Tested: the 195cm G3 Slayr ski. Purchased March 2022. Used about 20 full days.

Tester: 205 lbs. Advanced skier and experienced gear nut.

Summary

The Good

• At 1880g each they are quite light for their size but notably heavier than advertised.

• Easy and predictable on firm or shallow snowpack.

• Strong edge-hold when needed.

• High speed capable. Will never fold under pressure.

• Maneuverable and playful in soft/dry snow. Surpsingly nimble at times.

• Incredibly supportive shovels with tons of float.

The Bad

• Crust or grabby snow. It just catches the tapered tip brutally.

• Susceptible to major tip hooking. Incredibly difficult to turn or control in heavy powder or deep/wet snow.

• Even shallow spring snow can be devastating to control if the snow gets over the pointed tips.

• Super stiff, homogenous flex from tip to tail. Requires a heavy rider to bend.

First Impressions - Before Mounting

So stiff! The extreme tip taper looks even more dramatic in person. The magnet system is very cool - they easily hold together, though not with skins on.

Shape and Profile

The front rocker runs really deep at a nice shallow angle. Only the tapered portion of the tip shows significant splay. The tail rocker runs deep also but so shallow that it almost looks flat. Less tail splay than I was expecting for some reason. Both the tip and tail showcase some radical tapering.

The official shape dimensions are 143-114-128mm, with a 20.5 sidecut radius.

The recommended mount point is -10.25cm from center by my own measurement.

Flex

Overall, the Slayr is very stiff. As far as I can tell by hand flexing, they seem to have a totally homogenous flex from tip to tail. In contrast to the majority of freeride ski designs which have a stiffer section underfoot, the extremities of the Slayr appear somewhat harsh while the midsection bends much more.

A couple of my other favourite skis have similarly consistent flex patterns (though not quite as stiff) so I eagerly anticipated this to be a good thing. In my experience, this flex profile lends to skis which feel more forgiving on snow than when inspected on dry land. I tend to not enjoy tails which are substantially stiffer than their respective shovels. There is no shame for directional skiers to value symmetrical flexing skis.

Weight

My pair tipped the scales at 1874 and 1889 grams. On average this is 142g heavier than the advertised 1740g value. I emailed the company about this and was told (unsurprisingly) that although they consider that to be a little beyond their normal deviation, they still consider it okay. Fair enough I suppose. 1880g is still lightweight for a 195cm length ski with a 114mm waist.

Performance Review

First, Some Context

I have these mounted +2.5cm from the recommended line with G3 Zed bindings. I’m using a 331mm BSL Salomon MTN S/Lab boot with touring-specific liners and G3 Minimist Glide skins in 130mm size, cut to fit.

I didn't have any first hand accounts for mountpoint beta, so I chose this based on measuring the effective edge, comparing to where in the sidecut I have previously enjoyed skiing, and also factoring in the flex pattern and anticipated support of the tail. I gave it much thought and my best guess, but acknowledging a 50% chance I'd be remounting them. (Despite my best efforts, I have felt the need to remount most of my personal skis.)

Given that the tip-waist-tail dimensions and construction remain identical between the unisex 180/185/190/195 lengths, with only the sidecut changing, there are going to be some differences in ski characteristic between those lengths.

I am 6’3” (191cm) and 205 lbs (93 kg). I ski directionally with a dynamic style including both long and short turns, tail slashes, jumps and drops. No spins or flips. The majority of my skiing takes place above the treeline in relatively open terrain, but invariably includes tight tree skiing as well. Basically I'm the typical PNW backcountry skier accustomed to mid-weight gear. Typical days are 1500m vert.

Uptrack Feel

The stiff nature underfoot makes side-hilling extra stable. It's quite torsionally rigid as well. The downside to this is when crossing large depressions and concave hills, where the missing skin-snow contact can be felt.

Weight

While the overall weight is quite light (by my standards, its all relative), its swing weight is not particularly low, and this can be felt during kickturns especially but also generally throughout a long day of walking with them. The effect is accentuated by the length and wetness of the skins. Compared with a straighter shape or lighter constructions at the tip/tail, the difference is surprisingly noticeable. While the ski length is certaily noticeable on kickturns, I don't find this to be an issue or something worth factoring into the length decision.

I'm convinced that swing-weight plays a significant role in making the ascent feel fatiguing due to the extra torque and stabilization required. I've also found that having a progressive mount-point (forward of -7cm) helps substantially in balancing the ski favourably in kickturns.

Durability

The topsheets are notably susceptible to damage. (Mine got a bit thrashed.) But this is not a criticism or shortcoming. Overall, I'm very impressed by how "full-featured" this construction is given the low weight. I haven't had any issues with base or edges or binding retention - those aspects appear like any typical ski.

In Great Conditions

They absolutely fly. Its a magic middle-ground of loose and stable. No upper speed limit, but you can easily slash and get sideways. They rotate from the hips when commanded, but can also be edged up to powerfully carve across loose snow. I had a lot of fun skiing dynamically at speed with the Slayrs in light powder conditions.

