G3 Ticket or Kodiak

pin!head · Joined: 20 Apr 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Snowline, Oregon

I am looking for a ski to Mostly help me master the breakable and manky tight hemlocks below treeline in here in the Oregon Cascades....as well as This ski will also help my turns off the windy and "brutal" summits which on windy days feels like the top of the moon.

climbhoser · Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:15 pm Post subject:

I like the Ticket. I think it's snappier on the whole, which is why I gravitated towards it myself. I don't recall which one is lighter, but the Ticket is pretty light.

The PowerClaw in the Karhu is pretty sweet, and really does help with some of the torsional stiffness, but the longitudinal stiffness is way better in the Ticket. In the end, the lack of a PowerClaw on the top sheet is negligible in a ski like the Ticket, that's constructed so sweet, and the longitudinal stiffness is what I'm after when making snappy turns anyways.

vtRat · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 375 Location: Vermont

I haven't skied the Ticket, but it sounds like a good ski.

I can say that I love my Kodiaks. I didn't ski much breakable crust this year, but I did ski a lot of tight New England trees on them. They're quick and nimble. The shovels give them good float and mank-mashing power. The big surprise was that they're also fun in the bumps and carve excellent turns on hardpack! The shape of the Kodiak produces a turn that fits my style perfectly.

David · Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 251 Location: Long Beach/Mammoth

I rented Tickets this Saturday and then bought later in the day and also skied them Sunday.

I tried them on hardpack groomers, ice, thin corn on groomed, slush and thick corn ungroomed but chopped up. I liked the feel of them right away. They are very lively, and if I time my turns properly, I get a great rebound from turn to turn. They are very fast edge to edge, and have unbelievable edge hold - they really inspire confidence. I've never skied faster on groomers. They were great in all of the conditions I tried them in, but I can't comment on them in really deep snow or powder.
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climbhoser · Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:59 pm Post subject:

I can definitely speak of them in pow, too, but didn't before because I didn't know if it mattered. In pow they succeed greatly. I do not ski anything super wide underfoot, yet, so to me these are wide, floaty skis. I do wish they had a tad softer tip, but it hasn't been a problem yet. I spend my season chasing pow, so I can definitely vouch for their performance. But, on mank and ice these are the perfect ski.

Eric O · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1308 Location: Mammoth

Little bit less experience or a little more casual approach, I'd take the Kodiak; more expert and more aggressive, I'd take the Ticket. Both are medium-flexed skis (the Kodiak being the softer of the two) with relatively deep sidecuts and fairly fat tips for having an 80-81mm waist. So they're both bouncy without being limp fish, quite carvy for their width, and they both have a tip like a dive-insurance policy. The Ticket is stiff enough to require just a bit more energy input, and can correspondingly spank the beginner and reward the expert noticeably more. An expert could still be happy with the Kodiak too, but might miss the challenge/reward of the Ticket's pressure distribution. It's like another mind beneath your feet, daring you to take the best line and feeling incredibly alive when you do (Ticket) versus a happy mule that goes anywhere as long as you feed it at the end of the day (Kodiak).

Two days ago I was descending from Lamarck Col in the central Sierra, a bit above 13,000 feet, and had to cross about a horizontal mile of wind-effected late-winter type snow, with a surface consisting of oversized jigsaw puzzle pieces of varying size and density, with occasional rolling waves and occasional large smooth areas for which it was difficult to tell in advance whether they would be slick boilerplate or grabby packed powder. I powered my Tickets into parallel mode and that mile went by as if the snow had been relatively smooth. I found myself noticing the arcs and my choice of line, rather than the roughness of the snow underfoot.

I might not have expected this of the Ticket, with its lack of a damping metal layer or any other fancy plastic or rubber voodoo. Yett it conquered the highly textured wind-wrecked snow not through damping but through simply holding such a perfect arc, wherever I chose to steer it, that the ups and downs simply didn't matter. There was no cause to notice the bumpiness of the snow. I was able to look where I was going and forget any worry about catching an edge or burying a tip under the sporadic raised plates of hardpack.

