The skis are approx 170cm, 125-70-118. The bindings I used are Tyrolia RFD14. They are a rail flex system. I was able to buy extra mounting plates so I can mount the plates on multiple skis and then swap the bindings as needed. I bought them from http://www.levelninesports.com/ for $129 and 4 mounting plates at $10 each. Installation was pretty easy.
Friday night I spent time conditioning the bases and sharpening the edges. The bases were good and flat, edges nice and sharp for a day of East coast powder
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
My first run I was cautious. I worried that the skis might self destruct, delam, or the binding pop lose. Everything held nicely! So I took a few more runs each time building confidence in the skis. They held on the frozen granular really well. I carved up some nice turns and they held pretty good as I picked up speed too. I worried I might get a lot of chatter but they seemed to have adequate damping. I think they were a bit stiff for the average skier. They held nicely under foot, which is key on ice or frozen crud, but think I could have used more taper toward the tip and tail.
The ski layup was typical, p-tex base and edges, VDS rubber, triaxal fiberglass, full ash cores, another layer of triaxial fiberglass, cloth top sheet with epoxy as a sealant on the cloth.
So now I had some confidence in what I built and after a few runs I didn't mind saying " hey look what I built the other day".
I'm not ready to set aside my Fischers AMC79's just yet
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
I have a list of improvements for the layup process to keep things from moving around. I think the next pair will be really good. I have 2 sets of cores ready to go. They are poplar/maple core and a bit longer and a bit thinner so they'll be a bit softer. I'm going to stick with the same layup or now.
Thanks for all the advice/tips/info in this forum!!
Here's a few pics of my Section8's:
![Image](http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab342/skidesmond/HPIM1607.jpg)
![Image](http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab342/skidesmond/HPIM1608.jpg)
![Image](http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab342/skidesmond/HPIM1609.jpg)
![Image](http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/ab342/skidesmond/HPIM1610.jpg)