Look forward to exploring your web page yet again.

The best way to describe the Charger and distinguish it from the Bolt is to say that the Charger is a little more versatile and less single-minded – while the Bolt will punish a wrong move, and raise its eyebrows if you stray from a firm groomer, the Charger has a more forgiving construction & wider waist width meaning it will accompany you more willingly on forays beyond the piste.

I really enjoyed skiing the Charger, and K2 Skis Australia importer Mike Balfe describes it as the ‘Ultimate Buller Ski’ – reflecting its ability to cope with the rock hard mornings we experience that often mellow into softer snow through the day. I can definitely see where he derives that comment from but personally I would prefer to also have another wider ski in the cupboard.

Overall I enjoyed the Charger a lot, they were precise on the groomers with both long & short turns, coped OK in the slush and bumps as well. I think the Bolt could be a bit too much like hard work unless you’re a groomer/race fiend and the Charger provides a better alternative for the vast majority of skiers.

But if I were to own the Charger I’d also want something above about 90mm in width not too far away – though I like skiing off piste as much as on, so this may not be as relevant for people who prefer to get off the beaten track.

Heaps already written about this ski. For my 20c worth I will just say …. awesome all mountain ski, super fun and I love it. Hard to beat.

I think more for your advanced to expert skier.

I agree with the reviews …. you really can’t go wrong. Two thumbs up!

The Corneas fit was perfect with the Fornix, which you would expect. No gaps, no fogging and the attachment was flawless. I wore them with a beanie some days too, and adjusting the elastic strap was a cinch. The band grips well on both helmet because of the plastic grip inside the elastic strap.

My nose is on the small side, larger goggles often don’t seal on my cheeks, and so I was surprised that even through the POC Cornea look big, the curve of the goggle and super comfy padding fit snug on my face. And because of this seal they were warm and comfortable.

My eyes are pretty sensitive, and so I typically prefer a darker lens for sun protection, and these were great on sunny days. My lens was the Gold Mirror, cat 2 which they rate in the middle of their scale for partly cloudy conditions. However being on an OS trip, with baggage limitations I only had the one pair for 3 weeks and happily used them every day, in all conditions.

The wider lens allows for excellent peripheral vision. They were never in the way, in fact once they were on I never gave them another thought, which I guess is what you want. For them just to work!

I’m not known for being careful, because I’m usually doing 15 things at once. But I really use my stuff and mostly wear it out. So during our recent trip I was just waiting for that first scratch. As much as I try to take care, always putting the goggles back in their bag when not in use etc, lens scratching is inevitable I tell myself, but still so annoying! To my complete shock, I can report that after 21 days they are still without a scratch!! Has to be testament to their construction.

Love them! I think they look great, and am already eyeing off my next colour.

Pros: can ski pretty much all terrain, holds an edge on ice with ease, really stable at speed
Cons: little tricky in the bumps, heavy.

I’m currently living in Japan and was able to ride the Bonafides for the 2012-13 season (30+ days). This year Nagano had a pretty strange year with plenty of powder but also lots of rain. I was able to ski the Bonafides in all conditions from dry fluffy powder, wet slush, packed powder groomers and even blue ice (worse than Mt Buller!)
For a long time I’ve been looking for the “one ski quiver” ski, sick of lugging multiple sets of skis around or wishing I had brought my other pair of skis. I finally settled on the Bonfides and couldn’t be more impressed.

The Bonafides can handle anything you throw at them, they float over pow, charge through crud and carve up the groomers with ease. I was quite surprised at how quickly the Bonafides can turn (a must when skiing in the trees!), but if you want to be lazy the Bonafides can be lazy too and just go with the flow.

While skiing on rock hard groomers and even some blue Ice I was amazed at how well the Bonafides can hold an edge. While my friends where slipping, sliding and complaining about not be able to grip or turn, I was still having a fun time on the Bonafides carving up the groomers and even playing in the icy bumps!

Bumps…they are skiable in the Bonafides but not as much fun as something narrower. Occasionally the tips can get caught on each other, which can make it a pretty interesting bump run, but they can be skied in the bumps and can be a lot of fun.

These skis can carve and they are happy to go fast. My previous skis were 86mm underfoot so I was surprised at how much more effort (it’s not actually that much more effort but I was conscious that I did have to put in more effort) I had to put in to really lay the Bonafides over, 12mm wider really does make a difference. Once you get used to the little bit extra effort you will be amazed at how well they can carve.

Would I recommend these skis, definitely! Someone who spends at least 60% of their time off piste and in the pow would love the Bonafides. They really can handle just about anything and everything.

