I received my new Lacroix 99cm skiboards (with Extreme II bindings) last Wednesday (Thanks G for all the help and quick turnaround) Friday Night we headed to Brundage mountain in McCall Idaho for our annual Presidents day ski trip. Over the following 2 days, with the help of my son-in-law (Who is an expert skier) we put the Titanal to the test. My mission was to try these new skiboards in as many situations as possible (Except rails, sorry) and I think we pretty much accomplished that Goal.
Saturday was my day. I’m 51, 5’10” and 175lbs. and in pretty good shape. I ski 5-7 times a year (for 10-12 years) and while I may not be the fastest guy on the mountain I do like to move along at a pretty quick pace. I also have rollerblading experience and was looking for that feel in these skiboards. I was not disappointed, the Titanal were much faster than I expected, very maneuverable and yet had plenty of stability. While this was my first experience on this quality of skiboards, I have ridden snowblades and currently own a pair of Head Big Easy’s. The difference in speed and handling on these Titanal 99 was unbelievable. For me the carving was probable the most impressive. When you stay up on the edges like a snowboard (I did a little of that back in the day) it is amazing how much speed you can get and by half way through the day I was doing those big knuckle dragging carves with ease. 360’s, skiing backwards and zipping through those little trails that cut through the trees were all effortless. Very quickly it became obvious to me that the Lacroix Titanal 99’s could handle anything I was ready to dish out so it was time to call in the expert.
My son-in-law James is in his early thirties, 5’9” 190lbs. he has been skiing since he was 3 years old and usually is the fastest guy on the mountain. On Sunday, I bit the bullet and had James use the Lacroix 99’s while I strapped on my 170’s. James’s mission was to push these skiboards as hard as possible, and he was more than ready to do it. I asked him to especially focus on jumps and powder. His first attempts at both were actually kind of humorous. I guess I hadn’t tighten the binding enough when I adjusted it for his boots so landing his first jump didn’t workout so well (but boy was it impressive right up until the crash) and on his first attempt at powder he realized the need to keep his weight back a little more (Face Plant). After that, he seemed to have everything dialed in. At the end of the day, he was quite impressed. He felt that the Lacroix Titanal 99’s worked great all over the mountain, had plenty of float for the powder (as long as you keep up your speed) and were easy to land on the jumps. He did feel his skis might be a little better for big moguls at high speed but other than that he’ll be looking to pickup a set of skiboards.
As for me, going back to those 170 planks on Sunday, after such a great day of skiboarding on Saturday, just helped me recognize how much more fun the skiboards are. I think the Lacroix Titanal 99’s were one of the best purchases I have ever made. They look great (a very clean but classy look) and seem to give me the ability to go anywhere on the mountain I want to go. I would highly recommend the Lacroix 99’s for riders at all levels. The 170 planks are going in the garage sale.
Rider – Rick Pitts – Intermediate Skiboarder
