by kirtland » Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:16 pm
I am wondering if anyone has demoed the '14-'15 Head iSL RD and what their experience was? Since they seem to have been ignored on the forum.
I ask because I was on a quest to Demo some of the other skis referred to on the forum the last two years, that were suitable for short turns and hard snow, looking in Bend, OR, Reno, NV and Salt Lake City all to no avail. With encouragement from Jackson Hogan and with some trepidation, I bought a pair of Head iSL RD 165cm 13.1R and had them shipped to me. I was pleasantly surprised to find they are quite docile for an FIS ski. That may partially, explain why no FIS World Cup Races have been won on them. I found them to be just like RealSkiers.com review described them to be. They are specified to have a longer turning radius than any of the other FIS Slalom skis, I have looked at, and approximately the same as Head iSuperShape Speed 163cm 13.2R. I found them to arc silkie smooth, easy, forgiving, good in bumps, not to have too much energy for me to handle, if I load up the tail, handle 4-6" of wet, heavy, broken up snow with no problem and handle more speed than I would expect them too.
I have no idea how they compare to the other skis, having never located any of them to Demo. But I no longer feel compelled to look.
I found out after I bought them, that SportsLoft in Salt Lake City has them to Demo, if any one who skis Utah is interested.