 Poster: A snowHead
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Over the coming season I'll be posting a number of articles I've written, in hopes you'll find them interesting and helpful.
I'll try to keep them timely, and as such, this first article speaks to the annual pre-season ritual of thinking about purchasing new equipment. In your efforts to decide on how to spend your ski budget this season, this article offers a perspective not necessarily concurrent with that which you'll hear from the media and manufacturing ends of the sport. Think of it as a dose of reality.
Click on the link below to see the article. When you connect to the link, clicking on the small article window will take you to a full page, easy to read version. Enjoy!
http://www.yourskicoach.com/YourSkiCoach/Cant_Buy_A_Turn.html
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Good article FastMan.
I see a similar (though not quite parallel) problem in the cycling world - "If I spend £6,000 on my bike it'll be lighter and easier up hills" - why not just lose the 2-3kg of body-weight, it'd be a lot cheaper.
PS I like your photos - and also bought a "last year's model" on a deal
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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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FastMan, he he he, great article.
One of my moments from last year was realising how good my pair of well used 180 FIS Rossi GS skis that I bought for rather silly racing reasons for €10 were. Imagine my delight having been told that there wasn't enough structural integrity to allow the edges to be (machine) sharpened to discover that they are brilliant in heavy spring piste conditions. Magnif.
I also agree on the photo front. Digital camera bodies will all out perform the average amateur, IMO, so one has to concentrate on improving one's own capabilities.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks FastMan,. I enjoyed the article and nearly three years after first starting to ski I'm still aware that any improvements that need to be made are to my skiing, not the skis  (which probably explains why I have yet to own a pair).
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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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Nice article FastMan, wintersports really are a kit fetishists dream - where else can you buy 'technical socks'?
...however if i were feeling in a trollish frame of mind, i would point out that a ski instructor advocating learning skills over technical innovation is perhaps not surprising...
If you need me, i'll be under the bridge looking up a good recipie for goat curry.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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But still,
My "near" necessary kit list for this year includes,
- Hardshell jacket
- Boots
- a more rounded pair of skis
hey ho.
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not just technical socks - someone was advocating wicking knickers not so long ago. They're probably all I need to enable me to carve cleanly; a skill that continues to evade me.
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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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cathy, pam w, Strange, Rob and Scott never mentioned them... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Climbing was my first really techno sport regarding equipment... although modern ice axes are amazing on the steep stuff. I tend to research a lot, then buy the best I can and keep using it for the next 15 years. Although just bought a couple of micro cams... now they are fantastic bits of gear for rock climbing if a little pricey.
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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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which ones, i am after one but cant decide
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Would love to read it but simply can't in Internet Explorer. Why don't you use full page width in your webdesign?
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You know it makes sense.
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fatbob, click on it to open the PDF.
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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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I agree totally.
So I've splashed the new ski gear budget on a new set of forks for my mountainbike 
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Poster: A snowHead
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PDF comes up blank.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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fatbob, I'm using Firefox but also had quite a bit of trouble opening the PDF.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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If it's any use to anyone I used IE7 and just clicked on the first link to the article (at the bottom on that introduction page on the website itself rather than on the PDF picture right at the bottom and it worked OK here.
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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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Thanks for the feedback, folks. Glad you like it.
fatbob, Where are you clicking? And what version of Explorer are you using? I'm on 8.0 and have no issues loading any of the top three links. LittleTiger suggests checking your plug-ins, and adobe reader version, to see if you have the latest versions. You may need to update?
We format our website content at 700 X 480 pixels, to accommodate readers who have older monitors.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sorry Fatbob we've tested it in Chrome, FireFox, and IE8 as well as Safari
All 4 the top 3 links on the page (the picture of the first page, the link at the bottom of that, and the link to download the article below that again) all work.
Sadly the nice slider and zoom/download etc stuff only works for Safari folks - hence why it lives at the bottom of the page despite being my personal preferred option.
I'll help if I can - but will need some info on which link to the PDF you are clicking on? (4 on the page)
Remember these are large articles - even with the pictures reduced for internet they take a while to load up as far as we can see... but they are designed more for those that want to read them than for a quick web page look up... please be patient with them...
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blockhead, Axes or micro cams? Hehehe 
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little tiger, Think I'm IE7 clicked on both the links and repasted rob's link in my browser. Takes an eternity then fails to come up - might be an adobe problem but most web hosted pdfs come up fine for me despite occasional warnings.
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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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Still incomplete - copy to end of pdf
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Things can be even worse. You say to yourself "this year I can afford a nice new pair of powder skis and a new jacket. You do the research and end up buying TWO nice new pairs of skis because you couldn't decide which ones to get. Then you bust your ACL in mid-September and now expect to miss most if not all of the season...
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You know it makes sense.
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FastMan, you missed one point though on your article which is the justification process for new skis.
"Cool" people on SH's chat endlessly about skis, which model, length, binding, fatness, etc is "right" for them. People they have never seen ski give them "brilliant" advice on selecting the "perfect" ski for them and wax lyrically about how certain boutique manufacturers models "hold a bomber edge" and which ones are best to "huck cliffs with", which one is perfect for a "slack country ski set up", blah blah blah
but trying to learn how to drive your shiny toys is deeply uncool, too techy and anal. It is impossible to learn about skiing through the written word but it makes perfect sense that you should research ever little bit about a ski, getting advice from people which you have never seen on snow nor have any idea if they ski remotely like you. You take their advice as gospel cause they have a lot of posts and put smiley faces and winks on gear threads when their mates online pat each other on the back as they offer up the best advice...
