Reviews by User: Wally Phillips (18)

All I can say is: This ski loves to run! Makes high speed carved turns with ease and actually floated better than expected. This is a perfect ski for the high speed carver who forays into the off-groomed and the pow about 40% of the time.

Reverse camber skis, twin tip skis, race skis and mid-fat skis. Seeing a pattern here? It is the niche ski and it has taken over a lot of the ski market. Enter the Titan Argos from Blizzard, a ski that actually fits a term that the ski industry has been trying to accomplish for years: an excellent all-around conditions ski. Like to carve GS to long slalom arcs on groomed? no problem. A good side cut with a softer straight flex, but a stiff torsional flex takes care of that. What about floating in the pow (2 feet plus) or busting the crud? With near massive dimensions and a bit of an upturned tip, tracked or untracked powder is a blast! Not a resort skier? Not a problem. This sucker comes with the Blizzard IQ FR16, which is basically a Marker Duke binding, one of the best downhill performing touring bindings in the business! Overall, want to buy a TON of skis to do everything on the hill. That's fine, but you can buy JUST THIS SETUP and do everything on the hill!

If you take a look at this ski, yes it's big, but it doesn't ski like it. The float comes easy from the 161mm tip and the swallow-tail. It can bob and weave through powder bumps and even carve a decently solid turn on hardpack. Though it has surprising versatility, long ski lovers need to beware that it skis shorter than it is.

Definitely has an SUV personality. Take it off groomed, especially in the pow, and watch it do most anything easier than expected at almost any speed. The 190cm length makes this ski a little more versatile than it's older models, but it still takes some good power to ski. If you venture on the groomed with the Big D's, be sure that you are going mach 3 or else they won't come around very easily because of the minimal sidecut.

Well, I can't really say that. Most helmet companies are doing a great job of this, but this Variant helmet is a great overall entry into the industry. This helmet is very light and very versatile because of its venting system. The ability to partially open vents really does help in this case. The fit is pretty much dead even to what Smith is saying and the music ear pads that can be put in as an after market piece work very well. Downsides? Well, if it gets too warm, that ventilation system won't help anymore and it will fit with most goggles except some Oakley frames. Overall, a great helmet that no one will be ashamed to get noticed in.

These are a great pair of ski pants, with a few cautions. The outer material is fantastic with the usual Gore-Tex water beading off effect and keeps out cooler winds and snow doesn't stick to the soft shell material. Movement in the pants is great, if they are sized correctly. People with bigger legs, be careful. These pants do fit a little small in the leg circumference department. Also, they are the most breathable pants ever. People who do a much hiking as skiing will be overjoyed while people who mostly stay in resort will maybe want to go with a heavier weight layering bottom on this pant. One more thing, might want to get an after market belt. I find the belt to be a little flimsy. Overall, a great pant for the more athletic and energetic skier.

This burly piece from Spyder's Venom line has a freeride fit (a little on the big side, but in a good way), good maneuverability, great weather protection and warmth that will have you thinking that you are wearing down. HOLY CRAP this thing is warm. I barely would need to layer with this on in Utah. On the versatility side, I would keep this as an in resort only jacket though. Hiking in it gets to be very strenuous due to the weight.

I hadn't been on a pair of Elan skis in a while. I tried these out about a year ago at the 186cm length and I was almost shocked at how easy they are to ski in most conditions. I tried them in everything from heavy crud to 12 inches of POW to high speed groomers and it excelled in most conditions. The good parts that stuck out were that it had much better float than expected and can handle fast turns really nicely. On the down side it can get choppy in the REALLY heavy crud and the heaviest or most powerful of skiers will overpower it on high speed groomers. If you are looking for a ski that can go between the East and West Coast easily, look here.

Changing lenses, it sucks (ahem...Oakley). If you think it really sucks and you have the right kind of face, then this goggle is right up your alley. The switch is simple: Flip up the top tabs, pull off the top, pull off the sides, then pull off the bottom part of the frame. BOOM! The lens is off! To stick a new lens in, just go in reverse. Without a doubt, the easiest lens changing system so far in the industry. There is more though. The amount of vision you get top-to bottom and peripherally is surprisingly large. It also comes with either the Ignitor lens (a decent all around to sunny lens) and the Sensor Mirror lens(one of the best low light lenses in the industry). Now for the bad, there isn't much. The frame is definitely for the larger faces out there and a small amount of people have complained about an annoying amount of air coming in through the bottom. Overall, those people with bigger faces and problems switching out lenses, prepare for Nirvana!

Have worn this for XC riding since last year and it is working out well. The fit is kind of big and the material isn't terribly breathable, but it's not cotton either. Nice color scheme though and is pretty durable for semi-gnarly riding.

