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Dry slope ski advice sought for slalom racing

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi All

I know nothing about dry ski slopes so am hoping to get some advice.

Mini-ster has the chance to go to Gosling dry ski slope with school for three 2 hour training sessions (him and 39 other kids on a coach, rather the teacher than me!) culminating (if selected) in the regional school dry slope ski competition, which is slalom I believe.

Here’s the question, included in the price is rental of all gear but wondering if he should/could take his own skis. I believe that shorter skis than the norm for snow are required for dry slopes. He has a pair of good condition 130cm piste skis (12m radius, 85-65-98 ) that he was using a couple of years ago (he is now 156cm and 45kg).

Would these be suitable for dry slope slalom? If yes then do they need any special prep for the dry slope (after he last used them they were serviced and waxed for storage)? I remember reading how dry slopes can burn bases. I think Gosling is dendix.

Or should he just use the kit they dole out as we would be paying for it anyway (and save all the hassle) but not knowing if they have good kit there and not knowing if they are good at selecting the right kit to hand out?

Cheers


Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 16-03-17 22:25; edited 1 time in total
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
My daughter is about 145 but quite a bit lighter and races on 130's. I would have thought that if your skis are in good condition then they would probably be better than hire skis in a slightly longer length. Put some cold weather wax on them if you have it, Polar X or CH4 are popular and take Zardoz to the races.
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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?
@ster, The rental equipment would be very poor. As for preparing the skis for Mini-ster may I suggest sharpening the edges much more than for for snow. I am 175, weigh 70 and use 155 skis on the dry slope. The edges are at 87 degrees and need sharpening just about every week. To be honest I do not bother waxing them. The wax has to be very hard and normal snow wax is very skicky and slow, fortunately it will come off after a few runs. To make the first few runs more enjoyable scrape as much wax as possible off the skis.

May I also suggest that you join the local ski club and have a go at racing on plastic. It is actually good fun.
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Go with the 130cm skis.

My son is 135cm/30kg and finds his 115cm skis a bit short for plastic racing, but he's been racing on plastic for over a year now. 130cm for a 156/45kg kid is a touch short but will be vastly better than the rental kit. 12m radius is also slightly long (particularly for a 130cm ski) but again will be better than the rental kit.

I'm very similar stats to @johnE and use same length skis on plastic.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Short skis are good (6ft plus men use 155cm), very sharp, and waxed with very hard wax - suggest Datawax PolarX, as it is reasonably priced - iron needs to be hot to melt it.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Thanks for all who took time to give their, as always, helpful advice. Am not sure he is going as yet and the first session is on Tuesday. But I will get some Zardoz from The Piste Office as will be good for our Easter trip if nothing else.

Not set up here at all for sharpening edges so doing so after each session as has been explained is very important (more so that the waxing prep) will not be a starter. So will let him try the rental stuff first (his first time on plastic and maybe not a bad thing to go a little slower first) then use his skis for the last session /actual race when their edges will be good.

Cheers all.
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