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Ski Width

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Right so I'm stupidly looking at skis that I probably can't afford.

I currently ski on Line Chronic Cryptonites 2011, 92mm under foot and I ski mostly in the 3V (well I'm doing another season there anyway) and have come across two pairs of skis that really interest me.

One is 96mm underfoot and cheaper the other 112mm and more expensive. The 96mm underfoot pair don't seem massively dissimilar to my existing skis but they are that fraction wider and are generally better reviewed online, the 112mm are obviously a much wider and more powder/back country ski which I would really like to try but unsure if they will ever get proper use through the season given that I'm not going to be in a back country wilderness like BC, Alaska or Japan.

While one day I do hope to be doing my skiing in the likes of those places it's not really practical at the minute and I'm unsure if the added price is worth it considering I could probably buy a new ski when I do come to go to somewhere with big offpiste.

Basically, do you think 112mm is too much for Europe or will I still get good use out of it to make it worth the additional price?
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adamj11 wrote:
I ski mostly in the 3V (well I'm doing another season there)


adamj11 wrote:
Basically, do you think 112mm is too much for Europe or will I still get good use out of it to make it worth the additional price?


You tell us! You know what conditions you made it out in last year Smile Plenty of folk ski in the alps with fatter skis than that, when the weather's nice. What else were you going to do with all that money anyway?
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Drink.
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Get yourself a decent pair of slalom skis, something around 67mm underfoot and 155/165cm in length. A good skier can take those anywhere. If you are doing another season then you should be a good skier by now.

Toofy Grin
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I agree with RobW.
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Last season I spent 80% of my time on 118mm skis. Used them again at the Stubai yesterday. Intend to use them most of this season too, unless there's a massive snow drought.

I also have a pair of 92mm skis to take out if I wish.

I thought the 3V's had a lot of offpiste?


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Thu 18-10-12 10:00; edited 1 time in total
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adamj11, what are the skis?
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Amplid Hill Bills or Amplid Rockwell
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96 - good around 2004

112 - good right now. Good basically any day it's not hardpack - remember not just pow - if you ski in April you keep on ticking.
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fatbob wrote:
96 - good around 2004

112 - good right now. Good basically any day it's not hardpack - remember not just pow - if you ski in April you keep on ticking.
All the British ski width questions tickle me, I'm about to head off for a second season in Western Canada and I can't think of any of my friends who ski regularly on anything over 100 underfoot! Sure a fat powder ski would be nice for the powder days but for most of your riding it's ridiculous. I've got Volkl Mantra as my 'fat' ski and it will be more than enough for any snow we get. 112+ for the alps, are you serious, small pen*s/ski ability compensation much?!!
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glp9 wrote:
I'm about to head off for a second season in Western Canada and I can't think of any of my friends who ski regularly on anything over 100 underfoot!


Your friends sound like pussies.

glp9 wrote:
112+ for the alps, are you serious, small pen*s/ski ability compensation much?!!


Its funny because you said penis. I'm not sure how one would use one of those to aid skiing, however. Is it a canadian thing?
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Quote:

back country wilderness like BC, Alaska or Japan.


You are on the edge of the Vanoise national park. I have a 300 page book of off 3v piste routes on my desk at home (les cles de 3vs, Didier Givois (40EUR from FNAC), which I am gradually sticking into Google Earth. I reckon it would take me 3 seasons minimum to ski every route in the book that I am capable of doing. You will get the use out of a dedicated off piste ski if you are sufficiently motivated to do so and can find competent partners.

Other than that, can I just express my joy at the way this fat ski thread is developing? Already we have "I ski on Mantras and anything 15mm wider (yes, a whole 15mm folks) is daft". We also have the "fat skis = powder" canard and the beginnings of "it never snows in Europe."

OP - buy whatever you want. 100-110mm is a good choice for Europe if you are off piste almost all the time. There is also much more to it than width. My Armada JJs (115 under foot) are much easier to handle than my PM Gear 179s (99m) underfoot.
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gorilla wrote:
... my PM Gear 179s (99m) underfoot.
Man, they're big skis!
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You know it makes sense.
Quote:

gorilla wrote:
... my PM Gear 179s (99m) underfoot.
Man, they're big skis!


