J SKIS Masterblaster

Anyone have them?

I wasn't planning on getting new skis this year but I got an unexpected big birthday check and I was drawn to the Masterblaster. A friend of mine who skis out west a fair amount (along with some east coast firm snow) has the Metals and absolutely raves about them. Long story short I have a pair of 181 Masterblasters on the way. Not expecting them to be hugely different from my Prophet 98s but thinking they will be a bit snappier and more playful.

I support your decision to buy from an independent American company that manufactures its skis in Canada.

I was looking at J skis, myself. Let me know how they are when I see you at Gore.

Well, have you skied them to the point where you can offer a report? I sure hope they are as good as all the reviews we have read. I just received my Masterblaster 175's today and hope to get a few runs in on Saturday after my AT bindings are mounted. Hoping this makes a nice East Coast 1 Ski Quiver!!! My skis were destroyed upon my return from Kicking Horse and Revelstoke courtesy of Air Canada.

Hey man. Sorry kind of forgot about this thread because I've been having too much fun on my Master Blasters.

The reviews are true. JLEV is a God. Fun, floaty, snappy, carvy, playful and when you want to let them run you can stand on them on all but the hardest of hardpack. I thought my line prophets were good but these skis are on a whole different level. You will love them.

Anyone else who might be reluctant to buy a ski without demoing it first - stop drooling at your screen and buy them. You can return them after 3 ski days if you don't like them. Pretty sure that doesn't happen very often.

 Thanks man! Stoked! Can't wait!

I ordered a pair of the Metals in December.  They are scheduled to be shipped on February 12th.  Can’t wait to get the bindings mounted and get on em!!

"""" OK, ABOUT 8 DAYS IN, HERE IS MY REVIEW+++++ I ski mainly in the East. I am 53, 5'-7" - 170# so I opted for the175cm version. I was forced to replace a pair of K2 Amp Rictor 90XTI - 170cm – 90 waist which were the most versatile and fun ski I have owned to date. The airlines unfortunately damaged them on my Kicking Horse / Revelstoke, BC ski trip. I decided to purchase the Masterblaster's, after countless hours of online research, day long demo's in B.C. on 4 other pair of skis, the comments of satisfied buyers on J Skis website, other on-line reviews and most important Jason's attentive responses to my individual concerns via e-mail and the companies return guarantee. Jason personally made me feel comfortable in this purchased based on discussing my skiing style and abilities. Jason’s business background is a New York / Vermont success story, one which I wanted to support. Upon rapid receipt of the skis after order placement I noticed that the tip of the ski when placed next to the 132 wide tip on the Rictor was the same exact width even though the Masterblaster is listed at 125 which surprised me. The center of boot mounting point was about 1” more forward combined with the more curled up ski tip made the distance from ski boot toe to ski tip about 1” shorter than with the Rictor which took a few runs to find my new balance point over the skis. The flex is consistently smooth from tip to tail. I have used them on very firm days and they hold an edge above expectation which surprises me the most, since to flex them they aren't what I would call stiff, similar tip flex yet less stiff in the tail vs. the Rictor. The tail releases nicely when called on in the crud or to check speed. I have raced these in my Tues. night league and produced my lowest handicap of the last 2 years. I have taken them in 8-10" of a tracked out slightly heavy crud and they manage it with ease. They are surprisingly quick edge to edge for a 96, and they have this built in springy energy, which brings a smile to your face when popping quick slalom turns along the tree line. They want to go fast, they feel super solid at speed (remind me of my old Volkl P9’s in that sense) with very little tip flap however they transition from turn shape to turn shape with ease and very little user input. Just let your mind lead you down the slope freely and the ski follows as it should. These skis are well constructed and super solid with good graphics that stand out as unique. I have mine set up with a Tyrollia Adrenaline AT binding and Skins. They aren’t the lightest skis, but they don’t feel heavy skiing them, very playful combined with a solid stable feel at speed. They remind me of an old school GS style ski but with lots of playfulness. i just came back from (2) days at Killington skiing bumps, tree's, crud etc after The Noreaster Quinn, and I even love them more now! Wow! What a great fun ski,  this is a True All Mountain Ski!!!  If you want to go wider than the 96, get the Metal, which is basically the same construction with (2) sheets of metal, carbon, fiberglass and Canadian Maple core. These ski's are everything that every says they are, and they have made the loss of my previous ski's and afterthought and are totally deserving of the name "Masterblaster - American Sender". Buy with confidence, ski with a smile!!!

