= Beginner level, need assistance skier
= Intermediate level may need assistance skier
= Advanced level, independent skier
= Expert level, independent skier
= All level All Mountain.

The Mogul Master is a great mono-ski for all level skiers. I likes the comfort of the bucket, and the simple straps and seatbelt. It was like skiing in an easy chair, the Lincoln Continental of mono-skis. The adjustment of seat and foot rest is okay. The lift jack is center mounted for left or right handed skiers. The leverage to lift your weight is okay. Once you jack into the load position you are some what level with the snow, it is a comfortable load position. The suspension works well. It loads up nice, with a good steady release. The Mogul Master skies very well. Great response with a nice center of gravity. I would recommend the Mogul Master for all levels of mono-skier. Review by Tom C.

Freedom Factory Web Site

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SHADOW

The old faithful Shadow. Just about every adaptive ski program has one or has had one. I liked this mono from the start. The Shadow has a four piece adjustable bucket. It was not the most comfortable for me, but it made up for it in response and agility. This is the Corvette of the mono-skis. The suspension is great, loads up nice with a great rebound. I was not thrilled with the lift jack. There is a lift handle the you need to remove from a holder and then find the place to insert it under you with out seeing it. This insert is only on the right side. So you must jack the mono with your right hand. The jack lifts the back or bucket of the mono only. This leaves you in a sloped forward position for loading. I did not like the load position on the Shadow. I don''t use the jack at all. I lift with my riggers and have the lift aid push me back into the chair lift. It works like a charm. All in all it is not a bad ski. Actually a great ski. Fast, responsive, very durable. I would recommend the Shadow for intermediate to advanced level skiers Review by Tom C.

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YETTI HPB

The Yetti Hpd, is a very durable and comfortable mono-ski. It handles very well with great suspension. Very comfortable bucket, good strap and seat belt arrangement. This has the comfort of a Lincoln and the handling of a Corvette. The mono I used had a right handed load jack, but you can get left handed as well. The leverage is good, but I did not like the load position at all. It jacks the bucked up and leans you forward. I love the way the YETTI skis, the comfort in unmatched, it is a great program ski and a great racing ski as well. I would recommend the Yetti Hpb (high performance with Binding) for all levels of mono-skier. Review by Tom C.

YETTI




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GROVE Innovations

GROVE Innovations Web Site

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HALL MT Extreme

Hall extreme MT is a good ski. Very low which really gives you a lot of confidence. Its low feature makes it very easy to learn on. And when you fall its easy to get back up and isn't quite as hard on your shoulders because your not falling that far. Nice loading feature, just push up and back. Cant be easily done by your self though. Need someone to step on back of ski or else it will just slide. May get better as it gets looser. Once this ski is dialed in it works very well. Unfortunately, it takes some work to get dialed in. My main problems have been with the ski mounting system. It uses an aluminum "boot" which clicks into standard bindings. A small stud extends from the binding into the front of the "boot" to prevent the front from twisting out. It works OK with the old Tyrolia binding that came with the ski. New bindings its hard to put a stud through them. I have also had the "boot" snap out of the bindings while getting off the lift. Not cool sliding down the ramp without your ski attached. My old boot was a handmade unit from Enabling Technologies. It may have been a little off. Bob Hall replaced it with a very nice CNC milled unit. hopefully it will be better. Support has also been very poor. Sports n Spokes / Enabling Technologies build this ski and they are very hard to get a hold of. Some great ideas but need work. Review by, Bill Cripe.

HALL's Web Site





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Strange R+D

This is my review of the F1 made by Strange R/D.

Originally I learned and skied my heart out on the old tried and true Shadow monoski. I’ve been skiing a little over 11 yrs and I try to do it all. And with that many seasons skied on that Shadow it was time to upgrade. After shopping around and talking to individuals, I decided that the F1 would fit my needs. I’ve skied the F1 for about 20 days this season, so far. When I first took delivery of it, this thing was beeeeefy!! I noticed it a little too heavy and predicted that I would have some missed loads onto the lift. Upon inspection it looks like the majority of the weight is coming from the boot area coupled with the shock. Actually that entire “swing-arm” is where the majority of the weight is, all the way down to the machined block of cro-moly, which is the boot plate (which is 294mm boot) . I have to say, it’s a very nice piece of equipment. It reminded me of the Canondale bikes with the oversized tubing. The welds are beaded nice and clean with no clumps. There were some areas on the F1 that were crooked though. I’m meaning visually noticeable. One example was where the shock’s remote reservoir was connected to, a type of cross member and another was the boot-plate alignment to the down tube. It was hard to detect until you put the ski on or put the swing-arm on a true/flat table. I’m hopping everything else was ‘jigged up’. Anyhow, the type of hardware used on the F1 is stainless steel and grade 8 bolts with nylock nuts. The bucket/seat that was used is the Vortex seat. Finally, last but not least is the Penske Race Shock, 8100 Series with remove reservoir. It’s a big car shock that should withstand the abuse ‘us’ monoskiers put them through. This is what makes this monoski the ‘BOMB’!! It has multiple adjustments to mess with. If you want to ski bumps, set the dial accordingly and dial away!! A good shock is what makes or breaks a monoskis performance. I believe that the Penske shock was a good mating. I’ve used a Fox motorcycle shock before on the Shadow and it’s a good shock also. It just depends what type of skiing you are capable of dishing out and what your pocket book can handle. I believe the Penske shock is around a $1000 US option. It’s heavy, but its worth it. I also noticed that no safety straps are included. I would strongly recommend adding a EVAC strap to the shock tower just incase you need to be extracted. The F1 came with 2 buckles. One for your hip and one for your lower back(which is totally useless for a lower injury para) It was one of the first things I added and a few other straps for the lift operators (2 on the sides and 1 in the rear). I also recommend adding a leg strap. Remember you want to be snug in the bucket and not have your legs slosh around. Also I would recommend adding a longer foot strap to accommodate bigger feet on the foot plate. The original strap uses a snowboard boot strap.

