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Monoskis - why bother?

post #1 of 36
4/6/12 at 3:36am
Thread Starter 

Not sure if this is a better fit here or in the skiing threads, but... 

 

I saw a few people on monoskis at Whistler a couple of weeks ago. There were French, and I suppose monoskiing is still popular there. Their monoskis looked new! But I started wondering--what's the point of monoskiing? On every turn, you're essentially balancing over your weak side (ie the outside of your foot, way less stable than over your arch). You'll achieve smaller angles than if you could balance over your inside edge, or balance over your heels/toes. You lose the ability to recover that you get from independent feet. And I can't envision any advantage whatsoever... 

 

so... why bother? Is it just a way to be different? Are there sensation differences other than what you'd feel skiing over your outside edges? 

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post #2 of 36
4/6/12 at 4:10am

Yes, I agree. Monoskis seem like an awfully difficult way to go. We have two feet so why not use them?

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post #3 of 36
4/6/12 at 4:16am

People monoski because they don't know about Teleboard. Alpine bindings prevent proper use of the feet. 

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post #4 of 36
4/6/12 at 6:06am

yes there's a new generation of monoskiers in france...

 

and a new generation of monoskis factory ...

 

 

take a look

here:

http://www.snowgunz.com/

 

monoski-snowgunz-collection-2013.jpg?w=645&h=378

 

and don't forget Duret monoskis...

http://www.duretskis.com/Produits.html

 

 

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post #5 of 36
4/6/12 at 6:22am

Saw 2 fellows on Monos yesterday. 1 dude is a local which we refer to him as MonoMan. Movements look restrictive. It would be interesting to try it..............for a run.wink.gif

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post #6 of 36
4/6/12 at 7:08am

Monoskis are for people who can't keep from crossing thier tips and don't want to have to use an edgie wedgie.duck.gif

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post #7 of 36
4/6/12 at 7:15am

Speak not of the thing that is unholy! Avert your eyes, and shun them, lest the demented scourge will spread! eek.gif

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post #8 of 36
4/6/12 at 7:45am

I had a friend that would only ski on a mono-board and only on powder days. It was the only way he could 'ski' that didn't hurt. That was before his hip replacements.

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post #9 of 36
4/6/12 at 9:09am

If you grew up skiing when having your feet locked together was the ultimate expression of parallel skiing, the appeal of monoskiing is obvious. Using that technique, mono skis are a far better tool than modern skis.

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post #10 of 36
4/6/12 at 10:12am

Monoski for ever in powder and soap snow

Monoski is the best engine for ride the forest and for take easy full speed in fresh snow

Monoski is just ski with better floataison
Try it and enjoy

 

Here monoski ride from Chamonix / France

www.tkbfilms.com

 

 

 

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post #11 of 36
4/6/12 at 11:11am

good video from Monofever!icon14.gif

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post #12 of 36
4/6/12 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Metaphor_ View Post
 Are there sensation differences other than what you'd feel skiing over your outside edges? 


 

Yes.    There is no short leg/long leg  so the hips are level with the monoski, the skier stands tall and angulates.       All transitions come from the core.

 

Monoski sensation, on almost any terrain, is closer to the sensation of 1970s deep powder skiing than to any other experience.

 

 

 

 

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post #13 of 36
4/6/12 at 3:15pm

Faction makes one too. I had the pleasure of watching a group of skiers test them at Fernie last year. Must have been 5 or 6 guys in the group. All damn good skiers. I'd love to give it a try.

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post #14 of 36
4/7/12 at 6:57am

I remember these type of skis when they came out....Always want to try them, especially in powder.  Only saw one or two on the slopes though (at least at the hills that I skied at).

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post #15 of 36
4/7/12 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MastersRacer View Post

I had a friend that would only ski on a mono-board and only on powder days. It was the only way he could 'ski' that didn't hurt. That was before his hip replacements.



So, if you've got two sets of bindings that need to release to avert catastrophe, ....would conventional wisdom suggest going with 1/2 the DIN of separate skis?

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post #16 of 36
4/7/12 at 6:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crgildart View Post



So, if you've got two sets of bindings that need to release to avert catastrophe, ....would conventional wisdom suggest going with 1/2 the DIN of separate skis?



The starting assumption "two sets of bindings that need to release to avert catastrophe" is not true in all cases .... which makes monoski release schemes pretty similar to dualski release schemes.   

 

 

 

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post #17 of 36
4/8/12 at 8:53am

Awesome clips mono!

 

The visual impact of the video while going airborne is stunning.

Do you know what kind of animals those are in the first clip bounding off to skiers right at 5:29 and 5:43?

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post #18 of 36
4/8/12 at 9:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cantunamunch View Post



The starting assumption "two sets of bindings that need to release to avert catastrophe" is not true in all cases .... which makes monoski release schemes pretty similar to dualski release schemes.   

 

 

 



IDK, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want that huge thing on only one boot EVER, especially mounted way over to one side.  Imagine trying to regain control in that scenario.  If I lose one boot I'm gonna want the other off too.  I know a guy that broke his leg and femur in a mountain board crash because of the weight of the board/trucks/bindings still being attached to one leg in a tomahawk.

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post #19 of 36
4/8/12 at 9:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheRusty View Post

Awesome clips mono!

 

The visual impact of the video while going airborne is stunning.

Do you know what kind of animals those are in the first clip bounding off to skiers right at 5:29 and 5:43?



Looked like chamois to me.

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post #20 of 36
4/8/12 at 10:00am

That'd be my guess, too.