Wow.  I am leaning into doing this.  Return policy is very smart (and likely seldom used).  Looks like return policy is based on the 3 ski days, not 3 days after purchase.

I love this forum, even when half of you guys get rough with each other.  Assuming that is in a loving way.  

Best,
D

Dom just do it and you won't look back.

When JLev came out with the "Make Skiing Great Again" hats I thought it was just a rip on Trumps logo. I said wait a minute. America IS Great and Skiing IS Great.

Once you get these skis you will understand that they truly do Make Skiing Great Again.

Be warned that these skis are so much fun that you will find yourself trying to pop off of every little kicker, pile of snow, rock, dirt anything. You won't be able to help yourself.

Awesome!  They are ordered and I got an email they shipped.

I had silly questions and was surprised to see that J emailed me back quickly.

It was a Tuesday or Wednesday and no one was picking up the phone.  My bet with the timing of the snow was they were skiing and checking email that day.  If I am right, I can't blame em.

Due to habits picked up in childhood, I really don't like to spend money on myself besides experience (a foreign trip, skiing, etc.) but I totally feel like a kid at Christmas waiting for these skis.

My hope is they come by tomorrow evening.  If I don't ski them this weekend, I probably won't ski them until April.  (Not complaining - this weekend will make it up to Day 20, and have had some great time with my family skiing this season.  My wife unfortunately got hit by a skier and had her season ended but is doing great.  My son is becoming a young powder hound.  Which you could actually do on the east coast the past few weekends).  

Best,
D

Oh - I am 5 8 and got the 175s, coming from Powertrack at 169 (which skis shorter than that).  

So....FedEx says the skis are in Newark, 30 miles or so west-southwest as the crow flies, as of 4 am.   But delivery says by Monday night.   I have anticipation as to whether they come by Friday night ahead of my 545 am departure for Belle . Of course those 30 miles are some of the most dense in the country and require going through at least two city borough s to get to me.  

First world problem with certainty.   Just know you guys can appreciate the gear stoke.  

Update:  The skis are at the Newark FedEx facility.  If I get there by 11 pm, I can grab em.  My wife thinks I am crazy, but probably I am going to get them tonight after rush hour.  Google says 55 to 1:20 if I leave around 9.  

My 7 yo asked if he can ski my 169's.  Boy am I in trouble down the road.  He is skiing 100's now.  

An absolute first-world problem, driven home by walking 1/2 mile from a local supermarket with gallons of water for the weekend at the awesome but low-frills ski club I roll with.  A very substantial part of the world population has to carry water every day or two.  

Anywho, should be fun this weekend. I am going to try to get Jimmy's at Belle to mount them in the morning, hopefully close to 8 a.m., so I can ski them Saturday and Sunday.  

Thanks for all the advice guys.

When I read your earlier update I was going to suggest calling them to see if you could go get them!  While I’d do it I figured most might think it a little crazy.  Go get those puppies!  

Awesome.  Most would think it crazy.  I think most here would not think it crazy : )

UPDATE for the community:

Summary:  It was a saga, but I got the skis mounted for today.  I was very impressed with the skis (albeit on the basis of a half day of hard skiing).  The jury should be out based on the amount of time on the ski, but I WAS SMILING AND SQUEALING LIKE A PIG, AND ENJOYING.  I felt like there were some hard surfaces representative of what you get on the east coast most of the time, so good for testing my everyday use.  

Conditions:  Excellent to test:  groomers were fairly firm, there was powder, and in some place lightly crusted crud.  I took these on groomers, a steep ungroomed trail (similar to cathedral brook), bumps, and in a couple of places chopped up crud.  Did not take them into trees.

Thoughts:  Excellent edge hold, edge engagement, strength/firmness through the end of the turn (definitely did not have that from the Powertrack), but also handled the bumps on Yahoo and Utsyana and Lift Line at Belle very well.  Somewhat heavier than the Powertrack, but (1) hands down the weight is worth the strength and more progressive flex, as well as better edge engagement and hold through the turn; (2) the flex is much stronger/progressive, so that you can go through Crud the Powertrack cannot.  (3) Also, by scooping or using rotary through the course of the turn, I could fairly easily do turns in a 1/2 cat corridor.  But you had to be driving the ski to do so (which was fine with me).  

Maybe I'll post about the Fedex pickup sometime (which was not smooth), but in the end FedEx did good by me.  

Love the excitement and I am sure the Fedex story is hilarious (in retrospect) but most of all I was happy to see the line below:)

DomB wrote

I WAS SMILING AND SQUEALING LIKE A PIG, AND ENJOYING.