Actually,
lbotta, I hold those to be priced as an upper level ski, especially when compared to an
Odyssey, though, granted, not when compared to a
Phantom.
Never skied a Claw; held an older one (Y2K) in my hand once at Reliable Racing, and, well,
<minuses> the finish was very unimpressive and the binding lift/plate looked quite kludgey.
<pluses> Felt supremely damp especially for the weight- when I banged the tail on the floor I didn't even hear a proper 'thunk' let alone feel a ringing at the edges.
Not to hijack your thread or anything, but I really feel the difference between $850 MSRP and $350 closeout is Mostly MiddleMan Markup. THe folks at Clawskis shouldn't really have MMMs, and I would expect their product to rival my S:11s in performance for that price. (I am not actually objecting to MSRP here and now, just pointing out that Claw doesn't have the excuses for cost Atomic does)