SCC Tubby
2011-2012
145-119-145mm, r=24m @188cm

Manufacturer Info:

http://www.SCCSkis.com

East of the Rockies:

Jeff Thompson
Houghton, MI
Call: (248)921-1620

John Thompson
South Lyon, MI
Call: (248)640-6866

Rockies and West:

Jonathon Thompson
Denver, CO
Call: (303)910-5397

Suggested Retail Price (MSRP):

$747 usd

Usage Class:

Flatfoot, rockered big mountain ski.

Ski Designer:

Jeff Thompson

Rating (with comments): (1="get me off these things"->10="I have to own a pair")
8 for soft, 3D snow, 4 for hard surfaces

Summary:

The SCC (Shaggy's Copper Country" ) Tubby is a symmetrical geometry, zero-cambered softsnow ski with rockered tip and tail.  Tubby is a soft-flexing, easy-handling ski that wants 3D snow rather than hardpack, but has a really playful, fun and surfy feel in a lightweight package. Emphasis on fun for intermediates and experts alike. Not a hard-charger, but a fun cruiser looking for deep snow.

Technical Ski Data:

Beech wood core, triax fiberglass, 24 pieces of dampening rubber. 2.2 mm, semi-full wrap edges. tip and tail inserts. UHMW-PE/PET-G topsheet "Race Grade" Durasurf UHMW-PE Base. Available with added carbon layers if requested for $787.
Tip/Tail Rocker: 25mm x 40cm
Total Tip/Tail Rise: 52mm

Pre-Skiing Impression:

Soft-flexing, compliant fatty with somewhat unusual symmetrical tip and tail.  Damp feel, round flex pattern and graphics that grow on you. Good fit and finish.  Does not have 360-degree wrap edges.  Beefy (2.2mm) edges.

Test Conditions:

Eastern spring conditions with some hard, race-like surfaces, some packed powder, softening corn and corn snow, with refrozen corn in the shadows at the end of the day.  Some bumps and crud on the sides of trails. No powder or deep snow.

Boots Used:

Lange Comp Pro 120

Test Results:

The pair of Tubbies Jeff Thompson sent us had seen plenty of demo time, so we had the guys at Northern Ski Works spend a couple hours on them to retrue the bases and get the edges crisp to 0.5 degree base bevel and 2 degree side bevel per Jeff's suggestion (he sets the base bevel to 0.75 on his personal pair of Tubbies).  We mounted the Tubbies on-the-dimple and found they were super easy to pivot, smear and drift on-demand with very little effort and no fussy behavior.  Friendly feedback and easy handlling were the first feelings underfoot.  Getting the Tubbies to grip into a carved turn on hard surfaces was not intuitive and resulted in the common slide-and-drift often found in many flatfoot, rockered skis.  The SCC Tubby definitely wants something three-dimensional to flex into, but when it finds it (such as spring corn), it comes alive with fun directional changes in short radius, long radius and everything in between. As soon as I got it "into" snow instead of "on" snow, the Tubby reacted quickly, easily and with fun pop between turns.  I found it loved surfing, wheelies, mushy, mashy turns and skimming the tops of crud piles.  Bumps were soaked up by the Tubbies and they were surprisingly agile.  Don't tell Jeff, but the Tubbies are excellent sapling surfers (handy in the shrubs and trees).  I found the Tubbies were ultra-friendly and really wanted to ski them in a couple feet of powder. The Tubbies are the kind of ski you could ride all day and not get tired, unlike some high-performance powder boards which want to be "driven" to work best.  Other big-snow skis might grip hardpack better, but few can be so easy to ride all day.  We did not get a chance to see how it performs in powder or deep snow.

Analogies: (this ski is like...)

A playful golden retriever that wants to go out and run around in the snow. Shys away if you force it to do tricks on hard surfaces.
 
Things You Would Change About This Ski:
 
Maybe stiffen the midbody torsional strength a bit for more hard-snow grip without changing the flex along its length.  The carbon option has me very interested.

Short Answer When Someone Asks "What Do You Think About This Ski?":

One of the most playful and easy-skiing soft snow skis I've tried, but definitely not grippy on hard surfaces...and somewhat drifty if the snow is truly hard.  Fun, fun, fun in 3D snow and makes surfing spring corn ridiculously easy.

Advice To People Considering This Ski:

See if you can get a ride on a carbon-enhanced version to see if you like it's response for your style of skiing.

Self-Description of Skiing Style, Ability, Experience, Preferences:

5' 11", 180 lbs. Expert groomed-surface carver, "old-style" race inspired, "foot steerer" with fairly sensitive edging feel. Loves to hold long arcs with lots of pressure on the downhill ski (you know the type),  but also loves the feel of both skis on-edge leaving tiny railroad track edge tracks.  Loves powder when it's not tracked out. 10 year coach for youth race team in New England (bulletproof is the norm).

SCC Tubbies (front view)