Re: The Keeper

As my buddy said as I was congratulating him on meeting a fine girl "she's a keeper." They eventually parted ways, but that's another story. This is about a different Keeper. One that is to be kept and coveted but also one that does some "keeping" of its own.

The Keeper will keep you on the mountain.
The Keeper will keep the stoke ski high.
The Keeper will keep you on your feet after you huck your meat.
The Keeper will keep the face shots up.
The Keeper will keep the gapers' jaws slack on the lift and off piste.

The Keeper is all around badass. In keeping with my habit of buying skis from boutique manufacturers (from Colorado, again), I picked up a pair of Keepers from Icelantic.

This is the first year that Icelantic released the Keeper, going after that massive, rockered big mountain powder hound. I think they pulled it off! These skis have mindboggling dimensions: 150-119-138, leading to a nimble turn radius of, get this: 18m at 189cm length! 18 meters? That's tighter than my Volkl Mantras! Thats about the turning radius of a pair of 78mm underfoot rentals at 160 cm length. These babies will zip through trees or smear massive waves on powdery mountain faces.

They ski groomers OK too. This is not really a ski for groomed terrain, but that doesn't mean you can't cut it up a bit. If you don't mind the crowds, this ski will get you down a quick groomer when you are trying to get across the mountain. And, it'll do it in style. Turning isn't tough, despite the big dimensions (did I mention the 18m turn radius?). and the skis will cut through slop and crud pretty well, if only for a little bit of tip slap, rattle, rattle. But, I've noticed this with my stiff as titanium Mantras. So ignore the tip rattle, bang a left onto Groomer Gully until you see the small gap in the trees. Cut hard right, zipper through the evergreens and hit that secret stash you've been drooling over all morning. When you get back, your Keepers will gladly slide you down Flat Fatty to the parking lot.

The price is pretty good. At $700 retail, these are easily $50-$100 cheaper than comparable ski models. Even the Liberty Double Helix retails for $760. The most popular big mountain ski on the market right now, the Rossignol S7 and it's awesome big brother the Super 7, both sell for $800 retail. That makes this monstrosity a good value, leaving a few bucks leftover to buy a few pints.

Icelantic found some artist for the topsheets that really makes this ski stand out in a crowd. They've managed to not only appeal to the skier in me, but the artist in me as well. I don't typically shop top sheet art when I buy skis (who am I kidding, I like the pictures), but these were awesome. The topsheet art, the price made these an easy buy over the ugly as sin, but awesome can be Rossignol S7/Super 7, which I was also shopping for.

Buy it. Buy a plane ticket to Utah. Ski Powder.