Skis to fit your style, or style to fit your skis???

Sharko

Sharko

Active member
I've always had this urge to buy some fat, symmetrical (or nearly symmetrical) skis.

But truth be told, I live in the east and spend most of my time on crappy, cruddy groomers. I don't ski switch as often as I'd like to think, and the parks near me are no fun. So I always end up getting the ski that I think best suits my conditions and riding style. I had Chronics back in the day (the 2005-ish ones with the skull on a stake in front of a red horizon graphics) and later switched to Blends. They are pretty directional, they hold it together on the hardpack, they don't float much on the rare occassion that I see powder: they are utilitarian and they suit my needs.

But I have this dream of getting something wide and soft and symmetrical, and changing my style to fit them. I picture jibbing on natural features at the edge of runs, or buttering on those flat, boring rides back to the lift to make them more interesting. This year I may pull the trigger on some YLEs or Bacons and give it a shot.

So what do YOU do? Get the skis that match the way you ride, and keep doing the same old thing? Or get the skis that match the way you wish you rode, and try a new style?
 
I'm really confused as to why you can't/wont do this anyways? If that's how you want to ski, why aren't you skiing that way? You don't need a special ski to jib the small hits on the sides of the runs.

I don't think your skis are the issue here.
 
Overall you are right, it's more about the frame of mind than the equipment. The only way the Blend might be holding me back is that they are pretty stiff, and on the model I have (the ones with the scarecrow on them) the boot center is a whopping 8cm back from true center, so the tails are pretty dinky. I sometime wonder if I wouldn't take more risks on more terrain, especially switch, with a mounting closer to center.
 
i have 2 pair of skis for 2 different snow conditions, but when im on each of them my style changes dramatically.

for example, on my Volkl Chopsticks (123 waist full rocker symmetrical jib pow skis) i bomb straight down runs and slash pow stashes in the trees. and i try to ride switch in pow, which is what these babies are made for.

on my armada ar5s (80 waist super stiff full camber park skis) i carve gs turns, and obviously hit rails and park jumps. they feel super locked in, where the volkls are loose and floaty.

its fun to try drastically different skis to try different style of skiing, but I would only want to own skis that are actually going to fit your snow conditions.

here on mt. hood, conditions change overnight, so i have 2 different setups to take when the snow is soft or hard.

if you're looking for quiver killers, the new line chronics seem like the obvious choice. they are the best of both worlds with mid range waist width, and a bit of rocker.
 
See, I think there's a lot to be said for this too: if you have a ski and use it over and over you tend to adapt your style to it, and you get good at using it in a wide array of conditions. Just because the Opus wasn't built for groomers doesn't mean you can't have fun with it there, and just because the Anthem wasn't built for powder doesn't mean you can't shred pow on it.

So that begs the question: what's the predominant philosophy on NS? Do YOU seek out the ski that matches your style best? Or do YOU adapt your style to whatever ski you want to try?
 
Last year was my first year exclusively riding park and I had Chronics. This year I'm getting One Lifes and for Midwest conditions I've heard they hold up pretty well. I'll have to see for my self haha.
 
This. When I'm on my afterbangs I'm in the park on rails and jumps and buttering a lot. Then when I go out on my hellbent it's a search for drops, deep pow, and natural features. Then on my bacons it's somewhere between the two, closer to my behavior on the bent.
 
Sorry, I'm still having a hard time understand you here. Why would you buy a ski that doesn't work with how you want to ski? Seams like you would naturally buy the best ski suitable for what you want to do on the hill, no? I'm not going to buy a truck for city driving just like I wouldn't buy a smart car for logging roads.

If you want a more playful ski because you like being playful on the hill, get a more playful ski. Why would you do anything different?
 
