New (Disappointing) Skis - 2009 Armada AR6
Last month, I broke down and finally bought a new pair of skis for myself. After years of skiing on a pair of Atomic race skis (awesome skis, but very long and heavy, and designed for speed, not maneuverability), I decided to get myself a set of twin-tips like I’ve always wanted. The shop I went to recommended the Armada AR6 skis, and after some reading, I decided to go with them. They had good reviews and seemed to fit fairly well into the types of skiing that I do. They also had the added perk of having some pretty cool artwork on the top.
After getting everything adjusted, I took them out for the first time. Nothing serious. No terrain parks or rough treatment, just boring old snow. One trip up the lift, after having skied for about an hour, I looked down at my skis and noticed that the top of the ski, about 6 inches above the binding, was splintering away, taking pretty good sized chunks of the artwork with it. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled with the outcome. It doesn’t affect the way the skis perform, but it’s a bummer and an eyesore, and not something I expected to happen to a brand new pair of skis on the first run.
I took the skis back to the shop, hoping to have the error be covered under warranty. It wasn’t. Armada rejected the warranty work. Thankfully, Sun & Snow in Ann Arbor, where I took the skis, did a fantastic job of repairing the skis for me, and charged me nearly nothing for the job. However, I was left with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth after the experience with Armada.
I decided to call Armada, to make sure I had the whole story. After numerous times calling and leaving voicemail messages (none of which were returned), I finally got ahold of a human being. To their credit, the two people I talked to were quite helpful, despite never actually being able to find any record of having rejected the picture of my skis. I spoke to Seth, the person in charge of warranty work, and it turns out that the tops of their skis splintering into oblivion is an expected part of wear and tear, and is not covered under warranty.
I’m not one to expect that every scratch, ding or abuse be covered by the manufacturer, but I do expect a pair of skis with an MSRP of $600 to hold up to the kind of wear and tear that they’d experience in 2 hours of normal skiing. I’m not a pro skier, but neither am I a complet amateur. I didn’t bang my skis together riding up the lift, and I’m capable of making it down a black diamond without crossing my skis or killing myself. Armada made it very clear that this was normal for them and not covered.
So, if you want a pair of skis to look good mounted on the wall, AR6s might be the ones for you. I’ll even admit that they ski quite nicely… I’d be a lot less friendly writing this otherwise. If however, you’re looking for a ski that will last you a long time, or if you want a company that stands behind the hardware they sell, I think your money would be better spent with a company other than Armada. I’ll ski the AR6s until they wear out, but I certainly won’t buy Armada again next time. I just hope they at least last the winter.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
My 09 AR6s is having top sheet problems too. There is a huge spiderweb type crack forming and growing on the nose of the ski. It sucks!
March 24th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Yeah, for the sake of other people who own the AR6, I wish it was an isolated problem. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a number of other people posting about very similar problems. I’d recommend getting them re-laminated as soon as possible, and maybe the cracking will stop before it spreads any further. Either way, good luck with it.