Does weight matter?

*Goose*

*Goose*

New member
I know the obvious shit like being heavier allows you to ski faster and gain larger momentum, but does being heavy or light have advantages and disadvantages on how you ski, especially in the park when you're throwing spins and inverts?
 
I weigh 200 and in comparison to my lighter friends, I can send it to gucci with the same speed. I'm still light enough to get bucked around a lot in chopped up shit though so I think I'm a happy medium.
 
topic:*Goose* said:
I know the obvious shit like being heavier allows you to ski faster and gain larger momentum, but does being heavy or light have advantages and disadvantages on how you ski, especially in the park when you're throwing spins and inverts?
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Just because it is obvious doesnt make it true. momentum deals with collisions and isnt useful when considering other situations such as riding down a hill. What youre thinking about is kinetic energy. and being heavier doesnt make you go faster, get greater air, or fall faster.
 
I'm pretty sure you do ski faster if you're heavier but it wouldn't necessarily mean you're throwing bigger tricks (though it would make sense that because you're getting more air time you're able to throw down for longer etc.). But I have heard that weight has an effect on you landing? Like it's easier for slightly heavier people to land, especially the bigger tricks.
 
13280719:adamwolyn said:
being heavier doesnt make you go faster, get greater air
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Yeah it does. Friction between your skis and the snow is what slows you down. Heavier skier means you're applying more downward force and overcoming friction to a greater extent.
 
13280783:skibutt said:
I'm pretty sure you do ski faster if you're heavier but it wouldn't necessarily mean you're throwing bigger tricks (though it would make sense that because you're getting more air time you're able to throw down for longer etc.). But I have heard that weight has an effect on you landing? Like it's easier for slightly heavier people to land, especially the bigger tricks.
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Heavier people are able to plow through inconsistencies in the landing without catching an edge I think
 
I'm 270. Id say weight makes difference. I go pretty much strait through any chopped up snow. It takes a whole hell of a lot more speed for me to clear a jump. I can't spin near as fast as my friends either. I've never tried any inverts and I don't plan to. If I land weird, something's breaking. I dont even try with rails anymore. I ate shit way too many times trying to learn. Anytime I would lean the slightest bit, I'd go down. Also, you don't see any pros that are big dudes.

Not sure if I just suck at skiing park, but I cant say I've ever even seen someone my size in the park.
 
Yes, weight does matter. Do you see this guy throw sick tricks in the park?

worlds_fattest_man_19o7ktt-19o7ku4.jpg
 
13280719:adamwolyn said:
Just because it is obvious doesnt make it true. momentum deals with collisions and isnt useful when considering other situations such as riding down a hill. What youre thinking about is kinetic energy. and being heavier doesnt make you go faster, get greater air, or fall faster.
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are you the same guy who was arguing this in another thread?

you need to accept that youre missing something here. i havent done phsyics math in years so i won't pretend to know which specific part youre missing in the calculations (my guess is some aspect of how your mass affects your movement against friction and inconsistencies on the snow surface) but it is a demonstrable fact that heavier people go faster in the same situation as a lighter person. anyone who has spent much time on a hill knows this. tell you what, why don't you go ask a knowledgeable race coach when you get the chance?

heavier people will probably also have more drag, yes, but that won't increase at the same rate that their speed will
 
Not as much maneuverability, plus if you're 300 pounds you're probably not gonna be able to grab your skis in air, too much body to reach over
 
13280843:J.D. said:
Yeah it does. Friction between your skis and the snow is what slows you down. Heavier skier means you're applying more downward force and overcoming friction to a greater extent.
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Science Bitch
 
I feel like it's easier to butter if you weigh more I know involves muscle and stength but I'm sure a 200 pound strong guy could butter better then a 130 pound strong guy
 
You can move faster because gravity pulls harder if you have more mass, the same thing applies for when you are in the air. Gravity will pull harder making it more difficult to go big. If you are lighter and can manage to gain enough speed as the person that is heavier, you will end up going higher and farther than them.
 
It just means you will fall harder.

Being able to fall a lot without getting injured is a big part of action sports. Park skiing is no different.

You want to be someone who would be good at gymnastics.
 
