The Katana is hugely versatile ski but its heavy, did not jump well(Was dead) and in the 183cm wasnt stable enough for me out west.
Touring on it was a pain in my ass. My 186cm Sickles are not light but much lighter than Katana.
the sickle give up alittle slow speed quickness, and hard crud(think refrozen 2 feet of wet snow) over the katana but make it up in more playful feel nearly everywhere, more stability and nimble at higher speed in normalish snow, and is easier to engage the edge on groomers and they also have real twin for messing around in powder snow. Both the katana and sickle share a nearly identical sidecut and the same long low rise reverse camber the main difference is the Katana has 2 sheets of titanal. The metals makes the most difference in crud that can cause deflection.
With that said the Cochise has hands down the widest range of performance in the 110mm ish skis. The 185cm Cochise has higher speed limit than either the 183cm Katana or 186cm Sickle, has more edge grip than either, bust though crud at higher speed better than either(the katana does a great job at slow speed manky busting though), ski powder better than both of them and is more nimble at moderate to high speeds than either.
Its downside are slow speed maneuverability read EC trees/bumps, and again weight(only a concern for going up). I really want a pair but considering most of our powder skiing is in tight confines I cant justify it just yet. It will be mounted with Alpine binding.
Home
Login
Register