Trab or Goode skis

I've corresponded a number of times with Mark, he's thinking of doing a demo in the NW of various Trab skis - unfortunately he sold the pair I was most interested in to Bruce Tremper. He does have some 171 FreeRandos mounted both tele and Dynafit that may be available to try, I'll post here if and when he decides to come to Washington.

Check out the issue of Backcountry magazine that just came out - some Goode & Trab reviews in there.<br>Overall, the Goode skis just seem outrageously expensive, and the weight savings become impressive only at very wide waist widths.<br>By contrast, the Ski Trab Freerando ( www.randogear.com/skis/skis.asp ) seems like it would be a nice replacement for my Miras (or your Shuksans) once that time eventually arrives.
Another lightweight option in that range of waist width is the Volkl Snowwolf (i.e., wider version of the Norbert Joos).

Thank you, Jonathan.<br><br>I have read the reviews in Backcountry and Couloir, and the archived Backcountry review of the Goode 82. With a web search I found some other reviews. Basically, nice skis, very soft, torsionally strong (hmmm, could work).<br><br>It may be a workable setup for me to go with a very light boot (so as to not overpower the ski) such as the Dynafit race boot, and ski the Goode 82. It would be very light (dream...). But that increases the investment for a setup into the range of a hut trip in the Alps.<br><br>Even on the Shuksans I had to reel in the speed on Adams in the SW chutes even though the corn was perfect- the Shuksans wanted to chatter with too much speed while carving those nice arcs. One of the comments about Goode that I found online was that the ski does not perform well when force is applied. My Shuksans are not enough for me to really crank on, so I have some uncertainty. I just do not want to do noodle scratch turns on wimpy skis, I just like nice turns. <br><br>On the other hand, they could work (?)- I skied from the summit of Mt. Baker on Epoke 900s when Jimmy Carter was in the White House!<br><br>I tend to believe the distributor and a guide in the Alps in that the Trab are stiff enough, but I just hesitate spending so much for a narrow (nowadays) ski. I like a somewhat substantial ski for randonnee, and in the mid fat range or more for our wet Cascade snow. Actually, I am still on the 108/75 mm Shuksan, and I do like it all around, and see that it may be similar to the Trab Freerando that many are raving about. <br><br>More width would be nice, but it seems that the weights of the wide skis just increase too much.<br><br>The new Dynafit FR 8.0 and FR 10.0 skis sounded good, until I read of their weight. In comparison, for a little more weight, one could get the new Shuksans, which I know perform well in Cascade snow. The Dynafit FR 8.0 would be perhaps good for me if it came in one size larger than 175 cm.<br><br>I have previously purchased a pair of boots and a pair of skis that were not satisfactory, which can be easily done since one usually cannot demo rando gear. And I got the first year Dynafit Tri Steps (grr- not so good) and then the second year (better, ok), so I guess that I am making the point that research is important. It would just really be a waste to get some 800 dollar skis that don't work out. <br><br>Since I have a good, well-matched all around setup, I can just wait until more data or a new ski comes along. I will not be skiing again for maybe a month when new snow comes again up high, since we have had our worst snowpack in WA in 60 yrs.<br><br>My final thought of the day is to look into some of the custom skis, which I read are similar in cost to the Goode.Does anyone know about custom skis?

