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Harvest Home Grown 181cm 2018-2019

136-105-126 r=19m @ 181cm

Harvest Home Grown

Manufacturer Info:

Harvest Skis LLC
PO Box 773839
Steamboat Springs, Colorado 80477
970-846-4281
info@harvestskis.com
http://www.HarvestSkis.com

Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) & Warranty:

$789 usd
3 year warranty against defects

Usage Class:

All-mountain Freeride

Rating (with comments):

(1="get me off these things"->10="I have to own a pair")

7-8 frontside hardpack groomers
8+ frontside packed powder groomers
8+ for crud and crust busting

9 for powdery conditions in low to medium speeds)
8 for powdery conditions at high speeds (a little darty due to radius and short running length)

Background:

Eric Baker started Harvest skis in 2015 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado USA after taking a course in ski and snowboard design at Colorado Mountain College, and focused on locally-sourced wood for his core laminations. He emphasizes grass-roots support and small-business development for Harvest Skis as an ecologically-sensitive community member, supporting his products with a highly unusual 3 year warranty.

Manufacturer's Description:

"The ski that started it all! Homegrown in the Colorado Rockies, this shape will carve the front-side and tour the back like a native, with just enough waist width for the deep and not too much for the groomers.
Design Features: Early rise and tapered tip and tail for increased float and turn release, camber underfoot provides edge hold on firmer snow and a medium flex for a playful but solid feel. Homegrown is available in white or black."

Technical Ski Data:

Tip to tail poplar wood core
Two layers Vector Ply 22oz. tri-axial weave fiber glass.
Full wrap UHMW-PE sidewalls around entire core
3 layers of vulcanized rubber foil
Full wrap hardened steel edges
4001 grade sintered Dura Surf UHMW-PE base with die cut graphics
PBT high gloss L15 Carbon textured topsheets with sublimated graphics.
Weight: 1879 grams and 1886 grams without bindings (measured)

Bindings and Boots Used:

Tyrolia PRD 12 Adjustable Bindings
Salomon S-Max 120 boots.
GreenIce Wax.

Pre-Skiing Impression:

Very nice, clean fit and finish with a distinctive textured topsheet hosting vibrant, handsome graphics. Moderate, "western-style" rockered tip and tail with tapered shaping at both ends. Soft to moderately stiff flex as you go from either end to the center underfoot. Modern shaping and camber profiles. Striking green base with white lettering. Hand-flex and "gong test" shows a nicely damp, yet energetic rebound. Moderately stout torsional flex response. Handsome and fun looking.

Test Conditions:

Hard and soft corduroy, packed powder and hardpack groomers, knee-deep powder, Spring corn snow & mid-winter boilerplate.

Summary:

Harvest's description of the Home Grown is pretty much spot-on. The Home Grown is an agile, super-fun all-mountain ski for the 105mm waist category with a sporty, quick feel for its dimensions. The Home Grown has a very respectable carving ability once you roll it up on edge and engage the camber underfoot, and feels much shorter than its measured length due to the early rise tip and tail. Ride quality is nicely quiet and damp without any hint of heaviness or buzz underfoot across hard surfaces or ridged-filled hard groomer terrain. The Home Growns have a surprising pop if you load them up and release them (especially in 3D snow), so stay on top of them. Harvest has created a ski with a remarkably easy-to-ride, "auto-familiar" feel to them so you can ride them bell-to-bell without much effort, yet have a rowdy, fun-filled outing as the snow progresses from freshies to cut-up junk and packed-out surfaces during the day. The early rise tip and tail provide a fairly short effective edge length, and with the tapered tip and tail anchoring a short radius, the Home Growns can be a little darty at high speeds in 3D snow, but relax and back off the turn intensity, and the darty feel goes away at higher speeds. These skis shine in the tight woods and cut crud pretty darn well without deflection. Build quality and appearance are excellent. We found the Home Growns were a ski to always put in the ski pod when conditions where inconsistent or anything other than hardpack. Harvest's Home Grown is a great example of what craft ski builders can give their customers in 2018, and they should have a ton of happy skiers on their hands. Add a three-year warranty to the reasonable price, and you have a crowd pleaser.

Builder's Mount Position:

Harvest's mount position was really pretty good, and we only moved the bindings back a notch for higher speed runs to calm down the quick turn behavior. Standard mount position was great for agility in the trees and all-mountain adventures.

