realskiers

Hey Jim...

The SS is a fantastic ski...loves to carve but has excellent turn shape versatility. I'm going to avoid the ice hold question because in my mind, I wonder how much better the SS could be with a 3 degree side bevel.

When I mentioned "natural progression for me"...I've been watching with great interest how the new skis have been able to combine width under foot and short turning radius. I know the new materials in ski manufacturing have made great strides in torsional stability so skiing shorter really works.

The only shortfall I could find for me with the SS is that it was difficult to ski in firm to icy bumps and even larger soft bumps. The waist to tip ratio made the ski want to turn....controlable with soft feel in non bump ski conditions but found it to be harder to soft edge in control in the bumps. So I actually began to think about the SS Mag....it's dims are very similar to the P'8's. I did ride Ron's Mags and thought it was a great ski. As I started to do some research, I knew that both Fischer and Head offered great performance. The? SS Mag felt less snappy than did my SS (when it was new) so I wanted to find a ski that had Slalom/GS characteristics and started leaning toward Fischer based on my previous experience with the RX8. The new Progessor series skis were getting great reviews and it had the design characteristics I thought could provide the performance characteristics I was seeking.

I think the biggest difference is that feel of 72 underfoot. The P8 turns as quickly and solidly as the SS...but that 72 underfoot is extremely reassuring in the bumps and provides a float I can feel emanating underfoot. I had mentioned to Ron that when I skied the Mag compared to my SS, the biggest distinction was that when I pressured the edges with the SS, I felt leverage from tip to tail of the ski where with the Mag and the P8's, I can definitely fell the energy and leverage immediately underfoot. That may sound weird to some but that's what I felt.....having that sensitivity in broken snow and the bumps makes the skis feel more responsive to my feet.....and yup...that's where the skiing begins.

Hope that splains it Jim,

G ....yes and still 5'81/2 inches, and 156 lbs before a ski trip!