Going shorter in a wider ski for powder, narrow terrain and dense trees?

K

Kulharin

Member
I notice in most line ups whenever a ski has additional width, it also often gets additional length...

Does it make sense to drop a size down in length for an overly wide ski... Something between 115-120 underfoot with a lot of rocker? If I want a surfy, playful powder ski that will spend most of it's time in powder filled dense trees, chutes, and steep/narrow terrain?

**This thread was edited on Mar 19th 2018 at 11:56:04pm
 
Typically you want your pow skis to be longer than your front-side skis, because pow skis tend to have a lot of tip/tail rocker, so your effective edge is shorter. For example, I ride a 176 park ski, 186 all mtn ski and a 191 pow ski.
 
For a powder ski you should definately get a longer ski, but if you want to ski dense trees you'd want a shorter ski. I wouldn't want to sacrifice performance on the rest of the mountain for easier turns in dense trees though
 
13906219:qe77o said:
For a powder ski you should definately get a longer ski, but if you want to ski dense trees you'd want a shorter ski. I wouldn't want to sacrifice performance on the rest of the mountain for easier turns in dense trees though
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Eh not so much this. I agree, for powder you want a longer ski but what really matters here is the shape and profile of the ski. A ski with a full rocker profile will be much more loose and nimble in the trees than a ski with camber underfoot. With full rocker however, you sacrifice edge hold at speed and pop.

OP if you give us more info on your height/weight/skier ability/home mountain im sure we could recommend a few skis that would fit your bill.
 
I am 5'10, 170lbs. I was on the Pinnacle 95's in a 184 that actually felt a bit too short with the crazy tip rocker... The Atomic Automatic 109 in a 182 felt perfect length. Next year I was looking at the Rustler 11 but not sure if I should get 180, as 188 I feel would be too long? Or the Backland 117 in a 186 maybe, as I feel 178 would prolly be too short. Bent Chetler looks a bit too crazy! Maybe Line Sickday in a 114 180cm though I was told those skis don't like to go slow... Rossignol Super 7 could work, but again 180 maybe too short, 188 too long.... J skis Friend in a 180 looks fun but likely not an easy ski to find in Canada.... Just trying to get a freeride powder ski with a shorter turn radius I guess.

**This post was edited on Mar 21st 2018 at 7:27:11pm
 
If you want a ski for tight spaces and pow go with a normal pow length ski (longer like everyone else is saying) but keep the underfoot between 100-110. I ride a volkl gotama 186 at 108 underfoot and I never have any trouble in deep pow or tight trees
 
13906905:Kulharin said:
I am 5'10, 170lbs. I was on the Pinnacle 95's in a 184 that actually felt a bit too short with the crazy tip rocker... The Atomic Automatic 109 in a 182 felt perfect length. Next year I was looking at the Rustler 11 but not sure if I should get 180, as 188 I feel would be too long? Or the Backland 117 in a 186 maybe, as I feel 178 would prolly be too short. Bent Chetler looks a bit too crazy! Maybe Line Sickday in a 114 180cm though I was told those skis don't like to go slow... Rossignol Super 7 could work, but again 180 maybe too short, 188 too long.... J skis Friend in a 180 looks fun but likely not an easy ski to find in Canada.... Just trying to get a freeride powder ski with a shorter turn radius I guess.

**This post was edited on Mar 21st 2018 at 7:27:11pm
Click to expand...

Im the same H/W as you and I have the Rustler 10 and went with the 180 because of the metal in the ski. The R11 will have a shorter amount of metal and i dont think youd feel like it lacks length because the width will still help with float. Im extremely happy i went with 180 as it still carves hard and is super stable on hardpack yet floats very well in even 2+ ft of east coast snow. I can only imagine the R11 being perfect in 180. I also ski the Mordecai and Rossi S3 in 186 but both have no metal so i wanted the added length for stability as speed. If i didnt have the mordecai i would have also ordered the R11 in a 180 as my pow ski.
 
Tell me more about the Mordecai please... I just found out about this ski but am pretty excited about what I've read about it... For something specific to deep powder, bowls, chutes and tight/steep/dense trees. My current ski is now the Nordica Enforcer 100... I loved the Atomic Automatic 109 which was the widest ski I've owned, wasn't the biggest fan of the pinnacle... Currently my top choices for next year are Backland 117, Rossignol Super, Line Morecai, and Rustler 11. I don't think I want to go longer than 186 or shorter than 180.
 
Sure. Line Mordecai is basically a powder freestyle ski that is relatively soft with a good amount of rocker. I used it for 2 days this season at Whistler and a day a Mt Baker. all three days it saw 20+ inches of snow. I float like crazy on them and they can still rail on turns when there is packed snow. They do not like ice because they are soft with no metal so dont expect it to be a daily ski. At 114 underfoot it was plenty for those conditions. I have used it a few days back east in the storm cycle the northeast just had and it works fantastic. Skiing stratton with them provides good insight as to their ability since its very mixed terrain across the whole mountain. I have them in 186 and would NOT want them shorter. i have them mounted at Pollard's recommended line but would actually opt to mount 3 back from that next time around since im not skiing switch like i use to. Id say if you are looking for a light playful ski that is not punishing, go for it. pair it with a pivot 12 and itll be super light and nimble.

The rustler 11 will be slightly more demanding because of the carbon and metal so i myself would probably get that in a 180.
 
If you’re liking the mordecai but want more stability the Moment Bibby (now Wildcat), Kartel 116, and Nomad 115 are all something to look at as well.
 
Nomad 115 looks pretty awesome in a 181 although seems to be a very hard ski to track down in canada; the other ones have quite a bit longer turn radius... Mordecai is pretty darn short turn radius,

**This post was edited on Mar 23rd 2018 at 2:56:36pm
 
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