There are several reasons to choose a shorter or longer ski within your size range. A shorter ski provides easier turn initiations however the trade off is less stability at higher speeds.
Rockered skis are easier to pivot between turns can be skied slightly longer than camber skis. Reasons to size shorter - You are a beginner or intermediate skier -You weight less than average for your height. Reasons to size longer - You are skiing fast and aggressively. Note that different ski brands will measure their lengths differently so there is a possibility that sizing will vary brand to brand.
Ability level has become somewhat less relevant for choosing skis as ski technology has made it possible for a beginner to ski a much wider variety of skis.
Still, there are certainly features that differentiate skis, making them better suited to skiers of different ability levels. Typical beginner ski qualities include: softer flex, narrower widths, composite, foam or softer wood cores, and capped constructions. The idea is to create a ski that is easy to turn and very forgiving if you do make a mistake. The addition of rocker in the tip and tail tends to make a ski less "hooky" as well as aiding turn initiation.
Shop Beginner Skis. These skis are generally somewhat wider than beginner-intermediate skis, with a stronger wood core and sandwich sidewall construction. Depending on the type of ski, intermediate-advanced level skis may have full camber, rocker, or some combination of the two. Shop Intermediate Skis. You will often find layers of Titanal, carbon, flax, or other materials meant to deliver better performance at speed or in demanding conditions.
Advanced-expert skis are generally stiffer both longitudinally and torsionally than intermediate level skis and can be challenging at slower speeds. You'll find expert level carving, park, all-mountain and powder skis with a wide variety of rocker configurations. Shop Expert Skis. There are many factors that contribute to the way a ski feels and performs, with a couple of common measurements used to describe them.
In this example mm refers to the tip width, 90mm refers to the waist width, and mm refers to the tail width. Other factors like flex and feel are more subjective. The waist width is one of the most commonly referred to specs outside of length. Waist width has a large influence on how easy the ski is to turn, and how it will handle powder and non-grommed snow. You are using an out of date browser.
It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Powder Skis - longer or shorter. Thread starter skibum4ever Start date Nov 10, I'm currently skiing on cm Lotta Luvs which I'm told this year the exact same ski is classified as cm , whatever. I'm looking to purchase powder skis - probably cm underfoot as I want a ski that will also perform decently on the packed or even the hard pack.
My question is: should powder skis be longer, shorter, or basically the same length as your regular all-mountain ski? I read a lot about skiing but have never seen this topic addressed, so any help will be appreciated.
This is what works for me: 1. There is in reality a bit more overlap than that, but that's basically it. Robyn Ski Diva Extraordinaire. Generally longer is going to better although you don't want to go too long. In powder your skis provide flotation so longer means more surface area which means more flotation. I ski a carver and a mid-fat 89 under foot. I'm 5'5" tall. Ditto here. Most wider waisted skis also have a generous amount rocker, which is reverse camber in the tip and tail and sometimes throughout the whole ski.
The rocker truncates the effective edge the edge that engages with the snow , which makes the ski feel shorter, necessitating a longer length than one that is fully cambered. You can skip to Buyer's Guide Part 3: Shape if you can't wait to learn more about rocker and camber. In contrast, with narrow groomer-oriented skis, a shorter length makes the turn easier to initiate and give the ski more of a responsive feel.
Generally speaking, the longer the ski is, the longer the turn it will prefer to make and vice versa. If your home hill consists of steep or tight terrain bumps, chutes, trees , you will want a turnier read: shorter ski. Essentially, if floatation and speed are high priorities, go longer. If you are skiing above treeline in powder, go wider and maybe longer.
Skiing in bumps, on groomers, or in more technical terrain? Consider a slightly shorter ski. The stiffer a ski is, the more stable it is at speed. Because shorter skis are easier to initiate in turns, we recommend shorter lengths and narrower widths for beginners and intermediates. To learn how this number is calculated, click here.
The higher the number, the longer the turn. When you find the right ski length for you, skiing will be easier and more comfortable in all conditions.
There can be as much as one-kilo weight difference between a super-light alpine touring ski and a robust, wide All-Mountain ski. The loss in downhill performance is, however, not as noticeable when the skiing style is less aggressive and less forceful, and if the skier has relatively light body weight. There is now a wealth of — gram skis excluding bindings to choose from. The design is getting closer to the All-Mountain category, but the skis are lighter.