Great looking shirt and not too thick of a material to it. It is just a little long on the length, but that can usually be ignored. Show off the stoke for Tramdock!!

Well...it was an interesting test day for sure. 9 inches of wet snow on top of straight up crust which yielded for some interesting results. While I felt that this ski was overpowered kind of easily in most conditions, it plowed through the tracked up wet snow like a friggin' plow. It might not make sense, but it did. Untracked pow deeper than its tip rise however made the Legend Pro Rider sink quite quickly because of its lower tip profile. Groomers treated it well, but not fantastic because it took a bit of a lighter touch and a balance point that is further back on the ski than normal. Who is it for: Skiers who are adept, yet have a lighter touch. Who is it not for: Straight up powder skiers and people who hammer on their skis. Speed: 2 Long Turns: 3 Short Turns: 3 Float: 2 Crud: 4 Groomed: 3 Overall: 2.83

HOLY CRAP. Um, okay. This ski has no sidecut. I'm sure of it. Oh well, sidecut is not needed because this ski isn't exactly made for groom-running. Welcome to Armada's ultimate powder tool, the ARG. To go over why there are 5 width measurements, that comes from the Elf shoe technology that Armada used in this ski basically makes the ski look like, well, an elf shoe. The tip and tail of the ski are turned upward, giving them a "rockered" shape that gives the ski a lot of float capability. The Armada JJ has the same technology, but the ARG has a bit more rocker to it and very minimal sidecut. "How does a ski that has no sidecut ski?" you ask. Well, when you're carving on groomers, it's terrible. It's awful to the point of not bothering after the first time you try and the ski somehow tracks in the wrong direction. When you are on groomers, skid/slide your turns. Please. Not just a polite suggestion. But, in the powder, it is probably one of the best skis EVER MADE. Period. The ARG skis pow like a dream. It'll surf above the highest amounts of fresh snow, stay nimble in the tight tree lines and even if the tip sinks down into the snow, it wont get caught and slow you down. It will also slice through crud very easily with some speed and even handles harder crud and moguls pretty well. Hiking and traversing was also fairly easy to do with a ski of this shape So, the consensus is, this should only used as a powder ski. Endless amounts of powder. That's it. Nothing else but that. Who is it for: Powder skiers. Simple. Who is it not for: Anyone else. Stats: (Rating: 0 to 5; 0 being the worst, 5 being the best) Speed: 4 Long Turns: 5 (in Pow) 1 (anywhere else) Short Turns: 4 (in pow) 1 (anywhere else) Float: 5 (I'd give it a 15 if I could) Crud: 4 Groomed: 1 Overall: in pow: 3.83 everywhere else: 2.67

Makes everything almost too easy. The rockered tip and tail help to keep the ski from getting swallowed in bigger pow amounts and the amount of effective edge and sidecut actually gives some good/great short turn carving. The only negative on this ski is it doesn't handle the icy crud too well. As for the mounting of these skis, I've seen a lot of opinions and I figured I would give mine as well. I put the Marker Dukes on these skis at +3. Yes, it does lessen the tip, but then I just treat it like a slalom ski and keep my balance point near the middle of the ski. Overall, this ski is for any all mountain or big mountain skiers who get into big pow as much as they do groomers. Also, the topsheet is cool, it definitely grows on you.

May be a dumb thing to say, but very true. These pants, just like the jacket, are pretty weatherproof, big-fitting and really freakin' warm. Once again, the weight can be an issue if it is a hiking day. I would keep 'em in resort and get them a little smaller than usual.

If there is some good trekking to be had in an urban setting, the Churchill is a good choice. One of the cool parts of this shoe is that it comes with two sets of laces in case that one snaps off. On the cautionary side, I would size up a half size if there is a bit of length issue and it did take a few days to break in.

Um, I'm scared of this topsheet. No, really. Wally had nightmares after looking at this ski. Tone it down a bit K2, jeez! What freaked me out more is, this ski is actually a more versatile machine than looks may show. It is more than playful in all conditions, especially all types of fresh snow and softer crud where it can make things WAY too easy. It can even carve on the groomed, but be careful because it has a sweet spot further back on the ski and it can get squirrelly at higher speeds. The big deal is that I barely had to change up my skiing style on this ski on anything but the groomed. Also, it definitely does ski smaller than its length. Even though I was on a 179cm, it felt effort-wise more like a 172cm. This is nice because is makes the 189cm size actually make sense if anyone is intimidated by the big length. Who is it for: Skiers who charge in the off-groomed and DEEP pow, yet actually want to get back to the lift. Who is it not for: Groom-runners and skiers who gate-bash only. Speed: 3 Long Turns: 3 Short Turns: 4 Float: 5 Crud: 4 Groomed: 2 Overall: 3.5