small skis

A snowHead

Last year our instructor suggested I change my skis for a smaller size to have more control as I was inclined to go out of control in my turns, they didnt have the size she suggested so they gave me a smaller size and they were really short.. Does it matter ? I really loved them ,they were easy to carry and and easy when lifting my feet !!

A snowHead

In general shorter skis are a bit easier to turn, but less stable when you ski quickly. How short were the skis you tried last time?

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

These things are best addressed with a well fitting boot, if that is the case, your boots fit well, then perhaps try a shorter ski, but with a view to returning to a proper length once mastered.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

alicia, they sound perfect - whatever works is good! this year take a note of the length and make/model and then you'll know what suits you.

Finding out about what skis you like is great part of learning and trying different types will help you learn about how the length and sidecut etc affect how they feel on the snow.

What trips have you got planned? Very Happy

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Red27 thanks , I am delighted to hear that, unfortunately, I cant remember the size , we intended going back to the same place and had booked the same instructor in Obergurgl but plans changed and we are now going to Zellamsee., and looking forward to it on Dec 27th .!

You'll need to Register first of course.

alicia, ah, new year skiing - how perfect, and ZaZ is a great choice - I think fun is on the cards whatever the ski length!

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

Sorry I meant to thank all ,for replies.!

After all it is free

alicia, Small is good - I've been skiing 13 years, and only really felt confident and in control once I got down to 99 cms, yes...a dreaded snowblade!!! (...takes cover as stones are thrown by the “longer is better” brigade...the “all you need is more instruction” advisory council, and the “that’s not proper skiing” institution!) My husband skis in 120s, which is a cross between a snowblade (skiboard) and traditional ski, as he has bad knees and finds them so much easier to use, and he skis all the reds in the resorts we go to, with no balance issues or loss of speed. If you are trying to clock up as many miles as you can, as fast as possible, I’d say these would not be your first choice, but the other people we go skiing with all tried 120’s last year, and loved them so much they bought them from the hire shop. It all depends very much on what you want to achieve from your skiing holiday, for us oldies, it’s leisurely skiing, feeling safe and in control, taking our time to enjoy the views, and stopping for lunch and odd hot chocolate! Very Happy

You'll love Zell, very pretty, Austrian cute at its best!

alicia, another vote for the 120cm short skis, which are less tiring on the legs than blades (with which I have no theological issues) and which deal much, much, better than blades with crud.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

pam w, You can get Sporten 116's now, another in-between, but once you get down to 99cms, they need to be wide, so they float, the Salomon Snowblade is not a good example, it's far too narrow, and face plants become a risk Sad

Never had tired legs though, but you do need a more upright stance to keep the weight off the tips - takes a couple of runs to get used to!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

What would be the correct way of carrying skis this short? Puzzled

snow reports

One in each pocket

Cunners,

You know it makes sense.

Cunners,

same as longer ones, him indoors!

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Thanks all ..the best news I heard for a long time because when I went back to ask for smaller skis he looked at me as if I had 7 heads so I really felt embarrassed and felt a bit of an eejit so now I will insist with my head held high !

A snowHead

sharon1953,

If I wanted to cruise I'd not select a snowblade... I would not even select my slalom skis for cruising... damn things are too twitchy... I'd take a cheater GS ski like my Stockli GS everytime for cruisy skiing....

So you see - horses for courses (I know easiski would select the slaloms).... Cannot tell what someone else thinks is cruisy as they may ski different types of turns

pam w, I'm with you re snowblades and crud (blah - I tried them at home in Oz - awful in the slop too)...
I would pick the GS ski for exactly that reason - longer length and a bit less side cut - not twitchy very stable - cuts through manky snow very well!

A snowHead

little tiger, Well if you are comparing Snowblades (which is Salomon's name) with skis, you haven't actually yet tried like for like - try the Spruce Mountain Sherpa 130cm Skiboards. This board is designed to handle any conditions riders encounter, both on-piste and off. It floats easily in deep powder, plows through crud like it isn't there and handles ice with ease. It's used mainly in the backcountry, so I guess that says it all. When you've tried these or the Revel8 110 cm Skiboards, with a sidecut of 16.5/13.7/16.5 both with wooden cores, let me know if you still think Skiboards aren't cruisy! wink

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

sharon1953, Try running a GS course on them - then tell us about stability at speed! I like doing LONG turns - that is my "cruisy" turn... a long turn is very relaxing for me to ski - short skis suck at long turns - harder work.... snowblades are dreadful! There is no "magic bullet" in skis - NOTHING handles all conditions riders encounter with ease... the question is what the rider is likely to ski and how they like to ski...