I have been using the Ticket in all manner of backcountry snow conditions (except deeper powder, when my Big Stix 10.6 began to more than carry their own weight) for several weeks now and they really shine. They give me a sense that they're not for the casual or beginner backcountry skier, definitely not for anyone who is unused to skiing variable-density conditions. But if you're used to that stuff and all the knee/ankle work that goes with it, the ride is awesome. Like I mentioned above, it's almost like there is someone there with you challenging you to do it right -- and then making ordinary turns into exceptional ones when you do.

In any case, G3 probably expects the Ticket to mostly show up on-piste (where any skill level can ski it with ease and benefit greatly from its design)... the Baron, more casual and predictable as a result of a bit gentler flex and straighter dimensions, is what they would offer against the Kodiak. I'm sure I'd be loving the Baron in the Sierra backcountry right now but the Ticket is taking my skiing to the next level. Riding it over ice, corn, slush, rot, styrofoam, powder, windboard, even in the dark sometimes, it has tightened up my technique in a way I was too lazy to do. I'm grateful.

Dirk · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 444 Location: Vermont

eric, man, you know everything. You should start charging for your advice.

But since you are still giving it away free, which ski has the edge on:

a) hard, icy piste?

b) real tight, short radius turns?

Eric O · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1308 Location: Mammoth

Thanks.

The whole idea of the Kodiak's "power claw" design, where the titanal layer atop the ski is segmented in the underfoot area, is supposed to give it a noticeably better edge hold on slick conditions. The idea is that the usually smooth curve of a ski underfoot is replaced by a series of line segments that approximate a curve instead. Or actually, not quite that severe; it's a smooth curve, as you can see when you flex the Kodiak in your hands, but hidden in that curve is an unusual pressure distribution -- there should be a point of heightened pressure right under each "toenail" of the Power Claw, and areas of slightly less pressure in between those points.

Makes sense to me, sort of -- I can't say I see where an uneven pressure distribute helps any more than a nice smooth distribution does. But Karhu built the Kodiak well and tested it well, and I'm sure when their testers raved about the amazing edge hold they knew what they were talking about. I personally found no such effect; in fact I couldn't get the Kodiak to hold on true ice at all, on a day when another pair of skis did hold very well. I have to assume the pair I tested, though brand new, was not properly tuned or something. There's also the possibility that the 186 was too long for me and therefore I wasn't really (at 165 lbs) able to weight the underfoot portion of the edges enough to engage them fully. If that is true, however, then something else is strange about my test -- the 186 felt plenty soft to me and very maneuverable in general, so I can't think of any reason why I would not have been able to give the center of the edge plenty of drive.

Summary: a lot of testers give the Kodiak high marks for edge hold. I was unable to replicate their findings.

You might think the Ticket would excel at short turns with its asymmetry: that 4 meters tighter radius it has on the outside edge of each ski. But you've got to consider the flex and not just the shape. The flex of the Ticket is strong enough that unless you ski them very short, you're getting GS turns out of them and that's that. This is not bad news, however! The Ticket feels so surefooted, clean, sharp and accurate underfoot that you'll be making GS turns where you thought you wanted slalom turns -- and not even minding the speed. In fact several skiers have told me they were surprised to find themselves traveling at speeds they'd never skied before on the Ticket, while not feeling dangerous about it at all. Yeehaw!

Eric O · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1308 Location: Mammoth

By the way -- though I really liked the Kodiak (in medium and soft conditions) and though I am inseparable from my Tickets (because they're teaching me so much) -- the ski you want, for "real tight, short radius turns" on "hard, icy piste" is the Crossbow in a short length like 171cm... or a shortish Fischer Big Stix 7.6, say 175.