Now getting the F1 to an area on the mountain to ‘mount-up’ is a bit difficult due to the weight of it. You are going to need a ‘helper’ at first. The type of skis I used is the Solomons SCREAMs that came packaged with the 912 bindings. As I mentioned before, I was missing my loads and wasn’t quite adapted yet to the ski and my timing was way off. The first load of the day is always the hardest. First run out, it was simply flawless. It was like being on a Cadillac. The way it skied gave you complete confidence. I couldn’t tell if it was the skis or the handling of the F1. You feel in control right away. It was just too many ‘new’ things to deal with. So I decided to get off the corduroy runs and head for the crud and bumps. This thing handled effortlessly. I pointed it at everything that was on the mountain. It tracked nice and nothing broke. The only problem I was incurring on the mountain was the boot/binding seating. Even though I was pinned, it kept releasing at the inopportune time, i.e. like going off the lip of a jump, going into a rut on the downside of a mogul and coming off the lift. I think the boot-plate needs some work. I didn’t like how the plate seated into the binding. After a full day of hard skiing, the following day I took off the down-tube/swingarm and headed to a fabricator. The first words out of my mouth was I told him to make it lighter but still strong. We weighed the cro-mo down tube to be ~18lbs!!! No wonder! I also made some adjustments to the boot plate. The fabricator used T6 aluminum (aircraft grade) and machined the boot plate out of solid aluminum. It went from 18lbs to ~6lbs. What a difference. He also used the same diameter tubing as the original. This is the first improvement that should be made to the F1 if you want to stay independent. Now I can pick up my monoski by myself and haul it out of my vehicle to where I can ‘mount-up’. Another area for improvement is the pivot. The pivot uses copper bushings which bind up in the cold and no way to lubricate it. I believe if a grease fitting/zerk fitting would be placed at the clamp nut of the pivot, this would alleviate the binding issues. Either that or use a pressed in sealed bearing for zero maintenance. Now my ski looks straight, the way it should’ve been originally.

With my new brushed aluminum swingarm/down tube, I’m back to ‘self-loading’ now. YES!!! I’ve put the swing arm to the test. I jumped it, bumped it, dumped it and slammed it. And even collided it with a careless skier (The skier actually T-boned me coming off a cross trail). It’s still holding up. And I’m a bulky guy. (5-11” @ 190lbs). Now was the $4400 worth it? Well I could have done without the ‘crooked’ spots I mentioned. I hope he uses a ‘tighter’ jig next time out. It depends how you look at it. If you’re an avid skier looking for the endless powder run and getting air doing it but getting you back down the mountain in one piece, then yes by all means. But If you’re a corduroy seeker and a weekend warrior, then no this monoski would be ‘cost prohibitive’ to the typical monoskier. “To each his own” I say.