Yup, it was the recomended mounting point on that model of Blends. I believe it was the first year they made them and they were Prophet 90s with the titanium overlay replaced by a carbon one. They were pretty different from how they're shaped now:

06-07: 125-90-113, mounted 8cm back

This year: 132-100-122, mounted 4cm back
 
I did just that, I live in the Midwest, and I just pulled the trigger on some new lifes(exactly what you're looking for, and I am more amped than I've ever been to ski. I would do it if I were you.
 
definitely an interesting thought to bring up. to me it seems like youre addressing the notion that people are buying skis that represent the kind of skiing they want to do and otherwise allowing your ski style to be (to an extent) predetermined simply by the brand.. let me know if im taking this thought way too far though, but i get what you mean.
 
yeah, you're totally getting it. I'm just exploring the relationship between our goal, our skis, and our habits.

I've always bought a ski I thought was designed to use on the kind of conditions I see most. Since snow is hard out here and raredly changes, I've looked for one ski quivers that I was told would be good all-mountain. And I've been very happy with my Blends, gripping hard on the icy groomed runs, with the occassional lap through the park.

But I'm wondering what would happen if I did it differently? Do I ski 90% hardpack and 10% park because I feel like that's what my skis will do best? If I had bought line Invaders instead would I spend more time in the park or jibbing outside the park? Or would I still ski 90% hardpack and have a tougher time handling it? Does my style guide the ski I buy? Or am I letting my ski determine my style?
 
The skis I bought somewhat shaped my style. My first year of park I was on Volkl Walls and I have continued to buy stiffer skis so I don't really do many butters and stay away from backseat.
 
I think the very fact that you're aware and even thinking about this shows a real understanding of style beyond the superficial mimesis of style that happens in popular ski culture (and all culture)

I mean to truly acknowledge how and why you ski the way you do is truly an incredible thing - pure self awareness and comprehension. I grew up skiing in the west at a small hill that gets incredible amounts of snow and has never had a park and that I think is the true definition of how one skis. It's basically a psychoanalysis of pur ski style and is so fascinating in the way it functions.

I'm studying art in university right now and the parallels that I'm able to create between skiing and art is incredible and its so much fun to approach skiing and ones' style of skiing with the idea of it being an art. The kicker is that I know that everyone out there experiences skiing in such a different way than I do, and that's why I love it.

PS I'm aware of the tangent i just went on.

PPS I don't care. cheers to skiing!!!
 
get a pair of bacons, sounds like a good choice for you.

What's holding you back from buying them?
 
we be getting all philosophical and shit here it seams.

I was going to mention it before, but for some reason didn't, but I guess I'm going to say it anyways.

I think it can work both ways when talking about style and culture influencing skiing (and the choices you make while doing it) as much as skiing can influence style. I mean, you grew up at a hill with lots of snow, but no park... I grew up in southern Ontario and my teenage years was spent pretty much in the park. In the early days of skiers in the park I spent about a season and a half one and off twin tips. I learned switch 7's on a pair of 190 or so oldschool straight skis. Would I have even tried to ski switch on oldschool skis in the first place if I hadn't of done it on twin tips previously? When I first moved to BC, I spent about a year and a half skiing the mountain and learn how to ski pow on a pair of 176 park skis that were 80 some odd underfoot.

I don't think the original question actually has an answer because when you're actually in the moment doing something, I don't think you care one way or the other what you're doing it on/with. If you teach someone how to skate on figure skates, show them the sport of hockey and give him/her a hockey stick, they're not going to know or care that they don't have the most optimal skates for hockey.

It's not the ski, it's the skier. And if you know enough about your own self when you ski, you already know what ski would be best for you. Of course, this is all coming from a guy who now has 5 pairs of skis, all serving their own purpose depending on what I want to do while skiing that day. Your skiing is constantly evolving and what you want in a ski is constantly changing. There's no way you can predict it and buy a ski to dictate how you should ski, it's your skiing that should dictate what ski you should get. Hmmm, I guess I did have an answer after all. Sorry this post got so long, I guess I was in a writing mood.

 
Here's to drinking beer on a saturday night and reflecting about life - i agree 100 percent. What an amazing world we live in - experience is absolutely paramount.
 
going skiing early in the morning so I'm being a good boy and staying in (as much as I love touring hungover). I must be getting old or something.
 
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