You then go out and buy your "ideal" pair of skis without having tried skiing em on the slopes. You gaze longingly at em anticipating the sweet turns 'in the pow" smug in the knowledge that 4 people on an internet forum "rated" em and that you too will be able to "shred the gnar"
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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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I agree, training pays, no doubt.
And choosing the best tool for the job gives you the best chance of success.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Finally read it - pretty much on the money.
One thought though is a lot of ski pros don't exactly walk the talk given they they tend to churn through new gear faster than anyone else by virtue of cheap pro forms. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| skimottaret wrote: |
FastMan, you missed one point though on your article which is the justification process for new skis.
"Cool" people on SH's chat endlessly about skis, which model, length, binding, fatness, etc is "right" for them. People they have never seen ski give them "brilliant" advice on selecting the "perfect" ski for them and wax lyrically about how certain boutique manufacturers models "hold a bomber edge" and which ones are best to "huck cliffs with", which one is perfect for a "slack country ski set up", blah blah blah
but trying to learn how to drive your shiny toys is deeply uncool, too techy and anal. It is impossible to learn about skiing through the written word but it makes perfect sense that you should research ever little bit about a ski, getting advice from people which you have never seen on snow nor have any idea if they ski remotely like you. You take their advice as gospel cause they have a lot of posts and put smiley faces and winks on gear threads when their mates online pat each other on the back as they offer up the best advice...
You then go out and buy your "ideal" pair of skis without having tried skiing em on the slopes. You gaze longingly at em anticipating the sweet turns 'in the pow" smug in the knowledge that 4 people on an internet forum "rated" em and that you too will be able to "shred the gnar"
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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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| skimottaret wrote: |
| You then go out and buy your "ideal" pair of skis without having tried skiing em on the slopes. You gaze longingly at em anticipating the sweet turns 'in the pow" smug in the knowledge that 4 people on an internet forum "rated" em and that you too will be able to "shred the gnar" |
"gaze longingly" or stare with fear ???
Resign yourself to on piste hacking about as the ski off piste dumped you after 1 turn
Feign injury
Buy new boots as old ones are not "compatable"
blame performance on slope conditions not suiting the ski
--------
Then report back that said ski shredded and become number 5
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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david@mediacopy,
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I agree, training pays, no doubt.
And choosing the best tool for the job gives you the best chance of success.
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Depends how you define 'success'. I rather think that the article is suggesting that there are quite a lot fo people who are 'fine tuning' their kit selection when they might be better advised to learn to actually ski.
I used to ski with a chap, let's just call him Roger. Let's just call him Roger from Wokingham now aged about fifty, used to wear a blue one piece romper suit and ski on Salomon MLX9s in the ladies' colour scheme. Yes Roger I mean you!
He was convinced that his skis needed attention as the edges wouldn't hold. He had one of those tuning file holder things and woud be seen hurling great lengths of swarf into the air at stops; and yet, the skis still wouldn't hold an edge.
Actually the skis did hold an edge for the first turn. His first turn of each run was just fine. Shoulders forward, knees bent, ankles flexed. Extend to initiate, turn round the circle and then...
And then hold that postiion as speed built up and he skidded sideways looking for all the world like a tailor's dummy glued to a pair of skis for a laugh. Many years later, I saw the 'Angel of the North' and it sparked a memory. Any 'turn' after that was a giant, skiddy swivel that had zero edge engagement at any point.
Parabolic skis would have helped Roger about as much as a cheese flan would have done. A cheese flan without a decent wax and edge prep at that. He'd had plenty of lessons, but smply wouldn't actually do what he was told, except for that first turn.
The article, as far as I can see, said that there is no point in some noob buying 'better' skis to allow a carve parallel. I agree. At the dry slope I use, the best short radius edging skis are the Siams in a short length. They will turn on a sixpence.
I note that the author of the article compares the gearaholic to photography's measurobators (Google Ken Rockwell) and illustrates the point perfectly by publishing a god awful, sub beginner level 'landscape' that should have been deleted from the camera.
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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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thirty06, could be wrong, but I think david@mediacopy was implying that training combined with decent equipment are likely to give the best results. I am taking as many lessons as I can but, equally, I did do some research on buying a pair of non-flashy, all-mountain skis that might suit me. The research included taking advice from snowHeads (I owe particular thanks to comprex) as well as to testing them in the mountains before buying. I don't think that makes me a gearaholic, but somebody with a bit more sense than to buy, say, the cheapest pair of skis that S&R happen to be keen to offload.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Arno,
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look at this ridiculous thread
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The last two posts on it are classy, though. 
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I think an important factor when choosing what skis to use is whether the ski will support or inhibit developing the skills you would like to develop. This will need to be balanced with whether the ski will support or inhibit your choice of terrain/tactics.
If you're trying to develop good edging skills it won't be sensible to choose skis that have a very long radius and are slow from edge to edge. If you want to ski deep snow being on a pair of skinny piste skis is going to make life more difficult.
Choose a ski that best suits your aims. Fortunately there are a wide range of aims available to us when skiing, but this does mean that all ski choices will be compromises. The sensible skier will choose a ski which minimises that compromise, regardless of what the gear-heads or technique-pedlars say
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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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| Quote: |
The sensible skier will choose a ski which minimises that compromise, regardless of what the gear-heads or technique-pedlars say
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Exactly. Nordica Dobermann SL-Rs. No compromises, ever.
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| under a new name wrote: |
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The sensible skier will choose a ski which minimises that compromise, regardless of what the gear-heads or technique-pedlars say
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Exactly. Nordica Dobermann SL-Rs. No compromises, ever. |
On the other hand, anyone who thinks bumps are the best form of skiing should be ignored at all times.
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FAQ
