SnowSlider - Blogging From the mountains by ise

Another review or owners reports for the Garmont Endorphin freeride ski boot. This is the boot I’m using this season to match my Stöckli StormRiders and Fritschi Diamir Freeride Plus touring bindings. It’s a hybrid downhill / touring boot recently launched by Garmont.

Name : Stockli Stormrider XL (really it’s Stöckli or course, and better rendered as Stoeckli)

Manufacturer Web site : http://www.stoeckli.ch/index_fr.htm

First Use : March 2006

Size(cm) / Radius(m) : 164/16.3 174/18.5 184/20.8 194/23.2

Side cut : 116-75-102

click on photo’ full-size version

Why : I’m a bit of a Stöckli fan and have a pair of Laser SC’s, in fact we’ve two pairs of SC’s as my girlfriend has a pair as well. I’d skied the Stormriders several times in this model and in previous model. Just before buying them I’d had a pair from Stöckli on loan for a period while they repaired my Lasers after I’d holed them so I had the opportunity to do an extended test. We expect to be in Zinal for the next season and I wanted to access some of the more remote off-piste areas in the valley so I was interested in getting a new ski with a touring binding.

There’s several reasons why I like Stockli skis, they are a simple no-nonsense design, hand-made in Switzerland. They’re robust and solid, my Stockli Lasers are at around 100 days usage and look good for next season and I can’t say I’m especially careful about where I ski. Here in Switzerland the customer service is just exceptional, it takes a little time to select skis like the Lasers or Stormriders as being hand made the flex or stiffness of the ski alters a little between each pair, the guys in the store always take the time to ensure you’ve the right pair. When I holed my Lasers badly and beyond my ability to repair I expected to need a new pair but the local Stockli store looked at them and repaired them for a nominal charge, a repair’s that’s so good I can hardly see it and one that certainly feels good to ski on.

First report (August 2006) : So far I’ve been able to ski this in a a variety of spring conditions at Les Arcs, Val d’Isere and Les Diablerets. I used this ski when I skied the North Face of the Bellecôte and Le Col Pers in Val d’Isere and was delighted with it. It was fantastic when crashing around at speed in powder on the Bellecôte glacier and more than stable on piste.

Prior to that I’d used some loaners in March for a week or so, we’d had an amount of new snow around then which locally in the pre-alpes was varying between light powder and wet snow. One day at Moléson was particularly varied and made a really good test day for the Stormriders, some of the pistes were partially prepared so the surface varied from groomed, to powder, to heavy snow with some chopped up wet snow and powder thrown in. It’s in this sort of terrain that the Stormriders really excel, handling the transition between surfaces without any hesitation.

My Stormriders are fitted with Fritschi Diamir Freeride Plus bindings, these are a hybrid alpine / touring binding. There’s a review of those on this site : Fritschi Diamir Freeride Plus (2006/2007)

The Good : a versatile ski very at home off piste

The Bad : very little, the ski needs a lot of work to get the most from so it’s not for everyone.

Notes : I see that several web sites are listing a Stockli Stormrider XL 2007 model, I don’t think this is correct according to the last conversation I had with Stöckli. Most of their models run on a two year cycle, the Stormrider (XL and AT) are duel for replacements for the 07/08 season. The model on sale for 2007 is unchanged from 2005/2006.

We’ve had loads of snow overnight so the roads were going to be difficult and it looked best to leave a little later allowing the snow-ploughs to do their work and then head for the closest station which is Moléson.

The full gallery is here.

It was pretty quiet when I arrived, the relatively poor weather keeps people at home so the car park was empty. I’m still skiing on the Stormriders on test from Stöckli while they repair my lasers. The Stormriders come into their own on days like today, there’s been some wet heavy snow topped with a lot of powder, the partially prepared pistes vary between corduroy and chopped/mixed powder and wet snow; the Stormriders just eat this up.

There’s some great skiing in the trees from the top of the funicular down to the base station crossing under the actual rails a few times.

The weather was pretty good really, by the end of the day the visibility was best which gives a little added energy to tired muscles on the the last couple of lines Driving home it broke into sunshine and just looked great.