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- Dec 2, 2015
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Pretty much. Plus a slalom ski has a much narrower tip than say a Rally.Not sure if I get your meaning on this point. Are you saying on a slalom ski, what pulls or initiates a turn when on edge is more than just the tip, its the tip plus some length of the front half of the ski?
A tip is more than engaging or pulling one into a turn. It has to release. Difficulty releasing will make a ski even more difficult to ski.
R-L: The first Rally, 163. 2nd yr Rally 170 13.5m, 14/'15 Blizz Fis Sl >13m, 17/'18 Fischer fis sl, Rossi Hero Masters 180/21m 17/'18, Dynastar Course ti 183 13/'14(?)
Note the difference of the Rally's to the current hammer head style Rally. (The one on the far right is just at a different angle so the side profile looks different, it's not) The early Rally's had a tip shape very similar to a slalom ski.
Imo, that makea it very versatile. Those Rally's were actually excellent skis for most people. The issue was more for heavier skiers they didn't have enough beef, so it required skiing it more delicately. An advanced technique that can also be somewhat annoying. What would have been better is to make a version of the same ski beefed up. Like make a 170 and a 173 where the 173 is for jeavier/more aggressive skiers. The length numbers just make it easier to tell them apart. Instead everyone makes 3 different models of skis.
A slalom ski has kind of an odd job. Racing slalom turns are almost never fully carved. Basically it's on the edges and off quickly, usually from the fall line on or even later. As soon as enough redirection occurs they are off the edge. One thing about that is the ski is often at a huge edge angle when it engages, increases, then it's released.
A huge hammerhead tip would be a disaster for slalom racing because at large edge angles it would bite so much it would impede forward progress, hook up too much and shoot the racer where they didn't want to go. Worse than that, ouside ski hooks up, shoots across the inside ski, blocks it and the skier breaks their leg.
The hole in the Fischer is supposed to not only lighten the tip but allow a little twist to release/engage more easily. One can do that also with internal construction.
The Rally used to be a no brainer recommendation for intermediate to non agressive advanced skiers. Now it's not.
That Rossi 180/21m is actually really good at short turns. I wish it had the tip of the Dynastar next to it. Make the thing a little longer, don't run the sidecut that far up. Would make it much more versatile in moguls and junky snow. It tends to plow. I've owned two excellent skis with that type of tip and both could be better without it. The other was the Fire Arrow 84 edt evo.