ali]

Great to know I can run 10.25m on this ski, will get right to it 🤪

Great skiing Joel and great design work from Radar and @Chris Rossi

[rawly]

Hey @brooksand @Chris Rossi , when are you guys coming up with a Radar gas card giveaway ? This ski is costing me money. 🤣  Between listening to Spraymakers and riding that ‘24 Vapor I’ve gone from 4 sets to 10 sets or more a week. And to make it even worse , some of those sets are 8 or 10 passes. My formerly aching back thanks you. Crazy how you guys designed a top level ski that can do everything it does yet be easy on the body. Thank you so much. 

[MickeyThompson]

@rawly what were skiing on before the 24 Vapor?

[rawly]

2018 Vapor. I’ve been waiting for the next big jump , and this one is it. I haven’t been skiing a lot in the past 5 years because of my destroyed lower back. I haven’t ran my hardest pass ( -35 @34 ) in those 5 years or even attempted it. The new ski has got me around 3 ball so far. I can ride my dirt bike for multiple days in a row no problem but skiing was just too tough on it. Now all I do is ski and my dirt bike is not liking it. Don’t want to sound corny , but this ski has got me psyched on skiing again. I look forward to the next set like I did when I was younger and had a good back. Just recently  it was ski 2 sets then have problems just walking , no skiing for a week then repeat. I continued skiing because I loved it but the pain was getting to be too much and the desire was fading. Now the fire has once again been stoked. 

[Mastercrafter]

@Chris Rossi I can't expect you to share this info but if you happen to feel so inclined... 

I'm curious as to how much of the Vapor design is yours from the start, versus taking ideas and feedback from your team skiers and turning it into a ski that actually works for both them and the masses (us).  In other words, do you work 1-2 years on a design, perfect it on your own, and then give it to the team to ride, or are other skiers integral in the testing and development along the way?

In no way am I trying to discredit the "Chris Rossi Design". I simply find it interesting that it works so well for so many different skiers and styles. Can't be an easy feat to design a ski that does that. 

 

 

 

[MDB1056]

To my knowledge ALL the manufacturers rely heavily on input from their team skiers in the development and evolution of their skis. The “design team” at any shop will have a lead and I’m confident Radar is no exception. The very recent BOS post of the TWBC podcast Tony did with Joel Howley is a great example, as Joel notes he’d receive packages of 3-4,skis at a time to test with tweaks he and others had suggested - he’d send feedback, more skis arrive, etc The HO design team folks all take input from their skiers as several other interviews and statements have also stated. Read prior discussions between Dave and Regina on Goode design changes, D3 gets lots of feedback. Kudos to Radar and Chris Rossi galore for their 2024 design . Dream teams always have great leaders 

[gavski]

Rossi has been involved from the start..Every radar ski has his dna all over it….the process doesn’t stop when a ski is produced…it is a constant process of tweaking and improvement…there is no rest..

looks like the ‘24 is a step change..whether it’s the shape or the materials or both - it looks awesome..

well done Rossi - well done team radar..well done Joel!!

[Chris Rossi]

@rawly its testimonials like yours that make the whole process worth while.  Enjoy the ride.

@gavski really appreciate the support.  

@Mastercrafter Input and design ideas come from all of our team skiers and testers, consumers, dealers, and from my personal experiences on the ski.  I then sift though all the input and decide on the best design changes that I believe will translate well for our consumers as well as our pros.  The consumer experience on the ski is very important to us at Radar.  Winning pro events is amazing and something we are passionate about but we also spend as much effort to make sure that our consumer base will be able to peak perform on the product.  I can say without a doubt that I am as excited to hear of your personal best on a radar product as I am to hear that Joel Poland ran 41 on the ski at the World Championships. As @MDB1056 mentioned, we have a dream team at Radar with a lot of years of experience and knowledge that I am fortunate enough to work with and none of what I do would be possible without them.  

 

 

[coach3]

@Hortonany video of running 38?

[Horton]

@coach3

unfortunately I only ran a handful of 38s all year & I did not capture one on the Radar.

