Big skis = can't ski? - Page 4

 

the difference I see is this (from the post: turning mostly to follow terrain for example)

 

1980= skiing a wide open bowl with some terrain changes, pitch variation, a few rocks and so on. skier establishes the fall line below him, heads into it with a check turn, links fairly short, tight turns, controlled turns all the way down the line, maybe tightening up more if the pitch increases. same turns he made down the coloir, same turns he made on the little hill returning to the lift. same turns. everywhere, all the time.good skiing. no doubt, but a limiting concept, and of little interest to some rebellious and new to skiing.

 

2010=skiing a wide open bowl etc etc. 2 big turns following the terrain of the slope one square upper body followed by an outrageous rotation turn, fully extended, big body shape, straight through a gap between rocky spines in a casual upright stance with hands down at his side, a couple big checks to line up a jump, big air back flip that no one saw coming over the cliff on the side of the bowl, straight out to the flat for knuckles and kudos from his pals.

 

not the same, no not the same at all.

 

 

jahroy: ... it's pretty funny how insecure all the racing folks are around here.

 

Yeah, compared to the rock solid confidence of the fat ski folks, it is downright embarrasing.

Fat Skkis at Glen Eden??? TomB what ya thinkin???BTW my straighter skis had np mixin up the turns and skiing the trees and the bumps and what ever else we got into, its alll about the basics
 

 

I'll admit that I haven't read the whole thread, but I understand the OP's comments based on some grief I got for a simple question I asked about beacons and probes a while back.

 

IMO nolo wasn't saying that beacon, probe, shovel = vanity, but rather that even though someone has bought the right tools for the terrain, the real tool needed is "skillz"

 

In my thread, I asked about those tools but I also said that I would never consider skiing risky terrain without a mentor who is knowledgeable about that type of terrain and/or a mentor who would be honest with me if he/she felt that I didn't have the skills to venture out there.

 

A similar thing I find curious is someone who is skiing on a WC GS ski in a power wedge.  

Being a gear whore, I totally embrace having all the toys for stuff that is ridiculous for me.  Toyz are as much fun as Skillz  

 

 

Whether pride or posing is an interesting question although entirely beside the point. I actually get the giggles when I recall the silly stuff that passed for skiing haute couture back in those days. The avid skiers I knew actually had too much pride to be caught dead in those getups. The majority of skiers of that day were clogging up the relatively few groomed intermediate slopes with their snowplowing and their stem turns which left an awful lot of terrain for serious skiers to play in. Today I think many more skiers as a percentage of the skiing population have access to a large part of the skiable terrain because the development of ski equipment has made skiing easier. I think Nolo's post had to do with this fact and that much of the terrain that formerly was a playground for experts is now hacked up by skiers who, because of their equipment, can ski it although not very well.

As for the characterization of 1980 ski technique posted above, I'm not sure whose technique this poster is speaking of, perhaps his own. Short little turns, one size fits all, may have been a characteristic of some people but hardly characteristic of most expert skiers of that era. I think there were some who felt the need to get up out of the snow and turn a lot by skiing way way back (porpoise turners) but the dominant technique of good skiers I was familiar with was somewhat influenced by the equipment they had. You pointed your skis straight down the fall line. You were in the snow perhaps more than on top of it. You were more of a moving cloud of snow, so to speak, that someone skiing the surface of it. You made relatively shallow arc turns because this was all that was required for speed control. If you elected to ski very fast you were probably making a sort of GS turn, cutting a fairly deep line. The joy of it was moving with the snow. Confidence with skiing the deep and steep allowed an economy of movement which was perhaps different from the technique of those whose nervous fear of the deep stuff had them trying to pop turns all over the hill. There certainly were a variety of techniques that good skiers could employ though. A few years ago one of the skiing magazines ran an article comparing and contrasting the technique of Junior Bounous and of his son's that is a good read if you can find it.  

 

 

I feel like I'm inside The Matrix.

 

 

Hmmm?

 

Perhaps you are.

I just really want to delete my comments but I can't figure out how.

Edited by Laurel Hill Crazie - 3/9/2009 at 03:24 am

Oisen, that's BS.  Sure, some people made bigger turns than others in powder, but nothing like today.

 

Could anyone do this on old school equipment? (go to 3:00, though the whole video is great).

 

 

If I'm wrong...show me a video.

You pay my way and take the video and I'll do it on my old SGs. 

 You are right though; there are a lot more people taking video today.

EDIT:  What skis was he on?

 

 

 

Where do you ski at?? This may be the issue rather then the skis they are wearing. I look around at Squaw on a weekday and there are a LOT of people who are kick ass technical skiers and they are on fat skis. Of course you see the park rat who can't buy a turn, out ape-drapping a run, but I can't slid a rail to save my ass.

just going to throw my $0.02 in since everyone else seems to be. Nothing wrong with backseat, the center of gravity must shift accordingly depending on terrain and style. Turning, wow, such a complex subject. When you talk about turning, which one of the 7 or 8 types of technical turning are you talking about? Right, if you dont know how to execute a turn, then you have no control over your skiing and you are going to be very limited in your downhill approach. However, do people even consider their 'approach' in everyday skiing? Doubtful, so why is such a discussion (like this thread) even important. Gear, helmets, jackets, well, this is all a matter of preference :] Rather than waste time arguing on a message board, make your statement on the slopes.

