Switching to freestyle skis

A snowHead

I'm a mostly on-piste skier looking for some off-piste progression this season. I've bought some Faction Prodigy 2, in 183 cm (my height).

I've never driven freestyle skis before; I usually stick to 80mm carving skis around 166cm. So I was a bit anxious about controlling the extra length of the Factions. That was until I took a good look at them and compared the "effective edge" length of the Factions against my regular skis. I'm probably not using the correct effective edge definition; I'm just thinking about how much edge is usually in contact with the snow when carving on a firm pisted run.

Excluding all of the tip and tail rise, the 183 Factions have an identical effective edge to my 166cm Atomic CTi80 skis. (Around 145-150cm.) And also the same weight (exactly 3kg per ski incl binding). Both of those stats were a pretty big suprise to me. (I chose the Faction 183 size as a gut call)

So my anxiousness has turned to expectation - I'm thinking I might get on pretty well with these Factions, both on and off the piste. Perhaps they will be fairly responsive.

Those of you who have switched from carve to freestyle skis. What was your experience with transitioning your on-piste style to fit the new ski profile? I love technical on-piste so I'm not sure how happy I'd be with too much compromise.

(Oh and if you could avoid telling me I've bought the wrong skis, I'd appreciate that too)

A snowHead

While it is better to test your skis before you buy them, it's a bit late for that Laughing

Park skis/twin tips are softer and generally more turny than piste skis. 98mm is a pretty versatile width so you should be fine off-piste. On piste will probably be ok unless it's very hard or icy – rock hard moguls may not be much fun, but soft spring bumps should be pretty enjoyable!

Faction make nice skis, I'm sure you'll love them (but if you don't, try the Dancer).

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

If you can carve....you can carve! It takes a little more effort with the extra width and over 100mm it can take a toll on you knees but you'll get them on edge no problem, I think you'll be surprised how versatile they are, they're called all mountain skis for a reason, good on piste but not as planted as a full on piste ski but everywhere else on the mountain an improvement on how your piste skis would perform.
Get a few fun's in and unless your in full on piste mode you won't look back.
Great ski btw skied it a few years ago.
Oh and with a twin tip they'll be a bit more forgiving....make you a lazy park rat type skier Very Happy

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So you're not short, and tip and tail rocker will indeed make skis ski much shorter on 2D snow so I don't see the problem. You may have to concentrate on edging more aggressively while you embed the skill of transitioning on a slightly wider ski (there is a concept called "sponsor turns" where you try to display as much of the base as possible to someone downslope).

They'll be fine and actually probably improve your piste skiing when you get back on a piste ski. Your desire for technical on piste skiing is why people have quivers, as fine can become "ok for slarving" or "bit of a pain in the back bottom" as conditions get more hardpacked.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I had a set (now retired) and they served me well for several years.

Don't worry about the length, you wont notice it. What you'll notice is the extra width and softer flex. They'll carve fine at lower speeds but feel a bit slower edge to edge. At higher speeds you'll have to work harder to get/keep them on edge and have less grip. Off piste you'll get the payback for that reduced on piste performance.

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I did something similar albeit just over 10 years ago now. Originally had a set of Rossi piste skis, tiny little things at 162. Went 176/86 all mountain for a couple of working seasons then towards the end of that a pair of 183/108 twins. Thought they’d be difficult on piste but they really weren’t, just a little different, and off piste they just float.

I love the big boys and they’re still my first choice; but it really brings home just how much fun piste skis are when you put a set back on. As a 1 week a year tourist again these days, I still have to take 2 sets of skis with me so I can get a day or two of pure on-piste joy.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I went from 76mm to 95mm then 110mm, the 95s have been retired, so, when I bought the 110s, I also took the 76s as well for the first trip. At first, getting on the 110s after the 76s felt quite strange, I thought I'd done the wrong thing for the first day, but once I got tuned into the 110s, I found them just as good at carving and just as quick from edge to edge as my 76s and offpiste was so much easier, I don't notice any additional knee strain.

The wider ski will feel "odd" for the first few hours / days

After all it is free

The biggest difference will be the mount point. A freestyle ski will generally be mounted further forward than a piste ski. This will make it easier to turn and pivot but less stable at speed. So these should be just as easy to turn in tight spaces despite the longer length.
If you have not already got the bindings mounted consider where you want them as the Factions have 3 different mount lines on them. The front line is very forward which is good for freestyle and spinning but not good for off piste or carving. If you want to use these for off piste and piste performance I would probably mount on the rear most line as this will give you the most float and grip.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Last season I switched to Faction Prodigy 1 from piste skis without any problems so I'd expect you'd be fine.

