Philpug and Winks talk about the 80-90mm segment
The first consideration should be where you want your 80-90mm skis’ biases to be. Do you want a ski that is going to excel on hard snow or be more versatile when the snow is fresh or gets variable? If so, we are asking this ski to do a lot. Therefore, you need to think about the conditions you actually ski versus conditions you hope to ski. Are you an East Coast or Midwest skier who stays mainly on groomers and takes a trip West maybe once a year? Or are you in the West and ski mile(s) long groomers, but also venture in the trees and other wilds off piste? Either way, this segment has a ski for you.
Plan for the worst and hope for the best
Don’t believe the marketing; not everyone gets a foot of fresh snow on a trip to Colorado, Utah, Tahoe, or where ever your flight takes you. Chances are that trip West might just be a better version of the conditions you usually ski at home, just on runs that are 2-3 times longer and much steeper with less oxygen to breathe. This is why a ski from this segment can be your best and safest option for that once a year trip.
The 80-90mm segment can be broken down into two segments. Wider narrow skis are on piste-biased skis that were made wider to add some versatility. Narrower wider skis, on the other hand, are a more versatile version of a powder or soft-snow ski. The former tend to be more traditional in shape with less rocker designed to perform better in firm conditions. These, for the most part, will be on the narrower side of the spectrum, perhaps below 85 mm, and also tend to come with a system or integrated binding.
Narrower wide skis contain DNA and design trickled down from their wider counterparts in the 95-100 mm category. (We will be talking about that segment in another upcoming article). These skis perform well on hard snow under the feet of a more accomplished skier, yet they still prefer mixed and off piste conditions. Like their wider brethren, the narrower wides tend to have more rocker/rise at the extremities, along with some varying shapes.
So when choosing a ski in this category, how do you proceed? It is a tough decision, especially if you might be looking for that elusive one ski quiver. Knowing what you don’t want and where you don’t have aspirations to ski is as important as knowing what characteristics you do want in the ski and where you do ski. Having the answers for these soul-searching questions before you start reading reviews, or walk into a shop with a wad of hard earned cash in your pocket, is imperative to preventing an expensive mistake.
As I mentioned earlier, the 80-90mm segment is a melting pot, and some might say a compromise. Compromises can put some on the defensive. The purist will suggest that you need to be on a narrow ski for most conditions: After all, that is the way they learned, so you should suffer too! The Gen X/Y’er will suggest that you be on a 100 mm plus. Take both of those suggestions with a healthy dose of pink Himalayan salt. Try to be honest with yourself, and take the best of those two segments to find the most appropriate 60-40 or 50-50 balance for where you will be skiing.