What's a girl to do when she's been recently gifted a pair of fatboys (or in my case fatgirls), return them? I don't think so.  They are too much freaking fun and forgiving when I need them to be.  They were sure fun today. 

 

 

One thing that came to mind reading that:

 

I ski mostly in the trees, but to get to those trees then back to the lift there are traverses (blue runs) and groomers. Once I am out of the trees I tend to relax, dropping my hands and just cruising in a straight line back to the lift. I don't do this to try and look rebellious, more as a "whew" type thing.

 

 

true that. 

 

the skiing i see every day at squaw is absolutely mind boggling (not so much on weekends).

 

no matter what the conditions are there's always somebody going big... whether it's crushing big faces of crud with smooth powerful turns, gliding effortlessly thru icy bumps (at speed and under control),  or sending cliffs with technical approaches and/or gnarly runouts... whatever it is it's always impressive.

 

none of the acts outlined above are performed on skis less than 90mm underfoot.

To the orignal poster:  You still can't buy a turn, but the entire industry is based on the idea that they can sell you one.  Is it really suprising that we are seeing the results of their efforts at every area?  Marketing works whether we like it or not but, as always, the mountain takes care of seperating the skiers from the posers.  The trick is to stay out of their way

 

 Great One,

 

Please forgive my dumbness.  Next to you, we are all dumb.  You, being from Wisconsin, a state known for huge mountains and big lines, are the King of Gnar.  I'm your humble servant but I ski at a small, flat mountain in the southern Rockies with nothing more than steeps of 2 or 3 degrees at most and I don't understand skiing sick lines like you do in Wisconsin.

 

Please come to Taos and show us how to ski our little mountain with your fat skis and superior skills.  I look forward to it. 

 

 

 

Of course it's because fatties are "in" if skis on fire were the new trend, you'd see 9/10 skiers flailing around the hill with flaming skis.  It's just the way it is so don't blame the fatties, blame the game. 

honestly turning = old school? I guess in the context of this thread its true

 

funny I guess I did missed the point of the thread.... I like newer equipment because it opens up MORE turns shapes and speeds to good/great skier. sure you can straightline alot of stuff on a big olde ski but who cares. I like the feeling off g force and skiing sketchy places both of those feeling require turning.

 

the skier who ski around straightlining back seat with weak hands IMO sucks as well, and when I ski with people like that I just start skiing bumps.

 

 

 

It was an insane day.  It snowed 2-4 inches an hour from 5:00 until after lunch.  They had to keep closing parts of the resort to check for slide danger.  The snow was deep and light for the first time in a while.  I had to go in to tighten all my clothes because my torso inside my jacket was covered in snow even though I never fell.  The crowd was small for a powder day......I rarely waited more than 5 minutes at Pierre's and Deer Park.....Bridger was another story.  There was lots of carnage, main faceplants, forward tumbles and lost skis but I didn't see anyone carted off the hill.
 

Eric D. and Tom Day ski at our mountain; my son was coached by Eric. IMO, two of the best, if not the best, skiers on the mountain, no question there. and my model that I emulate every chance.
 

 

Just giving the newer dudes and dudettes some cred is all.

 

best to ya, dawg.

 

 

 Bush -- I don't think you did, nor possibly even could have, because this thread has everything:

• fat vs. non-fat skis
• helmet vs. no helmet
• generational bashing
• East vs. West
• the rich vs. everyone else
• groomed vs. ungroomed
• size M vs. size XXL

This truly is the Mother of All Epic Threads!!! 

 

All we need now is something about whether Chlondroiton works (or doesn't) for stiff joints.  Could someone add a comment on that, please? 

 

Edited by Jimski - 3/9/2009 at 03:56 pm

 

 

Nailed it.  Not much of a committment to anything that takes real effort.

 

 

I had a helmet and never wore it since, hey, I don't do anything terribly risky, right? Then, a friend of mine was whacked from behind, knocked out of her skis and landed on her head. Concussion. I've worn a helmet every day since then.

I got hit by a boarder from behind on Friday.  No injuries but I'm glad I had the helmet.  First the blowhole, then the boarders, what's next?  Never mine, I don't think I want to know.

 

The mountain started a policy of revoking the pass for a month if you hit someone from behind.  Did it get enforced?

 

Glad to hear you're OK.

 

Edited by oisin - 3/9/2009 at 07:00 pm

 

 

It works.  It works really, really, well.  It allows me to ski powder where I couldn't possibly ski powder before. Because of it, I can now buy a turn.

 

I think ANYONE who doesn't religiously consume mass quantities of glucosamine and chondroitin must be a rich, helmetless, size medium old fart Easterner who only skis groomed runs with skinny skis.

 

So there!