Heritage Labs BC110
For years now, the top of my “ski wishlist” has been a lighter version of the 4FRNT Hoji. The progressive shape and reverse camber of the Hoji has been an all time favorite daily driver/powder ski for me, with the only caveats being that 2000g/ski is a bit portly for bigger days, and the 184-191 lengths feel a touch short or a touch long for me.
The Heritage Labs BC110
Thankfully, someone out there was listening–that someone being Marshal Olson of Heritage Labs Skis. He seems to have made my dreams come true. I’ll delve a bit deeper into the Heritage Labs story in an upcoming review of the BC90 model that I spent the last 6 weeks or so testing, but long story short is that Marshal started Heritage Labs as a vehicle to fulfill the market niches of high performance and specialty skis that have often been discontinued in favor of more “middle market” offerings. Many of these models seem to combine Marshal’s personal experience and tastes as a ski designer (at DPS, among others) with the wishes of community members in places like the TGR Forum.
For the ski touring part of Heritage Labs some are models designed around “high ROM” boots (BC90, BC132), and others for beefier boots (BC105, BC113). The BC110 is supposedly equally suited to either high ROM or beefy boots, but I will bet that a lightweight boot will drive the BC110 really well. The concept of ski shape related to boot performance is new to me, but makes perfect sense. Unlike alpine skis and boots, ski tourists may have boots with a wide variety of performance characteristics. Often, weight or waist width don’t tell the whole story when it comes to compatibility between a boot and ski. This harkens back to the days of the Scarpa Alien RS, with its 85mm upper limit on waist width. One season, I tried pairing the Alien RS with a Blizzard Spur. Yikes, I was barely in control of such a large, demanding ski, and am probably lucky I didn’t break the boots. The next season, I switched to a 4FRNT Renegade—my experience couldn’t have been more different. The Alien RS was an excellent pairing with the Renegade, and I had a blast with my light boot/powder board setup. Sure, the Renegade was 7mm narrower, 5cm shorter, and 200g lighter than the Spur, but most importantly, the Renegade is reverse cambered and has a progressive mount point. Since that first season with the Renegade, I have had a love affair with 4FRNT’s reverse cambered skis, paired with boots like the Alien RS or Tecnica Zero G Peak.
Full rocker profile, full reverse.
It isn’t fair to call the BC110 a lightweight copy of the Hoji, as it has some distinct differences as well as plenty of other design inspiration. The FR110 (the “alpine” version) has garnered comparison to the Rossignol Sickle and an older model 4FRNT Devastator. Side by side, the BC110 has more sidecut, and most notably a flatter, lower reverse camber profile, relative to the Hoji. It seems like this will make the BC110 better on the skin track and skiing firm snow, and trade some pivot/slash ability for more stability at speed. I’ll be interested to see how the tighter sidecut (24.7 for BC110 vs 30m for Hoji) impacts performance, as sidecut often seems to impact performance differently with reverse cambered skis, relative to skis with camber.
I continue to enjoy a flat, rockered tail. Supportive and functional, but loose when you want it to be.
I mounted the BC110 with my favorite Ski Trab Gara Titan, at -7cm from center—same as my Hojis. I’ll plan to ski them with some light boots like the Zero G Peak and hopefully a new sub 1kg boot from La Sportiva, as well as with beefier boots like the Atomic Backland XTD and Technica Zero G Tour Pro.
Specs
Available lengths (cm): 180, 186 [tested]
Weight: 1705g/ski (verified)
Side cut (mm): 135-110-129
Turn radius (m): 24.7
Mount Point (cm from center): -6 (testing at -7)
Core: Paulownia/poplar
Build Comments: full UHMW Sidewalls, triaxial carbon laminate with VDS(rubber) damping, hand prepared and tuned prior to shipping.
Shape: Reverse Camber, medium-long radius, somewhat tapered tips and tails
Similar Models: 4FRNT Hoji
Price: $799.00
Thanks for this look Gavin! I love the discussion on ski shape and boot pairing rather than weight/ width only. The BC 90 has been on top of my wish list since Marshall launched Heritage Labs and I am really excited to hear your take. Thanks for the great writing.
Really awesome blog! I’ve read favorable mentions from you/t-h-r about the 4frnt raven/hoji/renegade. It would be fun to see an in-depth take on these skis, perhaps wrapped within the context of skiing RC skis with progressive mount point, light boots, related.