There is plenty of choice depending on the skiing excursion you are planning, if you are going uphill a lot and how aggressive you down hill skiing is. There is often a debate as to how rocker profiles on Alpine Touring skis impact on the gripping ability of climbing skis.
There is no impact at all in loose snow conditions, as the ski sinks into the snow regardless. The common view is that an All-Mountain ski with mustache rocker camber under the foot with tip and tail rocker works very well for alpine touring. The grip is sufficient even on firm surfaces, although the contact point is smaller. Having good quality climbing skins that are cut to perfectly fit the skis, is probably more critical than focusing on the rocker profile of the skis.
Photo: Ola Melin Optimal ski resistance depends partly on your weight and partly on how fast and aggressive you skiing style is. Stiff skis are suitable for heavier people with fast and forceful skiing abilities.
Flexible skis are suitable for beginners and people with lighter body weights. If you are somewhere in between a light weight beginner and a heavy aggressive skier, then personal taste comes into play when determining the right stiffness. A more flexible ski is usually more comfortable and easy to use. What is gained in playfulness with a flexible ski is lost when skiing at higher speeds, as the ski becomes floppy and somewhat unreliable.
Generally speaking, a flexible ski does not provide as much responsiveness as a stiffer ski, for example when releasing from a turn. Skis are often grouped as advanced, intermediate and beginner, which mainly corresponds to the stiffness of the skis.
The most advanced skis — in the recreational category, not professional — are not as challenging to ski on as they used to be.
In order to get a really rigid and speed-resistant ski, it has been necessary to add material to the design and thus make the ski a little heavier. It is for this reason that ski manufacturers in recent years have experimented with new materials in order to make lightweight alpine touring skis with sufficient stiffness and speed stability for downhill.
This actually does not relate to the skis, but to the skier. A stiff, advanced ski requires more speed and force to flex and turn. The degree to which the ski turns depends on its cut, which is measured by its turn radius. A flexible ski is simply easier to flex and to initiate a turn with.
This makes it feel like the ski turns easier and more. A heavier and more skilled skier may over-flex a flexible ski, which makes the ski difficult to control. Flexible skis do not provide strong response — or pop not to mistake for pop in park skis — when exiting a turn, something that experienced rapid-turning skiers often like to have. When it comes to stiffness, we need to clarify something. We discussed lengthwise stiffness above, sometimes also referred to as flex.
The other type of stiffness is torsional resistance, which is the sidewise stiffness of the ski. Generally speaking, you would want as much torsional resistance as possible. Torsional resistance means a better grip and the ski has a more controlled performance when pushed on the snow with force. Skis with insufficient torsional resistance become floppy and difficult to control. The need for high torsional resistance increases the heavier the skier is and the more forceful their skiing style.
Beginners will benefit from torsionally less stiff skis, as these skis may be perceived as more forgiving. Its purpose is to improve skiing abilities and float. The rocker also enables smoother skiing as it prevents the ski tip to get caught in bumps and other uneven snow patches. Rocker fitted skis have been around for more than ten years and are today standard features of All-Mountain and Off Piste skis.
The first ski to feature a rocker was Volants Spatula, which was introduced as a prototype in The creator, Shane McConkey, got the inspiration from water skis.
Water skis are wide and have reversed camber rocker and also reversed cut i. Some have survived. The traditional profile works very well on groomed pistes, as you have a long steel edge to utilize in carving turns. A camber enables a spring or pop response. The further back the rocker is, the more effect it has.
On the other hand, the more rocker, the less steel edge, which can be a challenge on groomed slopes and icy patches. A carving ski with tip rocker usually has a traditional camber under the foot, but no tail rocker. Narrow All-Mountain skis and some Alpine Touring skis features tip rockers.
A tail rocker is an upward bent tail, which improves the float somewhat. The tail rocker allows for an easier release from turns in powder and messy snow. On the other hand, the grip will deteriorate when releasing from turns on even and hard slopes, possibly with an unstable effect. The tail rocker enables easier back flip landings in powder.
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