Santa gave us snow for Christmas and I spent the holidays gliding right through it on my La Sportiva Vapor Floats.
It’s been frigid here in western Colorado and recent storms have given us a snowpack of deep cold smoke powder. These conditions don’t happen often enough and I admit, sometimes I get a bit nervous before I make my first turn down a steep slope deep with powder. Will I sail through it, or do a face-plant plop and wallow in the bottomless fluff like a drowning rat fighting for air?
Friday: a pure white bowl is below us. I look down at my fat La Sportiva Vapor Floats, click into downhill mode and jump in. I sit back a bit to keep the tips up, then adjust my stance and the Vapor Floats do the rest. I toy around with wiggle turns and wide sweeping arcs. So effortless and so fun! Surfy play in deep soft snow, there are few things so exhilarating and the Vapor Floats let me fly.
Vapor Floats are light, 1160g for 166cm length. With true featherweight feel on the uphills, we happily do lap after lap.
This ski is a specialty piece of equipment made for powder days. It is not designed for hardpack which is to be expected for a ski so light and wide. If your quiver needs a deep snow backcountry ski, La Sportiva Vapor Float is worth a try.
Specs:
Length: 166cm
Dimensions: 136/117/126
Tip rocker: 420mm
Tail rocker: 355mm
Radius: 26m
Weight: 1160g
Construction: Carbon torsion box
Top sheet: Polyamide
Core: Kevlar weave composite
Laminate layers: Prepreg carbon nanotube
Reinforcement: Carbon fiber
Base: P-Tex 6000 factory handwaxed
Edge: 2.2mm Steel
Available lengths: 166cm, 178cm, 189cm
MSRP: $1300
Shop for La Sportiva skis here.
WildSnow Girl, Lisa Dawson, is the luckiest girl in the world. Also known as Mrs. WildSnow.com, she tests whatever gear she wants. She gives the WildSnow family of websites the feminine voice.