 Poster: A snowHead
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Back in the late seventies and into the eighties I finished up doing four seasons on the trot instructing. My first job was based in Aviemore and then I worked in the Dolomites. A trusty pair of Volkl Exclusiv 204s was my prefered ski. I carried on skiing by way of the occasional holiday for a few years but then the need to earn, marry, children and generally be a bit responsible, took over.
After a break of nearly thirty years I found myself back in the alps being handed a tiny little pair of 170cm skis with a waist on them like some sort of hour glass. Cripes I thought, this is going to need a whole load of new technique that wasn't even thought of in my day. To my surprise it all seemed rather like riding the proverbial bike. But then again, maybe I'm missing out on things by just 'getting away with' using an old, now out dated, technique.
Has anyone else here been through a similar 'metamorphosis'? Perhaps I should admit to being a bit of a dinosaur and actually get a couple of private lessons to find out what these cute little things are really meant to do!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think quite a lot of us have...my last narrow skis were 201 Salomon Force 9 3s.
As a good skier, it won't take you that long to make the necessary modifications in order to get the most out of modern skis....a few lessons with a decent instructor will set you up nicely.
Equipment wise, things have got a lot more complicated, with skis getting ever more specialized...and most come with varying degrees of Rocker (another learning curve).
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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In January I had my first skiing holiday for 27 years. Previously I had skied in Sweden with 170 cm skis. In January I hired a pair of 154cm Skis. I was surprised to find how well my skiing came back. Any problems could be attributed to the fact I was now over 70 and perhaps less foolhardy than I had been earlier. This season I am going to have some lessons to try to capitalise on the advances in modern Ski technology
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Inasmuch as 2nd Gen skis are, hands down, so far beyond original gangsta skis, for fun I still keep a set of beyond exceptional 204's with matched boots in the proverbial attic and tool around on them perhaps about ten hours or so in a given year. Amazing the difference and the 204's while great cruisers honestly do not remotely compare to today's flock. I still have steered away from the uber wide corral that I honestly find amusing after all the endless hyperbole.................
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@esaw1, there are modifications to current technique - things that just wouldn't have worked on "old skool" skis - and which would make your skiing much more efficient. Worth spending a little time on adding them to the toolbox...IMV
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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203/204 was slalom length (in other words, pathetic), to win the who-has-the-tallest-ski-bag at Gatwick check-in you needed at least 210 GS skis or 215 SuperG skis. Wasn't just the length, with bindings they weighed a ton.
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Yeahbut I wos doin freestyle ballet on my 204s!!
In the departure lounge  !!!
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yup from Force 9s to modern skis, definitely worth a few lessons, there are some old habits like popping up to unweight which you have to try and now unlearn 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I definitely still do that.
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| Quote: |
there are some old habits like popping up to unweight which you have to try and now unlearn
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still a time and a place for that though - first turn starting off on a steep slope in crud for example
I actually think make up of the toolset isn't so different it's just that the blend is very different
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Right, the mine of information that is Snowhead has convinced me. Just booked a couple of private lessons for next seasons first trip which is now eleven weeks, four days and sixteen hours away! Not that I'm obsessed like I was in my youth!
Mayrhofen in late Jan if any one fancies meeting up with a dinosaur.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Well I am a fellow dinosaur and used to howl around on 215 Authiers. Took a break from skiing and when I cam back in 2000 with a slightly dodgy knee bought a pair of 200 cm Atomic Beta Carve 10/22 which I loved to pieces.
I have tried a variety of shorter skis but have never found anything at 180 or less that gives me any confidence especially at speed. Currently skiing on 195s.
If anyone has a pair 200 cm Atomic Beta Carve 10/22 I will buy them.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
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You know it makes sense.
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How about a retro ski gear meet at the chill factor ?? Do you think you would be allowed on the slope with old gear?.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Still got my 204s. Sadly the bobble hat and skin tight pants are long gone. Actually, maybe that's a good thing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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If you were really pretty handy on old kit chances are you've already adapted pretty well, if you were a one trick pony then then freeing up your technique is a good idea. As for clinging to Atomic Beta Carvs - almost every modern piste ski will be better than them. I took out my 10+ year old Movement Thunders (And they were a highly rated ski for the then freeride market) a couple of days this year and while they were fine I was soon reverting to a much less "suitable" and wider ski to ski bumps.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Pfft for sissyboys - apparently only got 134cm of contact length if I'm reading the tech sheet correctly.
(This is the great secret of the modern cable car passive bragger - not nearly as butch to handle as they might imply)
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I thought nowadays that the mantra was,"Never mind the length, feel the width." 
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It's not just girth it's the way it bends that really hits the spot.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Dave of the Marmottes wrote: |
| It's not just girth it's the way it bends that really hits the spot. |
This place is certainly a mine of info.
I suppose that as you get older, it's a matter of, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE STIFFNESS", so have to make do with something a bit softer.
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@Old Fartbag, There's tablets for that 
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| Scarpa wrote: |
| @Old Fartbag, There's tablets for that |
Ah, I thought it was what a Carbon tip was for...light but stiff and still bendy.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Nice. Shame about the Walkman... (released in 1978, not 1973)
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And what do you think of the film quality?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Well the POV shots are a bit of a giveaway and I'm not convinced the boots are period rather than convincing replicas but those are some mad modern skillz on display.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| TQA wrote: |
Well I am a fellow dinosaur and used to howl around on 215 Authiers. Took a break from skiing and when I cam back in 2000 with a slightly dodgy knee bought a pair of 200 cm Atomic Beta Carve 10/22 which I loved to pieces.
I have tried a variety of shorter skis but have never found anything at 180 or less that gives me any confidence especially at speed. Currently skiing on 195s.
If anyone has a pair 200 cm Atomic Beta Carve 10/22 I will buy them.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE! |
Wow that took me back, i was on some authier vampires for 3 or 4 years, also an Atomic beta carv 9.22 fan.
But moved on years ago.
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You know it makes sense.
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@TQA, it's not the skis then... 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I took some old Kastle skis last season, about 200cm and by the bindings (Salomon S444) appear to date from about 1973.
I wanted to find out what they were like compared to modern stuff, think you need better technique for them as they really punish anything remotely slack in skills and approach.
New shapes are much more tolerant I felt when running them back to back.
Amusingly, just because they look straight in geometry, most people offer the opinion that they'd be hard to get and hold into a radius. Ok maybe a little more effort to get them through the initiation of a turn, but once hooked in do they ever hang on as you lean on them 
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Poster: A snowHead
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When I switched from Force 9's to Rossi Bandits I then tried the switch back one day. Nightmare. Barely made it until lunch before getting the Bandits out again. More recently was the switch from nearly 80 waist to nearly 100 waist. But there are so well made you don't notice the difference until you hit some powder or crud where they really help the ride. Like jedster I think everything is in the bag and anyway it should all just be easier. If it wasn't they wouldn't have made it the way right.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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No doubt this has been posted before, but evidence in this clip that there was nothing wrong with 204cm, back in the day:
https://vimeo.com/78221212
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Wow!!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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brilliant stuff
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Car parallel: Try driving a 1970s car quickly around corners, and then its modern equivalent. They have evolved, to make it more fun for mortals (and to kill less people in the process!).
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FAQ
