Overpowering skis

froom

froom

Member
I grew up skiing on carving skis.

I've taken a few years off skiing while I was at university.

Just bought a pair of 1080's that are in the shorter range for my height/weight.

May be a ridiculous question...but what does it feel like to overpower your skis? I'd assume I've never done it before, but now I'm on much shorter/softer skis. Can anyone describe it?
 
You should always get longer skis when buying twintips, but only becuase it looks so much better, but because they actually run shorter because of the twin. Plus they're also light, so they'll feel shorter also.
 
If when you pressure the ski into/out of a turn, they feel like they are flexing in half and the tails wash out on you, it's quite possible you need a stiffer set of sticks.
 
Til I was 16 i allways had longer skis, pasing my instructors exsamn on salomon equipe 207s. If you wanna know how it feels like to have a powerful ski underneeth ur feet rent a GS or skicross ski about your own leight for a day, and give it all you got. Youll see you wont be dissapointed.
 
Thanks for the feedback received so far, but I still havn't received the answer I'm looking for...can someone describe what it feels like to overpower your skis? How do I know if I'm overpowering my skis?
 
if you're in the middle of a carve, and the ski's edge gives out from under the pressure because you flex it too much
 
yeah, when you overpower a ski, you pushing down in the carve, and the tips of the ski dont have the stiffness to keep thier hold, and they blow out. this results in a ton of chatter in the ski, and you "drifting" through the turn. then, they will catch again, and as soon as you start pushin um hard again, they blow out again. its super annoying, and chances are with the size and make of that ski, thats exactly what your doin, overpowering the ski.
 
so basically you lose edge hold...just like you would on ice...but in all conditions?

Would it cause you to fall?

How long are the intervals between the edge catching? (I guess that it would depend how fast you are going).
 
Froom,

I would also consider a clear indication of overpowering a ski to be: going over the handlebars.

When you drive forward in your boot and push on the tip, the front of the ski buckles and does not rebound sufficiently to keep up with you into the next turn.
 
anyone wanna explain what a good way to break in skis is? i just bought 180 ar5's and im 6'2", and theyre still stiff as cold poo
 
you cant describe exactly how it feels but you'll know when it happens. Its like you all of a sudden feel you cant trust your ski to hold its edge and you'll feel it start to chatter and slide around. If you were that worried about it I would have tested out a few skis before you bought the 1080s. Shouldnt buy a ski your not confident fits your style.
 
The skis have actually been performing great. No untolerable chatter, and they perform quite decently on ice.

Obviously, I wasnt expecting them to hold an edge as well as a carving ski.

I was just wondering whether the change in performance was a result of the ski being overpowered, or simply the result of switching to twins.
 
your lucky. im on the new PEs and they are so stiff. i like the flex on the ar5 though. just butter around alot and stuff and that should loosen em up.
 
to break in your skis, just ski them, the more you flex them the more they'll start to break in, also working out your legs makes them stronger means that you can flex a stiffer ski
 
Really I guess it depends on how well you actually ski. I have found that when I sit back and overpower the ski the tails have a tendancy to washout and the tip[s chattter and bounce all over the place. the middle of the ski overpowerd will feel pretty solid but squirrelly as in the tips and tails bounce. As for overpowering by leaning forward to much

( you can never be too far froward while carving) your tips will grab the snow faster.

Now another issu you might consider is the fact that you aren't overpowering the ski but you are overpowering the boot. If you are overpowering the boot it means that the boot itself is not stiff enough for you. you can fix this by getting special plastic plates added to your boots if your boots are designed to have them. if not you need new boots.

Overpowering the boot will feel like you hit a wall. You will feel the boot flex as you enter the turn then all of a sudden it will stop and catch. Kinda feels like a shock bottoming out. your buckles might come undone. You can only really overpower your boot by being forward. But as I said before forward is good so you'll need to buy new boots.
 
Froom,

You didn't mention what you skied before. Another thing to consider is that these skis are wider, most likely, than what you were riding before. i.e. You have to tip them over further to get the same edging.
 
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