[steeperdeeper]

Finally, I've found a powder ski which is both affordable and works in all conditions, not just powder!

These amazing skis are called the Kootenay Powdersticks and are made by a small Canadian company called Boomtown Sports Emporium. The only way to get them is online (www.boomtownsports.com) or in the Boomtown stores in Nelson and Castlegar B.C. They retail for a mere $400 Canadian (what is that, like $2 US?).

I've heard rumors that CMH and Panorama ski resort might be demoing these skis next year. They are supposedly a downhill ski, but with no binding plate and a tip to tail maple construction they have a great flex and are more than light enough to haul around in the backcountry. They've only been around for two years; they got a great review in Ski Canada Magazine this year.

I haven't clipped my heels in for over 15years, and in all that time I've never skiied a pair of skis which put such a monster grin on my face.

Give em a try - you won't be disapointed!
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Free your heels, forget about your mind...

[spintwin]

Plus - they're really light and look pretty cool too. I spoke to the guy behind it. It's basically designed around Nelson, Red Mtn and Whitewater, to be the ultimate treeskiing and touring ski.
Haven't tried it, but I know that he has had demo skis set up with tele bindings.

[Mountain_Monkey]

Ultimate Tree Skiing boards! You have peaked the monkey's interest now. They don't call me Monkey because I live in a hot tropical jungle...

Tell me more about these Powdersticks. They look great and Canada is about the only place out of the US I could afford to buy skis (other than chinese K2's, et al.)

These look like just the right dimensions. I want something wider and shorter than my old K2 Piste Pipes (92 or 93 model?, skull graphics, 184 cm length). Quicker in the trees and I may be sold!

[Tri-Ungulate]

M_M, something tells me steeperdeeper isn't going to reply since the original post smells very SPAM-like, and the poster only has one post.

Though I have heard some good things about the KPBs third-hand, and they're not too expensive, so who knows?
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[SpeckledTrout]

And his quote is also on the website, verbatim.

[kamikazi]

I'll bring this back from the dead, with my $0.02 for what it's worth.

Some background:
me = 6', 180lbs. VT skiier, 10yrs+ alpine, 2yrs tele. Can't stand skis shorter than 175, but love speed, tight, tight trees, & cliffs. A good day is being too tired to walk, and picking splinters out of my chin.

I got a chance to ride a pair of powdersticks at Big Red Cats in BC, in march 06. I'll preface by saying I don't have much deep powder experience to compare them to, and they were set up alpine.

First, you aren't going to find a prettier looking pair of boards. I expect that I had a pre-production or demo model (namely, the fact that 'Boomtown' was misspelled on the topsheet), but the flame-job on these looks unreal. That alone is worth the price of admission.

I'm 6', 180lbs (or 82kg, as they say in Canada, eh?), and like big skis. My normal alpine ride is an old pair of Line Darkside 182s, and my tele's are Karhu Agent 177s. Both have centrally-mounted bindings. Being from the east, I'm terrible in powder on Teles, and kept digging the tips into the bottomless BC powder. That wasn't a problem with the powdersticks.

I can compare them directly to a Rossi B4 173, which I rode on the same trip (again, alpine). The powdersticks didn't turn as sharply, and didn't have quite the snap of the B4. I can't compare sidecut, but the B4 definitely has more. I remember weight of the setups being similiar, even with an extra 7cm on the powdersticks. That wasn't a problem, as the powdersticks have less swing weight, making jump-turns faster.

I was a bit disappointed in the handling of the skis switch, as they felt like they didn't want to turn at all. I'm used to my 2000 Darksides, which are symmetrical, and will carve switch as easily as they do normal. Thus, I spent very little time switch, for fear of hitting stuff, or running out of speed on the cat track. Speaking of the cat track, they chattered a whole lot, even while going straight. Not a ski you can relax and ignore on ice.

Ultimate tree-skiing boards? Maybe not. They'll keep up with anything out there, but you'll find yourself doing a little bit more work. The trade-off is the ability to make those jump-turns down the crazy-steep stuff. Overall, I could have gone back to the B4s at any time, but day after day, I reached for the powdersticks. If I had my choice, I'd put a bit more sidecut in and balance it more toward switch riding.

