David Jäger - known to many in the German-speaking freeski community as user "plywood" - has taken his passion for ski construction to the next level and offers his handmade slats for sale. PowderGuide has ridden them out for you.
When David invited me to go skiing with him and take his boards out for a spin, I was of course immediately up for it. When do you ever get the opportunity to ski a few skis while chatting with your father in spirit and enjoying the snow?
The bare data
Plywood Terasaka
Length: 192.5 cm
Dimensions: 148 - 114 - 135 mm
Radius: 27 m
Weight: approx. 2500 g per ski
Classic waist - no camber - early rise tip
The first impression
The slats are beautiful. These giant ice cream scoops. The solid wood topsheet with wax and oil finish and the wooden sidewalls look classy. The workmanship is first class. The immediate hand flex test shows that the planks are really hard, just a little softer in the nose.
With the Marker Baron mounted on the point conceived by the builder, of course, they are no lightweight, but good average for the expansive dimensions.
I can't wait to see what happens.
The mission
But don't hold your breath, the skis are not built to be looked at. So we plunge into the white mass and preferred gliding surface of all snow sports enthusiasts.
But at first, the weather gods are not so kind to us and we poke around in the fog at the edge of the piste. Speed is out of the question and I'm usually happy when I'm sure that it's going slightly downhill before the ski tips.
After a brief consultation over a hot chocolate, it's clear that the way to happiness at the moment is through the forest. So that's exactly where we head and spend the morning in hilly, varied terrain that leads into denser forest at the bottom. The snow is soft but compact, sometimes with a light cover and the obvious tracks are of course immediately discovered by the masses and quickly chopped up.
Only in the afternoon, after it breaks up, are we allowed a few more rides in wide cruiser terrain at full throttle.
A day of use for a ski couldn't be more versatile - the only thing missing was really hard snow - and so I had the chance to get a pretty comprehensive picture of the planks.
The riding characteristics
I'll start with the overall impression: The ski is incredibly versatile, especially for its design, and you are really well equipped for all situations on the mountain. However, it always wants to be actively ridden, just hanging around on the ski is not an option. But who wants to do that? And it's not a ski for a quick ride, but works best when you build up the relationship slowly. However, it is less picky and most skiers should get on well with it straight away.
The Terasaka cuts an outstanding figure on the slopes. It likes to make wide turns at high speeds and is controllable in every situation. It can also be pushed into tighter radii with astonishing ease, which it pulls off cleanly, at least for skiers in the semi-heavyweight range or higher. You can drift it slightly at any time. Perhaps a little too light for my taste, because I had to ride the ski quite a bit on the heel (not to be confused with backseat) to get the edge to pull through cleanly.
The ski is lively, but not nervous, and brings a nice amount of pressure and pop to the snow and feedback back to the rider. I attribute this riding behavior primarily to the carbon content in the construction. Almost needless to say, the ski can be skied classically quite well. As far as that is possible with a tanker of this gross tonnage category.
Comfortable speed in easy terrain is not quite the Terasaka's thing, here it quickly lets you know that it is bored. It turns a little sluggishly when you change over in a shuffly style, turns slightly reluctantly and the nose with the slight rocker and even lighter taper as well as the angular shape sometimes twitches around a little. But I'm happy to leave this terrain to ski schools and pimply twintip skiers.
As soon as you give the ski a bit of a push, you notice how happy it is. It willingly pulls along and stabilizes the ride with every km/h you put on it. Even if the ski gives the impression that it has a speed limit at some point, this is probably higher than mine and quite high. Wide turns are a real pleasure. And if something gets in the way, it's no big deal. Tracks or uneven snow surfaces are ironed out without any problems, if not without comment. Even when chopped up, you quickly find yourself in the upper speed regions without leaving the comfort zone.
However, like many more classic skis, the Terasaka wants to be skied quite actively and so you always have to vary and adapt your position on the ski slightly according to the situation, even if you are generally neutral and very comfortable in the center of the ski. The slats are almost didactic and quickly let you know that tailgunning is just as unappreciated as very aggressive pressure on the front ski.
And if you get into the tighter corners, you're not lost for long. For such a long and rather straight board, the Terasaka turns very well and reacts quickly. At least if you put some work into it. Nothing stands in the way of treeskiing. There are certainly more maneuverable skis, but few in this class of composure.
Conclusion:
A full-throttle every-day freerider couldn't be much more suitable for all-round riding. The Plywood Terasaka can be ridden confidently in any terrain and shows its qualities as soon as you give it a little spur. However, this means that you don't just let it run, but actively ride it at all times. Then the ski almost hums with satisfaction.
Of course, there are specialists among skis in pretty much every area that are better than the Terasaka, but only a few skis that I have skied have shown such average performance in all areas as this ski. It's just as good on piste days as it is for big mountain skiing and it's also excellent in the forest.
It also looks damn good and is excellently made from high-quality materials. And it's certainly not a ski that the person next to you on the lift also has on their feet. At CHF 1630 for the full-carbon version and CHF 1430 for the standard version, this feeling may not come cheap, but in return you get an excellent freeride all-rounder with a captivating look and that certain ecological touch.
