How short is too short for steeps and bumps?

[Tony S]

The video is titled "Tin Woodsman"... so... yeah, Oz.

Yup. World's most poorly executed glade. Have I mentioned in the last five minutes that Sunday River is not my favorite? But that was a nice afternoon.

 

[geepers]

Right?
If we got into half pipe costs... 900,000 gal of water and like 2-3 weeks with a cat, pipe cutter, small excavator. There's a reason pipes are scarce. So go in it damn it when you see one.

Place where I skied this past season in Canada has a few natural half pipes where runs funnel into a channel. After a short time they tend to get a few moguls in the middle.

Why are there dead trees like telephone poles down the middle of the trail?

Natural slalom poles.

 

[jmeb]

Me: old 171cm; ski: young 168cm

By this metric I should be on 186s. (98% of height.)

Ski sizing is highly individual.

 

[James]

lol...9:40
"Moguls are a product of our sport. It's not something you have to go spend a $1M on building a little playing field."

And then they did.

We forgot to mention also that he's now skiing powder on fat skis and carving on hourglass skis. In fact they put the two together! The hourglass powder ski. Buys some nice turns!
But buying turns in moguls, not really.
You can buy a ski that helps, but it's not like wedging in powder on a fat ski.

 

[Tony S]

By this metric I should be on 186s. (98% of height.)

I think I was just busted!

 

[Brock Tice]

I ended up getting the Rustler 11s in 188, loving them.

In retrospect, I think the short Ones are a lot of fun for me in soft snow in the steeps, but if I ski them too much I develop bad habits that I find right away on longer skis.

They're like candy. A little now and then is fun, too much and it makes your technique sick.

 

[tball]

In retrospect, I think the short Ones are a lot of fun for me in soft snow in the steeps, but if I ski them too much I develop bad habits that I find right away on longer skis.

They're like candy. A little now and then is fun, too much and it makes your technique sick.

Mind elaborating on the bad habits you feel your shorter skis are encouraging?

In my experience, you have to be very much on top of shorter skis, which is a good thing for your technique. You can't be too forward or back (common on skis too long). The downside is there is less margin for error on short skis when you inevitably make a mistake, thus the need to dial it back a bit. You don't have that extra length on the tip and tail out there to save you when you need it.

 

[Brock Tice]

They make it too easy to fudge turns without the weight properly downhill. That's at least partly due to the massive rocker though, not just the length.

 

[James]

Mind elaborating on the bad habits you feel your shorter skis are encouraging?

In my experience, you have to be very much on top of shorter skis, which is a good thing for your technique. You can't be too forward or back (common on skis too long). The downside is there is less margin for error on short skis when you inevitably make a mistake, thus the need to dial it back a bit. You don't have that extra length on the tip and tail out there to save you when you need it.

Well I used to agree with this. The situation is way more nuanced. You can simply change how you shape the turns.
I really learned this this year. I'm on the chair, it's late on a friday. Another guy on the chair has snowblades, or that size. Really short. 60-70 cm. He was a regular apparently. Very animated and excited about skiing after work. Loved his skis.

Later that run I'm making across the fall line turns in choppy shallow powderish snow and this same guy just blows past me. Almost straight on his little skis. Very shallow turns, totally balanced on his heels. It was actually impressive, I wouldn't call it good skiing, but he was really good at what he was doing.

So, the point is people can adapt almost anything in a way you didn't expect or want them to.

 

[Tony S]

So, the point is people can adapt almost anything in a way you didn't expect or want them to.

No kidding. People at work are way too expert at making accommodations for The Man at their own expense.

 

[1chris5]

Chop a '1' off those sizes!...88cm:
View attachment 62842

I just saw those on Wednesday! I kinda want a pair. The bindings on these are frightening looking though. My wife had snow blades with these bindings when she was fist starting at bear creek 7 years ago, crazy.

 

[Crank]

In deep snowI had to be careful to be centered and not too far forward. Went "over the bars" to borrow a biking term a few times on my 179's. Skiing 189's gives me more support for steep and deep. Other than that one instance I really enjoy the shorter boards.

 

[Philpug]

This circles back to the Inline Skating (Rollerbade) discussion. Spend a summer, or at least a few weeks on inline skates before ski season and when you get back on snow, you will be amazed how "centered" you are on your skis.

 

[crgildart]

This circles back to the Inline Skating (Rollerbade) discussion. Spend a summer, or at least a few weeks on inline skates before ski season and when you get back on snow, you will be amazed how "centered" you are on your skis.

We try to get to the ice rink a couple times before ski season.. Skating for awhile then playing stick and puck pick up hockey. To me that's the closest thing to skiing without actually skiing. Although the weight if inline skates might be a plus for that cross training. Blades on ice is closer to skis on snow than wheels on pavement is.

As for fore aft awareness.. ski blades for a couple hours will give you a clue where you are there. Old school method was the freestyle coach making everyone ski the bump run with our boots completely unbuckled a couple times.. I still lean @KingGrump some and leave my top buckle BARELY buckled if at all. I just like some fore aft ankle motion. Side to side and feet below top of ankle need to be solid though..

 

[James]

Ever try the artistic roller skates? The ones with wheels positioned like a car. Years ago I tried it at a dance club that had wed roller skating night. I figured no problem since I rollerblade and ice skate. Nope. Was a total incompetent for like 45min to an hour. Had no balance, looked like a beginning ice skater. I think I even crawled to the edge to hold on to something to get up after falling. I was shocked how bad I was. Then at some point I got it and it became fun. You could do mild drifts in the turn. They’d stop the round and round to have dance contests in the center. Some people were really good.

I worked with a few people who were huge fans of the singer Bjork. They’d have like small posters at their desks. Well those people didn’t come out that night. Guess who showed up later? Bjork.

 

[crgildart]

Ever try the artistic roller skates? The ones with wheels positioned like a car. Years ago I tried it at a dance club that had wed roller skating night. I figured no problem since I rollerblade and ice skate. Nope. Was a total incompetent for like 45min to an hour. Had no balance, looked like a beginning ice skater. I think I even crawled to the edge to hold on to something to get up after falling. I was shocked how bad I was. Then at some point I got it and it became fun. You could do mild drifts in the turn. They’d stop the round and round to have dance contests in the center. Some people were really good.

I worked with a few people who were huge fans of the singer Bjork. They’d have like small posters at their desks. Well those people didn’t come out that night. Guess who showed up later? Bjork.

You mean QUAD skates? Still a thing in some circles.. and roller derby..

 

[dbostedo]

...artistic roller skates? The ones with wheels positioned like a car...

Got a link or pic? Some Googling doesn't reveal anything other than regular roller skates.

 

[James]

Got a link or pic? Some Googling doesn't reveal anything other than regular roller skates.

Same thing. Wheels like a car, bumper up front. I don’t know why some people called them that. Maybe it was from artistic roller skating vs going around a rink, or going around and beating people up and throwing them over the side. Eg, Roller Derby.

 

[dbostedo]

Same thing. Wheels like a car, bumper up front. I don’t know why some people called them that. Maybe it was from artistic roller skating vs going around a rink, or going around and beating people up and throwing them over the side. Eg, Roller Derby.

Oh... OK. I've never heard the term, and thought maybe there was some wheel placement I'd not seen before. I used to be pretty good on roller skates, OK with roller blades (as we called them, or inline skates as most do now), and crap at ice skating.

The only one I've done in the last few years is one evening of ice skating, and I can confirm that I am still crap. I'm curious if I'd still be able to roller skate well.

 

[crgildart]

Again.. "Quad Skates" is the term the cool kids use these days..