As someone who purchased the Wingman 86 CTI, I agree with your opinion here… i had skied a 108 under foot ski for 10 years and wanted to improve my fundamentals and thought this ski would have more of an “all mountain” flavor. Over the last two seasons I have really found that its purpose is really making you ski better on the groomers… On the frontside its a blast and you can ski hard all day on it and your legs are not dead as its easy to turn and does a great job of getting you out of the turn as well… its also is very stable at speed and handles icy conditions better than my skill level or any of my previous skis have. I have also been surprised to see it handle a couple inches of fresh snow on top of groomers very well and you can move the tails around in those conditions. I ski in the midwest and this ski works here because the conditions are primarily groomed with some ice and the turn shape lets you savor the 300 feet of elevation 🤪. I even took them out to Stowe last February and they did well until i got into a lot of frozen chopped up snow that bounced me all over the place… This last weekend i got it into some Midwest deep mashed potatoes and this is not where the ski shines… it wants to keep carving and snapping you into the turns that the crud and potatoes doesn’t want to support. I wanted to see if i could extend the season on these skis because they do well when conditions are right, but it looks like once the snow starts becoming less perfect its time to switch to something else… really like them for most of the winter (hopefully we get a real winter next season)

Love seeing the contrast to the Ripstick!

@RicketySkiReviews

5 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Nice reveiw work! I’m an east coast advanced/expert senior technical/freeski/allmountian skier that wears a black ski jacket! I have been following the wider ski trend over the last years and bought some K2 89Ti Mindbenders in a 177. But…for many years I’ve skied on the Elan race series, SL, and recently the Elan Amphibio with 74 under foot the 2014 version. What I have discovered is that as a short turn specialist that skis the narrow tight sides of groomed trails, I’m loving the narrow waisted Elans. I am looking into the 2024 Elan primetime 55 in a 170ish for my next short turn rippers. Speed…..for me speed is just an ingredient I add in order to get more energy and response from the power I put in to the arced ski, I don’t ski faster just to pass other skiers and impress my wife with the MPH score on Strava. When I stay on the 8’ edges of scrapped off east groomers the result is a slalom turn, not a GS and the 89ti’s are just not as much fun.

I purchased the Wingman 86 Ti as my "next step" ski to help advance my technique. As an intermediate that essentially lives on groomed trails when we go on our trips out west, I made fairly significant strides in honing weight distribution and edge feel during turns on the first trip with them. I did notice that they don't particularly appreciate anything super soft or where agility is needed like in the trees. That said, my confidence on piste has skyrocketed, and I am looking to explore steeper terrain next trip. The hope is that I will advance enough to be able to handle a ski like the Maverick 95 Ti soon. Then the mountain really opens up.

@RicketySkiReviews

5 ай бұрын

Very cool!

Once again I appreciate your balanced reviews. Nuance is important for consumers as they spend their hard earned money. And I believe that your reviews will be helpful to Elan as they find their market niche. It may not be your niche... but it is for a large group of consumers. Thanks!

I agree with this review. I thought the same when I demoed the Ripstick 88 and the Wingman. I would have bought either of them without a demo based on review and the descriptions. Glad I did not. Demoing skis are a must.

Always loving the content! :D

@RicketySkiReviews

5 ай бұрын

Great to hear, Thanks for watching!

I have the CTI. I love this ski. I'm a fast aggressive skier and I do find them to lose a bit of edge grip when really ripping a big groomed turn. That's about the only draw back. I just took these out on a day that had 6 inches of really cold fluffy powder and although I could've used something larger underfoot I was blown away at how well these handled those conditions. I would recco this Black Edition or the CTI to anyone who loves to carve with some power. You gave a pretty fair review all in all.

I found the speed wobble far too extreme with the Wingman. It just isn’t open to varied and fast skiing. I gave my pair to my sister.

@RicketySkiReviews

5 ай бұрын

Agreed, didn't find a wobble, but could have been due to the softer snow

I tried these and liked them. The Volkl Kemdo wowed me more. I’d buy the kendo for this genre of ski.