Now this is a west-coast northamerican opinion, of course. You could adjust for other parts of the world by picking skinnier equivalent skis Cool

Hey, I wouldn't mind if someone offered to pay me for writing about skis and skiing; but we're in a niche market here and it just hasn't happened yet.

Dirk · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 444 Location: Vermont

James · Joined: 24 Jan 2005 Posts: 33 Location: Castle Rock, CO

I would have to agree with Eric (big surprise). I was on the fence for quite a while on which one to get. I bought the Kodiacs and have demoed the Ticket. The Ticket has a little more side cut and a more snappy response. I would say it is like a Porshe turbo charged versian of my old Super Stinx. It has excelent edge hold and in the shorter for my size length it is very quick. I like the Kodiacs a little more in the bumbs and much more in powder and cut up. I am a bit disapointed in the edge hold in the Kodiacs. At first it was horible I have played around with the egde bevel to make it ok but still not near as good as the Ticket. If I had to it over I probably would still get the Kodiac but it would be a tough call. When I was in fresh powder at Grand Targhee last month I was absolutly thrilled to be on the Kodiac. When I am ripping icy blue runs at the resort I would much prefer the Ticket. Thing is I would rather ski powder.

climbhoser · Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:36 pm Post subject:

I have to add one thing: while it SOUNDS like the Ticket is a huge radius, Ferarri ski it's not quite like that. Yes, it definitely forces a larger turn radius than the Kodiak, but it's not by that much.

One thing to consider, too, is how heavy you are and what is your skiing style. At 205-210 lbs and a very aggressive skiing style the Ticket is my super tree and bump run ski. I'll admit it's a tad stiffer than I'd overall prefer for the bumps, but because of my geographical location I am forced into the trees and LOVE this ski for that purpose.

I guess for me the stiffness is a virtue in such conditions whereas to a lighter skier like Eric it may be a failing. I like that the snappiness gets me from edge to edge very quickly, so that I am unbelievably maneuverable in the trees. When I ski a soft ski in the trees I have a hell of a time because it force ME to do all the work. Some people who have a hard time flexing stiffer skis might feel forced into longer radius turns, but for me I can sink those puppies into a disgusting arc with mere thought control.

Gimme the Ticket any day in trees over the Kodiak, not to mention I prefer the edge hold.

Eric O · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1308 Location: Mammoth

Dirk, I'd call the Ticket not a "ripping high speed, big radius turn ski" but change that "big radius" to "medium radius". As for the 110 Crossride... those were my tree skis. They were my main ride when I was in South Tahoe where my favorite ski runs were narrow stripes through tall fir forest.

Joe H · Joined: 25 Jan 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Flagstaff, AZ

I found the Ticket to be a short to medium radius ski. Very snappy and easy to turn. An instant dose of happy feet. I'd think they'd be great in tight trees.

Being that I'm on 110 Crossrides and I'm sure you're favorite ski lines are somewhat similar at Mammoth (maybe?) I'd be curious, Eric, what your favorite ski is now.

Eric O · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1308 Location: Mammoth

My favorite skis at the moment: (I'm 5'11" and 165lbs)

Powder, crud, variable backcountry snow tending toward deeper stuff, and big resort days: Fischer Big Stix 10.6... 180 backcountry and 190 lift-served.

All of the above but including more tendency to areas of hardpack: G3 Reverend, 177cm.

Maximum edge control on steep frozen surfaces: BD Crossbow 171 or 179cm.

High speed resort GS skiing plus all purpose backcountry use (but not for the meek in the backcountry): G3 Ticket 174cm.

A bit more casual (but still all-conditions, all-levels) in the backcountry: K2 World Piste 2004 (174cm) or G3 Baron 177cm.

Long distance touring more mileage than turns: still with my old Tua Cirque MX 200cm... also dig Fischer S-Bounds.

Rock skis, all conditions: Volkl V-Explosiv, 190cm.

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