Going on shorter skis and other options?

[everest8850]

Hi - would be delighted to hear views from the many resident experts here.... Here's the context. I'm 53, ski at a low-intermediate level and have a lower leg disability. Long story short, I was in hospital for a long time in 1998 from a bad nerve disorder - and both my calves do not work and the right foot has a condition called foot drop where you can't lift the foot up. As you can imagine, the right leg in particular has, in a ski context, not much fore/aft control at all and the left foot only partial. I've had nearly 30 years of alpine climbing and expedition climbing experience globally( with 20 of those as a disabled climber) but ski badly. Hoping to get better at skiing but getting equipment adapted to my condition is hard, and getting my weight forward to the front is also tricky because of the lack of fore-aft control. I'm wondering if getting shorter skis of standard skis would work, or would long skiboards be an answer? I'm 5'8", at 155lbs dripping wet. I'm looking at (being a ski agnostic) getting better at skiing overall with a view of doing more powder/offpiste as I get better and venturing into ski mountaineering. I currently ski on 160cm type planks, in the 90mm width, and have some AT boots. Near future - looking at skiing 80% groomers and 20% BC. Should I be looking at:

1) getting shorter skis of the same kind of models I am looking at eg 140?145cm?150? lengths? I;ve skid once on 130cm skis - and while turning is easier, torsional stabiity sucks
or
2) getting something like the longboard skiboards eg Hagan Offlimits(?) which arent too wide for groomers, and yet float and turn nicely in powder for lighter riders like me, and have some uphill skinning virtues. If 'yes', what kind of mounting positioning might I need.

Interested to hear folks who have skied on skis SHORTER than those meant for their height and weight, as well as those who switched over to the longer skiboards which I understand have a different flex profile, as well as mounting positioning

Many thanks for reading and responding to this long post!

 

[Philpug]

Welcome to the site. It sounds like you have some serious aspirations...RESPECT. I am not sure it is length of the ski that is the concern but more the position on the ski as you mentioned and also the fore and aft postining that will allow you to pressure the ski. You mention the Hagan Offlimits ski, it is nto a commonski in the states, where are you located?

 

[Tricia]

both my calves do not work and the right foot has a condition called foot drop where you can't lift the foot up. As you can imagine, the right leg in particular has, in a ski context, not much fore/aft control at all and the left foot only partial.

Not to take away from your quest for skis but...
I'm not sure what you've done for a ski boot fit, but I had a customer on the boot bench with foot drop from a severed nerve in his left leg. He had all but given up on finding a ski boot so he could continue doing what he loved. I pulled the liner out of the shell (Tecnica mach 1 100 MV) and drilled holes in it to make it a lace up liner, which allowed him to put his foot(with the laced liner on) into the ski boot shell.
When he put his boots on by himself, his eyes lit up and I thought he was going to kiss me!

 

[Eric267]

Mad props to you.

My buddy in high school had cerebral palsy which affected his legs strength. He skied shorter skis with special ski-poles that were balanced to his body angle. He got pretty good and could cruise the groomers. Pretty sure he worked with the university of Pittsburgh sports medicine center to set him up.

Around here at alpine meadows they have an amazing adaptive ski program. Pretty much every day you see someone with a different kind of setup out there gettin it. Wouldnt be a bad idea to drop them an email explaining your situation to see if they've worked with anyone like you. Sure they would be happy to stear you in the right direction or might be worth a Tahoe trip to work with one of the adaptive instructors
http://achievetahoe.org

Hope this helps

 

[Tricia]

I moved this over to Gear discussion, but you can let me know if it needs to be back in General.

 

[mister moose]

I tthink that while pressure fore-aft will be an issue regardless of ski length, shorter skis (say 20% shorter) will be less demanding for precision. In other words, shorter=easier. Nothing new there. I bet you can find tortionally stiff shorter skis if you look.

Thinking out of the box a little, have you thought about tele? Fore-aft balance there is accentuated by fore-aft foot position, and maybe that will fit better with your particular disability.

Good on you for being persistent in the face of a sizable challenge.,

 

[Kneale Brownson]

There are adaptive ski programs at many larger ski areas. You might be best served by checking into one of those before going equipment hunting on your own. Your profile doesn't indicate your location, so we can't suggest a program to contact.

