Best skis for Ice, Icy Conditions and Very hard packed snow

[Philpug]

Three words. Point Five and Three.

 

[Tony S]

Three words. Point Five and Three.

Totally

 

[Tony Storaro]

Fischer RC4 WC CT is what I am presently having at the ready for especially icy days.
Or WRT ST.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Three words. Point Five and Three.

This.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Go faster...turn less.

Exactly! Turning is overrated.
Put ‘em flat when on ice or boilerplate, let em fly and pray there will be a snow patch somewhere down the slope where you could slow down.

 

[Mike King]

I'd add the Blizzard Thunderbird. And any FIS SL, GS, or cheater ski. The Augment AM 77. Rossi race derived skis (Hero line).

I really loved the Thunderbird. It just was a tool made for firm conditions and I was unsure how it would really handle soft/off piste conditions.

 

[KingGrump]

Exactly! Turning is overrated.
Put ‘em flat when on ice or boilerplate, let em fly and pray there will be a snow patch somewhere down the slope where you could slow down.

Good advice.
Just be considerate and don't schedule the funeral for Saturday and ruin everybody else's weekend.

 

[markojp]

I Agree with PinnacleJim, so long as you keep it under about 45 mph. I own a Fischer SC for that purpose. If you want to ski faster, then you should have a GS or cheater GS. Let's assume you're happy not skiing faster than that.

And let's assume it's hard to find a groomer on weekends or holidays that it's even reasonably safe to ski 35+ mph, because it rarely is.

 

[anders_nor]

its that first 30 min morning magic that lets you do thoose 60-70mph runs, and kinda just the first run of that again, with maybe some frontrunner friends marking the rollers as clear beneath. but damn its fun. For weekdays and such we can ski the bigger resorts here during covid without seeing people on the same run! or lift! They closed restaurants and alcohol sales here, so only the more hardcore crowd has been showing up.

I tent to start with a huge radius in morning, then go down down, then up just before closing.

35mph seems kinda low though? but with proper SL skis, even 35mph is fun.

 

[bbbradley]

FIS SL skis are a blast and not quite the death sentence predicted on here. If you want hard snow grip and can't open it up, this is where you'll find the most success. IMO...

 

[markojp]

No one regularly skis 70mph without a speed suit no matter what the app says. There are about 3 people on our entire Mtn who might, but 2 have WC DH starts, and the 3rd is a former WFT champion. I don't think any of them would claim they ski 70 out rec skiing. I had a customer come in claiming he did and wanted the right ski. I took him down to our race area and pulled out some SG skis and said "here you are". He balked. Go figure.

 

[Tony S]

No one regularly skis 70mph without a speed suit no matter what the app says. There are about 3 people on our entire Mtn who might, but 2 have WC DH starts, and the 3rd is a former WFT champion. I don't think any of them would claim they ski 70 out rec skiing. I had a customer come in claiming he did and wanted the right ski. I took him down to our race area and pulled out some SG skis and said "here you are". He balked. Go figure.

Marko! Thanks for the dose of reality.

 

[bbbradley]

No one regularly skis 70mph without a speed suit no matter what the app says.

70 on skis is fast; without a lot of space, well positioned netting, and crowd control it's not recommended.
This current season I never really had a chance to let 'em roll, the previous year I had a midweek day at Cannon and topped out at 67.5 MPH on one of the Front 5 trails. No WC starts here, but a seasoned former collegiate racer, you 100% must be on your game at those speeds. The right skis make it feel better, but it still fast and very unforgiving of mistakes. 30-45 feels controlled fast, 45-60 feels "wow, I am really moving," 60-70 is "damn, this is fast..." 70+ is racing on a closed hill. The sensation doesn't seem linear.

 

[Tony S]

The sensation doesn't seem linear.

Because the kinetic energy and associated consequences are not linear. The reptile brain knows this.

 

[anders_nor]

60 on skis is fast as well, especially on somthing with rocker... but 60 sustained vs 60 average is wildely different, Im guessing like me most people here talk about brief peaks

For 60-70 range I prefer proper GS, or something really long & stable but as pointed out, its not very ideal especially with other people on the hill. I feel peaks around 60'ish is quite manageable though. heck I was above 60 during easter holiday, but before crowds had woken up. a nice 45-50mph average is my favorite, and what I try to achive depending on my radius ski choice. SG skis are no bueno at most of the runs I do, but yay on places like the glacier at engelberg. 27-30M skis with people around on tight hills = just not fun, I tried that way to much (young and crazy, I would ski my FIS GS everywhere for recreation). But its still damn fun when your alone'ish.

At 240-245lbs + gear, gravity has a tendency to have me going fairly fast, and I used to be even heavier when I was younger and did the whole weights thing. But like pointed out, clothing really comes to play, I tend to dress slower on days I wanna go slower, also standing up when going fast its funny how much of an airbrake it is, in mph.

 

[Crank]

Shot ski 'cause I'll be in the bar for those conditions.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Choucas]

For hard snow and ice, my pick is a cheater GS, in this case a Stockli GS. Being narrower, it's easier to get on edge quickly and it seems intuitive when you're dialing in the amount of edge pressure you need to get a clean carve. Very confidence inspiring on icier conditions. I find it very user friendly and stable up to (and I suppose beyond) the point where I just don't want to go any faster.

 

[markojp]

60 on skis is fast as well, especially on somthing with rocker... but 60 sustained vs 60 average is wildely different, Im guessing like me most people here talk about brief peaks

For 60-70 range I prefer proper GS, or something really long & stable but as pointed out, its not very ideal especially with other people on the hill. I feel peaks around 60'ish is quite manageable though. heck I was above 60 during easter holiday, but before crowds had woken up. a nice 45-50mph average is my favorite, and what I try to achive depending on my radius ski choice. SG skis are no bueno at most of the runs I do, but yay on places like the glacier at engelberg. 27-30M skis with people around on tight hills = just not fun, I tried that way to much (young and crazy, I would ski my FIS GS everywhere for recreation). But its still damn fun when your alone'ish.

At 240-245lbs + gear, gravity has a tendency to have me going fairly fast, and I used to be even heavier when I was younger and did the whole weights thing. But like pointed out, clothing really comes to play, I tend to dress slower on days I wanna go slower, also standing up when going fast its funny how much of an airbrake it is, in mph.

You should be getting Europa Cup starts. I have no doubt Darren Rhalves skis faster than pretty much anyone here pretty much all the time. I very much doubt he's skiing much over 40 if there's any traffic on the hill in front of him. But you're bigger so I'm sure you're faster. I wonder how he possibly managed to win the Hannenkam . I'm sorry, but the chest beating 'I go 70' BS just gets really old and boring.

 

[KevinF]

The GS vs SL debate is interesting. I've always preferred shorter radius skis for icy conditions as there's less temptation to "twist" the skis to get the turn started. As Yogi Berra said, "90% of skiing on ice is your tune; the other half is your technique". But I can see a GS ski having some positives as well.

FIS SL skis are a blast and not quite the death sentence predicted on here. If you want hard snow grip and can't open it up, this is where you'll find the most success. IMO...

I agree that a FIS slalom ski is the ne plus ultra of edge grip, but if you don't possess reasonably clean technique, you're throwing away 90% of what those skis are capable of doing. I think many skiers can safely ski an FIS slalom, but if you can't access all the power, then what's the point? It's like using a Ferrari to pick up the groceries.

I can't remember ever seeing an FIS-rated ski on the wall at a ski shop, or even their citizen cousins.

 

[KingGrump]

I can't remember ever seeing an FIS-rated ski on the wall at a ski shop, or even their citizen cousins.

Startingate by Stratton has a good selection of consumer race skis on display. The FIS versions are in a huge closet in the back downstairs behind closed doors. Less returns this way.