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post #21 of 36
4/8/12 at 11:06am

I spent a few seasons demoing monoski in colorado back in the 90's .   Probably have about 20 days on a monosk/ or monoboard and It was fun as hell in the powder, and soft bumps were a blast, trees were effortless.  I did pop a bunch of jumps and it was great but every time I nuked anything over 15 feet I would double release out of them, so,, either the bindings were just sub par rentals or I was doing something wrong.         As far as binding settings, you have to really crank them down because if you split your knees out,(cowboy) you will pop out.    Anyways, really fun, but so is skiing and I did notice a few bad habits forming from using a monoski, like ridding the hell out of the uphill ski when I put on a pair of skis.  

 

I know Duret makes monoski's/monoboards and Snowshark too.  

 

Edit:  Add,   oh and the very first day I tried a mono ski it was a powder day and I spent the entire day skiing bumps at the Jane,  so the learning curve between ski's and a monoboard is just a few runs... 

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post #22 of 36
4/17/12 at 1:55am

Monoski is the best Gunz for forest rides

Monoski is a high level powerful ride for mountain rides

Check that and test it asap, all the forest is film by monoskier the best engine for stable POV follow cams that we create

Service monoski for ever

 

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post #23 of 36
4/17/12 at 4:56pm
Thread Starter 

It still seems to me like monoskiing just introduces technique issues: 

 

people are far weaker on their lateral arches (the outside of the foot) than on their medial arches (your main arch). Really hard to balance over it. How can you get good carves when you're constantly rolling from one weak arch to the other weak arch? 

 

Locked in feet tend to lead to hip rotation, leading to weaker turns. How do monoskiers prevent hip rotation? 

 

Why not unlock the feet to allow the skier to widen their base of support (improving ability to recover), enable higher edge angles (through a greater ability to vertically separate feet) and eliminate hip rotation? 

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post #24 of 36
4/17/12 at 5:03pm


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Metaphor_ View Post

It still seems to me like monoskiing just introduces technique issues: 

 

people are far weaker on their lateral arches (the outside of the foot) than on their medial arches (your main arch). Really hard to balance over it. How can you get good carves when you're constantly rolling from one weak arch to the other weak arch? 

 

Locked in feet tend to lead to hip rotation, leading to weaker turns. How do monoskiers prevent hip rotation? 

 

Why not unlock the feet to allow the skier to widen their base of support (improving ability to recover), enable higher edge angles (through a greater ability to vertically separate feet) and eliminate hip rotation? 


1) practice

 

2) practice

 

3) With practice, you will be able to get good carves and high edge angles, without hip rotation. 

 

Don't tell us what you can't do. Learn to do it and tell us how.

 

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post #25 of 36
4/29/12 at 1:19pm

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Metaphor_ View Post

It still seems to me like monoskiing just introduces technique issues:

 

But who cares about technique when you can rip like this:

 

http://www.tvmountain.com/video/glisse/7218-monoski-pierre-francois-brun-pif-bertrand-delapierre.html

 

(Sorry can't embed...).

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post #26 of 36
3/9/13 at 1:37pm

So instead of criticizing monoboarding I went out and tried it! Guess what? Its fun.  So the question is not "Why?" It’s "Why not?" 

I couldn't find a Monoboard locally, so I made one out of a Alpine snowboard.  I took note of the dimensions of all the monoboards that you could still buy, and found a Alpine board with the same exact dimensions and side cut.  Mounted a pair of Marker M5 bindings, and off I went to the Mountains to play.  The first couple of runs were a little hard, but the last run of the day was a double black diamond.  So the learning curve isn't too bad.

 

Check it out; you may have a lot of fun.  I can't wait to head out and try it again on my next days off work!

 

Norm

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post #27 of 36
3/9/13 at 9:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norman Blades View Post

So instead of criticizing monoboarding I went out and tried it! Guess what? Its fun.  So the question is not "Why?" It’s "Why not?" 

I couldn't find a Monoboard locally, so I made one out of a Alpine snowboard.  I took note of the dimensions of all the monoboards that you could still buy, and found a Alpine board with the same exact dimensions and side cut.  Mounted a pair of Marker M5 bindings, and off I went to the Mountains to play.  The first couple of runs were a little hard, but the last run of the day was a double black diamond.  So the learning curve isn't too bad.

 

Check it out; you may have a lot of fun.  I can't wait to head out and try it again on my next days off work!

 

Norm

 

How do you like it compared to an Alpine snowboard with normal binding positioning? I've seen a guy on a freestyle snowboard with monoski bindings ripping the bumps with the bump skiers of Seven Springs and holding his own. I've never seen a snowboarder rocking those bumps so maybe mono stance is the way to go.

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post #28 of 36
3/10/13 at 4:54am

I have give this some more thought.

 

If you take a snow board and decide to fix what's wrong with it, the first thing you will fix is foot mounting position so that folks can face the direction they are going in and see in that direction.  As it is  snowboarders are only facing their direction of travel when they are sideslipping on their heel edges.

 

There will be a problem as metaphor noted with going from weak arch to weak arch ON HARDPACK.  That will not be a problem in powder because you will be riding the base, not the edge.

 

Of course, separating the mono-ski into two skis would provide advantages, but would also require greater skill to use effectively in soft snow.

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post #29 of 36
3/10/13 at 4:59am
I guess it's the ultimate form of skiing with feet close together, and would excel in situations that demands it, i.e. powder and bumps.
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post #30 of 36
3/10/13 at 5:03am

Maybe soft bumps, not hard icy VW beetle clones.

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