Back in the 80's I was an amateur ski racer. I traveled around Colorado, stayed at cheap motels, dinner was often the chips and salsa that came free with a beer. I was about 22, young and single and had most of my hair. This was the last time I skied on a pair of Elan skis. They were a slalom racing ski and they were great for slalom racing, short tight turns of about 36 feet in radius. But that was all they could do. They couldn't go straight, they couldn't turn in moguls, and lord knows they couldn't ski powder.
When Elan reached out and said, "try our new skis, the Amphibio line, they are great at everything. Hard snow, powder, big turns, moguls, you'll love them" they said, I wasn't sure, but I figured, why not and they sent me a pair of Ambibio 88's to try. Off we went to Tahoe on vacation, these skis were all I brought, and Tahoe delivered just about every condition for my test. The name, Amphibio, comes from the latin Amphi, for both. I guess they mean both hard snow or soft snow. Or maybe Front side or back side. Or maybe East Coast and Rockies?
Anyway, the name is appropriate because the ski has both types of edges, cambered and rockered. The ski has a right and left for each pair, the inside edge is cambered, this gives the ski solid hold on hard snow. The outside edge is rockered, and gives the ski more float in soft snow. And it works. It was late spring in Tahoe and the days were warm and the nights were just below freezing. So on several of our mornings we woke to frozen hard snow. The Amphibios behaved as advertised. They held an edge as well as any front-side ski I've skied on lately.
Twice we woke to a foot of new snow. In case you missed it, Tahoe resorts received over 700 inches of snow last winter. I'll do the math for you, that's 58 feet, more than a 5 story building. And skiing on the Ambhibio's to me, seemed like the snow was bottomless. The skis floated through turns and made skiing a joy. As the snow got choppier and heavier as the sun came out, they still performed well.
I'd say this is the perfect ski for someone who likes to cruise the front side at high speed, carve big turns, and yet not shy away from the trees on powder day, or hit the bumps with your teenage son. In short...me!
