they're great if they're really short and used solely to help steer your ski-bike. that's where it's really at mofos
not many things worse than self-righteous, snobby, so-called proper skiers.
while we're about it, what's actually wrong with golfers wearing a shirt without a collar??
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
barry wrote:
what's actually wrong with golfers wearing a shirt without a collar?
Nothing at all. But if the same golfer is using yellow plastic golf clubs with "fun clubs" written down the side, they might expect to attract some not entirely complimentary comments from the "regular" golfers. You see where I'm going with this?
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?
Dr John wrote:
But if the same golfer is using yellow plastic golf clubs with "fun clubs" written down the side, they might expect to attract some not entirely complimentary comments from the "regular" golfers. You see where I'm going with this?
while we're about it, what's actually wrong with golfers wearing a shirt without a collar??
Yep, that is exactly the same thing! lol
Dr John, They may not always help eradicate backseat skiing as you need to lean back everytime you hit softer snow to stop you going ass over tit!
Also, with a proper length ski you can learn, witha good teacher, to use the front of your boots and the sidevut of the ski much easier than you can on blades.
In terms of skiing switch, it is safer to learn of a decent pair of twin tips and more surface area and weight distribution when you land on Ski compared to blades. The only reason it is perceived blades are better for jumping is becasue they are lighter!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:
and good fun for popping jumps and learning switch.
Maybe. Too short and squirrely to really do it though.
and good fun for popping jumps and learning switch.
Maybe. Too short and squirrely to really do it though.
WTF am I on today, way too nice! TO ANYONE BLADING THEYRE FRICKIN GAY FOR CHRISSAKES! WASTE OF TIME, LEARN TO SKI OR BOARD AND GET SOME SELF RESPECT!
Ahhh, thats better.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
How times have moved on.
5 years ago I had to exit this forum under a previous ID because I had dared to suggest that I could not believe people were having a serious discussion about blades/short skis/clowns shoes - call them what you will.
In the meantime - despite challenges - no one has posted a video of anyone looking cool on blades outside the park and I have not seen anyone skiing well on them in RL.
the_doc & Jimmthebigfoot, quite
After all it is free
After all it is free
stoatsbrother wrote:
How times have moved on.
5 years ago I had to exit this forum under a previous ID because I had dared to suggest that I could not believe people were having a serious discussion about blades/short skis/clowns shoes - call them what you will.
In the meantime - despite challenges - no one has posted a video of anyone looking cool on blades outside the park and I have not seen anyone skiing well on them in RL.
the_doc & Jimmthebigfoot, quite
I can only suggest that 5 years ago we were under a labour government.
I think I saw Tony Blair and Gordon Brown holding hands while on blades.......
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.
Snowblades are awesome! People don't like them because they either haven't tried them or they don't give them a chance and get used to the different technique. They're faster, easier to move around on, easier to do tricks with, and you carve with them automatically which, I believe, is one of the hardest techniques to master on "normal" skis. It's not meant to be hard work, just have fun with them
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Snowblades are considerably slower than skis when being used by anyone other than complete beginners.
Easier to just pick up and use for the first time, probably, easier to ski anything remotely interesting no.
And you should be able to pick up carving on a normal pair of skis after a couple of weeks anyway.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
KirsTBee, If I ever meet you I will personally give you the cash for a CAT scan.
Blades are
a) NOT FASTER AT ALL, PHYSICALLY NOT POSSIBLE! I'm sure Bode Miller may hit his coach with a bat should he present him with blades at the top of the next downhill.
b)Easy to do tricks and move if you are a less capable skiier. i woudl suggest a good instructor and learn to ski as you clearly can't too well.
c) Carving is more effective and easier on 'carving skis' (name is a clue) blades tend to skid a lot more and you need an effective turn radius to carve properly.
d)Carving 'automatically' - You are bonkers!
It's not about whether blades are fun or people enjoy them, it's more to do with the fact that an effective skiing tecnique inculding speed can be applied to skis much easier than on blades and more control can be achieved. Of course this takes time and lessons, but unfortunately too many people jump on blades, assume it is easier and 'think' they can ski.
For the record, myself, colleagues, friends have all tried blades. Many of us are qualified instructors and have raced too.
Oh and the 'different technique' is a bad skiing technique. fancy a race? how about i ride my skis switch too to rub it in?
Rant over, more than happy to carry on tho.....
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.
Mmmmm I feel a photographic competition idea sprouting forth!
See who can get the best photo of a tosser on snowblades
To me it's the UCPA one week urban dudes coming crashing down out of control all over the place, jackets open, googles on top off their heads, trying to race each other, totally unaware of anyone around them.......