I'm compensating.
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gorilla, Laughing
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gorilla wrote:
Quote:

Man, they're big skis!


I'm compensating.


Very Happy

Also, call me a party pooper, but if I was doing *another* season in the alps, I wouldn't be blowing my money on

adamj11 wrote:
Drink.


cos you can do that in boring, flat parts of the world. A few pennies spent on guides might not go amiss, however...
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glp9, Hah Hah, too right, +1,000

I love my Mantras too (although I also love my slalom skis...)

Many of the skiers I see around Chamonix are on inappropriately wide skis and would find the learning experience much easier on something skinnier.
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Everyone dreams of skiing in powder but spend almost all their time on hardpack and I confess that I am one of them. Of the 20+days I ski a year I would guess there is only a few where there is powder and of those perhaps one when the powder is deep enough to not feel the underlying base. Yet like almost everyone else I feel I need for a pair of fatter skis in these conditions.

During last seasons deep snow expedition I noticed that the mountain guide had a pair of beat up bandit B2 skis and my son and nephew, Xwing tornadoes all at about 175 cm length. They carved and belted down the off piste in beautiful arcs through the trees and down the steep bits with consummate ease. Sadly it is skill and confidence that does it not the width of the skis.

On the other hand I must endorse RobW, comment about a pair of short slalom skis. This year I used a pair of 155cm slalom race skis on the piste in spring conditions and they were an absolute hoot. It was great to be carving small radius turns down the hard pack in the morning when every one else seemed to be sliding sideways looking a little unhappy. They were even fun in the slushy moguls in the afternoon. Perhaps the flex caused by this abuse was too much for them since they have started to delaminate at the tip.
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johnE,
Quote:

it is skill and confidence that does it not the width of the skis


Yep.
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I love my Mantras too


Despite insisting for years that anything over 65mm in width was somewhere between an unecessary extravagance and evidence of broader moral failings.
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gorilla, Standards are slipping aren't they?
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If your choice is 96mm or 112mm, I'd go 96mm.
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gorilla, +, I still maintain, as asserted above that many skiers ski on skis that are too wide (and and unnecessarily rockered).

Mind you, the sights you see going up the Aiguille du Midi have folks going all wrong in all directions. e.g. the two Japanese snowboarding girlies in January last year, sans guide, trying to work out where to go from the piste map...
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johnE, And this is why lots of us ski 'too short' planks Smile I love it, the feeling of maneuverability is so much greater.
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johnE wrote:
Everyone dreams of skiing in powder but spend almost all their time on hardpack and I confess that I am one of them. Of the 20+days I ski a year I would guess there is only a few where there is powder and of those perhaps one when the powder is deep enough to not feel the underlying base. Yet like almost everyone else I feel I need for a pair of fatter skis in these conditions.


Nope. We get plenty of powder here, but more importantly don't wait for powder to ski offpiste, it's good to go all winter long - and fat skis/rocker are good in ALL offpiste conditions other than icy windscoured 40º+ steeps. And that's not much fun on anything.

If you're consistently feeling the base (basically ruins the powder 'experience') then you might find some fatter skis help - can make 10cms feel bottomless...
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Quote:

This year I used a pair of 155cm slalom race skis on the piste in spring conditions and they were an absolute hoot. It was great to be carving small radius turns down the hard pack in the morning when every one else seemed to be sliding sideways looking a little unhappy


Should've gone to the other slopes first to harvest the sweet sweet corn!
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Also as the OP already has a pair of 92mm skis, adding a pair of 96mm skis to the quiver would be stupid. 112mm will fill the 'powder ski' slot nicely, but I guarantee you start using them much more than you think right now.


Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Thu 18-10-12 10:17; edited 1 time in total
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Serriadh wrote:
glp9 wrote:
I'm about to head off for a second season in Western Canada and I can't think of any of my friends who ski regularly on anything over 100 underfoot!


Your friends sound like pussies.


Laughing but was my first thought too
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Quote:

Should've gone to the other slopes first to harvest the sweet sweet corn!

