Complex kick turns with skis mounted closer to center

stinky_cheese

stinky_cheese

Active member
The point of this thread is ultimately to get some helpful information about my next ski purchase.

For reference, I'm 5'10", 170 lbs, been skiing on the old DPS tour1 wailer 106 in a 185 length for many seasons now. Great ski, but now delamming and won't be lasting me much longer. I do most my touring in the Cascades but always get to Utah and Idaho every season for tours as well.

For a new setup, I've been looking at the 184 4frnt Raven. Heard really great things, and i've been a 4frnt fanboy ever since I was a kid growing up in SLC. I have a few hesitations though and was hoping some of yall maybe had experience with these thigns:

- mount point for ravens is closer to center than most touring skis which i've heard can be rather difficult for complex kickturns, which I find myself encountering more and more in the cascades than in any other zone i've toured in. Can anyone speak to how much more difficult it really may be?

- touring up here in WA means lots of glaciers and volcanos. I've heard that the full reverse camber profile of the Raven can make skinning much more difficult on icy slopes because there is less ski to ground contact. Anyone have experience with this?

I'm not hellbent on getting the Ravens, I've just heard great things. The DPS I have are pretty light, about 1400 g per ski, which I do not need to match on this new setup. Honestly I'd prefer to go heavier somewhere in the 1600-1900 g per ski range. Other skis i've looked at are WNDR vital or intention, Liberty origin BC, or maybe Moment Commander Tour. I'm open to any and all suggestions, just looking hopefully for a 1 ski wonder for the WA backcountry that can also handle volcano type skiing. Back in the day I worked at DPS so i'm a little biased towards the small ski manufacturers but open to any and all other recs
 
Longer tails definitely have an effect. I ride a 190 Deathwish Tour and sometimes feel like a baby giraffe during sketchy steep kick turns where some of my partners might look more graceful in their directional skis. You get used to it after a while though. It makes the downhill more fun.

Regarding the reverse camber, keep a pair of ski crampons in your backpack and it can improve your confidence on the icy stuff.

I ski in Tahoe so we have a similar wet snowpack. I think you'd be really happy with a slightly wider and heavier setup like some of the skis you've mentioned.
 
Longer tails make lick turns more challenging, but not the end of the world. I’m in northern cascadia, and tour on some 116 ARV JJ UL’s that are 192 at factory recommended mount. If you’re in soft fresh the ol’ post hole kick turns help make the tails shorter, otherwise start stretching out those hip flexors, because it’ll be a little bit trickier.

As far as rocker/reverse camber goes, the majority of your traction/power transmission when skinning comes form directly underfoot, +/- about a foot tops. The further out from your boot the less you really gain. Again my skis have a bit of rocker (but with camber still underfoot) but I’ve noticed little to no differences between a rocker free touring set up and the more twin tip ARV’s (that being said I’ve got a fair bit of ski underfoot).

topic:stinky_cheese said:
The point of this thread is ultimately to get some helpful information about my next ski purchase.

For reference, I'm 5'10", 170 lbs, been skiing on the old DPS tour1 wailer 106 in a 185 length for many seasons now. Great ski, but now delamming and won't be lasting me much longer. I do most my touring in the Cascades but always get to Utah and Idaho every season for tours as well.

For a new setup, I've been looking at the 184 4frnt Raven. Heard really great things, and i've been a 4frnt fanboy ever since I was a kid growing up in SLC. I have a few hesitations though and was hoping some of yall maybe had experience with these thigns:

- mount point for ravens is closer to center than most touring skis which i've heard can be rather difficult for complex kickturns, which I find myself encountering more and more in the cascades than in any other zone i've toured in. Can anyone speak to how much more difficult it really may be?

- touring up here in WA means lots of glaciers and volcanos. I've heard that the full reverse camber profile of the Raven can make skinning much more difficult on icy slopes because there is less ski to ground contact. Anyone have experience with this?

I'm not hellbent on getting the Ravens, I've just heard great things. The DPS I have are pretty light, about 1400 g per ski, which I do not need to match on this new setup. Honestly I'd prefer to go heavier somewhere in the 1600-1900 g per ski range. Other skis i've looked at are WNDR vital or intention, Liberty origin BC, or maybe Moment Commander Tour. I'm open to any and all suggestions, just looking hopefully for a 1 ski wonder for the WA backcountry that can also handle volcano type skiing. Back in the day I worked at DPS so i'm a little biased towards the small ski manufacturers but open to any and all other recs
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