Trabs have received mediocre reviews, although they are quite popular in Europe

<br><br>As the importer for Trab skis to the US, I was initialy concerned about this quote. I want to say thanks to Silas for his interest in the FreeRando and for letting me know where he saw the review. The review was on a french site and was for the FreeRide, not the FreeRando.  While both share the same dimensions, the FreeRide is a women specific ski (it has a subdued daisy patten graphic).  It loses the carbon reinforced quadraxial glass and changes from the FreeRando's torsion box construction to a cap construction.  The carbon fiber binding plate also gets replaced by a titanal binding plate.  All this softens up the ski designed for use by lighter weight individuals. <br><br>I have not skied the Freeride yet, as such I can not testify about it's performance.  This coming winter I am having some shipped over for demo purposes, I can let you know than how they ride.  Given the construction changes I don't expect it to be quite as responsive as the FreeRando, nor should it have the FreeRando's excellent edgehold.  Float should be similar and overall weight is a bit more (.4 lbs/320g per pair).  <br><br>So far many active couples have purchased 2 FreeRandos each, a testiment to it's broad appeal for both sexes (Tremper, Eric Stall & some other prominent yet lesser known industry professionals).  It was also a top pick in Freeride Utah's telemark test of mid-fat skis, based solely on DH performance (the test was conducted at Snowbird).  Getting that performance out of a 2580g package is truly remarking, resulting in Backcountry mag's description "the best guide/light ski I have found.  Fun in the bumps, stable in the crud" and "Stable, stiff, lightweight.  This ski would be great for a long tour - Euro style - where the terrain is variable".<br><br>GregL & Silas have talked me into coming out to the Seattle area for a demo trip (not that I needed much arm twisting, I've been wanting to do a trip to the PNW). I'll make sure to put up a post when the trip gets closer.<br><br>P.S.  Didn't mean for this to be my 1st post.   I actually posted a TR for my 24th month of turns on Aug. 9th, I believe it didn't take as part of the server switch around that time.  I should have another TR coming up after Labor Day weekend, looking forward to getting it on the board.

When skiing in Italy two years ago, one of the members of our party rented some trabs and really liked them. I seem to remember her saying they were a good mix or tour and turn...<br><br>The other thing I wanted to add was that the new Shuksans (78 waist) are ski very differently from the old ones -- but then thats probably obvious to everyone on the thread . They are much more confidence inspiring...<br><br>I have been watching the carbon skis with interest too. Can anyone comment on their durability? I had the toe piece of my dynafits rip out of a pair of foam core BD crossbows - The ski failed. Since then I have shied away from randonee skis that dont have some metal for the screws to bite into...<br><br>Michael

When skiing in Italy two years ago, one of the members of our party rented some trabs and really liked them. I seem to remember her saying they were a good mix or tour and turn...<br><br>I have been watching the carbon skis with interest too. Can anyone comment on their durability? I had the toe piece of my dynafits rip out of a pair of foam core BD crossbows - The ski failed. Since then I have shied away from randonee skis that dont have some metal for the screws to bite into...<br><br>Michael

<br><br>Carbon Fiber can be a very tricky material to work with.  Not only is it very stiff and light, it's also extremely brittle.  Trab goes to great lengths to protect the carbon fiber in their skis, i.e. a high molecular density base typically reserved for alpine racing is used since it is both more durable and impact resistant than standard sintered bases.  Trab also uses a protective top sheet as well.  With almost 20 years of experience building carbon fiber skis, the company has learned what works and what doesn't.  <br><br>Trab also does considerable testing for durability.   They use 4 different testing machines, 1 for longitudinal flex testing, another for torsional flex testing, a 3rd to replicate the weighting/unweighting of turns & the 4th tests for impact durability.  They also have ski mountaineering racers providing daily feedback to the factory.  Given that ~80% of the UIAA circuit is on trab race skis, yet only 10% are sponsored, a large number of unsponsored racers will use their skis for several years to reduce costs.  None of these racers have had any problems with their skis.<br><br>There's been alot of hype lately about "all carbon fiber skis" (and they're still not all carbon fiber), Trab has found that carbon fiber does not make for a good core material by itself due to it's brittle nature. As such Trab uses either a wood/aramide honeycomb core or a wood channel core in their skis (the honeycomb being considerably more expensive due to the labor involved in making the core).  A thick carbon fiber plate is used for the binding mount to prevent screws from ripping out (titanal plates are used in the less expensive skis).   I weigh 190lbs and tend to abuse my skis, so far I have not had any problems with the demos I've been riding the past year.