Pros and Cons of longer skis for park

[willthompsonn]

Hi,

I am 5'8 and have a pair of 178cm line blends to ski on this year. I was wondering the pros and cons of a longer ski for park. ALL HELP IS WELCOMED AND NEEDED.

THANKS

 

[Mr.Bishop]

Hi,

I am 5'8 and have a pair of 178cm line blends to ski on this year. I was wondering the pros and cons of a longer ski for park. ALL HELP IS WELCOMED AND NEEDED.

THANKS

Swing weight is a big thing here. If you're going to be skiing primarily east coast / midwest rope-tow resorts where you're shredding rails all day... then doing a 450 off of a really small flat rail isn't going to be as easy on longer skis.

There's likely more too, but that is the biggest one off the top of my head.

 

[GrandThings]

Cons: Swing weight

Pros: Look (much) cooler

 

[skiP.E.I.]

Longer skis are better for big landings, skiing fast, buttering (more ski to bend) and are going to help you more skiing pow. It's going to be a little harder to whip your skis around for switch-ups and fast spins, but not impossible. You'll get used to them in no time.

 

[Pat.t]

ImO a longer ski will teach you better form because you can't really cheat tricks on rails.

 

[skiguy04]

Haven’t tried short skis but my 185’s do everything

 

[Dlonetti]

In enjoy watching rail edits with dudes with longer skis wayyy more than super tight spins on 165 skis

for example
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoiBXiahWuk/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet long

compared to people riding the typical 169 volkl revolts

**This post was edited on Nov 6th 2018 at 2:25:38pm

 

[TRVP_ANGEL]

use to ski longer taller than me, really helped on jumps cause honestly you can land with a large MoE but rail game suffers

 

[SofaKingSick]

you'll be great on those, those are soft, easy to use skis and they have some rocker too

only downside is weight but we're talking minuscule difference here, honestly hardly worth mentioning

generally longer skis are more stable, better for landings, and better in soft snow

 

[The.Fish]

I clip my tips and tails on rails a lot more when spinning out of them. This may just be me and my lack of ability to maneuver on rails. The line blend is very soft so sizing up can't hurt if you plan on going fast or big.

 

[first_rodeo]

am 5'4 and have used 180's since early 2000's, still can throw around 270's and alien grinds.

 

[bigcat.]

Pros: Everything

Cons: Nothing

Pros for short skis: Chuck tricks as fast as possible to land insane tricks

Cons: No one respects you.

 

[skiguy04]

Nose taps and tail taps be more legitimate

 

[DirtYStylE]

Pros: heavier, so they are more stable. Pros use longer skis

Cons: heavier, which means beginners will have a hard time whippin

 

[Cole9]

Pros: heavier, so they are more stable. Pros use longer skis

Cons: heavier, which means beginners will have a hard time whippin

False, have you seen Jesper Tjaders skis???

 

[bleevus]

False, have you seen Jesper Tjaders skis???

he stole those 164s off a 12 year old

 

[Lonely]

Harder tricks are harder, easier tricks look cooler, your all mountain abilities will improve.

 

[saskyskier71]

I'm the same height and I ride the same ski for my park ski. I like it because there's a lot of ski to carve on and a lot of ski to land on. only con would be tight spins for rails I guess. but I really like the overall feel of the 178's

 

[willthompsonn]

Thanks so much to everyone!

 

[skiguy04]

And centre mount

 

[lil.Boye]

way more stable on a longer ski. many complain about railgame, but when you get used to it you will be able to do all your rail tricks without any problem.

 

[SofaKingSick]

And centre mount

this is a helpful point-- if youre worried about them being long on you, you can mount the binding up a little bit, maybe even center mount, which can be seen as somewhat analogous to choking up on a baseball bat that's too big for you (cause less of the length will be in front of your toe)

 

[skiguy04]

The swing is decent with centre mount

 

[Dlonetti]

Im 5'11'' and rode my 183 vishnu wides for the first time this past weekend and absolutely loved them the skis are taller than me but I had no trouble spinning and swapping