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Madd Killer Strikes Back!


CMC

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I had the pleasure of handling the last proto and a new build and was able to compare them side by side. Absolutely identical. At 161. I only rode the older proto not the new build. Thank you Sean/Donek/Curt and those responsible for allowing several of us to try them ahead of production. Conditions were not ideal for them as was warm and soft. But they turned extremely easy and most who rode them were more than pleasantly surprised with their performance.

slopestar, since you and I are the only two that have been on both  prototypes, do you mind sharing a little more info on your comparison testing?

-Snow conditions

-How many runs/days did you do on both boards

-Method of comparing the boards

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That's a tough one. Conditions just were not there. I'm a heavyweight too. 220lbs. Soft corn snow. The board performed great. I did about 3 runs on each board. It was not the board for me... I don't ride skinny boards often and this is smaller than my 163 freestyle Donek twin. If I had ridden it in firm snow it might have been different. My 175 rev with the f-plate is superb. I also really like my fc wide 167/23.5 waist when it's cut up and need to push snow around. My 9-11 vsr saber 165 is a quiver of one. I just didn't get the MK in decent conditions but my rev175 lived it all weekend. Sorry. Maybe next year... One last hoorah to mammoth this Thursday Friday I hope...

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I just talked with Sean, and I'm glad there is a board getting everyone's interest going. He asked about graphics for a MADD Killer,mans I think...well MADD has always been an odd company, first snowboard company with a website, first one to do pre-orders and crowdfunding, first to use carbon properly, first to promote forward weighted riding, blah blah blah..

So I think MADD should be the first to encourage the most "Graphic" of killer images on the MADD killer. It's been 23 years... Wow that went by fast, since I rode the first 158 Prototype. Since then Prior, and Coiler have made boards to try and replace it, and...well it seems so many companies tried versions of the butterfly topsheet. Paul Anderson, a Regular rider...even had a bunch of buttefly topsheet S laminated on boards because he couldn't get enough of its characteristics and wanted an more user friendly board with the same edge hold.

As for the image, I hope it's a good one...like the MADD flower 23 years later as a tree getting chainsawed and milled into Doneks, or a Narco style execution for the little boy - now Graduate school aged...

--- some odd history

In 1995 I did spec a higher performance 158 which was raced on the World Cup Circuit by Anton Pouge with great results < he begged us to make him a limited run of them) . It was slightly less user friendly as it took more energy to power it up and did very poorly in soft corn snow, so we never officially released it. But it is proof that it is very possible to make a board with more edge hold.

I did notice that the MADD Killer is bigger than the 158, and if I were to make aboard that was 5 cm longer it would be Obviously better with grip and stability..

Last 8 days of the season I rode an Original MADD 170, and last two days of the season I rode with one of my childhood skate heroes Henry Hester. I still need a shoulder rehung, and have to fix my back and put more muscle on my bones... So maybe next season if I decide to do another season of Aspen. I'm still not sure if my back can take it (insane car accident two years ago- which separated both shoulders knocked me out, hurt by back, and well I ended up with brain swelling which sadly has affected my writing) I would ride for a day and take 3-5 days off. And even those days I rode lightly and very few runs, nothing like I used to ride. However, if my shoulder gets repaired and I ramp up the season slower maybe I'll be where I once was. I definitely would like to try a MADD Killer and see if I had any input on it.

I always thought the real board of interest for the masses would have been the MADD 170 because it rides so incredibly well without much rider input. Plus has ridiculous edge hold at speed. We made only 15-20 of the original 170 . I was forced to race open in the US Open in 1996 because I couldn't get the 180 back up the hill in time. It was a hair ball 70mph+ course on an iced up Upper standard . I was running the shortest Alpine board by 20 cm.

We called it a 170 for marketing reasons..it actually is a 168cm.

The original MADD 158 had more edge hold than the reissue MADD 170.

I did ride a MADD Reissue for a bit, my avatar to the left shows me on a reissue 170 , riding Copper with a photographer and Ray S. Of Virus. When I compared the edge hold to the MADD 158 and found the 158 had more grip I gave the 170 reissue to one of my students would really needed a miracle board that was easy to ride.

I like the aggressive nose flare on the MADD Killer - good for getting initial bite from airborne I would guess.

Afte getting my old Nordica TR-9s ( my favorite boots) I decided them out with a set of F2 bindings and the used MADD 170 original ( I think this original was a tiny bit softer as we picked the softest one for Paul Anderson at the time) . I had a puffy winter jacket, no wax, first day out of bed in 3 weeks from the flu, and really the first time I have been in hardboots that I liked since my Nordicas died 16 years ago. Signed up for the NASTAR and got dual platinum - at the time first place in Aspen, and 23rd overall .

I attribute that completely to the board. As my legs were jello since my season started Feb 7 and I was a big parachute with that jacket and fatty insulated pants. Aspens NASTAR. Is a bit harder than most, certainly significantly harder than the East Coast NASTARs Which are more of glide courses. The best I could do in soft boots and a powder board that day was a Silver. Definitely the board and boots made all the difference. The bindings sucked compared to original Cateks.

There is a shot of me making a mid air transition with those F2 bindings and you can see a huge 1"+ gap between the heel plate and my heel . I'll see if I can find it.

So Sean , if you would like me to loan you a Orignal MADD 170 and dupe I'd be all for it.

Edited by John Gilmour
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  • 2 months later...

Whatever the top sheet is, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Make it as durable as possible!!!!!

 

Since owning Oxess's the top sheets on their boards are so durable, hard to have to worry about that again. I have 4 year old Oxess's that look like new!!!

 

Just sayin.....

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No to the waist widths, that Q was answered a while back.

Besides, this board just like the old 158 is made of fairie dust and magic sauce and cannot be improved.

 

I was hoping the masterminds found a way since then.  Of course, I don't think there's been snow since 'then'.  :/

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  • 2 weeks later...

The MK was awesome!  One thing that was interesting was that it seemed to work over a large weight range,  I'm 135lbs and others were around 180lbs and we all loved it.

The MK has a wider nose, less camber and more grip.  I think the 158 may go edge to edge quicker but the MK edge hold made it easier to ride.

This board is going to be my quiver killer.

Pictures next to my 158 Madd reissue.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

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