What Skis for Park and Going Fast

C

corynett

New member
I'm 20 years old, 6'2" and 225lbs and have been skiing for most of my life. I live on the east coast so most of what I ski is hard packed and somewhat icy although I do go out west about once a year. I ski about 40% all mountain and 60% park. When I ski the regular slopes I am always trying to go faster, only turning to weave around the slow people, which is usually almost everyone else. If there is powder I also love skiing in it and doing tree runs. When I'm in the park I really only hit jumps and am just getting into doing spins and all but would like to move more into tricks off the jumps (not a huge rail fan). I currently have the K2 Extreme skis and need to replace them. They have been great for me although I don't have much to compare them too. I guess I'm basically looking for an advanced level ski that is both an all mountain/high speed ski but also a good park ski. From my research it seems that I would want a chambered center and rocker tips on front and back. Does that sound correct? Any ideas on skis?
 
I know I think this too often, but you are describing the exact reasons I picked the ON3P Jeronimo years ago. At your size I think you'd love a larger ski in the park as well, it's probably my favorite pair of skis I've ever owned.
 
Nordica ace of spades ski sound fitting here. It is cambered however. You can still find the 11/12's or 12/13's floating around online for cheap.

I have the 11/12's and can vouch for their durability. Extremely fast skis as well and stable at high speeds.

 
Suspects. Fastest park skis you will find. I rode mine mainly just on hard groomer days but they have tons of pop so they are great jump skis too. Not very playfull but by the sounds of it that will not be too much of a concern.
 
Take a look at the Salomon suspects, Nodica Ace of Spades and the Volkl Walls.

Basically any park skis that are on the stiffer side of things.
 
out of Suspects, Walls, and Ace of Spades, I would say the Ace of Spades hauled and carved the best. the most but the walls had the most solid feel and the Suspects felt like I could charge the hardest with them. From the 3, I liked the Ace of spades the most.
 
check out the armada alpha x. it has armada's fastest base (comp base), its pretty stiff for a park ski as well and it's 95mm under foot, so its going to be nice and stable and provide a bit more float if you are skiing fast all over the mountain
 
The Ace of Spades looks like it would probably fit my style very well. Just Curious, when I was first looking at skis the three I came up with were the K2 Recoil, Volki Ledge, and Atomic Punx. Whats the difference between those three skis as compared to the Ace of spades and which would be better for me?

I'm also assuming that the K2 Recoils would be very similar to the K2 Extremes I currently have?
 
Liberty morphics, they are fully cambered but hold an edge like a breeze. Hit 80kms on them this season and still felt stable.
 
K2 Recoils are the stiffest K2 skis and they are great all mountain skis but they feel very dead to me and don't hold an edge nearly as well as the Ace of Spades. The Volkl ledges are a soft jib ski so just ignore those and the Atomic Punx are going to be too skinny to really ski all mountain in variable conditions and such.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm looking at the Nordica website and it seems they do not have the Ace of Spades, but they do have a ski called the Ace. I'm assuming they have just changed the name of the ski for this year?

Also what is difference between the Ace and the Ace Competition ski? Nordica doesn't really explain the difference on their website.
 
Ace=Ace of Spades

Ace Competition=carbon inlays underfoot for better responsiveness/pop, snappiness, etc. (basically better in every way)

Ace= 2 sheets of titanal for edge performance, torsional stiffness, snap, durability, etc. Carve better than my Atomic Slalom skis. Bases are crazy fast and durable. Will not disappoint. (Ace comp is everything here but with carbon inlays too)

Any more questions just ask since this is just general info (I own a pair)
 
Looks like that's the ski I'm gonna go with, will probably decide on the comp or not depending on the pricing.

Next is bindings and size. My current skis are 169, but I was not as big when I got them. I was thinking about going with either the 177 or 184, although I don't know which would be better.

As for bindings I have nod idea which ones to get. I currently have the Salomon S12's.
 
Dynastar Slicer is exactly what you want. All mountain twin tip, pretty much the border between all mountain ski and park ski (K2 Extremes are the same). I too have K2 Extremes, and I LOVE the Slicers. Like all Dynastars, they are invincible. They'll tear through ice and crud on the groomers like it's not even there. They'll hold an edge as well as anything. But they are still kinda parky so you can spin and ski switch no problem. They have tip and tail rocker, and keep in mind that a ski with rocker feels shorter, so get something longer than your Extremes (10cm longer maybe?). Also, don't be intimidated by the 98mm waist (Extremes are 85mm), they don't feel wide and they carve amazingly well (to the point that I was going 50-60mph on icy bumpy groomers with gapers carving back and forth slowly who I had to avoid and felt completely at ease), and you'll want the extra width if you ever ski them in pow.
 
Recoils are great if you like aggressive, short radius turns. If you aren't aggressive, and/or if you like long sweeping turns, they aren't ideal for you. Aside from their preference for aggressive short radius, they're fairly similar to the Extremes, yeah. But with rocker.
 
184 without question at your size. it will be a whole new experience for you and I can definitely say it will be a gamechanger and I bet you will love it.

Next i would sell those bindings because even they won't be enough to support you so look at either Salomon WTR series bindings (which are models of previous years from this season) or Tyrolia bindings which are by far the most underrated bindings out as well as being cheaper. For charging I would look at either Tyrolia or Salomon simply from a design perspective. if you are doing more technical terrain I would definitely say look at the FKS or Markers but You will want the solid feel of the first two bindings I suggested over what FKS and Marker offer. I also strongly advice getting a binding with mostly metal construction and atleast a 14 din.
 
At your size, the 184s would definitly be better for all mountain. For park, it comes down to personal preferance, but for park and all mountain you're probably best off with 184.
 
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