Hence my comment that for me a cruisy ski is a GS cheater while easiski prefers a slalom type ski... THAT is my cruising turn... Try doing a GS turn in refrozen chunky muck on your snowblades - then let me know how cruisy they are... All the folks I see on them are pretty much skidding down the fall line doing Z turns - because they cannot complete a 120degree long turn (I love that feeling of almost stalling- especially up steep inclines - my idea of playing and relaxing)... they don't turn across the slope in a long turn - why? I love that sort of turn... why would I not use a ski that suits the turns I want and love to do?

There is a reason DH skiers use DH skis and SG skiers use SG skis and GS and SL skis are also specialised - even if there were no FIS regs I bet no DH racer would run a course on snowblades... I love my slalom skis - but they are not cruisy like the GS ones... Doing short turns down the fall line sure is not my idea of how to cruise (raised by too many ex-racers with GS preferences I guess)

This is why I only take ski reviews from friends I know ski similar turns to me - I know we have similar ski tastes and similar turn preferences... While listening to some unknown on the internet I could be reading about how a ski "carves" from some self proclaimed "advanced/expert skier" who has never completed a clean turn entry.(I've seen this far too often)

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Snowblades look scarily unstable to me and I can't remember ever seeing anyone skiing/blading convincingly well on them. Certainly never been overtaken by anyone on blades while cruising at speed. Not that I'd mind, just that it's never happened. Skiboards sound a bit better, might be fun in tight trees off piste, but never seen them in action. Each to their own I say, but I'm sticking with my long, stable planks!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

little tiger, uktrailmonster, The opening question was NOT posted by someone said they were wanting to cruise at speed, or do GS courses! It was asked by someone who had quite rightly (in my opinion) been advised by their ski instructor to use shorter skis to enable them to feel more in control of their turns, and if this seems irrational to you, then perhaps you should inform all those ski instructors that use the Graduated Length Method (GLM) in the States, and ski évolutif in France, to throw their tried and tested method out, in favour of taking nervous skiers out on skis they feel disproportionately long for their skiing skills. If you use blades/skiboards to get the feel of parallel turns, it can drastically shorten the learning curve, and keeps many skiers who would normally have thrown the towel in believing they will never feel confident; on the mountain and in the sport, enjoying themselves, and anything that can do that, is worth using, and I speak from personal experience. Had I listened the “longer is best brigade” 13 years ago, I would never have experienced the years of pleasure I have had so far, skiing all the types of runs I want to ski, without fear!

uktrailmonster, check out Skiboards on YouTube! Once again, speed seems to be the overriding concern - definitely a man thing! wink

You'll need to Register first of course.

sharon1953, The opening question was NOT posted by someone who said they wanted Snowblades either. I don't have anything against shorter skis, particularly for beginners, but I'm not really convinced that Snowblades are the answer to the OP's dilemma. Once you have graduated onto conventional length skis (which are hardly what you would call long these days), then it becomes a personal choice. I've never felt any need to try Snowblades as it happens, but I'm sure they're great.

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

uktrailmonster, Nor did I suggest them, I merely pointed out that I and my husband found shorter skis easier too, and used the length of a snowblade as an example as to how short you can get, but as Snowblades are not Skiboards the argument about snowblades is irrelevant. “Does it matter was the question?” The short answer is, NO, use whatever gets you down the mountain safely and adds to your enjoyment! I'm sure longer skis are great wink

After all it is free

Ok, back to the OPs question, shorter skis are easier to learn on and there's nothing wrong with that. Beyond that you can either progress to normal length skis or skiboards, snowblades or whatever else works for you. But if you stick with conventional skis and really can't control them at a normal length for your weight, it suggests that your technique is lacking. You don't tend to see expert skiers on shorter skis than their weight would suggest, in fact it's usually the opposite. So does it matter what length skis you use? Well no if you're learning and it makes things easier. But yes if you are aiming to progress and don't want to be stuck on really short skis forever. So follow your instructor's advice and don't feel that you need to remain on very short skis for the long run.

Well as a sports psychotherapist, I could go into the psychology behind fear, which has nothing to do with technique, skill, or ability, but that's far too deep for here and now.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

As a very nervous middle aged female with a movement disorder I can tell you that fear has plenty to do with technique/skills... because as you develop better skills you become more able to trust that you can do what you wish- and so less afraid that disaster will immediately follow a particular action. Thing is it requires very moderated teaching - need to increase the challenge in incredibly small increments for some folks(like me). Push too hard and ANY semblance of failure sets you back to being terrified of that particular type of setting again. Remain in a setting that allows constant "win" (simple to measure gains with little risk of harm) and the fear draws its ugly head in for a bit...

