Her Name is Mira, and she stole my husband

Mira Skis by Black Diamond -- review by Louis Dawson

Special Update: This past winter (02/03) I extensivly skied the new model Mira. It has the same sidecut as the original, with changed (darker) graphics and a layer of metalic material. For me, the new model was certainly as good as the original, and seemed more damp and forgiving on hard pack. I've always liked skis with a layer of metal, so perhaps this is more confirmation of my taste in that area. At any rate, it's scary when a good product is "updated." In the case of the new Mira, fear not. ALSO, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE FIRST MODEL OF THE MIRA (SHOWN BELOW) IS A TRULY FINE SKI AND STILL AVAILABLE. IF YOURE ON A BUDGET, CONSIDER GETTING A PAIR FROM SIERRA TRADING POST.

It bummed me out when shaped "fat" skis were invented. Not because they made tourists able to ski. Not because of the hype. Not because they look great.

But because of my garage.

You see, in my garage I've got a ski rack that won't quit. It's made from bunch of 2x4 struts sticking out from the wall, upon which I lay my cherished quiver -- my valued dozens of boards, collected over years via deals, gear sponsorships, sales, and dumpsters.

I'm out there now, making notes for this article. I rummage under the Miller Softs, to find a pair of Dynastar Yetis, cherry, never been mounted, still in the plastic. The white ones, old style randonnee width, super edge-hold -- a pair of the same model saved my life on North Maroon peak, skiing down 50 degree ice. So I bought a few more pair for my private reserve (example of knee faith). Next shelf up, Hagen Tours, the metal sandwich babies with the weird graphic of the guy shoving his armpit in your face. But they skied good in junk, so I kept 'em. Then, the Excaliburs, the ski with the smoothest round turn ever invented. Still using them on occasion. And, ancient history that shows my advanced age, a pair of Rossignol Haute Route, red, alpine width (not the cheesy nordic version), known as "Rooters" among 1970s Aspen powder cognizetti.

I know a guy in Alaska who would pay me big bucks for the Rooters-- he still skis them and says they're the best ever. Ditto for the Millers.

But I won't be riding the Rooters. The armpit Hagens I keep for laughs. At least I can use the flexy Millers for bow hunting. The other skis, while noble, I've not been on much lately. All that effort, all that storage space -- for naught.

Instead, thanks to Black Diamond Equipment, I've been convicted to the new way. A way to float. A way to carve. The way of the mid-fat ski. The way called Mira.

In truth, I've been experimenting for some time with sidecut and mid-fat skis.

But many of the mid-fat mountaineering skis I've tried had problems. Some were heavy. Others skied poorly, exhibiting more hype than reality. Problem is, for muscle powered skiing, skis compromise between weight and performance -- and doing so is tough.

Thus, when Andrew McLean at Black Diamond told me that, hint, the new Mira was special, I took it with a grain of salt -- to be honest -- two grains. But hey, I can mount a pair of rando bindings in an hour, so why not give them a whirl?

I've tested hundreds of skis. Perhaps the biggest lesson I've learned is that you can't evaluate a pair of skis in a day, or even a week. You've got to get comfortable with them, and ride different conditions. You have to play with the tune, and even try different mounting positions for your boots if you want the ultimate turn.

The 175 cm Miras were no exception. Out of the box, they looked beautiful, and would probably have skied okay as well. But any ski deserves to be finely tuned for maximum output. The better the ski, the more it benefits from such care. It's like carpentry. You can re-finish average wood and it'll look okay, but use that same finish on fine woodwork, and prepare to be stunned. Most ski reviewers would not mention this, but I've got a point to make: I've skied with too many people who bought skis, mounted bindings, and hit the slopes -- then wept -- then complained about skis that were actually quite good. I looked at their skis, and whoa: railed edges, dry P-tex, burred edges... you name it, they had everything working against them.

So, off to the tuning machine with the Miras, then to the slopes!

Over the years, I've found the best way to test skis is start with hard snow. I mean really hard -- as in frozen man-made. Aspen has no lack of such stuff, as the World Cup race course on Ajax is covered with it, and becomes part of the public ski mountain once the races are over.

At first turn the Mira had incredible edge hold, but they had a bit of sideways flutter. First thing to look at in this event is, again, the tune. Don't blame it on the skis until you've exhausted all other possibilities. Specifically, if the tip edge is catching, and your ski is tuned flat, it can be that the edge is too sharp up toward the tip, or you don't have enough edge bevel. I'd beveled the Mira about 2 degrees, which is enough for testing any ski, so I pulled over to the side of the run, shucked skis, then stoned the edges duller about 3 inches down from the tip/snow contact point, and a bit of the same on the tail. Wow! Back in the turn, the grabby flutter was gone -- my arcs fine and smooth.

On to the soft stuff. Here, Mira needed no prompting. She spoke. As my knees rocked side-to-side, carving sinuous arcs in everything from chop to blow, she spoke of distant peaks, higher summits, fluff filled forests. In soft snow this plank was as forgiving, stable and effective as any I could imagine. Indeed, I simply don't see how a ski could work any better.

Mira and I still had another date with the hardpack. After my tuning tweaks the skis were fine, but I wanted a more relaxing ride -- after all, I just clocked a half century on my old knees. Back to the bench. Checking my mount position, I noticed it was about 4 millimeters back from the mounting mark (long story, my fault). If the skis were skiing perfect I never would mess with this, but it's worth experimenting if you're trying for perfection. So I could feel a difference, I changed the mount position to a point about a centimeter forward from my original mount, then went after the hard snow. Bingo! Smooth arc, even easier to lean the ski over into a carve. Indeed, the Mira carved as well as my skills and boots would allow, and certainly held a deep reserve of performance for a skier with harder boots or more agressive style.

Then, back to the soft stuff. If anything, with my foot slightly farther forward Mira skied even better.

After all that, and a few more days on everything from wild snow to area groom, my conclusion: These are terrific skis. I have a hard time believing that something could ride so well in the soft, be so fun on packed powder, and not scare me on ice. More, they're on the lightweight side for a ski this wide, and are backed by a full-service distributor known for their customer service.

Indeed, after a few weeks of Mira induced arcs, I mentioned to my wife that, if we had another kid, perhaps a cool name would be Mira. She gave me a funny look -- I guess she didn't understand -- but Mira will explain it to her -- soon.

(stats: sidecut 112/79/102, 51.6 ounces per 175 cm ski, 48.2 ounces per 162 cm ski)

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