G3 / Scarpa shred up Park City Powder Cats
G3 and Scarpa teamed up to get a few media folks onto next years skis and boots and they chose Park City Powder Cats as the testing grounds. Having skied a handful of Cat Skiing operations in BC I have to say I was blown away by the terrain and quality of skiing that Park City Powder Cats had to offer. Located on 1000 Peak Ranch in the Uinta Mountains, Park City Powder Cats has 40,000 acres of terrain so its impossible to ski it all and rare that you’ll ever cross another ski track. With a base elevation of 7,600ft Park City Powder Cats get good quality snow and with a high elevation of 11,000ft on Windy Peak there’s lots of long fall lines to enjoy.
We spent the day at Park City Powder Cats carving up about a foot of fresh light pow on some big open bowls, the perfect testing ground for the new G3 FINDr Skis and the Scarpa F1 Boots. The big story with the new FINDr Skis is that they have integrated a PU sidewall to dampen any vibration in the ski which provides a really stable, fun, light ski that can tackle variable snow and deep powder alike. This was by far my favourite ski that I tested over the day because it was so much fun and could tackle anything the mountains threw at us. G3 also had the Synapse 109 and Empire skis for us to ride, both of which have not changes for next season other than their top sheet designs. All of the skis were mounted with the new Ion 12’s (which we reviewed over here) or the Ion 12 LT’s which are pretty much the same, only with the absence of a brake.
Have a look at the specs for both the G3 FINDr Skis and SCALA Skins below:
G3 FINDr Skis
- Flyride Plus construction with PU sidewalls
- 3D shaping to reduce weight and maintain durability
- Traditional Camber with early rise
Models: FINDr 86, FINDr94, FINDr102
Dimensions: 133 / 102 / 120mm (10cm length)
Lengths: 174, 179, 184, 189cm
Weight: 1.48kk / 3lb 4 oz (174 single)
SCALA Skins
- Urethane Hybrid Tip Connector for improved glide & ef?ciency
- Scale pattern offers exceptional edge traction in technical terrain
- Stiff material in the tip allows for ?at-packing and easy ?t in a backpack or jacket
Sizes: Short 153-169cm, Medium 168=184cm, Long183-199cm
Dimensions: 100, 115, 130mm
Weight: 311g / 11oz (115mm width)
Scarpa provided a sneak peek of next seasons F1 AT boots. They’ve dropped the ‘Evo’ from the name and also the auto ski/lock mechanism but kept the overall design and characteristics pretty much the same. The F1 is a super light weight alpine touring boot with a Boa system on the fore foot to keep things snug up front and a single strap buckle up high along with another optional power strap near the cuff. The Evo is designed as a dedicated ski touring boot with crazy range of motion for the up but it can also drive a large powder ski on the down. If you’re looking for a more all round boot that can also crush it at the resort then the Scarpa Freedom SL would be the boot of choice. Having skied both of these boots over the course of the day I can see the merits of both but find it hard to chose just one for my quiver.
Some of the others in attendance were the good folks from Wild Snow, TGR, Outside Magazine, Adam 'Howie' Howard from Backcocuntry Magazine, as seen below.
Kim Miller of Scarpa ripping it up.
