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Ski selection

Simon Christy contemplates his ski choice in less than perfect snow

Written by Simon Christy, September 2012

BASI Coach and Jagged Globe Off Piste Skiing Course Director, Simon Christy, gives the lowdown on choosing the right skis for general off piste skiing. Whilst there are no absolutes when it comes to choosing skis, Simon has 17 years of ski teaching experience, so hopefully this article should provide some useful pointers.

The most common question I field before ski courses is what skis to use. The answer is of course longer than the proverbial piece of string, but I will try to shed some light on how to select a suitable ski from the dozens of models on offer.

Horses for courses
First off, accept that whatever ski you choose will be a compromise. A fat freeride ski will not perform as well on hard snow as a narrower ski (despite what many will say), but it will be heaps of fun on big powder days and in chopped up snow. A super-light, skinny rando-race ski will not be particularly �floaty� in the soft stuff, but it will save energy when skinning uphill and be easier to edge on firm snow. At some point we have to decide where our priorities lie.

The numbers How can we narrow down our choice of ski? Every model of skis will have some numbers associated with it: Length, Width (normally 3 measurements � tip, waist and tail) and Radius. The starting point for me is always waist width. This has been creeping up over the years. In the late 1990s 80mm was deemed fat, these days waists of 120mm+ are not uncommon and an 80mm waist would be considered biased towards piste skiing!

1. Width
Wider-waisted skis give the following benefits:

More float in powder. This not only feels great, but it also gives us lots of leeway. If we do get slightly out of shape, or have a �moment� where all our weight ends up on one ski, there is room for recovery, where a skinny ski would disappear down into the depths, normally followed by our head! Wider skis tend to smooth out inconsistencies in the snow, giving a more predictable ride, particularly in chopped up or variable snow; they are less �twitchy� and tend to be easier to slide around a turn smoothly.

But...

Wide skis tend to have a �sideways� feel, which can be disconcerting at first. You have to work very hard to keep the skis on edge and the wider the ski, the longer the lever arm trying to pull the ski flat.

Also, if you are skinning uphill, the skin track may simply be too narrow and the wider stance can be uncomfortable. If the snow is firm, even with ski-crampons a wide ski can feel very insecure on steeper traverses and skin tracks. Finally, a wider ski is necessarily going to be slightly heavier than a narrower ski, as it uses more material.

Where to start?

90mm (give or take a mm or two) is my current starting point when looking at skis for all-round off piste and ski touring use. Any skinnier than this and we lose float and �recoverability� in soft snow. Any wider than this and we start to encounter the challenges mentioned above.

2. Radius
The radius of a ski describes the size of circle a ski will track around if tilted onto its edge and allowed to slide along this. Generally speaking, a radius below 17/18m would be considered very �turny� or �carvy�, with anything over 25m being considered quite straight.

A very carvy ski, while being great fun on the piste, is not necessarily the ideal choice off the beaten track. The greater the difference between tip and waist, the more unpredictable and twitchy the ski will be. In heavier or crusty snow this �hooky� feeling is amplified and can combine with the weird sensation of the tip staying afloat and foot disappearing into the depths.

Also in tight, concave gullies, or on steep icy skin tracks a short radius ski will give an uncomfortable feeling of contact at the tip and tail, while the foot bounces around on fresh air.

At the other end of the scale, a long radius ski will need more proactive steering to make tight turns and if left to its own devices will carve long (very) and fast (very) arcs. This is great if you want to do 50mph down a big Alaskan face, less so if you are looking to make neat �Wedeln� turns to match the 50 Swiss tracks already farming a slope. When selecting skis for working with clients on off piste coaching courses, I look for a ski with radius between 18 and 22m.

3. Length
This can really only be chosen through experience. Bear in mind that the shorter the ski, the smaller the surface area (hence less float), though generally with a wider ski we can afford to lose a few centimeters of length, as the extra width will compensate. The cat among the pigeons is �Rocker�, as this can make a ski feel �long� or �short�...

Rocker � Technological breakthrough or Marketing Hype?

The industry buzz-word over the last couple of years has been �Rocker�. Put simply, rocker describes a section of the ski that bends gradually upwards, either at the front (and before you ask, yes � my skis have always bent up at the front too...!), back, or the whole way along. By reducing the edge contact length rocker can make it much easier to steer skis round a turn and (at the tip), also assists with getting the skis planing higher in/on the snow.

The counterpoint to this is that reduced edge length = reduced potential grip both while skiing downhill as well as skinning back up again.

Weight � light is right, right?
For those of an uphill persuasion, shaving grams off kit can become an obsession, but a word of warning � the lighter the ski, the less solid it will be. In the last year I have seen 3 carbon skis break under not particularly hard use � caveat emptor!

My personal preference would always be to go for a solid �downhill�-oriented ski, as the excess grams can easily be shed in other areas (bindings, personal kit etc).

Suggestions
For skiers on our Off Piste Introduction or Introduction to Ski Mountaineering courses, I would suggest looking for a ski with around 90mm at the waist, with a turn radius of about 18/20m (check out Salomon Lord, Fischer Watea 88, Scott Mission or Crusair, Trab Stelvio Light, Movement Source). For more advanced courses you may want to go bigger and fatter for more downhill fun, or you may wish to optimise the weight/fun ratio by sticking on a �narrower� ski.

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