I've been telemarking for about 7 years. I like fairly steep slopes and bumps. Rarely ski powder. Rate myself a strong intermediate. These skis do everything I want them to. I've tried friends and rented some but haven't found any that I like better. Of course I believe that if you're good you can probably ski on barrel staves. Too many people think it's the equipment that is their problem.

Conditions: groomed runs, 2-3 feet powder, tree skiing @ ski Santa Fe, Taos, Wolf Creek.

After years of alpine skiing, I was convinced to start tele skiing. The local shop rented the Big Easy, which is just what it says. Alot of people also say it works great in deep snow, but I never tried it there. However, when I went to Wolf Creek, no one carried the Big Easy. I ended up on the Piste Stinx....and loved it. For someone making the transistion from alpine to tele, the Stinx series is a dream. When things got hairy, I just sat back and alpined it. They stinx brothers felt much more secure and alpine like than the any of the others. I personally liked the heli stinx better than the piste stinx, but they are nearly the same, and the piste stinx should be easier to find. Great for floating through not so deep snow, excellent on groomed runs, and has a deep enough sidecut to crank off short radius turns (arrgh!! the bane of my tele existance) which are needed in the trees. All around great skis.

Talked with other more talented noids - these are good beginner to intermediate skis; capable of tackling anything on the slopes, but not optimum for strong, agressive skiers, truly deep stuff or long tours.

Similar Products Used:

Compared to: K2 World Piste, Heli Stinx, Black Diamond Arc Angel, Arc Demon, Fischer Psychopathic, Tua Big Easy.