Anton Gliders

[exoticskis]

I got to ski all the new Anton Gliders (http://www.AntonGliders.com) yesterday in miserable conditions at Killington. Here's the summary below:

Full review with a handful of photos is at:
http://www.exoticskis.com/forum/defa...x?g=posts&t=38

My first reaction upon seeing them was "Oh boy, another Franken-ski designed by a machinist with too much time on his hands." After seeing many skis come and go with various gimmick doo dads like Marker SelectControl, extensible extra edges, fins, "the Claw", Salomon PowerLink, K2 Piezo-electric blinkie dots, Nordica X-balance, NavaSki binding system, Burt and Spademan bindings, plates of every shape and configuration...etc...etc., I was very skeptical. I see tons of really scary designs while keeping the ExoticSkis.com list of 175+ ski builders up to date, and these fell right into the "please not again..." category. Jay Frischman of Anton Gliders sent an email and said "Where and when can we meet up to show you the new production models?" I carefully reviewed the Anton Gliders website, watched the videos and said "OK, I try them."

These are NOT cobbed-together, Rube Goldberg skis. These are extremely finely machined and meticulously assembled "ski devices" where every component is carefully designed and fitted with highest-quality aerospace elastomers, stainless fasteners, CNC-machined mounting inserts in the ski body, high-quality aircraft-grade aluminum chassis with high-precision elastomer position adjusters, highest-quality leaf spring technology borrowed from premium bow hunting engineering, anodized finishes all combined with custom carbon/wood core skis made by Pete Wagner at Wagner Custom Skis in Colorado. (entry level model skis not made by Wagner). They are really, really cool to hold and examine up close. A real high-tech work of art. Tech junkies will drool over them, but at $4,400 per pair...you better be ready to pay a small fortune for them.

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Bottom line - these skis really demand firm, consistent surfaces to work their magic. The beginner ski and the ultra-narrow (38mm waist like a nordic skating ski) ski more so than the GT or EX models. If you put a beginner on these skis, make sure they conditions are a perfect combination of slope surface and pitch. Othewise, they might sink a little and not give the new skier a fun ride. If the conditions are optimal, a beginner would find themselves definitely in control much more than conventional skis.

I skied all the models.

The Advance 5.5 beginner ski was tiny at 138cm with 55mm waist, but it never washed out, steered right where you wanted to go with very little effort, never felt squirrely and gave great feedback through your feet. Ski it like a beginner and it works as advertised. Very cool little ski. I think a never-ever skier might just have a really good day on these things and not give up after an hour of struggling and becoming uncomfortable like they so often do with typical skis.

The Carbon FS is a really radical ski shape being only 38mm underfoot (looks like a nordic skating ski in the middle) so your boot soles overhang the ski body, then the ski flares out to its "normal" tip and tail taper over its 138cm length. This ski demands a non-sinkable, firm surface. Push down in anything remotely soft, and it will sink down, slowing you waaaayyy down. Turns on firm surfaces are super easy and require you to forget your normal technique and merely unweight a pinkie toe on the outside ski to immediately set both skis into a turn. No roll of the ankle, no roll of the knee, no shift of the hips, no shift of your shoulders, no shift of your hands...just tip your toe or merely put a pound more weight on one ski than the other to start a turn. Cool, but very sensitive to snow surface conditions. They are quick little buggers, but totally controlled. No feeling of being on "railed" skis or locked into a carve. They will smear and smarve just fine at any time in your turn sequence, start, middle or end. Just watch your surface if it's at all variable. Perfectly stable at speed and extremely obedient and responsive. Just depth-sensitive. A beginner on a firm packed surface could learn carving in no time flat.

The Carbon GT model was a different animal at 52mm underfoot at 145cm length. This is what I would call a very friendly "extreme carver". You could put your Grandmother on these and she would love them on the groomers. No effort, no sinking underfoot (still keep to the groomed slopes folks), just turn, turn, turn on demand. No speed requirements or limitations. Great grip, great turns. Don't be fooled, however. Grandma might like them just fine, but a rowdy frontside skier will cut some great arcs with these things simply by turning up the tension adjustments. Even the experts will find the GTs really really FUN. You can run these at any speed you might use a "normal" ski. Stable, responsive, unlimited edging power (depending on your tension settings) and a blast to carve tracks with.

The Carbon EX is the high-performance, widest ski in the Anton Glider lineup. I tried them first with the elastomer settings set on 10 out of of 20 clicks (max). They turned extremely easy, held and edge and ripped nice turns much better than I thought they would, and the initial "better be a little careful on these things at speed" hesitation disappeared immediately. The front end seemed to wash a little, but a very slight weigh bias to the rear and zoom...they hooked up and rocketed into the next turn like Richochet Rabbit. My co-tester Jeff and I were fairly impressed when we got the tails to hook up on the sketchy test surfaces we had. Jay Frischman then had us crank the elastomer adjusters up. We maxed-them out at 20 clicks (see "Flex Adjustments" below) and took another run. We both found the EX had suddenly changed its personality into a serious GS-like race carver that just ripped. We both were laughing and grinning at the end of the run and immediately had to get another one in using these settings. Very cool ride. Complete personality change. These are the first "adjustable flex" skis I have every tried that really change when you twiddle the adjusters! Finally. It only took 20 years for someone to pull it off. We decided to take a bumpier trail down to swap skis, and the "full race" settings made the EX Gliders feel like 210cm GS skis. Tough as nails in the bumps. We backed the settings from 20 down to zero and continued down the trail, this time with compliant, freindly, perky, soft-flexing fun skis instead of unforginving GS skis. Very cool. I would own a pair of these if they didn't cost $4,400. Really cool toys for expert carvers, but adjustable so anyone could really enjoy them. I think the world has its first "real" adjustable ski.

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My reservations about the Anton Gliders are:

- Very expensive Limited Edition models.
- Extremely surface-sensitive beginner models (great if the snow is perfect, but it may spoil their fun if they find a soft spot unexpectedly)
- Initial reaction by many industry veterans = "Oh no, not another Franken-ski." (before they even try them).
- Not sure how beginners trained with Anton Gliders might transition to "normal skis" if they ever wanted to.

I do think this concept is sound and Anton Gliders mechanism may be the first step toward the next-generation binding-ski integration. The first attempts by various other manufacturers have not lived up to their hype yet. This system is truly adjustable and has a profound effect upon the ski's behavior and works as advertised. There have been plenty of great inventions out there that never made it past inital production stage due to fickle consumers and market pressures. The Anton Gliders may fade into history, or make history. It's up to the company to see what they can do with their invention. Definitely cool. I don't know if they can or should compete for market share, or instead try to bring their patented technology into the mainstream through the major manufacturers. Hard to say. In any case. American ingenuity strikes again (at a price)!

If anyone gets to try the new generation Anton Gliders...post your experiences...the new ones are pretty odd, but they work very cool.

[exoticskis]

We took a little video of the skis in action both slow and medium speeds so you can see them better. Very strange ski, but it has an adjustable personality! Fun.

I will be moving to France this summer for two years and will bring the Anton Gliders with me. If anyone wants to try them, I will be touring around Europe to test skis and can meet you and you can try them for yourself !

Video:
http://www.vimeo.com/849345