176 vs. 184 for an early rise park ski

bobs

bobs

Active member
Yo whats good,

I'm 5'10 roughly 160 lbs and been riding 178 Liberty LTE's for the past couple seasons.

I've ridden a couple rockered and early rise powder skis. I loved the playful nature and def think early rise is something I'd enjoy in a park twin. I'm looking to pick up a pair of the liberty antigens this year. I was stoked to see them offering a light, symmetrical twin with early rise.

The skis come in a 176 and a 184. So 176 would be 2cm smaller and 184 would be 6cm bigger than what i've been shredding lately. I am leaning towards the 184, but I was semi hesitant to make a decent jump up in size.

I've heard early rise skis ski shorter so I was wondering if I will be happier with the stability of a 184 or does the extra length get cumbersome in the park after some point.

Thanks in advance for any help or opinions.
 
Definitely get the larger size. At your height/weight, you could probably handle a 184, and they'll also ski short with the early rise. It'll be a bit awkward at first, but once you make them your bitches and start throwing them around, you'll definitely thank yourself for the added stability.
 
I prefer head height with my park skis, but my last two skis I have bought have been taller than me to allow some growing room. I have never ridden a rockered ski before, but I'm getting K2 recoils in 174 (actually 176) for this year at 5'8 and 145 lbs.

I don't really get why you would want to change your ski length when you get rockered park ski, like isn't the whole point of rocker so that you have less edge to catch? I mean if you are just going to make up for that lost effective edge by getting a longer ski then what is the point? You are left riding a ski that rides like a normal ski for your size would, but you have the extra useless length and weight that the rocker adds, just flopping around uselessly off the snow.

Just my 2 cents, I could be totally wrong though, just the way I see it.
 
I can see why it would be easy to think that, but you're mistaken in a couple places. The rocker causes the skis to catch less regardless of the length, due to the fact that the widest point of the ski in the tip and tail isn't touching the snow unless it's carving. It doesn't really have as much to do with the edge length as it would seem. Rather than getting a buttery ski that's less stable, one can get a rockered, stiffer ski that's slightly longer than usual, and get the stability of a longer stiff ski, but the loose playfulness of a softer ski. If you have the ability to throw around the little bit of extra length, then you will be rewarded with the extra stability, without loosing a playful feel. If you're just looking for something super stable, go with a real stiff ski that's super long and fully cambered (i.e. 181 suspect/pro pipe, or 181 volkl wall), or if you're after a super playfull buttery ski that you can fuck around on, go for a shorter, softer ski, possibly with rocker (i.e. 171 line anthem/invader/afterbang, or 169 k2 domain). If you're after both in the same ski, go for a combination of medium flex with long length and slight rocker (i.e. 179 k2 recoil, or 181 on3p filthy rich).
 
Yeah I never thought of it like that, I always thought it had more to do with cutting down on edge to catch, than tip/tail width catching, +k.
 
What's important is the skis running length and rocker length. A 184 could feel way long if this is a tiny amount of park rocker we're talking, or if its one of those very long and gradual rockers. Knowing this would help.
 
I would definitely recommend to go a bit longer. That is the current trend these days with these early rise and rockered sticks. If you think about it, your effective edge (ie edge length on hardpack) is quite a bit shorter than the actual length of the ski. So even if your running a 184 cm, it may realistically only be a 165. So going too short will feel like your riding on squirrely snowlerblades. Stability is key and the 184 will be a prime size.
 
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