How fat do you really need to go?

03gade

03gade

Member
I had salomon 2012s as my only ski for park and everything else, and their edges are done. In the interest of carveability, I bought a pair of bonafides (98mm waist) for an everyday charger. If I were to get a pow ski, how fat do you really need to go for a non-touring, sidecountry/in bounds pow day type situation?

For example, would it be worth it to go with the squad 7 (120mm) over the Super 7 (112mm). The turning radius increases by 10m, losing a bit of everyday versatility, but is 112 underfoot too close to my 98 bonafides to be worth it? Does one really need to push it into the 120 range?
 
I'm in the same boat as you bud. I currently ride Line Prophet 98s, fantastic skis btw, and I shred everywhere, I just have to work a little bit harder in pow and I don't get much of that floaty feel.

I was looking at getting the Moment Deathwishes as they are 112 and shred everywhere much like my Prophets so I fathomed them to be a bit similar. So instead I'm looking towards getting the Governors or the Bibbys. probably the Governors however since I'm more of a Directional skier and they have much better hold on alternative surfaces, as well due to the fact that they fit my desire to charge, they have no tail rocker but they got a little lip and stiffness at the end to provide those landings when hucking cliffs.

With that said I believe your bonafides are quite similar to what my Prophets can do and therefore you should opt for a wider ski closer to 120mm to really enjoy that floaty feel in the powder. I don't know about your situation but I'm out here in Europe where I can enjoy some great Off Piste in the Alps.

Also for your information, the Squad 7 is quite similar to the Moment Governor however the Governor has a bit more nimbleness to it and is better in tighter spaces, just by a bit. Additionally the ski is a bit stiffer and it is very solid and stable when crushing through crud which I think the Squad 7 lacks a bit. Both great skis but I think the Governor edges over, it also has great edge hold on groomers which is always a plus when you're on your way to the pow.

Best of luck!
 
depends on how you ski, i had a friend who skied alta on skinny park sticks for years and still skied harder than a lot of people
 
13362697:B.Quincy said:
Imo best pure pow ski is around 115-125 mm
Click to expand...

I would tend to agree here. OP, if you're coming from a 98mm ski then something in this waist width will 1) actually float better and 2) actually feel different. The other things to look at are rocker/camber profile and tip/tail taper. If you had the same rocker/camber profile and tip/tail shape as your 98mm ski, then yeah it will be an improvement but it won't operate or feel like a truly different & meaningful ski in your quiver.

So, even if you pick a ski at the narrower side of the pow-ski-spectrum (115mm underfoot) it could still feel and ski like a really different & meaningful ski in your quiver if the tip/tail rocker and tip/tail taper is a lot different from your current 98mm ski.

Personally, there is only a 17mm jump underfoot between my daily driver and my pow ski, but since the rocker and tapers are so different, they really feel and ski differently.
 
you don't want something so fat that if there isn't as much pow as you expected that you can't ski your pow ski on that day. everyone is different, but i like my pow ski to be 115-122. this year it's the Liberty Origin. In fact, I like it so much that it's the only ski i've taken out this season, other than park. it rips groomers and hardpack. i have other skis much, much wider, but the icy runouts and sub-pow pow days aren't that enjoyable.
 
Apparently the super 7 is 116 underfoot, idk why I said 112. But you all convinced me to go a bit fatter than I expected anyways, Sounds like low 120s is the sweet spot. Thanks for the help.
 
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