The fun of coming down a really hard piste gripping really firm snow was immense. The pleasure wasn't quite as much when the top of the snow started to soften. Sadly, I suppose part of the fun was not only that I was finding it easy but everyone else appeared to be finding it hard. It wasn't my ability that was making it easy it was the choice of skis (and I suspect a razor sharp 97 degree edge). I suppose it is the pleasure of what was once hard now being easy that really lit up my smile.
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You can ski anything that holds snow on pretty much any modern ski. Whether you'd want to or have much fun doing it on any particular ski is an entirely different matter mostly for reasons other than ski width underfoot.

For an all mountain ski a difference that small is pretty insignificant and there are probably other more important factors between them.
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Quote:

gorilla, +, I still maintain, as asserted above that many skiers ski on skis that are too wide


I'd partly agree with that. I used to drop my hip. That was primarily the result of bad binding set up (too much delta dumping me in the backseat) but also using the hip to bring wider skis up on edge.

I don't see the point in anything wider than about 70mm for someone skiing primarily on piste.
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gorilla,
Quote:

I don't see the point in anything wider than about 70mm for someone skiing primarily on piste.


Yep, me neither.

But no doubt, wider skis do make almost anything off piste (barring the lightest softest powder, for which slalom skis are more fun, as in, no point having neck deep powder if you only drop knee deep into it) much more pleasant. I am still thoroughly unconvinced about rocker, however, other than as a means to shorten skis without anyone noticing. But I still haven't really tried any so I can't make a terribly strong argument.
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Mosha Marc wrote:
If your choice is 96mm or 112mm, I'd go 96mm.


I already have 92mm width skis so was unsure if the difference to 96mm would be as noticeable as 112mm.


I really shouldn't be buying them but I really want to anyway.
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MrsA enjoying it miles from the nearest piste:



Vital Statistics: 99-69-91
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My armada jj's are superb in powder (115mm) and feel like cheating really compared to my old 92mm kehuas (no rocker), just don't be back as the tail vanishes!

would a k2 pon2oon or a hellbent at 132mm across be really silly for europe?? Puzzled Puzzled Shocked
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carroz wrote:
My armada jj's are superb in powder (115mm) and feel like cheating really compared to my old 92mm kehuas (no rocker), just don't be back as the tail vanishes!

would a k2 pon2oon or a hellbent at 132mm across be really silly for europe?? Puzzled Puzzled Shocked


Double cream PRAXIS shredding from Shaperideshoot
http://vimeo.com/34744419

Two guys in Austria in January of this year, I believe. One on some Praxis powderboards, 138mm waist full reverse sidecut and reverse camber, other on some BPSs, 132mm waist slightly more conventionally shaped rockered powder skis.

Couple more here, same day, same guys: https://vimeo.com/search?q=praxis+powderboards (stupid forum auto-video-displayer doesn't understand search links, but thankfully doesn't understand https urls either)

I wouldn't like to guess whether that was the first and last time they used them, but either they get enough nice snow to warrant importing a couple of pairs of monstrous powder skis from the states, or they have far more money than sense. If you live in the mountains and get to drop everything and go skiing when the weather's right, why not add em to your quiver? Tricky to get your money's worth, otherwise.
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Serriadh, That looks rather fun..........and like a few days last season in the trees in grand massif, i don't live in the mountains, but do spend about 6 to 7 weeks a year there, they can live in the cave for most of the time...........have to have a think Puzzled
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adamj11 wrote:
Mosha Marc wrote:
If your choice is 96mm or 112mm, I'd go 96mm.


I already have 92mm width skis so was unsure if the difference to 96mm would be as noticeable as 112mm.


I really shouldn't be buying them but I really want to anyway.


I agree. There you go, I've saved you a few hundred quids wink
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under a new name wrote:
I am still thoroughly unconvinced about rocker, however, other than as a means to shorten skis without anyone noticing. But I still haven't really tried any so I can't make a terribly strong argument.


The King Canute of the skiing world speaks
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adamj11 wrote:
Mosha Marc wrote:
If your choice is 96mm or 112mm, I'd go 96mm.


I already have 92mm width skis so was unsure if the difference to 96mm would be as noticeable as 112mm.


I really shouldn't be buying them but I really want to anyway.


No it wouldn't be very noticeable. What's the point in having two 'midfat daily drivers' in your quiver?
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