@driverjohns6051

5 ай бұрын

I bought the Kendo 88 and so far love them. Can you share more about the difference between wingman & Kendo?

@carterfan80

5 ай бұрын

​@driverjohns6051 kendo much more stable. Much better at cutting through variable snow. All the elans get bounced around fairly easily imo...

@keith2076

5 ай бұрын

I’ve skied both Wingman’s and Kendos and find my Kendos vastly superior. But keep in mind I’m a former racer who feels the need to go as fast as conditions will allow. The Wingmans wobbled at speed and when railroading on the flats. Didn’t like that at all. The Kendos do everything that you ask them to do, love speed. And have edges you can stand on.

Hey there Elliot, you gonna review the head oblivion 84? Thanks :).

Even though I went skiing today and it was amazing, I am still jealous that you are going all the time.. My 25+ year old slalom skis can also do giant slalom.. I like skis that can do multiple turn shapes...

So if these skis are great on the fresh groomers, but not on the runs after they get skied on and chopped up, what ski would you recommend for both? I also ski at Bogus and don't necessarily get out there on the fresh groomers. I get there often midday once everything is skied on. I'm looking for ski that will do a little more; groomers + skied out and chopped up. Any opinions on the Nordica Steadfast?

I demo'ed a wingman 86 Ti, a ripstick 88 and a ripstick 96 black edition this weekend as I'm starting to look around for a fatter ski for the east coast. The ripsticks were fun and quite easy to ski, although I would only consider the black edition as it was carving better. I'm not sure I noticed anything in terms of the amphibio profile, but I'm kinda noob still. The wingman 86 Ti were ok, nothing to compare to my Rossi Forza 70 for carving. I only tried them for two runs each. It was a crowded morning, so it was not nicely groomed anymore.

@carterfan80

5 ай бұрын

Check out the declivity 82ti or Nordica Steadfast series..great east coast skis.

@mathieug6136

5 ай бұрын

@@carterfan80 yeah I heard good things about them, but I'm more looking for something around 95mm to complement my other skis.

@carterfan80

5 ай бұрын

@@mathieug6136 may I recommend the atomic Maverick 95ti. Rips. But still fairly light. Uses thin metal (2 sheets) good float and carves. Faction Dancer 2.0 is also somewhat similar. They also changed the stance 96 last year. It's lighter now. (But still plenty of metal. 1.5 ish sheets?) I skied the stance and Maverick. Both very solid carvers for ninety five wide....also both pretty good in soft snow also.

@mathieug6136

5 ай бұрын

@@carterfan80 yes it's on my watchlist! Too bad I could not demo it yet. I should be able to try the Rustler 9 soon too. I'm not in a hurry, especially that snow seems a rare thing this year.

I have this ski and love it on the groomers, but i want to venture off piste . I am an advanced intermediate, ski on the east coast, would you recommend the volkl 94 blaze or the blizzard rustler 9?

@mbtravel7294

3 ай бұрын

This combined with the QST makes for a great quiver

What happens when you do try to vary the turn shape? Hoping you could elaborate thanks!

@RicketySkiReviews

5 ай бұрын

It struggles, it will make the turn but won't carve it through.

great review -- kiethpearson1552 corroborates -- I'd add 1 more use case -- that annoying Austrian / German red skier that makes 300K turns in Europe -- where the groomed glaciers keep their corduroy all day...

@RicketySkiReviews

5 ай бұрын

fair point, they love carving over there

Dear Mr Rickety, in your videos you often speak of "the Super G hill". How about you review some Super G and Downhill skis there? Like if the 40 / 50m radius actually makes much of a difference, how they behave at speed or just generally how fun they are blasting down the mountain. You'd be the only person on youtube doing that 😼

@RicketySkiReviews

5 ай бұрын

Oh that would be cool, but also when they run the super g event it's groomed and closed off to the public lol, alot of people like to sit and take selfies underneath the blind jumps. Haha