Elk Mountain, PA 1/6/12 Winterfest One

  I hemmed and hawed on whether to burn a vacation day for limited terrain at Elk, but I really wanted to demo some skis. Asked for the day off Thursday, made first chair this morning. Almost didn't make first chair, I was chatting up the Rossi rep before they started loading, I had a brain fart and hesitated to ski to load the chair, I should have just let it go,I got there in plenty of time, but the rep wasn't so lucky, he grabs me and pulls me away from the chair while pushing the chair perpendicular to the ground, he was on a board. My skis were under the chair, can't believe the bindings didn't release, dropped my poles. We did both get on the chair, they stopped the lift, and handed me my poles, off we went.


  Well Elk was typical Elk at 8:30, everything was meticulously groomed. Even Tunckhannock, usually this time of year it has VW Bug sized bumps, flat as a pancake.


Top of Delaware, it was like skiing on Astro Turf, which is a lot better than not skiing at all.


Tunckhannock, just felt funny skiing this trail groomed, it never is.


I love this view, top of Susquehanna, not to shabby for PA, no offense to anyone, my Mom is from PA, right down the road from Elk, Forest City.



Looked pretty Wintery on top. My car read 52 at 3:30.

  Everything skied great in the AM, as the day wore on, Tunckhannock became pretty slick. Slalom was pretty chunky, it didn't ski bad, but it was a rough ride. I only skied it once. Kudos to Elk's crew, there was a lot more open than I had anticipated. It was a beautiful day to be outside all day, it was supposed to be cloudy in the AM, clearing in the PM. It was just the opposite, some high clouds rolling in at the end of the day.

 I ran into Big D, we had met before, both being regulars at Greek. We both demoed skis, I demoed,

Kastle BMX 98 176cm
This was the first "fat" ski I've skied. I liked it, it edged well, felt responsive and stable.

Line Prophet 98 179cm
I liked this ski, maybe would like it more a tad shorter. It edged great for such a wide ski. It was more work for me than any other ski I tried. They look like they're screaming for a big dump, they're huge.

Volkl RTM 80 176cm
Love this ski for what we ski most in the East. I kept this one for a while. The RTM was the most comfortable ski I demoed, it edges tenaciously, never feels squirrely, very confidence inspiring. I'm sure I'd rather have any of the others on a powder day, however.

Volkl Mantra 176cm
I was a little surprised how well this ski was on today's conditions. It edged pretty good, the ski felt lively and playful. If I went with a one ski quiver on the wide side, I could see skiing this ski every day, the Kastle too.

The more I think about it, I'm leaning towards something like the RTM, or even more of a front side only ski, and picking up a pair of used, or new, fatties for when they're called for. They'd be nice for any excursions West I may make also.

Nice report and a nice quiver of skis you got to try! Elk looked like it was in great shape. Nice way to start your day ;-)

All those skis seemed great for eastern conditions.

My Prophet 100s are my do-all eastern ski. When out west, however, I preferred something softer and wider. Today if I were to buy a new ski I'd be looking at the Ross S7 or the like.

I was planning on only bringing my Gotama's out west with me, though if there is no snow in the forecast for Tahoe, I will bring my Prophets.

Heading to GP in a few. Maybe I'll cya there.

Nice job, Corn.

Any GP regulars remember when GP owned Elk too???? Think mid 80's.

Camp: Greek P never owned Elk. However they did own that area in the Catskills at Stamford NY which was called Scotch Valley then renamed to I think Deer Run. It is now a NELSP abandoned area.

Big D wrote

Camp: Greek P never owned Elk. However they did own that area in the Catskills at Stamford NY which was called Scotch Valley then renamed to I think Deer Run. It is now a NELSP abandoned area.

That's right Deer Run, my bad...Elk, Deer, both stuff you can shoot and eat

You a regular at GP???

(yea, a regular at greek - about 30 x's/yr.)

The 6 skis i demoed at Elk Mtn. on 1/6/12 and opinions:
1. Line Prophet 98 (172 cm) - Wide ski, Floats and carves well. Turns quick and very nimble, 172 just long enough to be able to control speed on icy steeps. Love the 172!!!

2. Line Prophet 98 (179 cm) - I found it too long - not as quick edge to edge as the 172. The 179 felt like a Mack dump truck and the 172 felt like a high performance nimble sports car.

3. Kastle MX88 (168 cm) - Easy turning, smooth, fast, stable... really liked.

4. Kastle FX94 (166 cm) stable at 166 cm. smooth - handled frozen death cookies well... but preferred the Kastle MX88.

5. Atomic (Nomad) Crimson Ti (171 cm) - OH CRAP - I have demoed this model in the past and really liked it... BUT they put some ROCKER into it and it does not dig in and turn as quick as the older non-rocker models! Ski seems quite heavy.

6. Salomon BBR 8.9 (176 cm) - Great flotation, soft wide tip, easy to turn, stable, stiffer tail, full wood core, carves ice well... not sure how it would have handled the frozen death cookies.

campgottagopee wrote

That's right Deer Run, my bad...Elk, Deer, both stuff you can shoot and eat

Snicker.