 Poster: A snowHead
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Snowblades are to Skis what the Sinclar C5 was to Motorcycles.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| One thing that became apparent being that if you suffer from knee problems, blades are probably not going to do you any favours. |
I would agree with that. I find half a day on blades is enough, for my knees. There is less absorption of lumps and bumps, and you have to be constantly quite dynamic - you can't just "rest" as you can on skis. Blades, whatever people might say, are not for the idle.
Now I tell you what IS really uncool - those bike things. The position you have to stand in, bending forward, looks bad for the back too. They don't even look fun and they never look elegant.
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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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rayscoops,
you never see old gits on them so i suppose asking a bunch of 40 year old skiers this question is a bit pointless
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I'd have to disagree on this point - I am in my 40s (and, I'm sure, an old git in some peoples opinion) and have done my fair share of blading - don't care whether it's cool or uncool, although I did see a video of me doing it, and it didn't look pretty!
I think the debate is a moot point: it's like asking a boarder whether skiing is cool or uncool and vice-versa. or a mountain biker whether road racing is cool or uncool. Vive la difference! 
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I found it made skiing moguls much, much easier.
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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 should see my good-looking 21 year old skateboard fanatic 6' nephew on them
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my eldest has clocked 60 mph on blades!
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So laundryman and pam w, have YOU ever looked cool on blades? Or am I the only one speaking from personal experience?
The pair I had came with fixed (non-release) bindings, maybe that's why I was scared witless about falling and snapping something.
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luigi, that's for others to judge - and I don't particularly care!
I am pretty nifty on them, if I say so myself - but I'll grant that's not the same thing as cool. 
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Never tried them, don't like them. It's totally prejudicial, but they just seem like a toy to me, and I can't take them seriously. I get tourettes syndrome whenever I see someone on them as well.
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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 ski, I board and I blade. I don't think blades have a particually cool reputation but tts one of the reasons I use mine more than skis or boards! I don't want to be in with the twits who only ski/board becauses they think they look cool. I blade because its fun, end of.
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jayc, right. I am a far older git than those posting above but from behind, I reckon I sometimes look moderately cool on my blades....depends what's on the MP3. Not that I care, of course. However, I agree with the worries about non-release bindings; I don't use them much now, for that reason.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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rarely use them, maybe one in a 14day ski, not even that often now. i just find that i dont have as much fun on them. they arent stable for jumping are poor and dangerous off-piste and slow when on a schuss. besides some 155/165 slalom skis can turn just as quick but with more stability and power. dont mind seeing people on them though i know someone that uses them because he tore his knee ligaments so one leg barely works, they can therefore be neccessary to some people to continue skiing at all.
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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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As I said earlier, I skiboard (blade) and ski on twin tips. I find skiing with my twin tips easier as less strenuous than the blades. I use salomon pro SB's which are really wide and great off piste, if a little hard. But this what I find fun, they are hard work and you have to use good techique to use them properly. Whilst I love using my twins most of the time I still cant wait to go back down and swap onto the blades.
Forget about fashion and just use and do what you enjoy as we are not here for long.
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ubercool sub zero
does exactly what it says on the tin
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You know it makes sense.
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Uncool - just a get out for those that find real ski's to hard.
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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Snowmonkey, brilliant.
End of discuss
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Blades are on the coolness scale somewhere in the vicinity of a summer heatwave. The only subzero tools for coming down the hill are skis and monoskis.
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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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Snowmonkey, enough. That really should settle it all.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I ski and blade.
Cool or not? - is a matter of opinion.
You cannot deny they ARE fun although yes they do take getting some getting used to as they are a bit different to skiing but once you have got over your "disco leg" when turning they are easy!
Yes there are issues about breaking ankles as the bindings don't release etc etc and for gods sake don't try off piste or deep snow on them!
What they are good for is self drive holidays or those times when you have a spare morning or afternoon on the piste and do not want to pay for a full days ski hire or have taken your hire skis back to the shop/packed up etc
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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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Uncool!
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Vanity, saith the preacher, vanity! (The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's, Robert Browning.)
So many threads on this forum are really about vanity! "Cool" is a meaningless concept which appeals to people who would rather spend time looking at others rather than getting on and having real fun themselves.
I have some tiny blades (900 mm) I am 1.87m tall and 95 kg and regularly keep pace with fast people on real skis but I'm having much more fun!
Using blades for the first time tought me a lot about balance and significantly improved my skiing generally. They are really easy to pack when I can't take a ski bag and clip onto my touring boots fine. They are much less effort to skate than big skis and it's great having no poles.
Regardless of their matching or othrwise to meaningless concepts, they are great fun and a great training tool.
Mrs alicecat is over 50 and loves her blades too! Why should teenagers have all the fun?
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Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.
They're no good in powder (or slush). They've got no grip in ice. They're not fast (seen any racers using them?). You can't take big jumps in them (how long are ski-jump skis...). Are they really manouverable and really carve? - check out a skier X comp or a Super-G. Moguls maybe?
Super Cool.
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i vote for uncool, but hey, if you have fun on them, thats all that matters.... right?
