Do fat skis still suck?

OK...but, if he ever calls me by your name in the heat of the moment, I'll dump him.

You must be a gaper not getting the goods if you believe "fat skis suck". I am buying the ON3P Great Scott after skiing a 3,000' 40+deg pow line with my bro who was on a rockered 5-dimentioned ski. The kid had no leg burn after cutting up the whole thing while I had to flop over. And that doesn't normally happen. It especially matters after skinning up 4k to get there. Every ski company who stands a chance is making this type of ski because they know how well it works. Skiing has finally been able to break away from basing every design off of race stock with subtle changes (a little fatter here, a little softer here). Wake up. Or don't, I don't really care. We are the ones who made skiing $ cool $ again.

Hey, that's great. Thanks for coming out.

Bumping this post because, as gripping as the man on man banter may be, the weather's getting colder and, for those not into staring into each other's eyes while discussing male hair/body wash alternatives, it's relevant to remember there is no monolithic "fat ski" thingie.

http://www.hendryxskis.se/ there are skis that are sort of very wide race skis, complete with layers of metal etc.  While I've not skied Hendryx skis nor even spoken with someone who has, I do think they're a great example of one type of niche, complete with their own views on duck stance mounting.  Cool stuff. 

There are "fun" wide skis that don't like high speeds, and can be scary on ice, but a good time for just about everything else.

There are full-on waterski-wannabe thingies. 

For the casual reader, one good thing to remember is you don't need one of each.  A quiver of two good pairs of skis (plus old beaters) can make sense.  Or, just one pair of skis that's mid 90-ish but deals with groomed snow pretty well can also make sense.  Just think about where you ski, and be realistic about your fitness level, speeds at which you ski, and how many days you ski.

For instance, while I may be slow, it takes me a while to adjust to about anything new gear-wise.  So if aspirationally I ski 40 days a year, but on average really only 14 plus some rest days and half-days, I probably don't want to set myself up to jump on trendy skis twice a year when  I think it's "deep" out.  I could have fun skiing those trendy skis all the time, though.  I probably also don't want a ski with a long sidecut and a really stiff flex, because I probably really can't have fun on a ski like that for long or in most of the places I ski. 

 

 

Crg and Virtus - you can fight over me all you want, but I'm dropping the Zeros and getting with the Hero here (^^^^^^^^^). This guy not only skis 3000' of 40+ pow (and skinned 4k to get there!), but has a really charming way of completely missing sarcasm.

Snomaster - PM me!

Ski what ya bring which might be 2-3 pairs. Those Rhinos sound scary.

Fixed it for you

Once you go FAT you never go back.  Can we still be friends?

I'm just going to get a bottle of tequila, put on a Patsy Cline CD, and lay around feeling sorry for myself.

First, you loser, get your flabby legs in shape.  Second, I really don't think you had anything to do with whether skiing was, is, or is once again, cool. 

Mine could use a bit of toning too.

First, if those are custom footbeds you are standing on that will help.  Second, move away from the refrigerator!


I didn't know skiing was ever COOL !

JF

For those who think you can´t carve fat skis:



Or who think you don´t want fat skis if you have good technique:



Those are both pics of Aksel Lund Svindal. Who I believe knows how to ski better than most on here. In the first pic, he is forerunner in a GS race in revelstoke, setting the best time of all participants (don´t know if it´s junior racers or what, but still.) on a pair of 105 waisted atomic coax´s. In the second pic, he´s skiing on a pair of 125mm waisted atlas.

From this article: www.friflyt.no/index.php

You know, just sayin´

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Proof that fat skis are for hacks only......

Hey, we don't need risers fto prevent bootin out with fat skis.  hummmmmm

"In the first pic, he is forerunner in a GS race in revelstoke, setting the best time of all participants (don´t know if it´s junior racers or what, but still.)"

Apparently, it was a K1/K2 race. To translate that into "US speak," that's J4/J3. I'm pretty sure Svindal could beat the participants on snowblades, if he were so inclined (and thank God he's apparently not).

Mr.Svindal has excellent technique on any kind of skis. It's the Indian not the Arrow.

Good Indian!

Good thing he used his skinny skis for the forerun, I mean 105, come on, that's not fat...

Those Atlases have a really cool shape - I especially like the spear-shaped tips.Those aren't caps are they?

It's always been the Indian and not the arrow.

I don't know...tell me I'm crazy, but Svindal practically is SITTING on the tails of his skis.  Maybe he's just fooling around or trying to get a dramatic photo, but someone preparing for their level 3 cert exam could see those pictures and think that's good skiing.  What then, I ask, what then?  Plus, I hear he detunes a smidge...

Well, in the powder pic, he's doing an extremely sharp turn that requires a deep knee bend on the uphill ski in order to keep enough pressure on the downhill ski (either that, or the knee bend is just for showing off).

Either way, when you bend your knee that deeply while wearing ski boots, it's pretty much impossible to keep your butt over the center of your ski, unless of course you're telemarking or your downhill boots aren't buckled.

If you follow his line and look at his turn angle, you can see his center of mass is pretty much in line with the line of force over his downhill boot.

Hey! who stole the irony meter from the smiley page?

 

True, but the Indians forgot about those arrows pretty fast when they saw what the firesticks could do.