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Anton Gliders Carbon EX 158cm (2007-2008)

We finally got to try the high-end Carbon EX Anton Gliders on a slightly better day than our test day at Killington in the icy fog...here are some better photos: 

More detailed multi-day test results to come...We will get other people on them as well and post reviews before the season ends!

 

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Small video of the Anton Glider Carbon EX skis in action here:

http://www.vimeo.com/849345

 

 

By: e.edelstein  Posted: Saturday, March 22, 2008 6:38:47 AM

Ok.  The Forum is for honest feedback, so here goes.  I had a hard time selling myself on this concept.  At the same time, if one doesn't attept to push the boundaries of what a "ski" is, as the Anton Glider does, then there will be no breakthroughs in the future that all of us can enjoy.  So they get a "10" for that.  The Glider idea may have potential, but the 158cm length required a lot of adjustment.  I guess the question is, can a beginning carver make faster progress by tossing the no-name shaped ski they bought at Ski Market and replacing it with a regular issue (not race stock) slalom race ski, or even a junior slalom race ski?  Or by trying the Anton Gliders?  My hunch is that it may be a more natural progression to move up to a race ski rather than the Antons.  My wife the ski instructor, for example, loves to ski on my sons' old 153cm jr. slalom skis.  It's easy and natural.  Hopefully she can try the Gliders and comment as a professional. 

As I skied the Anton's a bit more, with adjustments, I could lock in turns on the blue-square slopes, but turns at speed on the Face were out of the question, much too squirrely.  Maybe the ski itself needs to be more robust; the 158cm seemed too soft, despite the pronounced camber.  The binding and adjustable stiffness platform, by contrast, are clever and first-rate in quality.  I left the test feeling the Anton Glider is not something I'd care to own but also that the same concept applied on a slightly higher-performance, more conventional, ski might be a better use of the technology.  Hard to say, but I would give it another try out of curiosity. 

By: John F.  Posted: Saturday, March 29, 2008 7:25:26 AM

Small video of the Anton Glider Carbon EX skis in action here:

http://www.vimeo.com/849345

 

By: e.edelstein  Posted: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 1:15:39 PM

Ok,

After 30 years in the ski  business I have seen some things come and go. There have been a lot  of great ideas in the ski business that for lack of  financing or marketing dollars just didn't make it. Hopefully the Anton Glider is something that will make it and not be added to the list of great ideas that failed. 

This system rocks and is completely innovative. I started out on setting 9 ( and was taking it carefully because of my skepticism. I was on Super Star head wall @ Killington) It was groomed hard snow and I was thinking these will never work,they are too short, and I am going to die. So..one turn, nice carve, second turn, real nice carve. Pick up the speed and carve,carve,carve! Nice linked turns, and I forgot about how short they where! So I ripped the rest of Super Star and realized, these work and work incredibly. The next run I cranked them down to 20 and off we go, fast and furious on a little ski with a really cool suspension system. It works, It flies. It is absolutely tuneable to any condition or ability.

My concerns are the price and the looks of it. The price will prohibit it sales. The looks of it are very different but once you get past that you will understand it has to look the way it does to function properly. People will just have to try it to beleive. Rossignol has tried to do this with Mutix but this just works better. Just turn the dials and change the flex, no tool kit and different length arms.

I think that the strength of Anto Gliders is in the system...the tuneable arms and suspension. It would be a wonderful thing to be able to put it on any production ski. Think like a VIST plate but tuneable..how cool would that be?

Awesome design...it works. Its brilliant thinking. It needs to be brought to the next level as a system and I want to the first kid on the block to try it.       

 

 

By: tfavro  Posted: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 7:07:21 PM

It is near impossible to try out the Anton Glider with an open mind. This rig loooks so unconventional and so interesting that I really didn't know what to expect. In my case that meant I was really looking forward to getting the Antons onto the snow, up to speed and layed over. 

The Anton Glider did not  dissapoint, these things hold an edge like few other skis. It is almost unnerving how easily turns are initiated on the Gliders. Skiing the Gliders would feel lazy except that you can lean over so far and go so fast on them. To be fair, this is not a race ski; they are too short to sustain ultra high speed on, but dial the stiffness up and there aren't many public slopes that you will want to go faster on than the Gliders are willing to go.

Anton really have achieved amazing performance on the following fronts: ease of turn initiation, torsional rigidity and adjustable stiffness. I will try to address these separately.

Ease of turn initiation: I assume that this is due to the extremely narrow waist, the effectively high boot position over the ski and the extreme torsional stiffness of the setup. The Anton doesn't require any muscle to turn in, all you need to do is subtly shift your weight and you are launched into your turn. Somehow this happens without the ski feeling twitchy.

Tortional Rigidity: I assume that the plate/spar in conjunction with the ski itself are responsible for what I can only describe as the most torsionally rigid ski i have ever layed over. The result is a trench digging powerhouse. I think that the incredible torsional rigidty of the Antons allows them to carve stably at a much higher speed than I expected given their length, even on lower stiffness settings. The effect of this torsional rigidity on the performance of the Antons cannot be overstated. Like tfavro, I would love to see what this plate/spar system could do to some of my other skis.

Adjustable Stiffness: I have tried other skis and ski/binding systems that claimed to offer adjustable stiffness. The Antons are far and away the most effective at achieving this goal. Really, you turn the dial and the ski gets stiffer. Turn it the other way and it gets softer. It still makes the same radius turn. It still holds a great edge. The only difference is in the stiffness. This really is pretty cool; you can dial in the right stiffness for the snow consistency. I had them out on their soft setting in some man made velvet and they felt great, later in the day I was rolling turns onmore crusty snow and I started to feel like they were chattering a bit so I dialed the stiffness up and the Antons dug right in; chatter gone!

The net effect of these three achievements is a truly remarkable ski. This ski is way more stable and way easier to ski than my slalom ski. I would love to ski a slightly longer, slightly wider version of the Glider and see how it stacks up against my all mountain cruiser.

If I have time to ski a few more days on these, I will post a followup review.

By: S1AM  Posted: Saturday, December 13, 2008 8:30:23 PM

Some videos of the Anton Gliders on snow:

Wayne Wong on Anton Gliders at YouTube:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDr0SSejfT4&fmt=18

 

ExoticSkis.com video at YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj7T0R71D0o&fmt=18

 

 

By: e.edelstein  Posted: Tuesday, April 7, 2009 7:41:11 AM

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