Hardpack and Boilerplate:

The Home Growns have a respectable and reliable grip on hardpack in stock tune, although we would tighten up the base to 0.5 degrees for Eastern bolierplate days....although we would grab a different ski for those hardpack days if we had a choice since a 105mm ski is not really the right option for those rock-hard ski days. The quiet, damp nature of the chassis layup shows up on hardpack by isolating the high frequency buzz and keeping the Home Growns nicely settled on the surface. Chatter and flap are non-existent. Being a short effective-edge ski, the Home Growns are quick to engage when rolled up on edge, and feel short as you pressure them along the body toward the tail, which ends quickly, so if you ski them like a shorter ski, you will have a nicely reliable edge for each arc on hardpack. As with most skis with a rockered, tapered tail (rather than a flat, wide tail), the tail of the ski ends quickly, so don't think you have a lot of ski behind you when you are pressured across hard surfaces. Hardpack turns are quick, but holding a GS-radius line is completely easy and reliable if you hold your line and don't rush to finish too soon. The hardpack rides is secure and reliable, but lacks the powerful gripping authority of some skis such as the DPS Wailer 106 Alchemist....trading off hardpack grip for easy, more fun-loving behavior in three-dimensional surfaces.

Mixed And/Or Powder Conditions:

Mixed surface types and softer snow conditions are where the shaping and camber profiles of the Harvest Home Growns really shine. Harvest has created a really fun, easy-to-ride ski with really good anti-deflection properties due to its reverse-tapered shovel. Lots of agility and energetic response are delivered as you traverse different kinds of snow, with a remarkable agility for a 105mm waisted ski. If you get into the higher speed realms, the 19meter radius and rockered tip and tail can behave quickly...sometimes a bit too quick if you get too much angle on your turn...so if you ride them instead of push them in mixed surface conditions, you get a less abrupt turn behavior. We found the Home Growns to really love mixed surfaces in the tight trees, delivering a really agile, easy-to-handle feel underfoot. You can check and smear on-demand throughout the speed ranges, which is very handy. Since there's a significant tip and tail rise, the 181cm model felt like a 175 at higher speeds, so if you spend more time in open terrain, buy this model up a size. For Eastern trees, the 181cm was perfect for testers between 5'5" and 6'0". Powdery conditions were a blast with the Home Growns since they have a nice width for most soft-snow days and feel surfy and fun with great grip and control underfoot. You can porpoise up and down, adjusting your depth at will, smear, bank and plane the skis in powder without much effort at all. The Home Growns have a wide performance envelope and would be a great choice as a ski to introduce a powder newbie into the cult of soft snow fanatics since they handle with great friendliness, but produce a sporty, fun ride for athletic skiers as well.

Turn Initiation, Apex & Finish:

The Home Growns are biased toward the more surfy, fun side of the spectrum than planky, directional types of skis, but the camber underfoot allows you to get a bite any time you need, so turn initiation is pretty effortless, as is maintaining an arc through a variety of radii underfoot. The tapered tail releases with essentially no effort, never locking you in against your will, making turns through the trees and bumps pretty much ideal. You can start, maintain and finish large-radius GS-like arcs in open terrain easily, as long as you remember this ski behaves shorter than its measurements and you ride it centered without relying on a long flat tail behind you for the finish. If you get in the back seat on the Home Growns, you'll feel the tail finish quickly and come around underneath you. Stay centered on the middle of the ski and you'll have a solid platform. The turn shapes of the Home Grown's geometry are nicely balanced and multiple radii turns are pretty effortless to lay down on various surfaces. As with all rockered skis with tapered tips and tails, stay centered for best results.

Analogies: ("This ski is like...")

A favorte, sporty dog you take on all your outdoor adventures because (s)he's so easy to manage, yet delivers a bundle of fun every time.

Quick Comments:

Sporty, fun, quick and agile all over the mountain
Can be a little darty in 3D snow at higher speeds due to short effective edge and 19m radius
Cuts through crud with confidence and spunk without being heavy or planky
Good, reliable grip on hard surfaces, but tail can end quicky if you get in the back seat
Energeti, but not explosive.
Really nice looking

Things I Would Change About This Ski:

Maybe flatten the tail a little...leaving the taper as-is.

Short Answer When Someone Asks "What Do You Think About This Ski?":

The Home Growns are a great choice for a craft-built ski in the 105mm category when you want something really fun and playful that won't wear you out, yet work in a huge range of conditions. Buy them up one size longer than you usually would...and think about the 3 year warranty backing Harvest's product.