Hi,
I'm looking for proper carving skis with regards to my skill level.
I basically started skiing when I was 9 or 10 (I'm 30 now), and was skiing every year for 7-10 days in the alps. I stopped skiing some 8-9 years ago. I was able to get on the blue and reds without any problems, black runs were a little more challenging, but I was able to get down them.
The issue is that I never learned proper carving technique. I'm able to get down really fast without crashing or making mistakes, but the techinque had almost nothing to do with carving. I'm not sure what that old skiing technique is called, but it it basically more like slashing and skidding than carving.
Last year I went skiing for 2 days after a long pause with intent to try to get a feel for a carving. I rented some pair of all mountain elan amphibio skis and started rolling them on the edges, but I wasn't managing to create secure feeling and trust in the skis. However once I started to speed up a bit I managed to recreate that feeling that people describe where you basically have to almost start falling and the skis will catch you.
It was definitely a bit of revelation and in those 2 days it definitely clicked with me a bit.
3 weeks ago I went skiing again, but this time I decided to try two different pure slalom skis: Fischer race SC 160cm from 2006, and after that Fischer worldcup SL 158cm (in the pictures)
The difference of Worldcup SL compared to elans is substantial:
- It feels like edges hold much better than on the amphibios, there was much more skidding with those elans even when you do a great turn. On the SC when I did a great turn the skis felt almost cemented into the snow. It sort of gave me more confidence that I won't slip or skid or anything.
- In general it felt like it was much more stable than elans. I'm not sure how to describe it properly, but elans and all the previous skis that I owned would give a feeling that I lost control at higher speeds.
- It feels like its much more difficult to control speed when carving. You sort of keep accelerating all the time. At the moment I feel most comfortable on faster blue runs where you get high enough of the speed to properly carve, but always in control. On steeper red runs it feels like it's difficult to control the speed so I end up trying to loose some speed by cutting the turns shorter with skidding.
- The skis exit turns extremely fast to the point that if you are not concentrated the outside ski almost sling shots from under you end you end up on your tails.
The difference between the SC and SL was not that large, in general SC felt somewhat easier to skid and a bit slower. It also wasn't that grippy on the edges. But I kinda feel like SL forced me to keep thinking about the form much more than the SC which resulted in better technique.
In general, I'm still lacking a lot in proper body form and technique when carving, but so far the feeling is incredible when I manage to make proper turns. I'm missing consistency, I can link lots of good turns on properly groomed pistes, but in case of the icy or run down pistes I lose form and revert to old skidding on some turns.
Anyways I only ski on groomers and I really want to improve the technique as much as possible. Plan is to get at least 10-15 more ski days this season and some hours with the coach.
Which brings me to my question, what would be the ideal ski for my scenario. I'm looking for pure slalom ski, but I'm not sure how stiff it should be. I'm 6ft and 165 lbs (184cm and 75kg).
So far I'm mostly looking for Redster S9 or Redster S7, or some Fischer equivalent to them. But considering the low experence with carving and weight I'm not sure if those skis would be a bit too much for me. I'm also not sure about the ideal length for me. I know in the old days you mostly went for the skis that are up to your nose, and a bit longer than that if you're experienced, but it feels that for carving rules are a bit different now.
Skis in question:
I'm looking for proper carving skis with regards to my skill level.
I basically started skiing when I was 9 or 10 (I'm 30 now), and was skiing every year for 7-10 days in the alps. I stopped skiing some 8-9 years ago. I was able to get on the blue and reds without any problems, black runs were a little more challenging, but I was able to get down them.
The issue is that I never learned proper carving technique. I'm able to get down really fast without crashing or making mistakes, but the techinque had almost nothing to do with carving. I'm not sure what that old skiing technique is called, but it it basically more like slashing and skidding than carving.
Last year I went skiing for 2 days after a long pause with intent to try to get a feel for a carving. I rented some pair of all mountain elan amphibio skis and started rolling them on the edges, but I wasn't managing to create secure feeling and trust in the skis. However once I started to speed up a bit I managed to recreate that feeling that people describe where you basically have to almost start falling and the skis will catch you.
It was definitely a bit of revelation and in those 2 days it definitely clicked with me a bit.
3 weeks ago I went skiing again, but this time I decided to try two different pure slalom skis: Fischer race SC 160cm from 2006, and after that Fischer worldcup SL 158cm (in the pictures)
The difference of Worldcup SL compared to elans is substantial:
- It feels like edges hold much better than on the amphibios, there was much more skidding with those elans even when you do a great turn. On the SC when I did a great turn the skis felt almost cemented into the snow. It sort of gave me more confidence that I won't slip or skid or anything.
- In general it felt like it was much more stable than elans. I'm not sure how to describe it properly, but elans and all the previous skis that I owned would give a feeling that I lost control at higher speeds.
- It feels like its much more difficult to control speed when carving. You sort of keep accelerating all the time. At the moment I feel most comfortable on faster blue runs where you get high enough of the speed to properly carve, but always in control. On steeper red runs it feels like it's difficult to control the speed so I end up trying to loose some speed by cutting the turns shorter with skidding.
- The skis exit turns extremely fast to the point that if you are not concentrated the outside ski almost sling shots from under you end you end up on your tails.
The difference between the SC and SL was not that large, in general SC felt somewhat easier to skid and a bit slower. It also wasn't that grippy on the edges. But I kinda feel like SL forced me to keep thinking about the form much more than the SC which resulted in better technique.
In general, I'm still lacking a lot in proper body form and technique when carving, but so far the feeling is incredible when I manage to make proper turns. I'm missing consistency, I can link lots of good turns on properly groomed pistes, but in case of the icy or run down pistes I lose form and revert to old skidding on some turns.
Anyways I only ski on groomers and I really want to improve the technique as much as possible. Plan is to get at least 10-15 more ski days this season and some hours with the coach.
Which brings me to my question, what would be the ideal ski for my scenario. I'm looking for pure slalom ski, but I'm not sure how stiff it should be. I'm 6ft and 165 lbs (184cm and 75kg).
So far I'm mostly looking for Redster S9 or Redster S7, or some Fischer equivalent to them. But considering the low experence with carving and weight I'm not sure if those skis would be a bit too much for me. I'm also not sure about the ideal length for me. I know in the old days you mostly went for the skis that are up to your nose, and a bit longer than that if you're experienced, but it feels that for carving rules are a bit different now.
Skis in question: