Why I chose to SKI on a CUSTOM designed ski

I've been skiing on Fischer Skis for quite a while now and really enjoying them, but recently have decided to swap brands to this Original Plus custom ski company. Now, I was really happy with Fischer Skis. I can't say there was anything wrong. I had a great quiver of skis. I love them. They performed exactly as I would like. So why did I make a switch to this brand of ski? Well, I'd seen some friends that had moved over to this brand and been really happy. And so I thought, okay, well, people I trust on these skis, may as well give them a try. Come on, Teddy. Here you go. And so after having a discussion with the Original Plus guys, I thought, okay, well, things sound really good. I may as well give it a try. You know, what's there to lose? I mean, I've got a great quiver of skis already. No harm in trying. And then this next step is where it started to get different and interesting because they asked for my height, weight, boot sole length, skiing style, the type of snow I was going to be skiing these skis on, all these metrics about me and my skiing. And they were going to use this to then determine what type of ski they would build for me to test out. But is it really going to make that much of a difference? Like, you know, I've skied many different skis. They all have different feelings and characteristics. Am I really going to notice that? And is it going to make much of a difference? So then headed to Threadbow with my son and we did some skiing. And I got to say, from the first turn, the skis just felt quite easy to ski. Like I'd known them before, they were a familiar feeling, and it wasn't very hard to kind of find the tip and the tail and the centre of the ski and really be like right in the middle of it. And I made some carved turns, tried some short turns, even went in some sort of soft off-piste mogul terrain. And each one of these different types of terrain, the ski, felt really fun. That's all I could say, just was really fun. And I was having, yeah, a great time. And by lunchtime, I sat down for a break, wrote an email to the guys at Original Plus and said, I'm in. And I want to know more about why these skis feel really fun, what you do, how you figured that stuff out. And yeah, I just wanted to know more about how they build these skis, because I've really had a great time. And I'm curious and need to know why. Now, the skis they sent me were a 16 metre radius, 175 centimetre length ski, 69 millimetres underfoot. And they had what they called like a medium flex. So this was sort of somewhere in the middle of their stiffness range. And they had no race plate on them, which I was kind of dubious about at first, because every time I've wanted a ski that I want to carve on hard snow on, I've wanted a race plate because that's helped. What I thought was give me better grip on the snow and not slip out. So I have confidence to tip it over. So this ski had no race plate. And I was dubious. But they explained to me later that you don't necessarily need a race plate for that reason. A race plate will give you, sure, better responsiveness between the boot and the ski because there's less plate, less play. But it's not necessarily the thing that gives you the grip. That's in the torsional rigidity. So the twisting sort of twistiness of the ski, so to speak. And so the less twisty, the more likely it's not going to lose grip on hard snow. So this ski did not have a race plate, yet felt pretty much as good on all the hard snow I tried. I felt like I could trust it just as much as I could with the other skis that had a race plate. Sure, I didn't ski on really hard like glacial ice and injected snow where I think you'd perhaps want to step up there. But that was the first thing that shocked me and why I think I felt the ski had a really nice even flex to it. So from tip to tail, there's this feeling in a turn when you really bend it, tip it over and pressure it, where the ski feels like you're right in the middle of it. And it bends, loads up with energy and tightens the turn radius. And that was one of the best feelings. Because it didn't have a race plate, I think part of the feelings I was getting was because that ski bent because it was uninterrupted by just having a binding that was mounted that allowed the ski to flex a little more easily. I know that's what I liked about some other wider skis, that weren't quite as grippy on on firm snow. So I was surprised at first at how well that ski gripped but was still soft, wasn't punishing and hard to ski. The next thing that was kind of interesting was I felt like I wasn't wasting as much energy. So I could make more turns for like the same amount of energy I would expend. So there's this point at Thredbo, this run high noon, really good in the morning for short turns. And I know I usually like make it to a certain point before I'm exhausted doing like a high performance short turn. And I went further, maybe 10-15% or like four, five, six more turns before I went, oh, I need to pull up. So that was kind of the thing that stuck me. I was like, oh, wow, that's pretty interesting. The fact that I'm not as tired. So having a ski that flexes really well is not too difficult, but still grips, that's like the holy grail. And I need to learn more, but they talked to me later about this, the fact that there's this really nice ratio that people often find that they like, where you get a ski that the flex, so bending of it, and then the torsional twistiness of it, have this sort of like two to one relationship or somewhere around there. And you can fine tune that to find something that really works for you. Because I'm not that heavy, I'm only 73 kilograms, but I ski pretty hard at times. So what I liked was having a ski that was, that flexed really well, wasn't like a beast to try and bend, but still gave me confidence to hold up and not slide out. The other really nice thing that surprised me was the ski came with a beautiful tune. So there's really nice base grind put into it with like a hoop structure. And that structure is designed to work really well in sort of especially like stickiest snow conditions. And it pivots really well, channels the water off the side. So the ski is very maneuverable, which is great because I like skiing. My ski is the one type of ski everywhere, okay, on a whole day. And this ski I would take like to Canada for camps. And if I only had one ski, this, you know, I'd be happy with this because I can make carve turns. I skied powder and perisher as well, and it was really fun. So it was, yeah, really versatile, really nice tune. I didn't even have to change the base bevel. Sometimes a ski comes from the factory a bit hooky. And this one, I was like, nope, straight away. Felt great. Got along with it really well. Now I want to point out and make sure, you know, like I'm not saying these skis are going to make you a fantastic skier. And if you're not on custom skis, you are missing out. I just want to make the point that there's definitely something to a ski that is built around your metrics. And that's the difference with these skis that I think I was perhaps like surprised with very happily that when you tune like the characteristics, the flex just right for you, the torsional stability just right for you, the type of binding, the width, the radius, the length, you get that right for what you want to do. It just makes things easier because that's honestly, you know, like what did you feel? I just had fun and it was like really easy to do. All different types of turns I make. Wasn't just good at carving. Wasn't just good at moguls. It was really fun at all those things. And so that's really nice because then I, you know, if I have to travel and I can only take one pair of skis, I know what pair of skis I can take. But yes, everyone makes a great ski and this is like not a necessary thing. It's just a really nice thing to have. And at this point in my journey where I'm just really, as you get better, you start noticing all the fine little things in a turn and you start knowing what you want to tweak and what you are after. I realized that this ski is going to help me really take my skiing in the direction that I want to take it. The style and playfulness that I want to put into my turns. So now the next step I'm looking forward to is actually getting another pair of skis made based off of what I felt on the first pair. So customizing them even further because there's a couple of things that I would change that I want to talk with the guys about. And that's the cool thing. I can say this is what I felt. This is what I noticed. What could I change without losing some of the other things that I did like? And that you can't really do with a ski off the shelf. I mean, everyone, all the brands will say this ski is great at doing this, this and this. But then you put four or five different people on that ski and they'll all say often different things. Sure, there'll be some certain things that are similar, but if you're heavier, you ski faster, you're going to feel that ski is different to someone that's lighter who skis it slower. And so what's really neat about this is because I get a lot of people saying, hey, Tom, what's that ski you're skiing on in that video? What's the length? What's the radius? Now I can say, you know, sure, it's within this model. So say the one I've got is called a 6X. So that ski is this 69 underfoot, multi-radius kind of, I should say, multi-sport, makes cross carving, lots of different types of turns. You can say that one, but don't get mine. Put in your dimensions, your weight, your height where you ski, and then you can get that same kind of ski that I've got, but it's fine-tuned for you. So it should feel just as good when you get on it, not like a beast because some of the skis I've had and I've recommended, I've seen people on them and they can't ski them because that ski is like so stiff. You have to be really aggressive to get the most out of it. So it's really neat. Now I can recommend to people, hey, get something within this kind of parameters, but make sure you put in all your metrics and get the flex and length and radius right for you. So if this sounds interesting to you and you're intrigued to find out more about Original Plus skis, there's some links in the description below, including a discount code to help make the skis a little bit cheaper. But regardless of whether you buy a custom ski or go for one off the shelf, doesn't really matter. I think one of the points here that I learned from trying out some different skis is that there is a ski that's really right and just makes things more fun for you. You can ski on anything. You can ski on straight skis, two pieces of wood, but when you get something that's fine-tuned for you, things just get a little bit easier. So definitely try your friend's skis, try some other different brands and play around with it. And I have this same philosophy with my ski boots, and that's another reason why I like this brand. I highly recommend you modify, customize your ski boots, because every time you do that, you open up more potential to push your limits further. And so I feel that's kind of fun with the Original Plus skis. I can't wait to next make a ski that is built for one that I take to North America, slightly softer snow, and I can't wait to get something that is a little bit wider, still really playful, but then just hooks up and I can put my hip to the snow with. Because that ski I haven't quite found yet, but now I can build one. And I can even put Skelly over the top of it, my own graphics, and customize it to the way I want to be. So that little extra special thing on there. Anyway, thanks for watching this video. Hope you've enjoyed it. Please leave a comment below if you have a question about it or an experience with trying different skis that you really liked. All right, catch you next time. Was that a good walk, eh Teddy?