Technique for Cham 97's

[markojp]

Getting back to the original question:


, and it's well worth working on carving technique even though that's not what they're principally designed for.

I'm going to respectfully strongly disagree. A cambered ski with significant sidecut when tipped in edge is designed to carve. Any ski can be 'skidded' in an open parallel, etc... or simply skied poorly by less skilled skiers. And while these skis can be 'slarved' off piste in some conditions, the Cham likes to be on edge. Whether it's railroad tracks on piste, or a high performance tail following tip steered turn off piste, it's what they are designed to do and do well.

 

[markojp]

I've got the right tools for firmer groomers, so I have that nicely covered. Thanks for the review, perhaps smearing is the right thing for me to start controlling my speed better. I am too damn old to be taking on crashes at speeds over 50 mph.

No reason you can't control your speed through turn shape. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but if you wanted a slarvy ride, you bought the wrong ski.

 

[Chris V.]

A cambered ski with significant sidecut when tipped in edge is designed to carve. ...And while these skis can be 'slarved' off piste in some conditions, the Cham likes to be on edge. Whether it's railroad tracks on piste, or a high performance tail following tip steered turn off piste, it's what they are designed to do and do well.

All right, fair enough. It's just that the Cham wasn't designed in the same way as a dedicated frontside carving ski, and it's important to understand how that's going to affect what the skier needs to do to get top performance out of it. The design features make the Cham an obvious compromise, but one oriented more to skiing off piste. There are others on the market with very little sidecut, or that have full rocker or are pretty much flat in the middle. I think these are what you allude to--they're going to be much more slarvy, much less capable of carving, and frankly aren't going to perform very well on groomed snow.

I did recommend learning to carve on the Cham. And as a followup to Tony Warren's last message, I recommend working on controlling speed on steeper slopes by practicing good short radius turns, and carrying them far enough across the hill with a rounded turn shape. If he's controlling speed by smearing all of his turns, he's going to be really sorry when it gets a little icy.

 

[markojp]

Chris, I'm pretty aware of the nuances of ski design, and understand it isn't a high performance carving ski. I've skied most of their product line and a number of others. I'd suggest if Tony has trouble with them that he sign up for some coaching. There's nothing inherently different skiing these than any other all mountain ski. Boot set up and ski tune will have more effect on his outcome than worrying about how to ski them, and if there are problems, it's likely they were there on narrow skis as well. Tony, don't take offense. Never have seen you ski, so I have no idea what your skill set is or isn't. Putt'em on, go up, go down, repeat. Smile. Repeat more.

 

[Tony Warren]

Chris, I'm pretty aware of the nuances of ski design, and understand it isn't a high performance carving ski. I've skied most of their product line and a number of others. I'd suggest if Tony has trouble with them that he sign up for some coaching. There's nothing inherently different skiing these than any other all mountain ski. Boot set up and ski tune will have more effect on his outcome than worrying about how to ski them, and if there are problems, it's likely they were there on narrow skis as well. Tony, don't take offense. Never have seen you ski, so I have no idea what your skill set is or isn't. Putt'em on, go up, go down, repeat. Smile. Repeat more.

I ski Nordica Spitfire Pro EVO EDT for the front side at any speed I wish to. I can carve turns on any hard snow including rock hard blue ice. Carving technique is not an issue for me.

I will have no issues skiing these skis under the soft snow conditions I will encounter here at Apex Resort. I wanted, and received some great hints that basically confirmed my belief that I should just ski the suckers and in a few runs I will have them sorted out.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and hints. I am sure I am in for a really fun winter if it would only FREAKING SNOW!