Advice for skis out west

ECfreeski3

ECfreeski3

Active member
So i'm an east coast guy who's been out west a couple times but will be spending the winter in tahoe. now im wondering about how my skis will do there on the best days..

i like park and rails and shit but my favorite stuff nowadays is trees and freeriding, so to be able to do it all pretty well I got some ARVs recently (mounted a couple CMs up from recommended), which is perfect for all that shit, at least around here

what im wondering is, will these hold up for the winter in tahoe? i know theyll be plenty wide for most days, but on the nice deep days will i be wishing for something bigger/wider/with rocker for charging? i tried some coombacks last year when i was out west and loved them, and realized i really like early rise/tip rocker, and wouldve gotten some skis with it but decided on the traditional camber ARVs cause im primarily an east coast guy and need good performance on less than great snow

so do you think itd be important for me to maybe look into getting something a bit bigger with some rocker for the really good days this winter in the west? or will my ARVs be just fine?

thanks a lot bros
 
Look into the on3p pillowfights, line opus, atomic bent chetlers, and the armada jj....all real good pow skis....I have the opus and love em....but yo after your out there a little while PM me if ya remember(haha) and let me know what ya think of Tahoe. I was supposed to move out there about 10yrs ago and things came up that prevented it. I ski Utah and Colorado most winters now cause I have fam and friends there but my wife and I were really thinkin about getting a house in Tahoe. I've never been there but I've heard it's great winter and summer. I'd be curious to hear your take on livin out there. Thanks
 
sorry new phone. i would look into a 4FRNT EHP or even a Nordica Patron. would both work well for all mountain in tahoe area, where snow gets sticky and hard the same day snow
 
i definitely will man. i was out there last year for a bit and it was absolutely amazing.. but you gotta keep in mind that's coming from an east coaster's perspective, so take it for what it's worth.. haha

 
thanks for the answers bros keep em coming! is it worth the hundreds of dollars ill need to spend for a new pair of skis and bindings? let me hear it!
 
^^ i'd say if you're moving out there keep an eye on the local craigslist and find something in decent shape for a bargain
 
Ski tahoe as my home area AND also got ARVs to do it all, leaning towards the park stuff as well. They did fine but as you know La Nina hit hard last year and even usually Tahoe doesn't have like tiny consistent snows where the pow builds up over time, but rather mainly huge dump days where is really deep. On those days my ARVs just really sank and were kinda a hassle. I'm sure a better skier could have managed but I got fed up and invested in a pair of JJs. Definitely go with a rocker/camber/rocker ski as stated above because tahoe snow does change throughout a day because of temps (just as other places do).

Sparknotes: You could manage with the ARVs but if you're really gonna be skiing alot a set of nice pow skis would really enhance your experience and be a good long term investment.
 
I live in Utah and the ARV is my every day ski. My other ski is the 4FRNT CRJ that I bought for really deep days. I will still bring out the ARV in anything 6-7" or under because they're still perfect for that (and the CRJs are not fun when things start packing down). I was in Tahoe two winters ago for a few days and skied my ARVs after a big storm- did just fine, especially if you keep speed. It's the true "one ski quiver"... there's really nothing it can't handle.

All said, if you can afford the JJs without being financially ruined, go for it- they're sick. But if not, you won't have any issues with your ARVs.

 
really good answers, thanks

sounds good. ill see how the money's looking and if i can afford it get something bigger with rocker. i really like armadas so naturally i think of the JJs, but how about the TSTs? thats like the JJ but a bit skinnier right? anyone know about them?
 
TST bridges the gap between the ARV and the JJ. So seeing as you already own the ARV I would skip it personally. But just preference on that choice. It makes more sense to me that way.
 
Or sell the ARV and get the TST as an everyday?....not sure how well they do that though cause I've never rode them but if they're like the line bacons you'll be fine.
 
The TST would be fun for him, but he said he does like to hit rails in the park... not sure the TST would be too great for that
 
bump...

good answers but im still no the fence

in the meantime.. like i said my ARVs are mounted a couple CMs up from recommended. if i do decide to only use them this winter, should i move the bindings back a little bit for some more nose? theyre already just barely long enough for me

also im definitely holding onto the ARVs cause after this year ill prob be back to skiing the east for the better part of my life and having only a pair of big fat rockered skis would suck sometimes here in the east

thanks again dudes
 
i went through this same thing 2 years ago. i'm an EC skier but wanted to buy some bigger sticks for the 1-2 western trips i take each year. my decision came down do the "5-dimensional sidecut rockered w/ camber" type ski, specifically i looked at bentchetlers, jjs, crjs, bibbys, s7?, and i cant recall what else. I have skied both bentchetlers and jjs in varying conditions and felt like i was never in a situation they couldn't handle (even on hardpack). to me these skis lived up to my expectations and i had no regrets on either.

obviously i would not recommend as an everyday east coast ski but it sounds like any of these would be a good match for your situation
 
^^^ but i guess your question would be better answered by someone else who has more experience on deep days, since that's what you actually asked in the OP. i fail at reading
 
You will seriously regret it soo much if you dont get some dedicated pow skis. Like more regret than knocking up a really religous fat chick.

search TGR and NS for some old, beat to hell pow skis(who cares if theyre beat up, you dont care about looks or edging, youre skiing pow man! pow!), and some older bindings that you can throw on there. Shouldnt run you more than 350 total.
 
hmm okay.. well like i said i sort of lean towards the JJs or TSTs. how much of a difference is there between the two? and how much have they each changed over the last few years?

also how much do FKSs go for nowadays? or maybe i need to learn about the royal bindings....
 
if u just got the arv's i would look for something a little fatter for dedicated pow days, cuz u downt wanna have to end up wasting ur money.
 
BUMP

so can anyone fill me in on this info? TST vs JJ (keeping in mind i already have ARVs), and some general info on the royal family of bindings? thanks
 
also, if i do get some JJs...

1) i'm 5'11"ish...so im right in the middle of 175 and 185... if i get JJs, which id use for charging deep snow when im not using my ARVS (and ill be honest i dont plan on switch pow much) should i go for the 185s or 175s? do they ski short or long?

2) have the JJs changed at all in the past few years?

3) i have p12s on my ARVS and love them... but what binding do people recommend for some JJs? once again, info on the royal family is much appreciated. i skied some last year on some coombacks (and had only good things to say about the setup) but really dont know much about them

thanks dudes
 
ARVs are what. 95 underfoot? That's basically a park ski out west.

I would for sure suggest something 115+, and shoot for around 120 for an everyday mountain and pow ski. My every-day mountain ski is a 191 ON3P Caylor, before that it was the 189 (193) Hellbent. Big, softer, rockered.

Get something bigger and rockered man, you will not regret it. Especially coming from the east coast and landing somewhere in the west where the snow can be less than light sometimes, rocker REALLY helps you stay on top and be able to shred heavy new snow without worrying about diving or having to work too hard.

I came from CA (mammoth) and now I live in Utah. I wish I had the joy of riding rockered skis when I lived out there, it would have made my life so much easier.
 
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