[Slalom.Steve]

On 10/4/2023 at 12:14 PM, Chris Rossi said:

When I have skiers try the new 24 Vapor, I have them take a set at the factory short/deep settings and then have them ski a second set with the long/shallow settings.

@Chris Rossi Question regarding this: I got my '24 Vapor but not before the Midwest season came to an end😭. So my first set on the '24 will (likely) also be my first set in over 6 months come next spring. I've got the fin set at short/deep to start as recommended, but I'm worried I'll be rusty and not really tuned into the ski anyways (I'm 32-34mph, 15-28off) and thus not able to get good feedback on trying different settings. And I imagine I'll ski better on my 2nd day even if I were to keep the same settings, so if I do a day at S/D then a day at L/S and improve, is it the setting or is it just getting comfortable on the water again?

All that said, my previous skis were a '16 Vapor and a '22 Vapor, which only have one stock setting specs, and I only ever ran those at stock. So I've never in my life made a big (or any) fin change. Will it be obvious enough which I prefer even with it being the first rides of the year?

(yes I am planning for my ski rides 6 months in advance lol)

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@Slalom.Steve That's a definitely a different scenario than just switching skis mid summer. I would ride the ski for a while at short/deep maybe 10 sets and once you feel a bit more comfortable make the move and try long/shallow. That way you have more of a baseline. Your biggest obstacle is more getting back into the groove of skiing. 

[Slalom.Steve]

@ColeGiacopuzzi - sounds good. or should I star with long/shallow, if that seems to be the more preferred option?

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@Slalom.Steve I would start at Short/deep first then try Long/shallow. 

[aupatking]

Not that my opinion is worth anything but I agree with @ColeGiacopuzzi. I’ve always gravitated toward the L/S settings on other Vapors but the “24 felt better with S/D to start. Now that I am comfortable with what the ski wants, I feel like I can go back and mess around with the L/S

[ColeGiacopuzzi]

@Slalom.Steve @aupatking I ran short deep on the 24 for more than a year and then went to long/shallow to try a different route and felt like I could work with the boat better.  The ski works extremely well with both settings there isn’t a wrong answer, I’ve ran short/deep on almost every one of our skis. it’s just what feels more comfortable to you. We’re recommending people to start at short/deep when they get the ski and then like @Chris Rossi said give long/ shallow a try soon after to feel the difference. 

[Horton]

@ColeGiacopuzzi is confusing me

[Kimbymon]

On 9/28/2023 at 2:22 PM, Skiphreak said:

@Horton @ColeGiacopuzzi do you see any issue using the new Vapor at slower speeds? Just learning the course and I’m really slow - 28-30. I’ve always figured that’s what the Senate is for (which is what I’m on), but this review has me thinking. 

My opener is 26mph running up into 32mph. I skied on @Mastercrafter’s 24’ vapor this fall on the short/deep settings and had no issues skiing 26mph - 5@30mph .

I’ve been on a 2020 vapor since fall of 2020 at those slow speeds and never had an issue. 

Can’t wait to get on the 24’ vapor I just received. 

[Horton]

@Kimbymon I have had very good success putting skiers at your level on to Vapors. 

[Kimbymon]

@Horton I’ve even run many a 24mph pass on the vapor. Those who know me know how much I whine and complain about my opening speed, but I know with 100% certainty I will run it. So I will continue to run that as my opener until I get farther into 32mph.  

[jjackkrash]

27 minutes ago, Kimbymon said:

. Those who know me know how much I whine and complain about my opening speed, but I know with 100% certainty I will run it. So I will continue to run that as my opener until I get farther into 32mph.  

This last season my boy was running run into 36 mph; it took him 5 passes to get there (all @28 off).  There's nothing wrong with running passes and nothing worse than a MOP.   

[Kimbymon]

1 minute ago, jjackkrash said:

This last season my boy was running run into 36 mph; it took him 5 passes to get there (all @28 off).  There's nothing wrong with running passes and nothing worse than a MOP.   

I completely agree. As long as I run my opener, everything else is gravy.  It’s that score at 2 or 3 balls, that just kills you.