Review by Pres

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Strange R+D




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Freedom Factory

The Freedom Factory's Revolution Pro Comp. I took a trip up to Ski Windham with my new ski buddy Steve. The guys Frank and Dick at Windham helped me get set up in the mono and came along for the review. I even got some skiing pointers from them. Ski Windham has a great adaptive skiing program with all the best equipment available. Well, I can't say anything negative about this mono-ski. Getting in the mono was easy, the foot rest is adjustable and low, a cinch to put your feet on. The seat belts are great. There is one strap that wraps around your legs just below the knee, and pulls you back into the seat as well as pushing your feet down into the foot rest. It also keeps your hips from rotating. I felt so secure, I probably could have skied with just this one belt. Then you have a thigh strap a hip belt, a chest belt, and a foot strap. The belts are easy to adjust and I was in and out of the mono quickly. Loading onto the chair lift was okay. I did ask the attendant to spot me. I pushed up with my outriggers and got right up into the lift. The attendant gave a little tug to ensure I was all the way back in the seat. My suggestion is to not slow the lift, but let the lift scoop you up. As long as you have the height when lifting up, the chair lift will do the rest. The off load was smooth as silk; it does not get any easier than this folks. No lunging, jumping or throwing your self; just reach forward and off you go. Here is the best part. I am trying a new mono, the Revolution with a new ski, the Volkl P30 SL. I figure I will need a run or two to just get the feel of things, right. Well, from the first turn I was hooked, not in the snow, but on the Rev Pro. Our first run was a long blue wraparound cruiser. I think I might have linked about a dozen turns on the run. I just let it rip, total confidence, total control. Plus, I wanted to get to some thing steeper. The next run was steep and slick. I carved through it like butter, Actually, on this particular run I will normally stop at the head wall and look over the edge. In the Revolution, I just hit it. My confidence was through the roof. I skied steep double blacks, bumps, jumps, fast and slow with no problem at all. I could do no wrong in the Revolution Pro Comp. The suspension is so forgiving in the bumps, yet right there at speed. I can't explain it; with every turn I was in position to stop if I wanted to. This is something I work on all the time to improve my skiing. The balance was great, I lifted my riggers over my head and just cruised down the hill. I skied better and with more confidence than ever. I normally wear a torso belt because of my level, (c6-c7 incomplete). In the Revolution, I did not use a torso belt and I do not need one. It is safe to say that my skiing jumped to another level while in the Revolution Pro Comp.

Review by Tom C
My 2001review Click Here

Freedom Factory Web Site




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YETTI All Mountain Race

Aaron Hastings Seattle, Washington

A little background on me first before I get into the All Mountain Racer. When I began monoskiing almost four years ago, I had several instructors try talking me out of monoskiing and into bi-skiing as they said “I would have more fun” and most people my injury level (T-4 complete) don’t do as well. Bunk! I had been skiing on an older Yetti program ski and once I got the hang of it, I was hooked. I bought the All Mountain Racer at the beginning of last season, against the advice of many “experts” who said the ski was much to advanced for someone of my skill/injury level. Nothing could be farther from the truth though. This ski is as versatile as you want it to be.

This ski does not have any “load” mechanism or load assist but it doesn’t need it. Being a T-4 without the best balance, I never really felt comfortable waiting for the chair to come around while I was in a tall “load” position that most monoskis put you in so I never used it anyway. With this ski, it is easy to do a jump load onto the chair and since it doesn’t pivot or separate like a lot of skis do for loading, it is much more structurally sound, which translates to more responsiveness on the snow. With a good shape ski, all you have to do is think about turning and it does. I used to race a CBR900RR (explains why I am now a gimp) and the All Mountain Racer is the closest thing I have felt to the responsiveness to input since my last ride. With the new Penske shock, you can adjust preload and rebound dampening to squelch the “boing” you sometimes get from suddenly loading the shock.

After a couple of runs, I felt I could attack and carve through steeper runs than I ever could before. This basically is the same ski Chris Waddell used to capture all of his gold at Nagano so it is obvious it will excel in the hands of an expert, but don’t discount it either for a newer skier. This ski truly is an all mountain monoski capable of being handled by a beginner or winning gold medals for an expert.

On a last note, the Goodman’s (Mike, Genie, Jeff and Joel: owners of RadVentures) have gone out of their way to offer the best customer service of any company I have dealt with in a long time. They take the time to make sure the ski is set up just for you. If you try the All Mountain Racer, be prepared to buy it, I’m sure you will like it that much. Review by Aaron

Radventures Web Site

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Praschberger

My current mono-ski is a Praschberger of approx. 3-4 years vintage. I have recently visited the factory and will shortly be taking delivery of the latest version. The Praschberger has many plus points - it is robust (withstanding the attentions of airport baggage handlers without additional packing); has a stress free loading system for chair lifts, pomas and T- bars; and it handles well. Mainly bought and used by europeans it is the mainstay of the european race teams. In comparison to the Mogul Master for instance I seem to feel much more that I was IN a mono as opposed to being ON it. The ride position is relatively compact (i.e your legs are not stretched out like in many monos, so your weight is all relatively closer to the ski centre) and your bum (butt for you Americans!) sits perhaps a little too low on my model, but is higher on the more recent ones. The low position is good for starting out on, but can lead to bucketting out on steeper runs or with more radical turn angles - many skiers adapt their Praschs by raising the bucket using high-tech bits of angle iron.... The bucket fit is snug (as it should be) and the standard back, while it pivots with the skiers fore/aft movements (a good feature), is a little high. The factory are happy to cut down the seat backs and you can also diy - a good move if you can angulate as the high back can restrict this a bit.

