by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
Like every model in the Big Mountain category, Elan’s Ripstick 106 has lighter weight near the top of its design criteria. The Ripstick 106 is also in step with its competition in its use of carbon to replace heavier components, but the Slovenian ski maker deploys it in a unique fashion that takes full advantage of carbon’s capacity for shock damping and elasticity. Two 5mm-diameter tubes reside in CNC-machined grooves that follow the sidewall along the base of its all-wood core. Positioned as they are near the snow and the edge, the carbon cylinders can keep the Ripstick 106 on a calm edge when navigating rough terrain.
If you’re familiar with Elan, you’d be correct to surmise that the Ripstick 106 uses its signature, asymmetric sidecut, dubbed Amphibio. Given the Ripstick 106’s inherently looser tip and built-to-drift girth, the Amphibio effect isn’t enough to keep its tips cool, calm and collected on brittle hardpack.
But crispy corduroy isn’t where the Ripstick 106 longs to roam. It would like nothing better than to find a soft berm to sink into or bank off of. In its happy place in soft snow, it’s “super smooth and buttery,” according to an anonymous tester who tried in wind-affected crud.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
At 82mm underfoot, Elan’s new Interra 82 seems to occupy a no-man’s land between traditional carving skis, such as sister ski Insomnia, and the current focus of the women’s market, All-Mountain East models with a midriff between 88mm and 93mm. No doubt about it, the All-Mountain East genre, with its promise of all-terrain mastery, has charmed the market into believing that it’s the Promised Land of women-specific skis.
But as I argue in “82 is the new 88”, the gradual shift to narrower footprints has inspired several suppliers, including Elan, to lay a new stepping-stone in the path back to more realistic sidecuts. The reason the Women’s All-Mountain East genre assumed a dominant position in the U.S. market was its presumed superiority in off-trail conditions. But there are several reasons why many women would be even better off on a ski like the Interra 82.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
The All-Mountain East genre is split into two camps: models that represent the top end of on-trail, Frontside families (think Head V-Shape 10, Salomon XDR 88 Ti, Liberty V92) and the narrowest versions of Big Mountain fatties (e.g., Enforcer 88, Rustler 9, Kore 93). The Elan Ripstick 88 falls into the camp populated by off-trail offspring, tilting its terrain predilections towards soft snow and its pilot preference to skiers still polishing their skills.
The 19/20 Ripstick 88 replaces an 86mm-waisted version that didn’t share the same guts as the rest of the Ripstick clan. This oversight has been corrected, so the 88 now incorporates every family feature, including Elan’s signature asymmetric design, Amphibio, that puts a longer edge on the inside and longer rocker on the outside. While Amphibio helps the Ripstick 88 cope with hardpack, every other important design element, from its lightweight carbon/glass structure to its tapered tips and tails, is biased towards off-trail conditions.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 16, 2019
Enrobing a ski in a coating of carbon is like dosing it with Xanax; it calms the nerves and helps it focus on the task at hand. The inescapable comparative adjectives are “silkier” and “smoother.” With no metal underneath its ebony hide, Elan’s Ripstick 96 Black Edition needs something other than Titanal to give it the sangfroid required to batter crud aside. Its carbon sheath muffles the rough edges caused by crud-busting without hauling around the extra ounces Titanal entails.
In lighter, softer, generally more congenial off-road conditions, the Ripstick 96 Black raises its game. It doesn’t matter if the depth of the latest layer is 3 centimeters or 3 feet, put any kind of cushion under it and it will practically purr with gratitude. Because it skis narrow, it’s also easier to find a high edge angle, which helps keep its rockered tip from getting twitchy and makes negotiating tight gaps in trees dependent more on the science of technique and less on the power of prayer.
by Jackson Hogen | Aug 31, 2018
No other brand in our sport owes as much to the records and legacy of single athlete as Elan. The athlete, of course, is the incomparable Ingemar Stenmark, winner of 86 World Cup wins, all on Elan. There would be no second act on the World Cup for Elan après Ingemar,...
