Do you really need a wide ski for powder?

[speedster]

Just curious what people think. Have you ever tried to ski in fresh powder with properly narrow skis in the West? Like a 70mm waist width. What was your experience? Could you adapt? Did you enjoy it?

 

[jmeb]

Have I tried it? Yes.
Can you do it? Yes.
Did I have fun? Yes.

Is a 110+ ski with rocker significantly more fun? Yes.

 

[SpikeDog]

Er, narrow skis are what I learned to ski powder on. Pretty sure I could manage it, but why? I don't think I need a fattie (>110) to ski powder either; something in the 90 range works just fine for resort powder.

 

[Bill Talbot]

Well it was done for many, many decades prior to the late 1990's...
Some folks made it look effortless and beautiful!!! Still can be done well if you can ski well, that hasn't changed.
For the very occasional powder skier, lets say knee deep or more, it can be very challenging till you learn how to ski in it and can get some days in it.
Wider, softer powder skis make it easier for THOSE folks to enjoy those types of days they don't see very often. You still need to learn how but it is way less work
and far more forgiving in less 'favorable' types of snow that's for sure.

 

[Lorenzzo]

Some of us learned powder on narrow skis and loved it. Masters type GS skis are narrow and can do really well in it, I've enjoyed the heck out of powder on those. SL are narrow and can present a real challenge, I've done it but didn't enjoy it so much. So it partially depends on the ski. I'm on a 78 width (AX) until it gets over 4-5".

 

[Tricia]

I'm sure I could, though I never tried out west on anything narrower than 95mm. Funny though when I lived in Michigan, my first "powder" ski was the Volkl Karma, which was (IIRC) 84mm under foot.

I have often wondered if face shots are missed because we ski on powder instead of in powder.

 

[Philpug]

There was a time that many of the skiers here can remember when 70mm WAS a powder ski. Two powder days in my life come to mind when I think of this..actually three. First was about 1981ish at Camelback in the Poconos. It was a rare powder day, real powder, light weight not just the heavy snow that the Poconos were known to get. The one run that comes to mind was skiing the Bailey Chair lift line top to bottom on my 195cm Rossignol ST Comps. The run was light and effortless, that ski was maybe 66mm underfoot. I am not sure @Andy Mink was there that night or remembers it.

The second time was the first year we moved out to Tahoe. @Tricia and I were at Northstar and it was dumping to the tune of 4-6" an hour. We ran into @cbk that morning when he was talking a clinic with Mike Hafer. @Tricia and I took off and skied the Martis Camp area and just did lap after lap on basically the same line. As the day went, early in the AM, stuff that we were dropping off of, later in the day we were just rolling off of. That day I was skiing on the Blizzard Bonafide, not relatively wide at 98mm underfoot.The last one that comes to mind was at Steamboat a couple of years back. A group of buddies from the east met @Ron and I there. That day I was on the Renoun Z90, not as narrow as the OP suggested but not wide either. Again it was champagne powder, light as light can be.

If given my choice I would rather be in the snow than on it. So when in powder I will tend to be on a narrower than average powder ski. I rarely get on something over 115mm and I am usually on something 100ish. Granted it is not the 70mm requested but if I was to get on something in that range, as much as the width I would be looking at would be the flex, if the skis bend easier, it will be more enjoyable in the deep.

This still comes down to the right tool for the job too, some might prefer an open end wrench, some might perfer a socket, some might prefer a drill with a socket attachment and some might prefer to pound that bolt into the wall with a hammer.

 

[pchewn]

On thick goopy Mt Hood powder, narrow skis will barely keep enough speed to enable turns on the lower-pitched slopes. Wider rockered skis float up, go faster and enable more turns per run. So yes, I can ski powder on narrow skis but the wider ones work well when the pitch is low, and the snow is slow.

 

[jmeb]

my first "powder" ski was the Volkl Karma, which was (IIRC) 84mm under foot.

Just mounted up a pair for WROD action. Your memory is correct. Still a really fun ski -- medium stiff, lots of camber, twin tip. Not a design you see much of anymore.

 

[Andy Mink]

I am not sure @Andy Mink was there that night or remembers it.

We had powder at Camelback? Even once?

 

[Philpug]

We had powder at Camelback? Even once?

THAT was the day.

 

[Don in Morrison]

We used to do it all the time, back in the day. Just don't attempt breakable crust with a 70's vintage slalom racing ski. It's really ugly.

 

[Rod9301]

Have I tried it? Yes.
Can you do it? Yes.
Did I have fun? Yes.

