Author Topic: Wider skis for my wife?  (Read 2844 times)

Svend

  • 4-6 Year Member
  • 1000 Posts
  • ****
  • Posts: 1107
Re: Wider skis for my wife?
« on: November 02, 2011, 09:33:31 pm »
go back to my simple answer

She doenst "NEED" them, and the only argument I am going to make against math is that math doesnt tell the whole story and like I said enough is never enough.

I don't agree that it's that simple.  If it were true that wider always equals better, then we would all be on 140 mm skis, 2 meters long....water skis, basically.  You're neglecting to mention the trade-offs for going wider -- heavier skis (wider/longer = more material = more weight), slower edge-to-edge, less agility, more knee strain, poorer hard snow performance, etc.. 

But I do agree that math may not tell the whole story, and that's the reason for posting my thread, is to get some insightful and well-reasoned opinions on this. 

Basically, we're trying to find a balance between soft snow float (ie. how much width/length is needed) and hard snow performance (lateral and torsional stiffness; sidecut).  We're not talking heli skiing in BC or Alaska here.  We're talking inbounds bowls, trees, chutes, and groomed runs in western resorts. 

Furthermore, we haven't even touched on some of the other variables that affect how a ski performs in soft snow, such as sidecut (how much? where should it start relative to the tip?), stiffness and tendency to trench vs. float, rocker (how much? tip and tail?), flex pattern, etc..

Like I said, this all about balance of ability and versatility, so I'm asking for input from others who may know more than I.  Josh, you're clearly in a different situation than the rest of us when it comes to ski choice.  You mentioned in another thread that you were sponsored by Blizzard (I think I'm correct on this), so I imagine that you are in the enviable position of having armloads of skis thrust upon you and can therefore pick and choose whatever your whim desires.  But that's not our reality -- with 8 pairs of skis in our family, we have enough already.  We have to be choosy and selective and make well-informed decisions, so our family quiver stays within sensible numbers.   ;)

« Last Edit: November 02, 2011, 09:37:17 pm by Svend »