I'm glad you all have enjoyed that video. Thank you for watching it! It was almost as much fun (not quite) putting it together as it was to ski it. Watching it for me brings back the excitement and sensations of the skiing--a great thing to do in the doldrums of summer. I can't believe that this season is nearly over, in the northern hemisphere, at least.
It's past time for a re-edit, including some of the more recent footage of the past couple years since I compiled the current version of Crudology.
What kind of skis? Surprisingly, perhaps, there are very few, if any, skis wider than the upper 80's, and many considerably narrower. I know there's a lot of discussion and rabid opinions about these things, and certainly, wider skis are more forgiving in the variable conditions of "crud," but the skiers in this video can ski on just about anything they want, so it is interesting to consider the skis they chose--or at least, made work. It is worth noting that for most of the skiing in the video, "crud" wasn't the only thing these skiers skied that day, so they were on skis that they felt comfortable on and that performed to their liking in a variety of conditions.
The skis I used in these clips ranged from 65mm slalom skis to 77mm "all mountain" skis--nothing wider than that. Please don't take that as a recommendation, though--there are certainly easier skis to ski on in crud! Here are the skis I was on in the current Crudology video:
0:29 (green jacket) First Notch, Arapahoe Basin--Hart WC SL (165cm, 65mm underfoot)
1:01 (that's "one-oh-one"--the auto-emoticon "feature" won't let me write it correctly) (blue jacket) at Squaw Valley, California--Hart Pulse (180cm, 77mm underfoot)
1:25 & 1:39 (orange jacket) North Pole Chute at Arapahoe Basin--Head WC SL (165cm, 65mm or so underfoot)
1:55 (blue jacket) Squaw Valley--Hart Pulse (180cm, 77mm)
3:18 & 3:28 (green jacket) First Notch, Arapahoe Basin--Hart WC SL (165cm, 65mm)
4:21 (green jacket) Jupiter Bowl, Copper Mtn--Hart SL (165cm, 65mm)
4:53 (blue jacket) Squaw Valley--Hart Pulse (180cm, 77mm)
5:38 (green jacket) First Notch, Arapahoe Basin--Hart SL (165cm, 65mm)
6:10 (orange jacket) Headwaters Chutes, Moonlight Basin-Big Sky, MT--Head SL (165cm, 65mm)
6:42 (orange Copper Mtn uniform, in front) Copper Bowl, Copper Mtn--ski uncertain (possibly Hart Pulse 170cm, 77mm)
6:59 (orange jacket) Snowbird, UT--Nordica Hot Rod Modified (174cm, 74mm)
8:27 (orange jacket) Headwaters Chutes, Moonlight Basin--Head SL (165cm, 65mm)
9:19 (orange jacket) North Pole Chutes, Arapahoe Basin--Head SL (165cm, 65mm)
9:47 (orange jacket) Ambush (I think) at Keystone--Nordica Speed Machine (162cm, 72mm underfoot)
10:11 (orange jacket) North Pole Chutes, Arapahoe Basin--Head SL (165cm, 65mm)
10:24 (orange jacket) Arapahoe Basin--Nordica Speed Machine (162cm, 72mm)
10:40 (green jacket) First Notch, Arapahoe Basin--Hart SL (165cm, 65mm)
10:58 & 11:44 (blue jacket) Squaw Valley--Hart Pulse (180cm, 77mm)
12:09 (green jacket) Jupiter Bowl, Copper--Hart SL (165cm, 65mm)
12:25 (green jacket) First Notch, Arapahoe Basin--Hart SL (165cm, 65mm)
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Don't get me wrong--I'm not suggesting that a World Cup slalom ski is a "good" ski for these conditions--merely that it is skiable (if unforgiving) here--and a great, fun ski in firmer conditions. I do own a number of skis in the 90-100+mm range, but I rarely choose to ski on them, except on a real powder day (and even there, I usually find myself on more of an all-purpose, high-performance "teaching" ski--and I have--reluctantly, perhaps--skied deep powder even on the little slalom skis when that's what I had on my feet). The only condition where I've found fat powder-specialty skis to be a clear advantage is in very tight trees with deep powder.
The narrower your ski, the more seriously you must take "Crudinal Rules" #2 and 3 ("keep 'em going the direction they're pointed," and if that doesn't work, "point 'em the direction they're going!")--in order to avoid rule #4 (to get a good taste of powder and crud, you've got to eat some....). Skinny skis MUST slice through soft, heavy snow--they are very difficult to twist sideways into a skid, and even more difficult to manage if you succeed in getting them going sideways. Wider skis are considerably more forgiving in that regard.
Well, enjoy the video, and take advantage of the great spring skiing that still remains in parts of the country. Aspen Highlands closes tomorrow, but re-opens the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May. Loveland and Arapahoe Basin will be great for several more weeks, along with Mammoth, at least. Should be good!
Best regards,
Bob Barnes
(PS--is there a way to turn "auto-emoticon" off? The smiley faces in the times above are not my idea--and I can't make them go away!)
I consider myself very fortunate to ski with or have skied with some of the stars of Crudology. Now, if only I could apply the cardinal rules to my own skiing.