The boot adaptation described by Tricia can help you a lot.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Welcome. I skiboarded for a few years in between my snowboarding years and transitioning to skiing. This was a website I found very resourceful

https://skiboards.com/

 

[Doug Briggs]

How do you like to ski? Most of what you are mentioning is touring/light weight gear. Are you looking for skis for touring or alpine/resort use?

 

[everest8850]

Hey folks - thanks for the deluge of helpful responses. To answer some questions you raised, I'm in tropical Singapore - closest decent skiing is Japan and I've been to the northernmos island Hokkaido thrice. 50 feet of powder consistenty on an annual basis. BUt not much adaptive programmes. Tricia: The stiff ski boot ( and my right one has been shimmed to fill up the loose play because of the severe atrophy in my lower legs) usually helps immensely for foot drop as is. The bigger problem is that BOTH legs dont have plantarflexion: so no tip toe work (had to give up ice routes in my climbing gaols that needed frontpointing in crampons), and hence sucky fore-aft control. Yeah - I know ALL skiing of sort will need that. just wondering if you have recommendations for shorter turnier skis. The Hagan Offlimits are made in Austria and seem to be the most talked about ski touring 'shorty' as it can be skied like a ski (versus more skiboard techniques) and has a turn radius under 10m. Just wondering if I should go that way ( long skiboard options) or find a standard ski model with twin tips (easier turns) with a rocker (at least one on the tips) - but a shorter version. Most long skiboards - are a bit on the wide side to have true versatility ( I aim to do 80% groomers and 20% touring), so looking for somethin around 90mm, on which I can mount my Marker F12 frame touring bindings. My current setups are on 160s on 90mm type skis ( Salomon Q90s and Fischer Transalp 88s - with Marker F12/ Dynafit SUperlite 2.0s respectively) - sadly they are a bit harder to work with than I thought...

 

[everest8850]

How do you like to ski? Most of what you are mentioning is touring/light weight gear. Are you looking for skis for touring or alpine/resort use?

Hey Doug - Ideal set up (in miy mind actually - but open 100% to different ideas that might work) would be something that cna work groomers since my mix would be 80/20- Piste/BC work. I dont ski or want to ski fast. Just keen on skiing in a more relaxed fashion on any slope and moving into BC trips. So 90mm width or so; something in the 140cm range, but with big sidecut to get that short-turn radius. I'm 155lbs so dont mind skiing "junior" or even ladies skis since many mens models dont go that short.

 

[Wendy]

First of all, kudos to you! Many people with your issues wouldn’t be skiing at all. And, mountaineering is hard!

I’d get the Hagan. It seems like it’s constructed for adults, whereas a junior ski or a ladies ski at that length may be too soft. If a longer skiboard like the Hagan helps you do what you want to do, then that’s your ticket.

 

[cantunamunch]

Hey Doug - Ideal set up (in miy mind actually - but open 100% to different ideas that might work) would be something that cna work groomers since my mix would be 80/20- Piste/BC work. I dont ski or want to ski fast. Just keen on skiing in a more relaxed fashion on any slope and moving into BC trips. So 90mm width or so; something in the 140cm range, but with big sidecut to get that short-turn radius. I'm 155lbs so dont mind skiing "junior" or even ladies skis since many mens models dont go that short.

Can I suggest having a quiver? One inbounds groomer ski and your current setup for BC (until you find something that is more playful?

I say that because there are some really nice groomer skis available, in adult sizes in the lengths you want, but the one thing that will kill them is the BC float ~90mm waist+ criterion.

For example:
http://www.rtc-ski.ch/carving/
http://www.lusti.cz/eshop-fc-fun-carving-detail-1004

Those are a little bit spendy if in the US but cheaper elsewhere. There will also be funcarvers on the budget side.

 

[Alba Adventures]

Not to take away from your quest for skis but...
I'm not sure what you've done for a ski boot fit, but I had a customer on the boot bench with foot drop from a severed nerve in his left leg. He had all but given up on finding a ski boot so he could continue doing what he loved. I pulled the liner out of the shell (Tecnica mach 1 100 MV) and drilled holes in it to make it a lace up liner, which allowed him to put his foot(with the laced liner on) into the ski boot shell.
When he put his boots on by himself, his eyes lit up and I thought he was going to kiss me!

Heck, I feel like kissing you for doing that !