 Poster: A snowHead
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Many of you will already know of some issues I had with skis lately and I'm seriously looking at getting some true piste skis. I've tried a few over the years and in December I fell in love with the Atomic D2 Varios VF75 W (womens version). I rented them in 148 when I was in Levi (granted, perfect conditions) and l was at home on them from the first turn. During the S7BB, I rented some of the same (mens version) in 151 and after a few runs, although it took a little longer to settle, was also happily comfortable on them (not so perfect conditions).
Reading through the reviews, some of the comments came back that they chatter a bit when running slowly, although I never experienced it. They are fairly stiff, which I like and when I rented them in Levi, the guy said that I should have them shorter than normal for this reason. I would normally ski around 160. I therefore haven't tried the next length up which is 157.
How different are they likely to feel, the different sizes? Would the longer length be much harder to ski, require more effort/strength etc? Is the chatter issue likely to be lessened by the shorter length?
I know that the only way to know for sure is to test them properly, but I just wondered if the collective  wisdom could fill some of the gaps in my knowledge... on a technical basis at least. 
Oh, and in case it's relevant to the advice, I'm 5'6".
These:
http://www.skinet.com/ski/gear/atomic/atomic-womens-d2-vf-75-2010
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Skis can be too short or too long.
Roughly 150 - 170cm is the range you should be looking at for your height.
The shorter the ski, the greater the control.
The longer the ski, the faster it goes.
If you want speed and bigger turns, go for 160+.
If you want control and smaller turns, go for under 160.
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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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Skis usually come in a range of sizes, often three different lengths. Once you've decided what ski you want if you're about average size and weight go for the middle size ski, if you're smaller than average go for the shortest ski, if you're bigger than average go for the biggest ski. If you're a very aggressive skier you might think about going up a size, if you're a cautious skier think about going down a size. At the end of the day I don't think there's a huge difference in performance between skis which sit next to each other in their range so it's not going to be a catastrophic error if you go up or down from your "ideal" size ski. Being on the right ski is much more important than 8 or 10cm difference in length.
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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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Whitegold, rob@rar, OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the advice. I guess I'm a pretty average skier, not nervous or hesitant, but do struggle with leg issues (cramps etc) which I'm working on fixing. I don't think I'm slow, I like a bit of speed but also, more importantly, to be in control.
Sounds like I may be better off with the 157 which is closer to my normal length than the 148 which, from the above comments, shouldn't feel vastly different to the shorter one that I've already tested.
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