Is a 110+ ski with rocker significantly more fun? Yes.

Exactly

 

[Ron]

The day I demoed my Stockli laser ax we got 8”. They were a blast. You did have to watch the tips when skiing undulating terrain but I only fell once when a ski got snaked. Otherwise, @Philpug said, in light powder, they did just fine.


I have had no issues skiing Renoun 98’s in knee deep fresh. My current powder ski is a faction ct 3.0 (108) in 186. It’s just more fun but honestly, I am perfectly happy skiing most powder days (6-8”) on something around 90-95

 

[Ken_R]

Just curious what people think. Have you ever tried to ski in fresh powder with properly narrow skis in the West? Like a 70mm waist width. What was your experience? Could you adapt? Did you enjoy it?

Yes I tried it (Colorado), my experience? Pretty bad, with LOTS of speed turns could be made and some fun to be had (if you didnt hit any hidden obstacles) but slow down and its game over. No, I did not enjoy it.

 

[4aprice]

There was a time that many of the skiers here can rtemember when 70mm WAS a powder ski. Two powder days in my life come to mind when I think of this..actually three. First was about 1981ish at Camelback in the Poconos. It was a rare powder day, real powder, light weight not just the heavy snow that the Poconos were known to get. The one run that comes to mind was skiing the Bailey Char lift line top to bottom on my 195cm Rossignol ST Comps. The run was light and effortless, that ski was maybe 66mm underfoot. I am not sure @Andy Mink was there that night or remembers it.

As one who still haunts the place, we got one of the those storms in 2014. Have to admit, did not feel like Pennsy that day

We had powder at Camelback? Even once?

Makes it a what? About a 1 in 33 year storm? About right for the Pocono's

THAT was the day.

Should copy and paste this exchange into the Eastern Pa thread for laughs.

As for skis, ride a RTM 84 here in the in the east. Have ridden them out west in powder too and they were quite sufficient, I have now gotten a fatter pair that I leave out west (son lives in Colorado) K2 Marksmen (106 UF). Got to ride one small and one medium (8-10") snowfall on them and they were a lot of fun. Only missed the RTM's on some of the slick main boulevards heading down to the base areas at the end of the day in Colorado last year.

 

[Seldomski]

Speed is your friend on powder with narrow skis. If it's pretty flat and you stop, it's a bad time.

If the powder is loose and covering a base that is very firm, it's not fun on a narrow ski. If you sink in, the ski can grab the hardpack underneath. Not pleasant when the powder depth is in a certain range. Less powder, and it would be like a groomer. More and you can smear and be a bit looser in turns. In between sucks on a narrow ski. Thankfully, I have encountered those types of conditions very rarely.

I feel like we need another thread titled 'Do you really need a narrow ski for ice?'

 

[QueueCT]

Agree about speak with narrower skis. I remember skiing Mt Snow over Valentine's Day about 5(?) years ago. 14" snowfall, maybe 8" of powder. Was a blast on the steeper pitches, was a slog on the shallow. The front side runs were a real pain with the undulation between medium and shallow pitches. Had to bomb the medium to keep up speed on the shallow. That was with an RTM 84 which works well on groomers and in the chop.

 

[SSSdave]

Decades ago I learned to ski powder on Hexcel Sundance skis that I vaguely recall had 74mm waists. Still have one pair I have not been on for 2 or 3 decades maybe my only old skis that have not been chucked in a dumpster. Those aluminum honeycomb models had a nice balanced flex pattern I learned to dynamically rabbit bounce on that I could lay down impressive S turn tracks with. Not much a tool for firmer snow conditions.

Then a couple decades plus ago skied for years on Volant Powderkarves that were I believe 72mm at the waist and could lay down impressive S tracks on. A fine versatile one quiver ski.

And then rode wide Volant Chubbs a few years in fresh that tended to plane through snow faster than I preferred more in the style many skiers tend to ski today.

This last decade have been on 2012 Rossignol S7 at 178cm length (140 110 118 mm). It is a much praised soft powder ski with wide floatation. As an old mogul skier liking short dynamic turning, it easily makes more relaxed short dynamic bouncing S-turns at slower speeds I prefer as someone often in woods and tending to ski long distances without excessive effort. I much prefer this ski in powder versus any of the older generation powder skis I rode. As noted I'm not personally a fan of the less turny higher speed powder skiing style I see so many in this era using as I do not find it as fun.

 

[x10003q]

My old powder skis - Dynamic VR27 Geant 210 - also my old GS racing skis