Shorter Radius Carving Ski

[Mr Boombastic]

I'm a mid 40s, 155 pound, aggressive carving midwest skier. I have a need in my quiver for a shorter radius carving ski. I'm seriously considering the Volkl Deacon 72 Master in the 173 length. Would it be a mistake to get the shorter length just for the smaller radius?

I'm open to other suggestions. I really enjoy a plate system. I've considered a FIS SL ski but think it'll be too one dimensional but I've never skied one so I'm not sure.

 

[Cheizz]

With your weight, taking the Deacon 72 in 173 would be my bet anyway. But then it's still more of a mid-radius ski than a true short-turn ski, IMO. What else do you have in your quiver? How much shorter should the radius be? It makes a difference if this ski we are looking for needs to complement a 25 m radius ski or a cheater GS ski at 18 m...

 

[Tony Storaro]

I've considered a FIS SL ski but think it'll be too one dimensional

I thought the same. I was wrong.

 

[4ster]

Get the FIS SL.
It’s nice to have a lot of ski that you can actually ski moderate speeds on. On a small midwestern hill the versatility comes from taming the energy!
If you’re “an aggressive carver”, you want a ski that’s an aggressive carver.

 

[KingGrump]

I've considered a FIS SL ski but think it'll be too one dimensional but I've never skied one so I'm not sure.

Whether the FIS SL is one dimensional is entirely up to you.

Team Red spring skiing at Mammoth past May.

You can see more FIS SL spring skiing in last season's Mammoth thread.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Shall we post again the vid of Alain Veth skiing Stöckli FIS SL or let the OP find it himself?
Or the one where Philippe Juneau tests Kastle RX12?

Here are two more:

 

[crgildart]

Shorter skis (170cm 12m or 163cm 19m Park Twin) are now my "go to" choice for the little 300-600 vert mountain I ski most out this way. I take the 185-192cm GS and/or longer fun shape skis when I go to the 1000 vert places.

I still remember skiing GS skis growing up at those MN and WI hills. Only 3-4 really good turns then back on the lift..

 

[Cheizz]

300-600 vert mountain

1000 vert places.

This is feet, right?

 

[crgildart]

This is feet, right?

Yes, American resorts use feet.

 

[KingGrump]

This is feet, right?

Yup.

Us regular folks in the good old US of A haven't figured out the metric system yet. Base 10 math. WTF.

Even in Canada, where the metric system is in use. Smaller ski hills still cling to the Imperial system when it comes to vertical drop. 200 feet is so much more impressive than 61 meters.
The big numbers sounds so much more impressive.

 

[Mr Boombastic]

With your weight, taking the Deacon 72 in 173 would be my bet anyway. But then it's still more of a mid-radius ski than a true short-turn ski, IMO. What else do you have in your quiver? How much shorter should the radius be? It makes a difference if this ski we are looking for needs to complement a 25 m radius ski or a cheater GS ski at 18 m...

Well truth be told I lost 50 pounds since last season and I'm not sure what that's going to do to my skiing. I grew up skiing planks in the early 80s so last year I got a great deal on some FIS GS skis, everybody said you're going to hate them, but I absolutely love them. I also have a pair of 180cm Rossignol Experience 88s (~17m radius) that are usually my daily driver. I often feel like I'm pushing the 88s to their limits.

I've been teaching my wife and son to ski the last few seasons, after a few years off, so I've been investing in their gear. Now it's my turn.

I raced from age 10 all the way through my early 20s. I feel like I'm a very strong skier but I don't have any experience on any type of FIS SL skis. That's kinda why I was thinking maybe getting something slightly more tame.

Thank you.

 

[Mr Boombastic]

Shall we post again the vid of Alain Veth skiing Stöckli FIS SL or let the OP find it himself?
Or the one where Philippe Juneau tests Kastle RX12?

Here are two more:

Great example. As I said in an earlier reply, I learned in the 80s on big planks so I'm pretty damn good at manipulating the turn radius I just have no experience with modern FIS SL skis. This is giving me the confidence to put them back in the running.

 

[Jilly]

Mammoth looks like a Redster convention!.

 

[JWMN]

Take a look at the new Rossignol Forza 70 Ti! Carving machines with more versatility than a race ski.

 

[ski otter 2]

Well truth be told I lost 50 pounds since last season and I'm not sure what that's going to do to my skiing. I grew up skiing planks in the early 80s so last year I got a great deal on some FIS GS skis, everybody said you're going to hate them, but I absolutely love them. I also have a pair of 180cm Rossignol Experience 88s (~17m radius) that are usually my daily driver. I often feel like I'm pushing the 88s to their limits.

I've been teaching my wife and son to ski the last few seasons, after a few years off, so I've been investing in their gear. Now it's my turn.

I raced from age 10 all the way through my early 20s. I feel like I'm a very strong skier but I don't have any experience on any type of FIS SL skis. That's kinda why I was thinking maybe getting something slightly more tame.

Thank you.

Man, this screams FIS SL ski, near as I can tell.

More than likely, you will absolutely love them!
(More than likely, for you too,
they will make old snow/short slopes maximum good times.)

 

[François Pugh]

For your small-hill carving ski go FIS SL or a one-step-down from FIS (like a Fischer SC).
Go as close as you can to 13 m radius and with no rocker (full camber).
Don't worry about the length, so long as the radius is 13 m and it's a top-shelf ski you'll be fine.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Great example. As I said in an earlier reply, I learned in the 80s on big planks so I'm pretty damn good at manipulating the turn radius I just have no experience with modern FIS SL skis. This is giving me the confidence to put them back in the running.

Good thing about FIS SL is they are ecstatic at their intended purpose-short carved turns, then they are fully capable of doing medium and longish-turns. For me the only downside is they cannot be skied real fast and when it gets close to 80 km/h it is outright scary.For me.

 

[François Pugh]

The thing is that with the 13-m radius ski, you need to keep them on edge, right or left edge doesn't matter. It doesn't even have to be fully engaged, just make up your mind and pick one or the other or one then the other. If you don't choose and edge and tell the skis what to do, random snow surface variations will pick the edges for you randomly, and the skis will swim back and forth when you try to keep them flat and go straight. If you're trying to see how fast they will go, up to about 80 or 90 kph, you can swap rapidly back and forth, after that you just have to keep them flat and just accept the fact that the skis are all wobbly - you'll still go straight, but it's a little unnerving until you get used to it. I've had my 13 m skis over 100 kph many times and they never scared me. Also turning at above 70 to 80 kph, the skis will do it, but it doesn't feel like a smooth locked in turn; it's more like tearing at the snow as the edge won't lock in. Now a days I try to keep my 13-m skis under about 75 kph, just because that's their sweet spot and I have other skis I can use if I want to go fast.

 

[Mr Boombastic]

For your small-hill carving ski go FIS SL or a one-step-down from FIS (like a Fischer SC).
Go as close as you can to 13 m radius and with no rocker (full camber).
Don't worry about the length, so long as the radius is 13 m and it's a top-shelf ski you'll be fine.

Man they're hard to find without spending $1300+ but I was planning on spending 1k anyways . I am finding some 156/13 for cheaper but they're jr skis. I'll keep looking.

 

[Mr Boombastic]

I see a new Nordica Dobermann SL WC 165/13 for sale here locally for a pretty reasonable price. It's that a decent option?


If I haven't said it yo yet, thank you. I really appreciate all the input everyone is giving.