Despite its emphasis on lightweight design, the Pro MT 86 TI is a heavyweight in the carving department. “Excellent carvability!” exulted Sturtevant’s of Sun Valley’s Olin Glenne when he first essayed the ski two seasons ago. “Solid feel, yet quick and very precise,” Glenne added, according the Pro MT 86 TI the distinction of his favorite all-terrain ski for Frontside conditions. All it takes to keep the Pro MT 86 TI in its traces is to keep it on edge, whether a slight edge engagement from an upright stance or a higher edge angle that cuts gashes into the groom. Its bliss is rolling edge to edge at a canter; powder up to knee high is easily defanged by the ski’s tip and tail rocker.
Sometimes simple solutions, well executed, yield surprisingly strong results. Fischer takes several measures to trim ounces off the My Pro MT 86, yet the overall impression is one of solidity and confident control. The ski is built on classic lines, with a vertically laminated all-wood core, fiberglass laminates that dictate flex distribution and rebound and ABS sidewalls for efficient energy transmission. Kimberley from California Ski Company finds the My Pro MT 86 “Responsive but forgiving. Fun and easy to ski on the whole mountain. Light,” she adds putting its lightweight in its proper place, behind its performance properties.
If there were such a tome as The Book of Ski Design Proverbs, it might contain this nugget of ancient wisdom: “Without stability, there can be no ease.” Fischer’s My Ranger 89 provides an appropriate illustration of this timeless adage’s veracity. This off-piste oriented arrow (note the slender tip dimension) earns the same marks for Finesse as the benchmark Black Pearl 88 and the New School Liberty Genesis 90, and it does so without surrendering the serenity at speed that only metal provides. That Fischer can slip Titanal around its lightweight Air Tec core and still keep a single ski’s weight at only 1620g @ 172cm is an indication of just how much material is removed in Fischer’s proprietary core milling process. The super-thin Carbon Nose inserted in the tip and tail reduces weight where it matters most.
No other ski in the All-Mountain East category remains as committed to carving as the Head Total Joy. If the Total Joy were a doctor, it would be a specialist rather than a general practitioner. Carving is it’s life’s work, as one glance at its deep-dish sidecut will tell you. Its turn radius is only 13.6 in a 163cm, and it descends to a size 148cm, which must be able to turn sitting still. The Total Joy earns its highest marks for Short-Radius Turns – third best in the entire genre – with an aggregate score will above the category average. Aside from its short-turn fetish, the Total Joy’s most tangible trait is its featherweight design, an amalgam of carbon fiber, Koroyd honeycomb and Graphene.
In the Monster 88’s evolution from unflinching rail to supple carver it hasn’t departed from its original mission: to combine race room construction with off-trail dimensions. Once the sole province of technically proficient skiers, the latest Monster 88 Ti is more accessible to the less skilled and a better overall off-piste companion. Yet it still possesses the solidity that true experts appreciate. As tester Jon Beebe attests, the Monster 88 Ti is “a charging ski that you can load up and really accelerate out of a turn.” Because it is in some ways a throwback to when most AME skis were essentially wider Frontside skis, the Monster 88 Ti is a natural option for skiers hoping to replace an earlier iteration of the genre.