The hardiest soul will be afraid if you make the task scary enough - ask Fastman about teaching folks to race DH...

Skill and technique will push back the fear more than anything else - just needs a teacher sensitive enough to the student to take small enough steps for the student.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Oh boy, does it matter?! Some want to improve technique, speed and performance, either out of competitiveness with others or with themselves. Others want to cruise and enjoy the whole ski holiday experience and without going beyond what feels right for them and is enjoyable. If a skiing hol for one fits the former definition then go for it, if the latter, go for it too! Once you have the basics of moving, turning and stopping safely, the piste should be your oyster to enjoy. It's no different to any other sport, put into it what you can and take from it what you want to take Smile

snow reports

Simple fact is that short skis are much easier to use on piste. If you want to go really fast, do slalom turns, go off-piste, they have obvious disadvantages.
If you want to cruise around the nountain on piste in control with no need for any of the other stuff they are simply better.
My wife would have given up skiing years ago had she not changed.
there are some good buys on teh shorter Sporten skis on ebay at the moment - they do 116 , 126 and 136 with Tyrolia bindings for under £150.
Dave

daven,

You know it makes sense.

Here's a video of my wife cruising around on conventional length skis (156 cm piste skis). She weighs 55 kg and 5'5" tall. Average ability and certainly not a speed freak. I don't see any reason why she would benefit from shorter skis, they would just be less stable. If anything she finds them a bit short.

http://youtube.com/v/eSucgOjGh0o

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

uktrailmonster, a nice vid - looks like you both were having fun!

I don't think there's any "correct" length of ski that one has to use; rather it simply depends on what the skier wants to get out of the holiday. Short skis are undoubtably easier to turn at slow speeds, and for some people that fits the bill completely. Last holiday one girl in our party really didn't get on with skis despite having lessons, and in fact had two days off as she couldn't face the exhaustion and disappointment of constantly falling over. The last day under recommendation she hired some snowblades and had a thoroughly enjoyable day, progressing significantly in her ability, finishing off the holiday all smiles and significantly increasing the likelihood that she'll be back on the slopes in the future.

On the other hand I can see the likes of Mrs uktrailmonster might prefer a more conventional length ski, as the cruising being done in that video was at a reasonable speed (overtook many people but no-one overtook the camera) and generally the longer the ski the more stable at speed.

Myself I've skied for a number of years on 99.9cm Snowblades (I know, shoot me now!) and 180cm Crossmax Pilot 10's (I'm male, 35, 5'10" tall, 75 - 80kg and a reasonably aggressive skier given the opportunity). I've probably enjoyed the 'blades more to be honest, due to a number of reasons - enjoying carving whilst needing to ski at slower speeds with other members of the party, skiing backwards, general playing around and also doing quite a bit of hand-held filming of other people. The Crossmax's were probably slightly long for me and did need to be pushed much harder, but they were far smoother at speed. However other members of the ski parties I've taken along have generally not skied at the sort of pace that allows those skis to sing! I do ski the 'blades at fairly significant speed too - they'll certainly do it if one accepts the fact that they can stop suddenly if they hit soft snow or bumps, and they chatter around if the edges aren't dug in. Off-piste however is not their forte, which is why I've just changed the Crossmax's for a pair of Rossignol Scratch Bling 170cm twintips which will hopefully take the place of both skis and 'blades!

Skiing's fun - that's the main thing! Anything that promotes and helps that is fine and dandy with me, be that short skis, long skis or tartiflette ... snowHead

A snowHead

mfj197, Good comments, she probably does ski reasonably fast by some standards, but she is a cruisy type of skier. I can't imagine her skiing like that on blades! She struggles a bit with her 156s off-piste, so I've bought her a pair of wider 163s for this season. Be interesting to see how she gets on, particularly on-piste with longer skis. My guess is she'll be faster again. My everyday skis are 183, but I am 6'1" and 85kg. To be honest they seem short too, as I grew up on 2 metre GS skis. Not that I want to go back to those horrible things!!!

Short skis have their place and some people clearly prefer them, but I think it's reasonable to question your motive behind going short. If it's purely for fun (as in mfj197s case above) or to make learning to turn easier then great. But if you feel like it's a forced choice to go much shorter, then there must be something holding you back from skiing on normal length skis eg. sloppy boots, poor technique etc.

A snowHead

Have a look at the Summit 110cm with releasable bindings. They seem to be an all rounder for control, turns, speed and off piste. Juat had them recommeded to me as a step up from Head Big Easy's at 94cm. Very Happy

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

Thanks for that Scattyratty will look them up..

Help!!

small skis

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions