Surface Live Life Skis Review

As my first official foray into rockered skis, I mounted up a new pair of Surface Live Life 181’s to my Fritschi Freeride AT bindings. Specs on the Live Life’s looked great for a backcountry setup and the weight is superlight for the girth. I cut a new pair of BD Ascension skins and was touring the very next day. Two words… I’m sold.

Salt Lake City-based Surface Skis is a small brand with a growing reputation. Case in point, a pow day at Alta Ski Area last week and I must have seen 15-20 pairs of Surface skis. I’m stoked on what Surface brings to the table and look forward to watching them grow in coming seasons.

The 2009/2010 Surface Live Life is all-new with a wider profile, 3-stage rocker and slight camber underfoot. As with all Surface Skis, the Live Life has abstract and artsy topsheets (akin to Line’s designs) that seem to fit well.

About the Surface Live Life Skis

I’ll let Surface tell the story about the Live Life’s:

The Live Life for the 2009-2010 season got a bit of a makeover. We added a couple centimeters to the length and refined the early rise in the tip, making it a smoother transition from underfoot to the rocker point. The Directional-Tapered shape maximizes float and comes around more easily than most big mountain skis in it’s class. Equipped with a full Maple-Poplar Wood Core from tip-to-tail, the Live Life is bombproof but still extremely light for backcountry travel. With that being said, continue to Live Life to the fullest.

Features of the Live Life:

• Early-rise tip/tail with slight camber underfoot
• Tip-to-Tail Maple-Poplar Wood Core
• Full Wrap Edge Protection
• Thick 2.5mm Edge
• ABS Sidewall Construction
• Mounting Points
• Sintered Base
• Binding Reinforcement
• Sizes: 181 (tested), 191 cm
• Dimensions: 156/120/135
• MSRP: $599

Surface Live Life Skis Review

It was really by chance that I ended up with the Live Life’s as my dedicated AT setup for the season.  I was a little worried that having a rockered tip and tail in the backcountry might be a little problematic (remember, I was a rockered noob). That said, the night before my first tour of the season, I cut some new Black Diamond Ascension skins (125mm) and hoped for the best. As it turned out, I would be treated to knee-deep blower pow–perfect conditions for these skis.

The majority of my turns have been in the backcountry on the Live Life’s, but I did spend a half-day at Alta on a powder day testing the groomer and cut-up crud capabilities of these skis. The following is a summary of their performance by conditions.

Creamy turns in American Fork Canyon, Utah.

Pow-seeking Missles

The capabilities of these skis in powder are amazing. The overall girth of these skis enables them to float extremely well. Add on top of that the rockered tip and tail and you’ve got a pow-slaying instrument on your hands. That said, the snow density does affect how well these ride. I found them to be the most responsive and capable in slightly heavier or settled untracked backcountry powder. In ultra-blower Utah pow, I felt like the rockered tail threw my balance off just slightly until I got the hang of it, but in most snow conditions that wasn’t a factor.

A slash turn on Exploration Peak.

Crud Busting

In cut-up and tracked-out runs at Alta, I felt confident blowing through the crud with ease–again, a centered stance was key as it was easy to get thrown in the backseat. Staying aggressive and centered was met with predictable response and they charged through anything–except for an unseen dip in the cat track at the base of High Rustler at Alta which caught me by surprise and threw me for a double-heel ejection in a millionth of a second (yeah… I was seeing stars).

Groomers… Yeah Groomers

On groomers, these skis required serious angulation to carve nice railroad tracks. That said, once you got the hang of that, they were pretty fun. On the other end of the spectrum, I felt like I could pop short, quick turns with ease due to the short running length and snappy, lightweight feel of these skis. Definitely not my favorite ski for a groomer day at Deer Valley, but they efficiently get you back to the lift for your next dose of pow.

Trees are Your Friends

Tree skiing with these is absolutely killer. The rockered design in soft snow makes these things turn on a dime (no hooky-ness here). I’ve skied through some pretty tight situations and have been confidently able to snap turns in tight trees and while slash-turn-bushwhacking my way out of the backcountry.

Skinning up the south side of Lone Peak, Utah.

The Uphill Slog

For backcountry touring, these skis are an absolute dream. I’ve been breaking trail all season in these and have found them to stay on top of the snow while maintaining plenty of snow contact for efficient uphill assaults. They are very lightweight and the 181cm length is so flickable that switchbacks are second-nature. Once at the top, the flat tails are easily stuck into the snow for skin removal (not possible with true twin-tips.

The Good

• Very lightweight… no, EXTREMELY lightweight
• Floats amazingly-well in deep pow or chunky crud
• Excellent overall value
• Rockered tip makes breaking trail easy on the skintrack
• Easy to hop turns when needed
• Slash turns are a breeze
• Nimble and turnable in tight situations
• Durable bases can withstand backcountry abuse

The Bad

• Really have to angulate to get them to carve on groomers, but they do
• Not super confidence-inspiring on groomers, but that’s not their forte
• Rockered tail requires perfectly-centered balance
• Already have a couple of small topsheet chips

Dropping into Little Superior in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Bottom Line: Surface Live Life Skis

The Live Life’s are light and fun in the backcountry and inbounds when the conditions are deep or chunky. These are best for soft snow where you can take full advantage of the rockered profile and girth of these babies, but with the right leverage, they will respond on groomers.

Buy Now: Visit SurfaceSkis.com