Skiing

[watfly]

When I was working as a Patroler we had 3 situations like that. Incredibly sad. I was on scene with one and we knew by looking at him (40s male) that it was over. Side of his face was concave from hitting a tree.

Another weird one was a lift op chose to take one last run by himself at the end of the day. On the way down he fell + hit a tree. We think he knocked himself out and froze to death. He was found the next morning when we were opening runs.

It seems like there has been a lot of skiing deaths this year, both inbound and backcountry. Just in the last week there has been four deaths, including the former Dartmouth racer at Squaw. Boarder deaths at Kirkwood, Batchelor and Sugarbush.

 

[watfly]

Keep those 210s forever!

Grew up skiing + worked at several resorts in different capacities including Ski Patrol.

To this day I can't stand the short fat skis. I use them today because I don't want to look like the weirdo on longer skis than everyone else but they just suck. A couple of years ago I demod some 170 GS Volkls and they were ok but the entire time I just wished they were longer. They were stiff and incredibly fast but couldn't turn quickly + they kept trying to force me into sweeping arcing turns. Which I suppose is the goal of GS skis.

When I was younger I liked to take GS skis in bumps and run through the ruts at full speed. This is something you just can't do on fat skis. It's hard to explain to someone that's never tried really nice, longer fat skis.

Lange boots and long skis for the win!

The "shaped" skis are so much fun. But I did have a a big mental adjustment going from 203 to 176. Remember, the effective edge is roughly equivalent between a straight 203 and a shaped 176. My quiver ranges from a 160 with a 67mm waist SL race ski (used for groomer laps) to a 180 and 125mm waist powder ski with a 100mm waist all mountain ski in between.

Caught Snowbird on a good day last month.

 

[watfly]

The "shaped" skis are so much fun. But I did have a a big mental adjustment going from 203 to 176. Remember, the effective edge is roughly equivalent between a straight 203 and a shaped 176. My quiver ranges from a 160 with a 67mm waist SL race ski (used for groomer laps) to a 180 and 125mm waist powder ski with a 100mm waist all mountain ski in between.

Caught Snowbird on a good day last month.

View attachment 26802

I will just add that shaped skis are kind of like cheating, and I'm OK with that!

 

[Carlsbad7]

I will just add that shaped skis are kind of like cheating, and I'm OK with that!

I can't stand them.

But, they seem to be what everyone likes. Hopefully skis with real power and performance will come back into vogue sometime in the future.

 

[watfly]

Hopefully skis with real power and performance will come back into vogue sometime in the future.

Here you go. I would just avoid moguls, powder, trees or any crowded slopes where you need to avoid people.

 

[Carlsbad7]

Here you go. I would just avoid moguls, powder, trees or any crowded slopes where you need to avoid people.


View attachment 26830

Wow I had no idea these were available. I assumed long and narrow skis were around because I saw racers on them.

What makes skis like these nice is you can power through turns and the speed will keep you from poleing through flats. If you want to get crazy they fly through bumps which you basically have to use each bump and turn to slow down.

The reason Ski Patrollers use this type of ski is because they're lazy + don't like turning or poleing that much. But there's another reason. When you have someone in a toboggan behind you you've effectively doubled your weight which means you need a stiff ski to turn normally. And just to say it again when you have a toboggan behind you it's important to speed through the flats or you're pulling someone behind you to get where your going.

These type of skis definately don't float on powder but usually you can make up for this by going faster which forces them to float.

 

[Multi Sport]

Wow I had no idea these were available. I assumed long and narrow skis were around because I saw racers on them.

What makes skis like these nice is you can power through turns and the speed will keep you from poleing through flats. If you want to get crazy they fly through bumps which you basically have to use each bump and turn to slow down.

The reason Ski Patrollers use this type of ski is because they're lazy + don't like turning or poleing that much. But there's another reason. When you have someone in a toboggan behind you you've effectively doubled your weight which means you need a stiff ski to turn normally. And just to say it again when you have a toboggan behind you it's important to speed through the flats or you're pulling someone behind you to get where your going.

These type of skis definately don't float on powder but usually you can make up for this by going faster which forces them to float.

A few years back we were the unfortunate witnesses to an on mountain full cardiac arrest at Mammoth. One patrolman with toboggan in tow and another administering CPR all while absolutely flying fown the mountain. There were also two patrollers skiing in front telling everyone to freeze in place.

I've also has the pleasure, not really, to be taken down the mountain in this manner.

But on the subject of skis. I have my new Elan Ripstick in my truck with me now to go get bindings mounted. 133/96/114 at 182. Almost opted for 186 but thought I'd opt for something closer in length to my ancient Salomon X 180's. I still have my Olin mark lVs, 930is and Dynastar Vertical Assaults 195's. I plan to make some ski chairs out of them and I'll set them by the chairlift I picked up a few years ago. It's amazing what you can buy from people on FB marketplace.

 

[watfly]

A few years back we were the unfortunate witnesses to an on mountain full cardiac arrest at Mammoth. One patrolman with toboggan in tow and another administering CPR all while absolutely flying fown the mountain. There were also two patrollers skiing in front telling everyone to freeze in place.

I've also has the pleasure, not really, to be taken down the mountain in this manner.

But on the subject of skis. I have my new Elan Ripstick in my truck with me now to go get bindings mounted. 133/96/114 at 182. Almost opted for 186 but thought I'd opt for something closer in length to my ancient Salomon X 180's. I still have my Olin mark lVs, 930is and Dynastar Vertical Assaults 195's. I plan to make some ski chairs out of them and I'll set them by the chairlift I picked up a few years ago. It's amazing what you can buy from people on FB marketplace.

Orange Olin IVs? Wish I had kept some of my old skis like my Red Sleds.

Unless your a couple inches north of 6' the 182 should be perfect.

 

[Multi Sport]

Orange Olin IVs? Wish I had kept some of my old skis like my Red Sleds.

Unless your a couple inches north of 6' the 182 should be perfect.

5' 10" so I should be good. It's the underfoot that I'm curious to see how it affects me. The widest I've been on was some Volkl Deacons that were 84. We'll see..

Yep the Orange Olins.