Why are there no small men testing skis?

[Dave Petersen]

Reminds me of an episode of WKRP in Cincinatti. There is a character (can't remember who) talking about a muscular guy named "Stone" . This character proceeds to say he feels a person's name says something about a person's character/build. He then turns to Nessman and says "for example, what is your name, and Nessman sheepishly responds 'Les'".

 

[Tony S]

There are different legit angles on all this. Historically I might have been skeptical about @HeluvaSkier's take, but this season I happen to have been experiencing exactly what he is talking about.

Me, currently: 5'7", 127lbs. So very very close to @ski-ra's size Bought a pair of new-old-stock FX 84s @ 168cm last fall - the ones with two sheets of metal and some very modest tip rise and taper. For people of standard girth this is not a particularly heavy-duty ski, but for me it can be, at times, as will be seen.

My first full day on them I was super excited about how stable and confidence-inspiring they were, with a comforting yet energetic trampoline quality in shallow skied-up fresh snow over small-to medium bumps. Also been pretty happy with their groomer performance, even on hard snow, notwithstanding others' accurate commentary on their slow engagement and lack of pop. They rock-on very satisfyingly in medium to long turns, with a kind of "junior GS" solidity.

Next time out on the skis was at the Aspen Gathering. I was coming off two days of being sick and three hard days of skiing at altitude before that. This time, while still loving the Kastles on groomers, I found them to be a bit of a handful and less smile-inducing than I'd remembered off piste. Now, admittedly, the snow-consistency and terrain challenges were much bigger than I'd encountered on those skis previously, with steep pitches and large moguls abounding. But I really felt like they were too long and/or stiff and/or carvy for my tastes.

More recently I skied them again at Mont Ste. Anne on a day with plentiful new snow, but very crudded-up, with numerous large icy patches emerging unpredictably due to rain and re-freeze that happened prior to the powder dump. On this day I skied everything from easy blue runs to long no-nonsense glades and hard-core bumps (e.g., "La Brunelle," "La Canyon," if you know the mountain). On this occasion I was back to being in love.

So what was the difference? On reflection, the difference was that in Quebec I was healthy and well-rested, back to skiing confidently at speed even through the crud fields, with a lot of commitment and patience in my turns. Doh. So really I need a lazy-day ski and a bad-ass ski in my quiver for each use case.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Doh. So really I need a lazy-day ski and a bad-ass ski in my quiver for each use case.

WOW! You hit the nail on the head for me. Blue sky, perfect weather I ski more aggressively. Overcast, windy, stormy days I am more lazy and tentative.

 

[SBrown]

My sister is 6 feet tall. I think it was the mailman.

ha, my husband has one 6' sister and one 5'4" sister. (Wait, are you my SIL?)

 

[SBrown]

T....So what was the difference? On reflection, the difference was that in Quebec I was healthy and well-rested, back to skiing confidently at speed even through the crud fields, with a lot of commitment and patience in my turns. Doh. So really I need a lazy-day ski and a bad-ass ski in my quiver for each use case.

Totally agree with this. I know there are days I can't take out my Dakota, just because of how I'm feeling physically.

 

[Rudi Riet]

I could grouse in a similar fashion about a paucity of 6'3", 185 lb. (average between prime cycling season when it's lower, and peak of ski season) testers, so....

Actually, it's frustrating that there's seldom ever a selection of inexpensive (NOS, demo, or used) equipment in bigger sizes for both alpine skiing and bicycling. But that's my lot in life: tall, lanky, and strong, and when there's a nugget out there I pounce.

But I also tend to trust reviews that lean toward skillsets like those that @HeluvaSkier, @ScotsSkier, and @Josh Matta have: a racing and/or big mountain background (leaning more toward the former for myriad, well known reasons). I also like knowing how a ski will perform on true boilerplate - something you really don't see in most of the west, but see all too often in the east.

Anywho, c'est la vie. As long as we all get along, what's not to like?

 

[Rudi Riet]

Clydesdales should review helmets since they get hit in the head with the chair lift bar so often.

Not exclusive to clydes - just taller folk.

 

[Carl Kuck]

I think it's pretty hard for people on the outsides limits of the bell curve to find suitable gear. A neighbor of mine has size 17 feet - I'm not aware of anybody that makes boots to fit that. My friend's daughter, who is a ripping skier, takes a 21.0 boot - almost impossible to find. My wife is 5'1", good luck finding ski clothes for adults that size (she's skiing a pair of Volcom snowboard pants that we had altered to take about 4" out of the legs)...

Maybe custom skis might be the way to go?

 

[Lorenzzo]

I think it's pretty hard for people on the outsides limits of the bell curve to find suitable gear. A neighbor of mine has size 17 feet - I'm not aware of anybody that makes boots to fit that. My friend's daughter, who is a ripping skier, takes a 21.0 boot - almost impossible to find. My wife is 5'1", good luck finding ski clothes for adults that size (she's skiing a pair of Volcom snowboard pants that we had altered to take about 4" out of the legs)...

Maybe custom skis might be the way to go?

Boots may be difficult but on the other hand he doesn't really need skis.

 

[Philpug]

Bigges bootI have seen was a Head Edge in a 34.0, it was a 380mm shell. Most jigs don't even go out that far, we had to move the jig differently from the toe from the heel.

 

[SkiNurse]

I've also looked at the female tester thumbnails. However, I run into trouble there too since SkiNurse seems to prefer sub-160cm skis (which feel like WC SL ice skates to me, provide drastically reduced float, etc., but might allow me to ski the 90Eight like a hero not that's not any victory...and don't take any of this personally SkiNurse).

No offense taken. At 5'1.5", I don't really need anything longer than a 160cm. It is funny, though, the rare times I demo/rent skis for "fun", the shop employees have wanted to put me on a ski <150cm. Seriously.

 

[Tony S]

No offense taken. At 5'1.5", I don't really need anything longer than a 160cm. It is funny, though, the rare times I demo/rent skis for "fun", the shop employees have wanted to put me on a ski <150cm. Seriously.

They haven't seen you ski.

 

[SkiNurse]

They haven't seen you ski.

It's kinda my point. Ski shops that think I should be on a shorter ski & the vendors at the SIA On the Snow that thought I should be on a longer ski. Personally, I think the ski you choose should be what YOU are comfortable skiing and not what other people think you should ski based on your size.

 

[ski-ra]

you have SklDiva, and us

It almost seems like, regardless of my size, SkiDiva required me to be at least a transvestite inorder to participate in their site

 

[SBrown]

...But I also tend to trust reviews that lean toward skillsets like those that @HeluvaSkier, @ScotsSkier, and @Josh Matta have: a racing and/or big mountain background (leaning more toward the former for myriad, well known reasons). I also like knowing how a ski will perform on true boilerplate - something you really don't see in most of the west, but see all too often in the east.

Anywho, c'est la vie. As long as we all get along, what's not to like?

With all due respect, you guys don't really need our reviews. Plus, your backgrounds and skiing styles are aligned more closely with the reviewers from major pubs, who have extensive skiing training and experience that we don't. We are aiming a lot more at the enthusiastic and skilled but much more average guy.

 

[cantunamunch]

With all due respect, you guys don't really need our reviews. Plus, your backgrounds and skiing styles are aligned more closely with the reviewers from major pubs, who have extensive skiing training and experience that we don't. We are aiming a lot more at the enthusiastic and skilled but much more average guy.

But the reviewers from major pubs are also aiming at enthusiastic but average? Otherwise they wouldn't be major pubs - no matter who they got in to play Sat. night?

 

[ski-ra]

...It is funny, though, the rare times I demo/rent skis for "fun", the shop employees have wanted to put me on a ski <150cm. Seriously.

Yeah, (some?) ski shops seem to have a gender bias since I've always found it funny that they tend to recommend a high-170's cm ski for me.

 

[SBrown]

But the reviewers from major pubs are also aiming at enthusiastic but average? Otherwise they wouldn't be major pubs - no matter who they got in to play Sat. night?

Yes, but. I know we have gotten a lot of feedback in the vein of "Well, duh, Mike Rogan can ski ANY thing...."

 

[ski-ra]

@ski-ra
I find that I trust reviews of people who ski like I do as opposed to skiers who are my size....

That hasn't worked well for me in the past. Maybe I'm just a bad judge of whether someone skis like me (which when you think about it--unless you regularly watch yourself in ski videos--it's easier said than done). Either way I remember some 20-30 years ago a woman with whom I was skiing with a lot said I'd be able to step up my game with a pair of Volkl Renntigers. While we did ski fairly similarly she tended to go straighter/faster, was a former CU ski team member and was 180lbs. of pure muscle. Needless to say those Renntiger's made me their bitch (which was the beginning of my unhealthy relationship with Volkl skis that most recently led to my embarrassing tussle with the 90Eights).

Though you are onto something here.... What did work for me this year was taking the advice of someone who knows how I ski (and what I like in a ski) and who is also a ski tester here: Finndog. That combination helped him to uncannily and definitively tell me what skis to avoid contrary to all the hoopla (e.g., the Enforcers, ) and what less-hoopla'd skis I should try instead (e.g., Vantage 95c, Q-98's and NRGy's). So perhaps Ron needs to start his own "concierge" ski website...I'd call it "FinndogSki - ski talk at a more personal level"

 

[ski-ra]

Clydesdales should review helmets since they get hit in the head with the chair lift bar so often.

Even at 5'5" I regularly get bonked in the head by the chairlift bar...hmm: maybe this means that I really can handle the same skis as Clydesdales or maybe the "getting bonked" is on purpose in my case (yeah - I tend to babble on too much).