Spring skiing: Skis and techniques for soft vs slush

[nay]

I use a progressive fore/aft movement in the stickies. Enter into the turn slightly aft then move my com ahead if I don't get the suckage. Over the handlebars can be refreshing in slush at times.

It's a major reason I love a more center mounted freeride design. Those skis are made to be skied from the center of your foot when you want to, so
heel pressure isn't the "backseat" because the ski has no backseat. Keeping off the tips without losing control of them relieves a lot of minor grab.

So if wheelies are in the repertoire, spring skiing can be a lot more fun. Unless of course you take Wheelie out on say Andy's Icecore at Copper after a good refreeze, in which case, yer gonna die.

 

[nay]

I'm going to play around with some Dominator Butter as a quick rub on in our next grabby cycle.

 

[AmyPJ]

LOL!!! I'm DYING here! Things skiers say that can be taken in many different contexts.

 

[AmyPJ]

Changing? Wot iz dis changing you speak off?

You know, the whole base grind thing. I just don't want to sacrifice a pair of skis. I think I'll just bring the bike up and ride in the afternoons Of course, I'll have to stick to the pavement since the MTB trails aren't ready yet. So, maybe beer is a better option. Tailgating is always fun.

It's interesting because as more people post, I keep nodding my head and agreeing, I do a lot of these things in the slush without being able to describe what I'm doing (skiing backseat so I don't go ass over teakettle is one.) I can also see why a more center mounted ski would make it easier to just kind of stay centered the whole time. That being said, I do enjoy my Kenjas in the slush as I can really lay those turns out in it without much effort. (At least, as much as I'm capable of laying out turns.)

 

[crgildart]

There were threads about sexually suggestive ski terms that went on for months at other sites.

 

[cantunamunch]

You know, the whole base grind thing. I just don't want to sacrifice a pair of skis. I think I'll just bring the bike up and ride in the afternoons Of course, I'll have to stick to the pavement since the MTB trails aren't ready yet. So, maybe beer is a better option. Tailgating is always fun.

It's interesting because as more people post, I keep nodding my head and agreeing, I do a lot of these things in the slush without being able to describe what I'm doing (skiing backseat so I don't go ass over teakettle is one.) I can also see why a more center mounted ski would make it easier to just kind of stay centered the whole time. That being said, I do enjoy my Kenjas in the slush as I can really lay those turns out in it without much effort. (At least, as much as I'm capable of laying out turns.)

Right, see, I'm trying to show you that there is no real sacrifice. Any old <$100 swap ski can be skied in slush, you can experiment with binding mounts on them all you like, and you are somewhat likely to find that the structures I mentioned don't really have that much downside in cold snow.

 

[AmyPJ]

Right, see, I'm trying to show you that there is no real sacrifice. Any old <$100 swap ski can be skied in slush, you can experiment with binding mounts on them all you like, and you are somewhat likely to find that the structures I mentioned don't really have that much downside in cold snow.

I might have to keep an eye out for dirt cheap skis that aren't 20 years old, then. There was a guy on the gondola today bragging about his $10 thrift shop skis with the chevron grind on them, but are they really that fun to ski?? I probably should have held onto my Black Pearls for this, even though they were really too short.

 

[crgildart]

and you are somewhat likely to find that the structures I mentioned don't really have that much downside in cold snow.

Cold temp wax can be used to fill in the texture when skiing the ski on colder days.

 

[James]

Chevron and thumbprints are used all the time. This conversation is ridiculous. The only thing that would make it not good for cold snow would be really deep structure not the pattern.

 

[nay]

I might have to keep an eye out for dirt cheap skis that aren't 20 years old, then. There was a guy on the gondola today bragging about his $10 thrift shop skis with the chevron grind on them, but are they really that fun to ski?? I probably should have held onto my Black Pearls for this, even though they were really too short.

No short skis for slush and no flat-ish tails. We are after hosing followers with huge rooster tails here :0.

 

[AmyPJ]

No short skis for slush and no flat-ish tails. We are after hosing followers with huge rooster tails here :0.

My new Atomic Century's check all those boxes--they are long and they are twin-tipped. Yaay for spray!

 

[TPJ]

I like my Motive 95 for spring skiing including slush. The critical point is to tip the ski before turning it. Twisting doesn't work in powder or slush. Tips go in first then tails, nice round turns.

 

[tromano]

Chevron and thumbprints are used all the time. This conversation is ridiculous. The only thing that would make it not good for cold snow would be really deep structure not the pattern.

Yep. Skis can be ground numerous times... or just put a nice spring grind on now. By the time it's midwinter again the structure will have smoothed out a bit and be much faster on cold snow. $.02

 

[nay]

nice round turns.

Stop it. Ski straight and splatter stuff. Don't take a lesson.

 

[quant]

If it is that warm it is time to play golf.

 

[James]

If it is that warm it is time to play golf.

Naw. Abasin can have great stuff up top and the hellish glue down below. Where you can point straight down and move in fits. High fluoros would help but I wonder how much. I've used Butter overlay.
Did the grooves help back when skis had them?

Then the next day it could snow of course.

 

[oldschoolskier]

Water skis

 

[quant]

Naw. Abasin can have great stuff up top and the hellish glue down below. Where you can point straight down and move in fits. High fluoros would help but I wonder how much. I've used Butter overlay.
Did the grooves help back when skis had them?

Then the next day it could snow of course.

Grooves never helped, and they made it more difficult to scrape the wax. Never tried different base grinds...I ski less than many of you. I still use that Hertel FC739 stuff, an all-temp low flouro, and combine it with a temp. specific moly when it gets that warm. I wimp out, starting early and coming in as soon as the slush starts, usually before 12:30 pm. If there is corn without slush I'll stay out all day.

 

[cantunamunch]

You probably already know that Hertel made a significant change in 2010 when 3M stopped making FC739. That's about when I quit using it too (I still have 3-4 bricks of the old stuff left). Toko HF and Briko HF are faster and, IMO, more durable, than the new 'FC739'.

 

[skibob]

I like my Motive 95 for spring skiing including slush. The critical point is to tip the ski before turning it. Twisting doesn't work in powder or slush. Tips go in first then tails, nice round turns.

I skied my Motive 95s yesterday. It was not nearly as slushy all over as the day on Blogs. But there was slush down low on the runouts. The 95 is much stiffer, and that definitely helped. The snow up top was hero snow. Soft, even some corn. But no slush. The 95 liked that stuff a lot, although I did catch a tail late in the day (tired and a little lazy) which spun me out. Was actually, as Nay said, refreshing .

As for the blog, its very forward mounted. But its also a noodle. The problem with using the shovel to initiate a turn (which is my MO anyway) is it just darted all over in the slush. Both skis trying to go multiple, different directions wasn't fun.

The blogs probably won't come back out until true rock ski time. I put some texture on the bottom with a stiff brush, but could definitely add some HF wax.