The floatation was excellent. Somehow I never felt the need to drive the shovel for stability, but yet there was enough ski in front of me to allow purposefully leaning into them, either to dive into the snow or just swing the tails around.

In a couple of chutes with deep, dry powder, where I was worried a long ski would be tough to manage, I was pleasantly surprised to find how easy they where to swing around, somewhat easily making quick safety turns in challenging terrain.

I'll also say the fore/aft balance was among the easiest I've experienced, with a sweet-spot that I seemingly couldn't miss. I felt like a very capable skier with the Slayr in good snow conditions.

In Firm Conditions

Really predictable and simple to pilot. "Chattery" could certainly be a fair criticism. But for the thousand meters per year that I'm skiing true wind-board or icy snow, where the skiing is focused on composure and elegant survival more than having fun in particular, I just don't care that they are chattery. Its a very reasonable tradeoff for the light weight.

In Heavy or Grabby Snow

If any heavy snow finds its way up and over the diagonal portion of the super-tapered tip, it is liable to grab the ski and violently fling it cross-court. Put another way: the snow would hook the front end of the downhill ski, dramatically pushing it down into the snow and uphill. The effect is instant death. Ok, hyperbole aside, the effect is most commonly a crash. Sometimes I could recover and make it out (barely), but mostly the binding was immediately released due to the excess torque, unless I first lost balance and got tossed sideways downhill. This happened to me about a dozen times in a variety of circumstances.

Further Analysis

It's bizarre. When writing this now, part of me struggles to "blame the ski". But thinking back to those many days of use, I tried and tested everything I could to avoid this crazy hooking effect. My binding DIN=12 and I dont have hooking issues on ANY other skis. I played with balance and turn shape and fore/aft posture but couldn't find a reasonable mitigation. Skiing really backseat did help, and so it stands to reason that a more rearward mount would help. Three issues with that: 1) the mountpoint feels otherwise perfect. I wouldn't want to shift that balance in order to preserve the positive traits... 2) I had to get really deep in the backseat for this mitigation to work, so I'm not sure how far back the bindings would need to move... and 3) this would leave a lot of very strong ski in front of you, which may well undo the tip-hooking mitigation. It is very possible that a shorter length (190 or even 185cm) paired with the recommended mount location of -10cm would not present this wild tip-hooking issue.

As it stands now, with the 195 length, I have vowed never to step foot on them again. Beyond the emotional frustration of chaotically bailing in the backcountry (which should seriously be avoided when far from civil support), the risk of serious injury is real. I can't emphasize enough how immediate and outrageous this tip hooking effect was. As if the proverbial snow-snake, unpredicted and unprovoked, leaped forth to bite down on the ski and viciously unhinge the rider. Ha, something like that.

Breakable Crust

Breakable crust is the bane of any ski, really. So performance here is measured in which tools do the least worst, not best. Well, the Slayr is the worst tool for this job of anything I have tried. Releasing the tails isn't easy but not terribly hard either. The front end however, was at the mercy of the snow despite my best efforts. Almost certainly this is part of the same story as above.

Suggested Recipe for Success!?

There is a lot going correctly for the Slayr before its critical downfall. In the pursuit of an ultimately versatile and successful PNW touring tool for big or chargy skiers, I suggest that the following design changes could get us very very close:

• Chill out on the flex. Reduce the stiffness in the rear 12" and in the front 16" of the ski. This would still leave you with an 8/10 stiff ski.

  • All my skis are stiff, its how I like 'em. But this one has gone a whole step too far.

• Bring the weight down to 1800g.

  • Offering a low weight is critical to increasing popularity of using larger skis in the backcountry, which I personally advocate for.

  • Ditch the magnets. They can't be helping the weight.

• Redesign the tip shape to one with much less taper. This may necessitate more tip splay but it must be done. The stiff pointed tip clearly doesn't work. This new shape would presumably shorten the tip 2-4cm also.

• Use a mountpoint of -8cm. This feels really natural for the particular sidecut but would also meet a middle-ground between traditional ski posture (rearward of -10cm) and the increasingly popular progressive mount and posture at (forward of -6cm from center). 

• Keep the remaining shape dimensions, including tail taper.

  • This tail is a really interesting alternative to the the wide & spalyed freestyle shape, offering a mix of performance between that and the classic flat/short tail on many touring specific designs.

• Keep the rocker/camber profile. The super early rise but low splay is working well, especially paired with the radical tail taper, and would hopefully preserve 70% of the overall stability even after softening the tip/tail flex.

  • At 205lbs plus a heavy pack, I never found the limits of the current Slayr stability even at full speed (and one memorable 12' drop). So I think there is room to compromise on this front. In fact, I didn't even enjoy how the Slayr urged me to go faster. (Speed increases likelihood and consequence of accidents when deep in the backcountry.)