One particular drawback to note is that whilst loading onto a chairlift is easy (an over - centre mechanism allows you to push up really high with the riggers and then keeps you there 'til the chair scoops you away) unloading can be tricky. Unload problems are : 1) the bucket is pretty sticky needing a good push off from the chair with the riggers and 2) if the snow level on the off ramp is too low then the overcentre mechanism can stay locked out meaning you can end up skiing off in the load position - potentially embarrassing, but you can retrieve the situation by whacking your rigger under the bucket to release the mechanism or getting a buddy to do that for you. All Praschbergers are designed to fit into normal ski boot bindings. Older ones like mine have a couple of flanges at the front which can interfere with some bindings (e.g. Salomon), but the new ones are modelled on a ski boot and will fit all binding types. Suspension is adjustable and spring rating can be specified to the factory. There is a tendency for the suspension to be on the hard side (which I like) as there is a relatively short travel. This means that the Prasch is terrific on-piste and a good racing tool, but in the bumps and off-piste you may be in for a rough ride.
Review by Dave C.

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Beneficial Designs

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ISOSKI

With it's special adapter, the IsoSki Bi-Ski can be transformed into a mono-ski, within a few minutes. On my machine, I have two shocks, one is the shock absorber and the other one is pushing shock similar to one that car builder use on hatch back vehicles, this one will support up to 250 pounds of body weight. There is a locking device for loading onto the chairlift, I prefer not to use it when the chairlift are very low. I gently use my two outriggers to stay up right. The off loading is very smooth. There is very little impact, since I am pushing back the shock in. So, there is no lift handle, only a handle bracket to push to unlock the pushing shock. The centre handle is use to lock the pushing shock before skiing. The seat is similar to what I have seen on other models (Shadow) and can be remove in a second for storing purpose. As far as the comfort, I would prefer thin padding everywhere inside the bucket, rather than one full cousin. The ski mounting system is also very easy to remove, only one clip. The foot rest is adjustable but, could be a little stronger. The Iso-Ski, skis very well, I would recommend it for all levels of Bi and Mono-skiers. The support from Tommy is very good, he did a few modifications on my machine already!

Review by Stéph Rochon Stéph Rochon

The ISO ski is great for manoeuvring, and has a great angulating system that responds very quickly and accurately according to the amount of "lean" I put into it. A simple movement of the hips is all it takes to make it start angulating. The Slalom skiing (racing) was incredible and 100 times easier on the ISO than in the Yetti, even though I had spent a full season learning to ski the mono. The number of times I fell (and had to be picked up) was *greatly* reduced. Instead of falling every couple of minutes (or metres) I could go for entire runs at a time and count the number of falls I took on one hand. While I was in Kimberley, I had the opportunity to ski some of the other ski trails at the back of the mountain, and was amazed that I could keep up with the group and perform so well. One of the major differences between the ISO and the Yetti was the fluidity of movement and how "smooth" the turns became. Without much effort, the skis "caught" their edge, and I finally felt the movement that my instructors had been trying to teach me since I started sit-skiing. On one occasion, the instructor that had taught me to mono-ski was able to follow me for a few runs, and he was impressed with the way I was turning and kept saying "Wow, what a difference". Many of the other skiiers as well as Paul-Emile Hamel and Julie Hamel said they noticed a difference right away. Where I had been struggling in the Yetti to stay upright and perform smooth turns, I was now begining to look like a more experienced skier rather than the "novice" skier I appeared to be in the Mono. When Paul-Emile, Julie, or other members of the race team gave me tips or advice to follow as to how to improve my skiing, I was able to understand what they had been talking about, and implement the changes within a matter of runs, whereas in the Mono, I would spend my energy (mental and physical) on staying upright and couldn't really think about "technique" as much. It enabled me to become a much better skier, and without the machine, there is no doubt in my mind I wouldn't have done as well as I did at The Nationals in Kimberley. The other skiers that attended were often intrigued by what I was skiing in, and were impressed that everything seemed to be done with such ease. NEGATIVES... One of the things that caused me a few problems was when the mechanism would get "stuck" (although only with me, and the problem could usually be fixed very quickly with little equipment). It seemed to "jam" in the upright position, and wouldn't go down to the skiing level until the lever had been pulled and squeezed a few times. There were also a few times when the mechanism didn't want to "lock" in the skiing position, and the mechanism had to be pulled and squeezed again. There were 2 times when one of the skis seemed to get "stuck" in the upright position, making it so that there was only one ski on the ground, and I lost my balance. (Paul would be able to explain this better to you since I don't really remember what the problem was, and he knows more about the technical side of the machine than I do). Sometimes it felt as though the shock didn't absorb as much as it should have, but that may be due to my weight, and the fact that the machine is meant to accomodate people of varying sizes. END OF NEGATIVES... I'd really like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to use the ISO this past season. I really appreciate it.

Review by Chantal

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