Should be shot on sight!
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Thu 6-01-11 19:14; edited 1 time in total
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Weathercam, Ah man I saw two bladers, WITH POLES, just yesterday!
Will snap them up and shame them if they are brave enough to come out again in public after our laughter made them leave the lift que.....
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:
Not at all. Use of poles is actively encouraged to ease movement on flatter sections and in queues
This seems really odd to me. Surely one of the (extremely) limited benefits of blades would be that they are very very easy to skate on so you would never need poles for propulsion????
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
KirsTBee, Do you like goats?
P.S. Welcome to snowheads
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:
they are very very easy to skate on so you would never need poles for propulsion????
they're easy to skate on to a degree, but because there's no length you can't really glide - as you can when skating on skis. So you have to keep swapping feet rapidly (sorry, bad description). Any half competent skier could skate faster than a fairly experienced blader.
Can't see much point in using poles with blades - but then most beginner/intermediate skiers do nothing remotely useful with them, either.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
KirsTBee, KirsTBee, how sweet... you obviously searched for "blades" and found this dead thread and decided to resuscitate it... bless
Now post a video of you on a pair - or any of your friends on them - doing a trick which looks decent to people watching rather than the self-deluding rider, or coping better with any terrain than skis or a board would - and then we'll believe you.
Just not looking lame would be a start actually...
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?
Every blader I've ever seen looks like a constipated gorilla on a frozen pond . . . Even I would not be seen on them and you lot know I'll ride anything
Quite surprised at some of the vitriol on here - it's all about enjoying yourself, after all. It's not a competition. If people want to play on the mountain, and blades happen to be their preferred choice, then why not?
It's up to everyone to be responsible, considerate and safe - and I've certainly seen bladers which were a danger to themselves and others. I've also seen skiers and boarders behaving like complete tools. It's not about the plank(s) of wood, it's about the numpty on them...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
ajrduff, in this case - after a few months KirsTBee, came and resuscitated a dead thread with basically a post full of rubbish. Hence the flack. Same when some muppet says you can ski bottomless powder on them.
But you make some very good points. The issue is indeed the numpty on the planks - and in the case of blades it means that people who seem to want to have fun without the bother of lessons, or learning to steer, or be aware of other slope users get out there, and seem to constitute the majority of bladers.
There probably are some really good bladers out there, but if you go to many more interesting resorts with challenging terrain you will see no Bladers at all. But you will see skiers, boarders, split-boarders, telemarkers and even monoskiers. Is this because blades have not had enough publicity? Is it because they are not widely known? No. It is because if you can learn one of the aforementioned disciplines instead - they suck in comparison.
kitenski, indeed
After all it is free
After all it is free
just need "tom from austria" to start his postings again......
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.
geoffers, YES... he was at the Ski Show - should have stopped to speak to him.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Quote:
Quite surprised at some of the vitriol on here
It always surprises me, too, how posters who are usually urbane, chilled, rational human beings start spitting and frothing at the mouth when blades are mentioned. I am not anti blades (we had some in our ski locker till I sold them for quite a good price at the Decathlon "Troc" in October) but I do wish bladers wouldn't feel obliged to wear those ghastly stupid hats with worm things all over them. I saw one this morning. She was about 45, at least 2 stone overweight. Possibly 3 stone overweight, on snow blades with one of those hats.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
This makes me laugh every time
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.
what a wierd thread... I love mine in the right snow, never with poles but usually a smile. Having said that been through much of my life doing what i wanted rather than what people think you should. Who knows might even post a pic for you all to ridicule
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I'm in the 1%, and minority is coooool. I have a pair of 99cm jobs with the crud bindings but I love them. I probably don't spend more than a couple of hours a week on them but they are fun for the variety they offer, they make me concentrate harder and I can do tricks on them that I can't do on skis (which is not many anyway). I might actually upgrade to ones with step-in bindings for ease of use. I'll keep you informed as I know you will all be interested! If it helps, I don't use sticks and I don't have an all-in-one.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Snobat, out of idle interest, which tricks can you do on the blades that you can't do on skis?
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Snobat, Not step-in bindings? Call us from the fracture clinic when you get a spiral fracture of your tibia...
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
A French lad I ski with sometimes always uses blades, but now uses ones with step-in bindings after having a spiral fracture of the tibia....
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Dr John, Tricks? Standing up, snow plough, countless others.....
stoatsbrother, Risk noted. Fortunately I'm too unstable on them to get any speed up and I don't take them off piste; however, I did say I was planning to upgrade.
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?
