Help!! Which is the "better" ski??
Perry Schmidt
Looking at buying new skies. I'm an advanced skier, and do most of my
skiing in the midwest (i.e. packed snow). Want something that is
an all-terrain ski. Ski both long turns and quick turns. Although most
skiing in midwest, I spend about a week or so every year out West -
(i.e. powder) so I don't want something that is so stiff that it
won't ski well in powder.
Currently considering K2 Extremes, or Dynastar Vertical Assaults.
From readings these seem to be the two best in price range. (The one I
really liked was the MBX 16, but that's just a bit too much - $$ wise...)
Getting LOTS of conflicting info from local shops. (I don't want to say
they are idiots --- but they are...)
Any insight/help would greatly be appreciated!!!
Thanks in advance.
Perry
P.S. The kicker - our demo days in the midwest have been - for the most
part - scratched due to lack of snow, thanks to our 55 degree
days these last two weeks!! So "demo to determine" the ski is -
unfortunately not an option if I want to buy this year.
Walt Haas
>Question:
>
>Looking at buying new skies. I'm an advanced skier, and do most of my
>skiing in the midwest (i.e. packed snow). Want something that is
>from local shops...
Why not buy when you get out west? Assuming you have the most important
piece of ski equipment, namely good boots, you should be able to rent
demo skis at any good resort and find out what you *do* like.
Last year I shopped for skis that would work reasonably well under any
conditions, powder to ice, and found most shops too uninformed to be useful.
I demoed a number of skis and found that the Rossi 4G and the K2 UVO covered
the spectrum fairly well. The Pre M6 supposedly would have been a candidte
too but I couldn't get my hands on a pair to try. I picked the K2 but not
by much. Your mileage may differ...
-- Walt
Bruce BURGER
> >skiing in the midwest (i.e. packed snow). Want something that is
I tried to buy new skies too, but here in Seattle, the only type they
had in stock was "cloudy"...
Bruce
Thomas Goodwin
For an advanced skier I would recomend a slalom cut ski. As far as brand
goes we could hear great stories and nightmares about each brand of ski.
So I think the best advice is demo the ski before you buy it and make sure
that you like the way it skis. It might be hard to believe but all skis
have subtle (sumtimes even dramatic) diferences in the way they preform.
Tom
Richard Stern
>It is a stiffer ski so it doesn't chatter at high speeds and it holds the
>best edge on ice.
>
>I have found a slalom to be better in powder and bumps. The softer flex
>allows the ski to plane better in powder and absorb the shock of the bumps.
I agree that a GS is best for fast cruising, and slalom is better for bumps,
but I'm not sure I agree with the other claims. I think that GS are
much better in powder/crud and slalom are better on ice.
Although most people generally assume that GS skiis are stiffer than slalom
skiis, I don't think that's true. I would guess that GS skiis are softer
than slalom skiis. Can anyone offer any data (or even other opinions) ????
Richard Stern
rst...@col.hp.com
Pete Nicholson
>>From: goo...@udel.edu (Thomas Goodwin)
>>Subject: Re: Help!! Which is the "better" ski??
>>Message-ID: <38...@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
>>
>>For an advanced skier I would recomend a slalom cut ski. As far as brand
>>
>>Tom
>Tom,
>
>Slalom cut? I guess since you live in the east thats what you'dd like.
>Here in the west, and IMHO, a Giant Slalom cut is the better ski. I find
>the GS ski to be better all around. They make great pow pow skis, cut up
>the Mt. Hood mash potatoes (Wet heavy deep) and are more enjoyable on the
>pack. The only place a Slalom cut works for me is in the bumps and ice.
>If I could only have one pair (gasp) of skis, they would be a GS cut.
>For the rest of the year give me my GS boards. Ever try to ski powder
>or heavy crud with a Slalom ski?
>John.
As a dedicated Mt Hood skiier I find I must agree with Tom: The best ski
for you depends on your skiing style but an advanced skiier should definitely
try out a slalom ski. The two pairs of skis that I use the most on Mt. Hood
snow both have very short-radius sidecuts. For powder, crud, mashed potatoes,
etc I use a _very_ soft pair of slalom skis. For anything else I use a pair
of almost.no.flex slalom skis. I have made a point of demoing skis whenever
I can (its fun!) and know that these skis are best for me.
My personal opinion is that it is much easier to open up the radius of the
turn on a pair of slalom skis than it is to force short radius turns
from a pair of GS or Super-G skis.
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Powder & good turns to all-
Pete Nicholson Vancouver, WA
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Pete Nicholson
>Although most people generally assume that GS skiis are stiffer than slalom
>skiis, I don't think that's true. I would guess that GS skiis are softer
>than slalom skiis. Can anyone offer any data (or even other opinions) ????
Skis come in many combinations of sidecut, flex, and length. I've always
thought that the terms slalom, GS, and super-G referred primarily to the
sidecut of the ski.
From my experience of skiing with all manner of different skiers it would
seem that the best ski in terms of flex and sidecut is largely a matter
of personal preference where recreational skiing is concerned; skiing styles
and ability vary a lot and finding the best fit to your skiing style is
probably more important than finding the "best ski for x terrain".
What I look for are:
1) The ability to carve turns well
2) Torsional rigidity (goes with #1 - a ski that twists won't carve reliably.)
3) Sidecut that fits the radius of turns I like to do
4) Energy return: the ability to store energy as the ski is decambered
and return it to me so I can start the next turn.
5) Flex that fits my weight and the type of snow I want to ski. As a heavier
skier I tend to want somewhat stiffer skis so that I won't decamber
them to early in the turn. In deeper or softer snow soft skis with an even
flex will allow "negative camber" at the apex of the turn. Not only
does this create a curved planing surface to help turn the ski but
it returns a tremendous amount of energy as the camber recoils and
pushes me out of the snow and into the next turn.
The skiing that I do is heavily dependant on that recoil to do lots of
turns with almost no work. I think of it as a mass-spring system in resonance.
I'm the mass, the camber is the spring: Once it's bouncing, adding a teeny
bit of energy every time and guiding the ski from edge to edge is all
that is required.
MAJOR DISCLAIMER: I deliberately put all of the above in the first person
because I think that ski styles and techniques vary a lot from person
to person. A fun exercise to verify this is to ask the people you
ride the lifts with about their skis and why they like/dislike them!
I guarantee you'll get all manner of interesting answers.
Back to ski types. Many manufacturers offer a varying models of skis which
differ primarily in construction and flex: the sidecut is then an option on
the basic model. Example - Volkl offers a line of skis from Targa (soft)
through a number of models to the P9 (stiff). All of the models can be had
in the GS sidecut or the "R" (slalom) sidecut.
Enough hot air & BS for now ... gotta get back to the slopes.
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Pete Nicholson Vancouver, Wa
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