I am a 150lb man, aggressive expert skier. Purchased these 174cm skis new and mounted Marker Titanium Bindings on them. I wear a new Nordica GTS8 boot. This ski has some excellent qualities. It will carve short, medium, and long turns with total control on groomed packed powder, or 5" new. Totally responsive and dynamic, the ski will propell you out of camber and into the next turn. The narrow side cut allows one to be quite aggressive with confidence. I must say that those K2 babes know how to build a ski. If you're lean and mean like me, and you're looking for a lively ride, get on a pair of Spires.

While in Steamboat I demoed the Volant Vertex 68, the Volant Vertex 71, the Solomom Scream, and the K2 T-Nine Spire. While I was ready to buy the Vertex 68, after skiing the Spire I changed my mind. The Spire rocks. I was effortly rolling turns from one edge to the next. Cruised thru crud easily and also handled bumps ok. This ski is a great groomer ski but will handle anything on the mountain. Since we had 24 inches in one day I was able to try all conditions.

Similar Products Used:

Volant Vertex 68 Volant Vertex 71 Solomon Scream

Just demo'd these skis this past weekend. I was definately impressed with their responsiveness. Coming off of Solomon's which I have been unhappy with, I wanted more control and less chatter at the higher speeds. I pushed them hard and had no disappointments. Then again, conditions were great and the sloped were well groomed. I've reserved a follow up demo to try them again somewhere more irregular and aggressive to see if they are up to the challenge before shelling out the big bucks. I don't think I'll be let down.

Need help in Steamboat. I demo'd the Spires yesterday in a 167 length. At higher speeds, I felt I needed a longer ski. I like fast cruising, GS turns, yet a ski that performs well in the powder and crud. I'm not a bump skier (too old for that). I'm 5'6", weight 130, and am wondering if I should go with the longer length or give these another try. My ski shop doesn't have the longer model mounted, but I can look elsewhere I suppose. Any comments? Thanks!