New skies

P

PhilMickelson

New member
I have been skiing my whole life but very casually and like 5 times a year until last year I started going off trail and hitting jumps. I went like 40 times last year and will probably hit 40 again this year. So first ski day of the year I was very rusty and had a hard time skiing the crud and powder so I thought new skis would be a good fix. I have skied a lot since then and I am now better at crud and powder but I still feel like my skiing has weak spots. I feel like there are plenty of jumps or drops I want to hit that are often times natural features but the run-out is cruddy and steep and I am afraid I will lose it skiing away at those speeds on my skis, I am getting better at skiing in crud when I try to stay centered and have my skis doing less sideways motion and more pointing in the direction they are sliding by keeping more edge angle. I feel like my biggest problem is after a lot of snow when it gets really deep, I have a hard time staying balanced especially on flatter terrain, my tips dive and catch and it's hard for me to stay balanced and not fall on my face. when the same snow gets skied out I also have problems with forward and backward balance. I can tell I am getting better and I was going to get new skis but now I am wondering if I should. I don't want to be the bad skier who skis on really nice skis. I would rather be better on cheaper skis.I will eventually get new skis but I don't know if I should wait. I know the latest I would get new skis would be like in March.

I have a lot of room for improvement in my skiing and I don't know if it is in part my skis being too short or not wide enough. I am 15 135 lbs and 5'7 about. These skis are Rossi S7.pro 160cm long and 90mm underfoot with reg camber. The skis I am looking at are Atomic Blogs 177cm 110mm underfoot rockered. I ski at Snowbird.

Should I just wait till I get better and then get new skis?

I am not going to get new skis until I can do smoothe 360's as well. I don't know how long that may take.

Thanks
 
if you're skiing park, pow, and all mountain, I'd suggest k2 kung fujas, but i don't really know much about the blogs.
 
Different skis are not going to make a difference. It seems like you are over thinking your skiing WAY to much. Be confident, but at the same time know your limits, and you will progress. As for the 360, just huck off a cat track or something into a soft landing, there isn't much that can go wrong. Start small and work your way up.
 
Well, these are pretty sick:

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But I actually like these better. The shape is more versatile.

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Look at some skis from 5th element. They are petty cheap....$250 or less.... They great for what you pay and they are great for beginners. My friend who just got back into skiing again uses them and they work great for him. Also they are twin tipped which is a plus
 
Sounds to me that your gear is sort of holding you back, if you arent confident of your skis its not going to help you progress. Its not like you need to have a huge bag of tricks to enjoy good skis anyways, go with what you want.

From what you've said, I'd really push you for something thats over 100 underfoot and with some tip rocker. You are on a pretty directional ski - right now I bet a lot of issues you have are from getting backseat and gettin whalloped by the short tails. Something stiffer is going to be better in crud, something rockered is going to help keep your tips up in deep snow, something over 100mm underfoot is fun and stable.

Test some stuff out. There are a ton of skis in every mountains shop you can probably demo, take some out when the snows good and see what you like. My advice may be a good starting point, but nothing compares to getting the ski on your feet and trying it out yourself.
 
Also need to emphasize the fact that skis aren't everything. It sounds like you also need pure practice and better form. Better skis will help, but I've had days where I've been forced to ride my old park skis in conditions you described (I'm 5'11 and rode 170 skis that are 75 underfoot) and worked decently. Keep practicing. New skis might help but that's not the whole problem
 
As I read the post I kept thinking of Kung Fujas, or If the snow gets deeper get more of a BC ski like the Armada JJ. Either way I would think the main thing is just get out there and ski if you wanna improve!
 
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