First impression and processing
When you hold the skis in your hand for the first time, it almost hurts to drill in a binding and subject them to daily ski use. However, Earlybird has not built these boards as wall jewellery, but as a durable companion on the mountain. You can see this in the workmanship. In the trend towards weight reduction, durability is an often neglected criterion when choosing skis. This is an important point, as I don't want to buy a new ski every season and my skis have to be able to withstand more than an average piste ski.
The main material of the Jackdaw is wood. Reinforced with flax fibres, it is a flexible and durable material as long as it is well protected! The fairly robust wooden surface made of robinia is sealed with organic oil and takes traces of use quite well. You can see scratches like on any other ski, but I don't mind them as much on the wood because the growth rings create a unique look for every ski anyway.
The edges leave small scratches on the inside of the tip and tail of the ski, especially if they are very sharp, when climbing up, which is sometimes the case with other skis. Not a major problem at first, but I am still looking forward to the long-term test. The transition of the sidewall into the tip and tail is very robust and the long sidewall made of robinia not only indicates good power transmission, but above all long durability.
If you look after the Jackdaw carefully like any other ski and repair coreshots immediately, you can enjoy it for a long time to come. The workmanship of the ski looks really excellent!
Riding characteristics
The ski is about 5 cm taller than my body. Day one of my test diary takes us to the Alpspitz north face. In hard and no longer quite so powdery conditions, it takes a few turns to get used to the ski's new pivot point and length.
The descent down the powdery east side is a dream and after a short learning curve, the Jackdaw provides stability and self-confidence. Further down, softened avalanche boulders alternate with firn. No problem for the Jackdaw with its long beak, even at speed. Fortunately, the drag lift takes you up again and down the pistes into the valley.
Tour day twelve on the Jackdaw: Spring has arrived. I realise that the ski loves big turns with speed on firn flanks and can be surfed excellently. I know this from my Line Opus and I discover every little edge or cornice as an opportunity to play with the ski.
Despite its length, the Jackdaw is surprisingly manoeuvrable. The large radius makes it clear that open terrain is the ski's speciality. As of today, I'm christening it Jacky.
I found the ski a little too long and sluggish in narrow channels in hard conditions. If you navigate the ski a lot in technical terrain and place less value on flotation and speed, I recommend taking the ski a little shorter. Big, elegant turns in powder snow are a great pleasure with this ski. There are many wide boards that can do this, but there are few that I would take on longer tours without hesitation.
Jackdaws, also known as mountain choughs in German-speaking countries, are persistent flyers and reach even high peaks without bending a single down. Enviable, because Earlybird has managed to produce a ski that is a leader among jackdaws in terms of weight.
One of the last tours of the year before I have to close the tour book is an extended day tour in the Allgäu. It goes over Kreuzegg and Rauheck down into the Ostrachtal. The Jackdaw remains strapped to my backpack for over 1700 metres, as the conditions on the ascent only allow crampons. At the summit, I take off the unnecessary skins and am surprised that I have wide freeride skis on my pack. With the best will in the world, I didn't feel that on my backpack. At just over 1600 g per ski, I will probably only use my narrower touring skis for multi-day and extreme alpine tours in future. If you are not a gram hunter and are used to wide skis in the high mountains anyway, you will be happy with the Jackdaw beyond the high winter.
Unfortunately, I was unable to test bottomless champagne powder due to the shortened winter. However, the ski convinced me with sufficient float in average and sometimes impressive fresh snowfall. It encourages medium and large radii as well as the odd jump. Mogul skiers need good nerves and there are also better skis for backcountry tricksters, as the Jackdaw is more of a stiff pole than a soft noodle. A characteristic that I know and appreciate from my Scott Scrapper. Like the Scrapper, the Jackdaw can also be precisely controlled when things get rough. I have not yet been able to find a point at which the ski starts to flutter, apart from on the roof rack.
The ski also forgave the odd hard landing in the fall line, but it takes an active skiing style to get the boards round the bend again. A clean skiing technique is rewarded with direct rebound and directional stability. The effort required is somewhat higher than with a softer touring ski, which is due to the impressive dimensions of the ski. The clean turn initiation in particular has emerged as the lever that can put the ski in its place. Simply leaning to the left and right as with a fully rockered ski is not enough for the Jackdaw.
Although the Jackdaw is a freetourer, it retains freestyle potential thanks to the shape of the tail. The end of the ski is slightly rockered, but not so much that you can no longer ram the ski into the snow. Despite the width, nothing gets caught up in drifted turns, track mishaps or on the ascent when passing each other. In my opinion, Earlybird has found the perfect balance between playfulness and practicality.
Due to the design, there is no designated recess or similar to hold the skin. I can't say whether folding hooks on the smooth surface will hold the fur permanently. I had a steel bracket around the back and was able to tighten the fur at the front with Velcro, which held well all day and I can recommend it.
Such an eye-catching ski naturally comes with a hefty price tag. Earlybird is in a different league to most well-known ski brands. No wonder: The skis are all handmade and made from high-quality recycled materials, and in Switzerland. The amount of labour that goes into a ski here should come as no surprise, especially to people who have tried their hand at self-building.
Fortunately, the trend towards sustainability is now being taken up and implemented by many ski brands. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that this is sometimes just greenwashing.
At Earlybird, the raw material cycle has been considered from the company's foundation and meticulously implemented down to the last detail. From the wooden press to the recycled base with organic ski wax, everything is designed to make the work steps as pleasant and healthy as possible. You notice this when you hold the finished ski in your hand. It smells pleasant and the feel is also emotionally appealing.