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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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kkev, why do you say they don't grip on ice? You still have a lot more edge than an ice skate.
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nessy, but would you go down an icy black run on an ice skate? (or on blades?). Just my opinion and I do agree with wbsr, having fun is what counts whatever you're riding and rather that than the apartheid on the slopes of Alta, Dear Valley, Taos etc - think the latter one is seeing sense and letting boarders in by the end of the season though...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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kkev, the ones I used last christmas were excellent in slush. Had a hugely entertaining morning, but boy did my legs hurt afterwards!
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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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Cool or uncool it's whatever flicks your switch. The only difficulty that I have with them after 23 years of teaching skiing, is that a couple of years ago the Americans carried out researcg as to why skiing had seena huge increase in the number of upper spinal and head injuries and the answer was "Blades", the reason being that with a ski you have far more more platform behind you to give rearward stability, if you get it wrong comming out of the turn on blades then they can kick you out of the highside and land you on your neck. At the end of the day Snowsports are risk sports, it's up to the Skier/Rider as to how much risk they want to take.  Phil Jordan, pam w,
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kkev, As I said before, my blades are pretty tiny. I find them no more problem on ice than real skis. In fact small patches of ice are less likely to catch one out since the blades' requirement to be on edges all the time avoides the lazyness which can lead to falling when meeting ice on "comfortable" skis.
With regard to speed, I don't think they are much slower than my proper skis and certainly have had no complaints of slowing down others with whom I ski.
Some of the most fun I have had off piste has been on blades in thigh deep powder. Their only real problem in soft snow is that they lose speed on traverses; so you need to keep on steep terraine to keep going.
Yes they are very manoeverable. I defy anyone to turn as tightly on a long ski as on a blade, no matter how much they skid the long ski. It is possible to ski a relatively flat course between moguls if you choose!
As far as jumping goes. I can't comment from personal experience but have seen plenty of French kids, too young to have learnt about fear, leaving the snow for huge distances and landing safely.
I have never tried boarding, but I don't suggest it is a silly idea just because I don't fancy it.
I have not seen any criticism of blades here which does not relate to vanity or personal bad experience. We go skiing to have fun. People on blades are having just as much fun as anyone else (quite possibly more?) and doing no more harm than others. Why therefore is it so important to brand them as "uncool" (i.e. offending the observers vanity)?
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You know it makes sense.
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| alicecat wrote: |
| I have never tried boarding, but I don't suggest it is a silly idea just because I don't fancy it. |
I do suggest. There is no reason why one should necessarily engage in silly and ridiculous activities before one dismisses them. And I have no second thoughts about it. 
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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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| kkev wrote: |
| nessy, but would you go down an icy black run on an ice skate? (or on blades?). J |
I used blades as my reintroduction to skiing from snowboarding. Now I am on 178 skis but I still think that on an icy black run, blades would actually be the easiest option. You may not have so much edge but you can apply more pressure more easily to it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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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 agree with Deliaskis, so far I've never tried them, but I was thinking of hiring a pair for a mess around when my mates head to Milton Keynes for a warm up session before we head to L2A.
Also if my girlfriend ever comes with us again I'd advise her to try them as she can't ski or snowboard, and I mean CAN'T! She's only 5' 0" and finds normal skis too long and heavy and apparently falls on her head??!! But I wasn't with her then, but did witness her trying to snowboard and she can't get up when she falls over. So I reckon blades would be a last ditch attempt to get her going on snow.
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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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HoundDog, If she has a problem getting up on a board, then she would probably be best cheating and using poles if she has a go at blading. If she does, she will have a fast rate of improvement or hurt herself badly. Her previous skiing exploits suggest that she doesn't posess a lot in the way of balance, s I'm not sure she will get on with blades at all!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| alicecat wrote: |
| Her previous skiing exploits suggest that she doesn't posess a lot in the way of balance, s I'm not sure she will get on with blades at all! |
You're probably right, her balance is shocking, but I think she could do it, she's pretty good on a bike, I think it's more a confidence thing. so not having to worry about huge things attached to her feet might be a bonus.
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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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Blades are not cool, they are about as far from cool as it gets in skiing
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| Viceversa wrote: |
| Blades are not cool, they are about as far from cool as it gets in skiing |
You mean they're hot?
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I did not realise this issue - the summer heatwave...
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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 have no idea how old this post is, and have just read with interest 
Blades are bad for Knees, my wife hurt her leg on skis and swapped to blades, another person mentioned uses blades as he can't ski due to a knee injury?
I cycle, by analagy ski = touring bike, board = mountain bike blade = BMX
my thoughts on Blades:
steep Ice, yes too short more carving edge would be better,
off piste, too short and sink, possible to use if steep
Moguls become a play ground 
as for speed, I love waving to skiers I pass in a tuck while shussing, which would be no where near as much fun if I wasn't that really Uncool old git
big advantage, is they are light and easy to carry, dont even need special flight allowance, or much boot space
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Uncool, they are for people that can't ski.
Snowblades are to skiing what masturbation is to sex.
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FAQ
