Testing skis in Tignes
We had the first day of the ski season on Saturday down in Tignes. It was perfect blue sky day with no wind. The only problem was the lift company didnt get organised early enough so we didnt make it up the hill until almost 12. The snow above the top of the funicular was good but below this the mild weather had created very hard icy pistes, having said that it was still fun to be out. We had some new skis and boots to test, Kate was trying the Black Diamond Stigma which is lighter than its previous version, I had a go on the BD Aspect and the Dynafit Mustagh Ata Superlight. I also had a shot od some Dynafit Titan and Scarpa Maestrale boots. It wasn't perfect test conditions as all we could ski on was hard piste or rain crust. The boots were interesting the Titan is Dynafits top end freeride boot, its pretty heavy but is great at holding an edge and driving any size of ski. The Maestrale is really light at 1530g per boot it is light and comfortable going up hill and it held and edge on the down, I think Scarpa will sell a lot of these this winter. On the skis BD have done a good job I have never been a fan of their skis ion the past, they all felt very planky. These new skis felt like real skis they had good flex and were fun to ski on I'm looking forward to trying them in some soft snow. The Mustagh Ata Supelight is a lightweight touring ski, I havent been a fan of suplight skis in the past as the performance is usually so compromised to save weight, not any more. The ski held an edge superbly with no chatter at high or low speeds on hard ground. I can't wait for some more snow to get it out touring.