Icelantic Skis Oracle 88 Review

We all came to the Icelantic Oracle 88 with various prejudices, but we all also came away with the conclusion that this is a solid ski for the price. It has its highlights and flaws, but overall would be an excellent purchase for many female skiers.

Performance Comparison

Stability at Speed

Considering that it is not particularly stiff and it's incredibly light, the Oracle 88 is relatively confidence-boosting with its stability at speed.

There is minimal tip flutter with this ski, and it manages to coast through variable terrain without bucking its rider too much. For those high-end skiers who love high-speed carved turns on groomers, consider something stiffer and burlier.

The Oracle 88 is a bit too gooey to really bend and arc with poise at higher velocities. The edge hold in the steeps was better than we expected, but still came up lacking compared to some other skis in our test. Some of our taller testers also felt the 169cm length wasn't quite enough ski to feel powerful at speed, and wished Icelantic made these in another length up.

Carving

With an 18m turn radius at the 169cm length we tested, the Oracle prefers to make a medium to large shaped turn.

This ski is a little too limp to lay down really deep trenches, but this flexibility awards it high esteem in other areas. If tipping and ripping is your primary movement, you might consider a different ski. The Oracle will carve if you're patient and deliberate, but it's not its forte. The edge-to-edge quickness of the Oracle is a high point, and after skiing so many fat-waisted skis, we loved how nimble the 88mm waist felt. We felt like we could change edges quickly, but then we had to persevere if we wanted to allow the shape of the ski to create our turn shape.

Powder

In up to about six inches of lighter powder, the Oracle is a blast! Anything deeper, or heavier, and it starts to flounder a bit beneath the snow's surface.

Obviously, the 88mm waist (which we loved in bumps and for its quickness) and lack of a large shovel contribute to this ski's tendency to get submerged as the snow gets deeper. However, if you're only interested in delving into shallower powder stashes, or you've got more of an old-school philosophy that pow should be skied “in” and not “on,” then this would be an excellent tool for the trade. For those looking for a new-age powder-specialized ski, the Oracle 88 is not what you seek.

Crud

Once again, the Oracle 88 surprised us with its ability to thrash through tricky chopped up snow states.

We found minimal (but some) deflection of the tips while skiing crunchy and difficult snow after some wet storms.

Some testers did experience being bounced around more than they'd like on this slightly softer, lighter ski. We thought this model's strength in crud is actually that it's so lightweight, it seems to soar on top of the chunky-funkiness. Most of us did agree that we felt stronger in tracked snow on the Oracle than on some other of our lighter-weight skis though, so they're doing something right.

Playfulness

Weighing in at only 6.5lbs per pair, the Oracle is certainly one of the featherweights in this lineup, and they prance around the ring with all the dexterity and grace of the best boxers.

We loved how lively this ski is, its quickness to turn, and its capacity for flight. There are few skis we've tested over the years which outmatch the Oracle in this metric, and when they do, they generally do so due to the Oracle's lack of notable rebound. We didn't feel the springy kickback at the completion of a turn on these skis.

The Oracle is so agile that the skier has complete control over how “fun” she wants to make her turns — pop into the air off a bump on one turn and then swiftly smear them across the top of the next one. The mountain is your oyster on these boards.

Bumps

Its deftness from turn to turn makes the Oracle an ideal bump ski. While some testers were disappointed the company doesn't make them in a longer length, their 169cm span made them quite easy to maneuver in a mogul field.

The Oracle 88 loves to swivel from side to side, and trough to the summit, and are light enough that a strong lady can even leap up and skip a bump if she pleases. The Oracles has all the right attributes to create a fantastic mogul ski. Its nimbleness puts it near the top of the pack in this metric.

Value

As the winner of one of our Best Buy awards, we believe the Oracle 88 is a screaming deal for a screaming ski. Icelantic packs a ton of merit into this ski since we found that you can take it all over the mountain and have a great time. Other people must agree with our conclusions since last season the manufacturer's website ran out of the ski in the early season! The full sidewall construction should make it long-lasting and hardy.

However, one of our testers did notice that the top sheet of one ski already had a minor flaw on it when we received them. One could say that this might suggest the possibility of other defects in construction, or one might say that this is a quaint signature of a hand-made ski from an independent (and local, depending on your definition and locale) company. We tend towards the latter.

The graphics on these skis are stunning and get compliments on every chair ride. The geometric mountain scene reminded us of one of our favorite local artists here in the Eastern Sierra, Ann Piersall, and made us feel right at home. And we love the fact that they're using Colorado beetle-killed pine to make this ski — way to make lemonade, Icelantic!

Conclusion