Quote:
Snow blades are awsome! People don't like them because they either haven't tried them or they don't give them a chance and get used to the different technique. They're faster, easier to move around on, easier to do tricks with, and you carve with them automatically which, I believe, is one of the hardest techniques to master on "normal" skis. It's not meant to be hard work, just have fun with them
Just re-reading the post it occurs to me that we tend to rubbish bladers because they look so naff on the slope and so seemingly out of control and I was wondering why that might be?
(besides which its Saturday night and Im working )
Quote:
They're faster
Well lets look at that statement in a bit more detail. When are they faster?
Well clearly, as has been mentioned they are not faster in carving turns otherwise the worlds top skiers are missing a trick for their races .
This is beacuse the shorter the ski the smaller the length of edge you have to spread the forces over, hence the greater pressure that will be exerted on the snow for any given speed and turn radius. For this reason the snow 'groove' will fail at a much lower speed on a shorter ski. ??
So we must assume that the poster is talking about being faster in skidded turns. It would be true to say that blades are faster in a 'skidder' turn because there is less length of edge across the direction of travel than there is with a longer ski so less braking effect for the same steering angle.
Hence you would possibly be faster in a skidded turn. However there are two problems with this firstly there will be a los of sensitivity in the turning and the braking you do get is less subtle. Inherently someone on blades will be less stable in the same turn and at the same speed as someone on skis.
This possibly explains why bladers think that they are carving when they are actually just doing a fast skidded turn.
Quote:
easier to move around on
Not sure what this is all about? possibly this means that they are easier to skate on a flat surface? They are certianally not going to be easier to keep in control on the slope as the lack of length means that the you loose the ability to run smoothly on a bumpy slope. This coupled with the loss of sensitivity in turniing probably explains the jerky almost 'spastic'* movements of some bladers on the slope and certianally contribute to the reason most people percieve them as being a style free type of snowsport.
(*sorry I could not think of a better description)
Quote:
Snowblades are awesome
I can imagine that beacuse of their design they will subject the user to a greater magnitude and variability of forces, this will make them feel more 'exciting' for a lower level of input skill.
That does not mean that they are faster, that they are in any way stylish or that their users are actually in control.
The French guy I mentioned was most definitely in control. He was pretty good on them, but I agree they're not fast. I am not a very fast skier, but the third person in the group was a big Belgian lad (he produced cans of beer on one a particularly long slow chair... and pretty fast, and that morning I skied with them a lot faster than I normally do - on empty pistes, for the most part. We were faster than the blader but he wasn't slow.
When I used them I enjoyed the feeling of freedom, and the lightness - and no poles, though there's nothing to stop skiers going for a day with no poles (I do from time to time). They are definitely easier for tricks like 360s. My daughter could do successive 360s on blades, but she can't on (even quite short) skis. Maybe it's because she's older and wiser and more scared than when she was 15?
Blades are quite a big harder on the legs than skis.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:
They are definitely easier for tricks like 360s
Sorry, I've got to presume you're talking about flat land 3's, no way blades are easier off a kicker
I've got to presume you're talking about flat land 3's
yep.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Hmm, sounds like its time to MTFU and try them off a kicker
After all it is free
After all it is free
Anyone else willing to admit to owning a set of blades?
Have just returned from another fantastic holiday, thanks to Blades.
I had a car crash 40 odd years ago, severely damaging both my legswith the result that I can only partially bend my knees.
When I was introduced to skiing 15-20 years ago it was stressed that I must not under any circumstances fall backwards - force bending the knees. This meant having skis with minimal tails.
I started with a pair of American Scorpions which flapped about wildly on a shuss, but out-performed everyone in a Mogul field.
The direct development of these is snow blades (or ski boards).
I use head big easy 94s which allow me to decend reasonaly quickly, in control and safely.
As far as poles go I admit to carrying them; not that I need them when skiing, but if I do fall I need them as supports to help me stand again (remember the lack of bend in the knee)
Perhaps before people worry about if things are cool or not they should think if there are genuine reasons people make different choices.
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.
Age 57 .. started ski-ing in 1968
One pair of 177cm Skis
One pair of Salomom Crossmax 120 ( 125 cm blades ) release bindings + straps
Two pairs of renn-figl 64 cm - fixed bindings + straps
Nowt wrong with short skis if your having fun, if you need sticks then use them , makes it easier to skate on the flat.
Who gives a toss if the fashion police don't like them, it's about having fun in the short time that you have for a ski holiday .
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Quote:
When I was introduced to skiing 15-20 years ago it was stressed that I must not under any circumstances fall backwards - force bending the knees. This meant having skis with minimal tails
I'd have thought that made it harder to not fall backwards? It seems to me they'd be putting more stress on knees to, being much more turny and twitchy than real skis?
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
