Super weird AT carving question...

[Zirbl]

I don’t get your point though.

My point was that if you look at skiing from the Stone Age to today, you could always dismiss Kinggrump's thoroughly enjoyable rant about people not skiing the way they did in a relatively short period and just enjoy what's on offer now.

Thanks for the links.

spring slush

You are talking sticky heavy slush and not sorbet-like corn, right?

 

[slow-line-fast]

Interesting way to think about it, thanks. I call a slalom ski the "wrong" choice for what I'm personally capable of not because it's thin, but because with its shape, it easily gets pulled down paths I didn't intend, which entails risk I'm not happy to take. I probably am indeed trying to use the ski like I would on 2D snow, I'll see how I get on trying to create what a powder ski creates for you.

OP wants more carve per vert gained, already RR tracking 20m-sth touring skis, SL is a good choice. It's a specific not general solution.

I often see race clubs freeskiing on GS or SL skis in powder, sometimes in slush. They don't look like they're enjoying it, but I think well, if they can do it, it's a standard to aspire to.

It's not a standard - wrong tool for the job - but typically they'd have 1 GS and 1 SL, so when it's a freeski day you grab one of those. Can't expect parents to also shell out for powder skis, etc, each season

Presumably the idea is that training on such a ski in non-race conditions will make them better at using it in race conditions. But is that so?

Yes on reactive (hard) snow. In soft stuff it's not about training on the specific ski (it gives you nothing back), but just about learning to ski all kinds of snow, which with good coaching builds technical foundation.

Or would they be better off using a more forgiving ski and playing with how they use their centre of mass while protecting their knees? That's the dilemma I face as an amateur, but I also wonder whether the coaches are really doing them a favour or being too zealous with overtraining.

Technique-wise, they would be better off on the tool for the job, but quiver costs/storage/transport...

You might be seeing a couple free runs before/after gate training (so just use that ski), and as mentioned above asking parents to also provide powder skis, etc, is too much. It's not overtraining, taking/sending the race kids out to freeski whatever is really important for technical development and for fun.

 

[slow-line-fast]

I think it’s better they have a non race skito do non race stuff with so they don’t trash the race skis.

Yes

 

[KingGrump]

My point was that if you look at skiing from the Stone Age to today, you could always dismiss Kinggrump's thoroughly enjoyable rant about people not skiing the way they did in a relatively short period and just enjoy what's on offer now.

Thanks for the links.


You are talking sticky heavy slush and not sorbet-like corn, right?

Of the 7 skiers in the crew, only two are over 60. one is in his 50's. Of the remaining 4, two are in their 20's and the other two are in their 30's. My wife didn't get the memo and showed up in her SR85W.

Out of the young'uns, two have only been skiing for 6 years. The skill set is not age or ski time dependent. In fact the youngest 20 something is the best skier of the bunch. Many here on the forum had skied with him. He will happily track his FIS SL in powder up to 12". Not something I would do.

Snow wise, whatever it's out there in the spring. corn, creamed corn, mash potato, Elmer glue, fly paper, whatever. Some will go back to the car to switch skis during lunch. We are way too lazy for that. We will ski with whatever we are on for the day.

 

[ScottB]

I have a decent quiver which scans all ski widths and types. I still don't really get FIS SL skis in slush. I guess they are stiff, cut or bull doze everything, don't get deflected, and are short enough to pivot when needed. Since I am 6'4", 250 lbs, I can do all that with a pair of 184 cm Salomon X-Drive 88's. So I guess I just size up for a little more float. I used my consumer slalom ski at the NE Gathering in slush one day. I liked a lot on the icier sections, between slush piles. In the deep slush it wasn't bad, but my 108mm floatier skis were more fun for me. They would pivot easy or carve. The 108's weren't fun on the icy sections, and given the choice between the two, I would pick FIS SL ski. What I liked the best was my Blizzard Brahma 88's. Not as good at either extreme (slush/ice), but best overall in the highly variable conditions that weekend.

 

[ScottB]

Back on track, didn't DPS make a ski called the Trainer, that was very very turny?? If it was reasonably light, that might be a good choice for the OP. I don't know much about it, but I thought Phil had a pair in his demo fleet.

 

[Ken_R]

But I come to skitalk because you all just might have some ideas, while everybody else thinks I'm just damn crazy...

I love post-season 'corn carving.' And this year has been a banner harvest... I'm closing in on 100k vert. View attachment 169806

I'm super happy with my b/c setup; Technica Zero G Tour Pro boots (130 with spoilers) and Augment Free Tour 95 skis (180, 95 waist, 21 radius) and their ability to carve great GS turns... View attachment 169805

But I'm a certified 'carveaholic' and want to maximize my "arcs to uphill effort" ratio.

My go-to carving skis during season are Line Blades and Blizzard FIS Slalom skis. I have a pair of Waymakers and love the way both these skis carve tight radius in post-season conditions, but the weight...

So I'm thinking of stripping the plates off an old pair of slaloms and mounting a pair of AT bindings on them...

I should have mounted Shifts on my Blades but the concept was so new (two years ago) that I wanted to play with fore/aft placement on Blades so mounted demo bindings instead. I'm also thinking of getting new pair Blades with shifts and/or remounting old pair with AT bindings.

What do you all think? And what other options might I have...?

Specifically I'm wondering what aggressive sub 16m carving ski is the lightest? Let me know your ideas and thoughts... (Other than I should be a charter member of 'carveaholic's anonymous.')

AT (Pin) bindings dont love really hard skiing at higher edge angles on very firm snow at higher speeds... dont ask me how I know.

Also mounting width on most modern touring or "freeride" bindings is pretty wide. Something to consider.