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Big Stick Energy – E46 – The Mountain in My Mind – John Padilla Joe DeBlasio
Elan Ripstick Tour 104
The Elan Ripstick Tour is a fresh take on an already successful ski line and marks an expansion into the touring category for the Slovenian brand.
Sizes: (166, 173, 180, 187)
Width: 104 | Radius: 23 (@ 180)
Price: $799 MSP
Category: Touring
Claimed Weight: 1540 grams (@180)
My Take:
This is the most alarming touring ski of 2022/23. Honestly, I thought it would be terrible. At first glance, it just looked like a lighter, more fragile Ripstick. I’m seldom happy about being wrong, but this is my confession of glee. Elan has had an incredibly successful run with the Ripstick line, but just as things started to slow a bit, the 104 Tour entered the frame. This ski boasts a large turning radius, with stability to match. Speed was my number 1 area of concern, but even on icy, blown-out pitches, I didn’t have the gall to push it past it’s limit. Shame on me for thinking that Glen Plake’s signature model ski would be something less than impressive. My only complaints are the size limitations (only down to 166 – throw a 158 in there) and the fact that these have left and rights. The benefit isn’t lost on me, but it’s unnecessary.
The Aesthetic:
Now I’ll tell you, I’ve heard a lot of takes on the way the Ripstick Tour is dressed, ranging from “that’s disgusting” to “the best looking ski this year”. I’m with the latter, this is one of the best-looking skis of the year, and a far cry from what a typical Elan product looks like. Props to the graphic design team for making a colorful but tasteful top/bottom situation. Plake himself had his stamp on the design, and it shows.
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