13280719:adamwolyn said:
Just because it is obvious doesnt make it true. momentum deals with collisions and isnt useful when considering other situations such as riding down a hill. What youre thinking about is kinetic energy. and being heavier doesnt make you go faster, get greater air, or fall faster.
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13280843:J.D. said:
Yeah it does. Friction between your skis and the snow is what slows you down. Heavier skier means you're applying more downward force and overcoming friction to a greater extent.
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13281052:RubberSoul said:
are you the same guy who was arguing this in another thread?

you need to accept that youre missing something here. i havent done phsyics math in years so i won't pretend to know which specific part youre missing in the calculations (my guess is some aspect of how your mass affects your movement against friction and inconsistencies on the snow surface) but it is a demonstrable fact that heavier people go faster in the same situation as a lighter person. anyone who has spent much time on a hill knows this. tell you what, why don't you go ask a knowledgeable race coach when you get the chance?

heavier people will probably also have more drag, yes, but that won't increase at the same rate that their speed will
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13290363:Eastern.Skier said:
You can move faster because gravity pulls harder if you have more mass, the same thing applies for when you are in the air. Gravity will pull harder making it more difficult to go big. If you are lighter and can manage to gain enough speed as the person that is heavier, you will end up going higher and farther than them.
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All of you just stop. Yes being heavier will make you go faster, and here is why.

Assume two of the identical people with identical skis and everything, except one is 50 pounds heavier.

Thanks to Newton we know The sum of the forces is equal to the time rate change of momentum.

F=d(mv)/dt we assume that mass does not change with time so therefore F=m*dv/dt

Again from Newton, and Calculus we know dv/dt is equal to acceleration or F=ma

The forces acting on the skier parallel to the hill are friction, drag and gravity

or F(p)=ma(p)=mg*sin(b)-F(f)-D...b is the angle of the slope.

Friction and D are negative because of the way they act on the body

The friction force is directly related to the normal force or the force the earth is pushing back with on you perpendicularly by a constant u. So summing the forces and knowing acceleration is zero we find that F(n)=mg*cos(b) therefor F(f)=u*mg*cos(b) when we add that back into the previous equation, we find.

ma(p)=mg*sin(b)-u*mg*cos(b)-D...now divide by mass to get acceleration by itself

a=g*sin(b)-ug*cos(b)-(D/m)

So if two people are identical in every way except one persons is more massive then the other, than the drag term will be smaller in the heavier person, because drag is being divided by mass.

Sorry for the rant, but bad physics is a pet peeve of mine.

Love,

A Third Year Aerospace Engineering Student
 
13280534:Miomo said:
I weigh 130 pounds. I take flight with a light breeze.
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scrony little spitfuck, naw man I am messing wit cha. I think height is more of a legit questions, as a dude of 6', when I was first learning spins and trying to make them look good, I always felt awkward, and for a while my brother who is 6'3" looked pretty goofy off of anything. It's all good now but it was pretty hilarious to watch.
 
13290700:JSON said:
So if two people are identical in every way except one persons is more massive then the other, than the drag term will be smaller in the heavier person, because drag is being divided by mass.

Sorry for the rant, but bad physics is a pet peeve of mine.

Love,

A Third Year Aerospace Engineering Student
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not sure why you accused me of bad physics when i said myself my point was based on empirical evidence, not math, but good post all the same
 
13290363:Eastern.Skier said:
You can move faster because gravity pulls harder if you have more mass, the same thing applies for when you are in the air. Gravity will pull harder making it more difficult to go big. If you are lighter and can manage to gain enough speed as the person that is heavier, you will end up going higher and farther than them.
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Gravity doesn't pull you down harder in the air. You'r still going to accelerate downwards at about 9.81m/s^2. In fact you might actually fall ever so slightly slower due to an increased surface area from being heavier. All that matters when seeing how big you'll go is how fast your forward velocity is at the point of takeoff and how much pop you put into it. Usually being heavier as we have identified so far, will make you go faster allowing you to go bigger.
 
Don't argue about the specifics. Bobby Brown is 6'2 and Jesper Tjader is the size of a 14 year old kid. They both slay.
 
13291373:daOyster said:
Gravity doesn't pull you down harder in the air. You'r still going to accelerate downwards at about 9.81m/s^2. In fact you might actually fall ever so slightly slower due to an increased surface area from being heavier. All that matters when seeing how big you'll go is how fast your forward velocity is at the point of takeoff and how much pop you put into it. Usually being heavier as we have identified so far, will make you go faster allowing you to go bigger.
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Sorry I didn't mean pull you down in the air I meant on the takeoff. Correct me if I'm wrong because I would really like to know how this works if what I have been saying is incorrect.
 
13291088:RubberSoul said:
not sure why you accused me of bad physics when i said myself my point was based on empirical evidence, not math, but good post all the same
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Sorry, I was in rant mode and was just clicking random things to quote, you are good.
 
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