Atomic GS 10 or something else?

Hi,

Just spent a week in Val Thorens (snow varying from icy and scarce to absolutely fantastic after a fresh fall) and hired my first skis there for a long time. I have previously only skied on "old school" straight skis but decided to hire this time as my old pair was getting a bit worn around the edges.

I got handed a pair of Atomic GS 10 (which I was told was the best ski they had) which they felt would best suit the fact that I was used to straight skis. I used the skis on moguls, offpiste and of course on the slopes and absolutely enjoyed them under all conditions.

My experience with carve skis is obviously fairly limited, but I do want to buy a new pair of skis at some stage. I therefore have two questions that I hope someone may help me with:

1) How do these skis compare with other GS type skis?
2) Are these type of skis really suitable for all-round skiing, or should I be looking for a different ype of ski alltogether?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

For an all round ski I would go for a mid fat ski with something like a 72 to 76 waist. Look for something with a similar sidecut radius as the GS10 that you used (if you liked that). Because the mid fat skis are wider, you could go a bit shorter in length. You will get better float in the soft stuff, but still get similar performance on the groomers.

Did your technique change on the new skis (did you manage to pry your legs apart) ? :-) I remember that you had mentioned this before.

Trencher

BTW The GS10 is a GS cheater ski, that is the sidecut radius is much smaller than the real GS skis. I had some GS9s (previous model) which were 15M radius sidecut @ 170cm.

apschraven wrote:Hi,


I got handed a pair of Atomic GS 10 ......



1) How do these skis compare with other GS type skis?
2) Are these type of skis really suitable for all-round skiing, or should I be looking for a different ype of ski alltogether?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Boy are you in for some good advice, wait 'til PO 'Ise' sees your posting!

I used G10's this year based on the type of experience you mention. Excellent!

I didn't know G12's existed (I'm out of date dontcha know) until I read Ise's posting on "Race Skis", see earlier this opinion/forum.

Just spent a week on a beat-up pair. Absolutely out of this world. If I could stand the fear of injury at those speeds I'd buy or steal a pair.

You have to be careful with the GS12 and GS11 (previous model) as there are two versions. One version is FIS compliant with 21M plus radius sidecuts and the other will have have smaller radius sidecuts. My GS11s are 176cm with a sidecut of 19M. I think there are some other variations as well.



Trencher

Trencher wrote:You have to be careful with the GS12 and GS11 (previous model) as there are two versions. One version is FIS compliant with 21M plus radius sidecuts and the other will have have smaller radius sidecuts. My GS11s are 176cm with a sidecut of 19M. I think there are some other variations as well.



Trencher

This could get technical! Here's the question for Trencher/any expert:

When getting used to G12's I had a chance to chase a (female) instructor down a perfect piste via 1st lift of the day and no one in the area.

I don't know what skis she had but assume carvers?
I could stay in her tracks (really..Ed?) until warp speed anyway.

I'm right-sided and for years one of my faults has always been getting 'inside' the correct bodyline and even slightly up-hill of the right angle(if you're still with me) ie CofG still within the body-line of flow, but hanging back?

Past trainers have tried to cure it to no avail.

It seemed to happen when I was pressurising in a downward direction the inner edge of the outer ski. A bit like heel grinding an ice turn (at slower speeds).

Back to the Girl Instructors tracks...My right outer ski track was about 3 centimetres wide. The left in either turn was a good carve (for me anyway).

The video didn't seem to show it so I take it to be ankle related (toe thru heel).

Later in the week, most of that width eliminated itself without conscious input by me. But it was still wider.

Now, on return, I received the latest Warren M video (No4 Instructors/Advanced).
Under "carving", not racing, it actually recommends fine-tuning body flow in exactly the same way that I've been trying to lose all my skiing life.

I won't be going again this year and I'm definitely feeling frustrated about it all now (skiing that is).

Wish I'd never seen the video!

Help!..anyone.

DaveW

I think what you are getting at, is the same thing I have been struggling with all season. I'm a natural carver on skis. I leave two thin lines in the snow that are deeper than any of the racers I ski/race with. However, I have to make major adjustments to my free carving style to get good times on the race course. This is my second season racing (just local leagues).

I think so much of the standard instruction for ski carving is based on racing techniques. Modern skis with smaller radius sidecuts no longer require the the tips of the ski to be engaged in the same way. The sidecut designs are also becoming very sophisticated.

Instead of projecting your mass downhill ahead of the skis (the traditional/race way to carve), in free carving you can use your mass to drive the edges down into the snow.

This is why I would suggest that a purpose designed free carving/all mountain ski might be better than a racing ski (pseudo racing ski, Ise). It lends itself to a more relaxed technique and allows you to carve a varity of turn shapes at moderate speeds. Also (if you are so inclined), the wider waist allows greater inclination without boot out.

Trencher

Thanks for the replies, though I must admit some of the more technical comments were a bit too difficult to follow.

The Atomics GS 10's that I used were 182 cm, which I understand is the longest model. I don't know whether that has an impact on the radius, which seems to be quoted as 17m for the 174 cm model.

Trencher, I am impressed you remembered my "glued together" legs. I did try to do some carving with my knees at a suitable distance, but found that the radius of the turns was very large if I wanted to complete (for lack of a better phrase) the turn to manage the speed on the steeper slopes. On the flatter slopes it seemed to go ok, and I did enjoy trying it out, but I must admit I still prefer "old school" at this stage. The opportunity to try it out was limited anyway to the early mornings, as the slopes got very busy and quite bumpy because of all those people skidding their way down the piste )

I guess I am a bit torn - I like the speed and the feel of the longer & faster GS skis, probably partly because of the ones I am used to. However, if I want to experiment with carving, and do a lot of mogul and black slopes, maybe something a bit shorter and more "easy" to turn is required?

apschraven, don't be impressed. Sometimes it's useful to check peoples recent post in order get a little better perspective.

Here's what I think is more important than having your legs together. The legs together style normally goes with using a pivot on flat skis to change direction. On modern skis, the skis will turn while on edge. This makes the turn progressive rather than abrupt. That's the first stage.

The next stage is actually carving. You can keep your skis together if you are upright, but if both legs are inclined in a carve, the inside boot will lift the outside boot (and ski) off the snow (I saw a park monkey do this recently before he fell). A kind of vertical seperation is needed. Imagine lifting the inside ski above the oudside ski. I think Jan talked of this last season in a post on carving. The legs may still be side by side (from a front view), but the skis are seperated.

Hope that makes sense

Trencher