Based on lots of research the Kabookie appeared to be a sound option so I purchased them to take away. I mounted them with my Dynafit FT12 Touring Bindings and use Dynafit Titan Touring Boots.

The short version of this review is that I found them exceptionally fit for purpose.

Backcountry skiing generally means you will encounter all sorts of snow types that are untouched by groomers – this can range from deep powder, to corn snow, to windslab, suncrust, sun-affected powder, sheet ice and more.

On our France trip we encountered all of these snow types and the Kabookie performed admirably. The only time I pined for a different ski was when the snow was over knee deep, or if the powder had become sun affected and heavy. In these cases I would have been better off with a 115mm+ ski.

But while on those occasions where I wouldn’t have minded a bigger ski, I never felt like I wanted something narrower – even when on the steepest of steep that we found in La Grave.

The 98mm waist, combined with a pronounced tip rocker and mild tail rocker provided an excellent platform for skiing much of what we encountered. In shallower powder the ski was just a joy, with the tip rocker setting up a beautiful natural arc in the snow and effortless turns.

Given the Kabookie is based on the wildly popular Bonafide, but without the metal laminate, I was interested to see how the ski performed on firm snow and at speed. The interesting part was that with the combination of my touring boots, bindings and degenerating knee I wasn’t able to find the speed limit of these skis. Bear in mind we did precious little groomer skiing where perhaps I might have found this.

The ski can still make precise short turns on firmer snow, rail on the groomers and windpack and busts through all but the deepest crud with little protest. It was an extremely stable and confidence inducing ride.

From a touring perspective – the Kabookie has a weight/performance ratio that is acceptable for people who still demand downhill performance, however it is not as light as a truly dedicated touring ski, and while 700-800m vertical is fine I did find the weight starting to drag on our biggest day with 1100m of ascent.

Overall I am thrilled with the ski and I felt that they were a large part of a very successful ski trip, and I see them as being my prime backcountry ski for the next few years. You can check out what we got up to on them on http://aussieskier.com/blog

I am unsure as to the level of ski experience necessary to become an instructor, and was wondering if you had any recommendation/comment as to how this is assessed?

I have been skiing for about 10 years now, but only for about a week or so at a time, once a year (fitting it around school, uni, work etc) but I am usually doing blues and any available blacks in Australia, and harder blues and some blacks overseas (i.e. NZ and USA), but because I haven’t been skiing super regularly, I am worried maybe my skills are not up to scratch….

I see that some of the course at thredbo are ‘streamlined’ (i.e. shorter amount of time) depending on your current skiing ability, and was wondering how this was judged, as you obviously apply to a specific course before being ‘assessed’ on the mountain. Is there a point where they will tell you that you don’t need to be there for 6 weeks if you have underestimated your skiing level, or are you just stuck with what you have chosen beforehand?

Do you recommend doing qualifications/working in Australia before overseas, or the other way around, or are they much of a muchness? I was previously looking at courses in the US, but then thought it may help with employment prospects (and timing) to have had some training/experience locally first…

Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Heather

The Fornix is POC’s latest helmet design and the company expects it to overtake it’s popular Receptor Bug style in the next few years.

I would wear an XL in the Receptor Bug so went for the XL-XXL size in the Fornix. Initially I was sceptical that a shell that’s too big for my head would be OK but when I wound up the adjustment dial the helmet pulled in and fit very well & didn’t bobble when skiing on bumpy terrain.

The main feature of this helmet in my opinion is the ventilation – this is very important as a lot of the off-piste skiing I do can be quite high on exertion and perspiration becomes a factor. You may start at 3800m in a cold, biting wind, then descend all the way down to the valley floor at 1000m, with a massive temperature differential in the one run.

The top switch on the helmet easily opens and closes the vents, and the front vents direct airflow into the top of your goggles to prevent fogging. This feature worked really, really well – I think the only time my goggles fogged was when I was hiking on days I had forgotten my sunnies.

The other main factor with the Fornix is the light weight of 420g – I am doing a lot of hiking these days and closely watching the weight of my equipment . The Fornix is definitely at the lighter end of the scale for full-featured alpine helmets.

The finish of the helmet is excellent, good quality materials meant that the rough treatment it copped over 3 weeks meant that it came home with a few marks but no serious battle scars.

Goggle compatibility – I wore it with Oakley Splice and Airbrake googles & the fit was good. Occasionally you would hear a rattle from the Oakley logo on the Splice bumping the helmet in rough terrain. My wife wore POC Cornea goggles – as you would expect the fit is perfect.