This is going to seem like an odd way to begin a review of the returning Line Sick Day 104, but if you love skiing powder – and I know you do – you have got to ski the 19/20 version of the Sir Francis Bacon. One of Eric Pollard’s original signature models, the SFB has been subjected to a series of tweaks over its long tenure. Now something very much like the original (143/107/139) is back, and it’s crazy good.
If you’re over forty, you may feel you’ve outgrown Line’s Peter Pan posture of perpetual youth, but Line has always had a knack for making fun skis for skiers of any age, even deep into dotage territory. The Back to the Future re-appearance of something like the original SFB is another example of how Line makes skis that are as suitable for septuagenarians as they are for teens. It’s floaty, poppy and the epitome of playful.
Alas, the window for testing Big Mountain models isn’t open long; only so many can be essayed in a day. We simply didn’t collect enough feedback on Sir Francis Bacon to rate him, but during my brief, blissful exposure I fell in love with the good knight’s symbiotic relationship with soft snow. Few, if any, other skis of its girth can make short-radius turns in crud with such consummate ease.
I know, this is supposed to be a review of the Sick Day 104, but I have to mention two other Big Mountain models from Line that didn’t reap enough results to rank. The new Vision 108 should be a shoo-in as a Finesse favorite, as it’s absurdly light (1605g) and simple to steer. It prefers its turns medium to long, although it can be coaxed into a tidier turn if raked to a high enough edge angle. The swallowtail Sakana (105mm underfoot) adds Titanal to its tail feathers, inviting the pilot to toy with its cutaway tail.
As for the Sick Day 104, the narrowest of Line’s Big Mountain bunch, it’s like the bright, bored student who could get good grades for edge grip but would rather skip class than let The Man tell it how to ski. Its natural tendency is to show up a little late for the turn, gradually roll up on its side then bank off its broad base to finish the arc. Given a choice between drifting and carving, the Sick Day 104 will take the slacker route every time. If the pilot insists on riding it at a high edge angle it will finish a turn with a little energy from its Carbon Magic Fingers, but if ridden with a loose rein it will revert to its drifting ways.