The my only issue when using Prodigy 1s as an all mountain ski is float in powder (mainly due to mount point as pointed out by others).

It looks like the Prodigy 2s are better suited to soft snow so you should be better off.

I barely noticed a difference in carving, on short turns and moguls they feel like they need a bit more precision at the start of the turn but it doesn't take long to get used to.

Your new skis will be suited to switch skiing, flatlands tricks and switch landings so you'll be able to be a bit more playful on the piste if that's your thing. If you are interested here is a good video of beginner stuff
http://youtube.com/v/eC3_uWTBExQ&list=PLjwW3oyGKVqpA4geT-Bdia_1SORO1SNdV

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

At this year's British SIGB ski test I was meant to be concentrating on All Mountain Skis under 100mm but Scott's new SEA range of skis looked very interesting, and I took some out for a thrash and they were great fun, and then whilst on the Elan stand one of the guys said I should take their Playmaker out and that too put a stupid smile on my face, and I really do think that's the formula, a ski should put a smile on your face, and make you want to try to ski like a dude*, or as I say in the review "Finding the inner kid in you". Laughing

This was my review of the The SEA ski and sort of talks about one of my all-time favourite skis designed by the legendary Eric Bobrowicz, and how skiing should be about fun.

*KenX ribs me about that and how few turns I now put in Laughing

And then this is a good vid about the Elan Playmaker.

http://youtube.com/v/Xqc0PmlayHc?si=HlRkaRqlNv1jYPHE

snow reports

There is a bit of a tendency for bigger skis to be quite heavy these days. My daily is a Line Blade Optic, 185cm long and 104cm wide. It is a superb ski, very easy to get on edge, with rockered tip and tail for great manoeuvrability. It is happy blasting through uneven snow, and skiing backwards or forwards.

However, it is heavy, meaning that it isn't great for tricks, and is unwieldy in bigger bumps.

Beware of "freestyle orientated" skis like the Blade Optic, as they miss a fundamental part of a true freestyle ski, which is low swing weight.

I have a pair of old DPS Cassier 95s with battered edges for trick/bumps days. They are too stiff to be a true freestyle ski, but their light weight yet proper stiffness make them a far better "freestyle piste" ski than something like my dailies.

PS, OP - effective edge is only part of the equation. My 185cm Blade Optics have a similar effective edge to my 165 cm Atomic S9 slalom skis (perhaps even shorter), due to the former being massively rockered. They still ski a lot longer - crossing tips accidentally is possible if you are being lazy or tired, which I never do on my slalom skis, ever.

However, once you have skiied long, wide, rockered skis in slush, you will never go back. The ability to slash and drift a big ski at speeds in choppy conditions, or just straightline soft moguls, catching air, is as exhilarating as a hip-down carve on a slalom ski. You will have fun!

Your Prodigy 2.0 looks like a wider Blade Optic 92 in some ways - no metal, just poplar, so should be lighter than my (metal layered) Blade Optic 104s and rather more playful. And don't sweat the length. To some extent, skis dont know how tall you are, just how heavy you are and how you ski. I run a 185cm ski, despite being 174cm tall, with no issues. Enjoy!

You know it makes sense.

@Weathercam,
+1 Scott SEA 98s. I bought them in March and have had about 10 weeks on them this yr - bought them down to NZ ( Wanaka) for couple of months.
Took me a few days to get used to the width, coming from addict pros piste skis I hired previously.. but are great fun, don't have much to compare them to but they can carve well and are quite lively! Plus they looks awesome, which of course is what we all want! Have 2 weeks in sere Chevailier in Feb.

booked@AntonAusTirol,
I did similar, went from 68 underfoot to 98.
It took a few days to get used to them, I do have to work them harder but it's probably helped make me a better skier focusing on my technique .

I demoed back to some piste skis after 6 weeks of my 98s and while carving tight turns so easily was fun I did miss the mix of stability and fun of my 98s. Hard to describe really, they're still great to carve with but cable of much more as others have said in a mix of conditions. They also did pretty well in 40cm of powder we had one week as well without having to worry about hiring a different ski.

Help!!

Switching to freestyle skis

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