But I wouldn't touch that topsheet.

[plainsman337]

Is this a tele or alpine ski: Both
Length: 183cm and 163 cm
Tip width: 120
Waist: 94
Tail: 104
Weight in this length: 4lbs per ski (without bindings)
Boots used: Synergy's for the 183 Diabello's (alpine) for the 163
Bindings used: planning 3 pin Hardwire CRB's
How many days on the skis: 0
Resort or backcountry: 0
Geographical region: Alberta - Rockies
Tell us about the terrain you ski: mainly resort, hoping to venture backcountry more.
Do you know how the skis were tuned (bevel): factory
How long have you been skiing: 30+ years, 2 tele
How many days a year: not enough
Previous ski that you liked: BD Mira's
Previous ski you did not like: stiff race skis
How big are you: 6' 3" 215
Mostly tele or parallel: tele

Comments: Preseason Impressions
Just got back from Nelson BC where we picked up our previously ordered Powdersticks, the 183's for me the 163's for the Mrs. Both of us were wanting to add a fatter type ski to the quiver for those epic days we all dream about. As mentioned in the previous post, wild looking topsheet, graphics are well done, except for the misspelling of 'Boomtown' to 'Boomtwon' on the 183's, guess the whole shipment of the longer skis came that way, how do you say oops in Shanghaiese? The shorter lengths have no spelling errors. Both sets appear to be very light weighing in at 4 lbs a ski for the 183's and 6lbs with Rossi Alpine bindings for the 163's. They are a thinner as in thickness ski with a comparable camber to my Mira's. We had a good chat with the Designer, Dale Arsenault, and he pointed out a softer flex through the midsection of the skis with slightly stiffer tip and tail flex. We had his shop mount the alpine bindings on for my wife while I'll mount the tele bindings here at home when I finally get around to ordering a set. I was originally planning to go all out and set up a pair of Hammerheads on Telebry releasables, but as I read more reviews and advice here, am now leaning towards 3pin Hardwire CRB's for a lot less than the aforementioned setup (although it still does intrigue me after talking on the phone with Bryce of Telebry). Overall first impression? wicked looking ski, the shorter lengths are in my estimate a little finer finished but both sets are well built. We both are looking forward to getting them out on snow asap.
While at Nelson, got also to look at his Peaksticks (a little fatter, a little stiffer) and his new prototype, a twin tip with a Bamboo core, interesting stuff. I'll get some pictures posted here once I get them off the camera and also when we finally get snow, a ski report update.

Here's a shot of the 183cm and 163cm boomsticks, note the 'oops' spelling of Boomtown on the 183s, it's like that on all the 183s

Quiver shot: left to right 200cm Arc Angels, 188cm Miras, 183cm Boomsticks, 180cm Head Cyber 24's

side view of same skis just showing camber and thickness comparisons
edited sept 8 for addition of pics

[plainsman337]

These skis ROCK!!
got out for some early turns at Sunshine in Banff - snow conditions were, well typical early season, a bit of everyting with a few rocks and stumps thrown in for good measure. The weather was shall we say 'blustery' with gusts peaking past 100 klicks at the top of the lifts - but hey, my lift ticket was purchased, I aimed to ski. I was very iy impressed with ease in which these planks turned but yet felt very stable and solid. Crud and wind packed snow didn't slow them down or push them around. Very easy to carve a telemark turn in these skis. I've never been a fan of moguls but really didn't have a problem running through them. If I did hit an icy valley in the bumps, yeah they skidded, but not where it was uncontrollable. I did find a stash of windpacked powder and like a true fat ski, these floated on through and made playing in the deeper snow a lot of fun. I found myself looking for steeper and steeper lines and searching out for the stashes of deeper snow with a big grin on the mug.

Overall, I am really pleased with the way these skis work in all sorts of snow - they are now my numero uno ski when I'm off to the big runs, a whole lot of fun is to be had on these flamin boards!
I was also really impressed with the voile 3pin crb hardwire. Great control with this binding, a little bit of extra time stepping in but well worth it. Did a few runs on just the 3 pins and that is a great option, it's interesting to note the more balance you need when you are not relying on the springs for control. If you are looking for a fatter ski, I would highly recommend taking a closer look at these babys.