Skis, again sorry

Take a picture next time....its the only way i ever remember what I've skied on!

Mike,

I have just lent for 1 month some skis I got from a ski shop! Interesting changes occurred to skiers which may help you!
These are all skiers with +10 years experience.
First
It does not matter where you skied (down what chute),,it does matter HOW you did this!

Modern skis require that you master two simple actions.
1. forward knee pressure at correct time and sequence
2. lateral knee pressure (inside turn) at correct time and sequence.
Master those and you are better than 90 % of skiers on hill!

One skier who was skiing on Fischer's Virons 6.6 applied these two "actions" and in two hours was "carving" the runs à la Trencher! great deep cuts into snow!

Stay on "easy" runs until you master these "actions"! Then go to chutes.

Some skis are easier turners than others. The Rossignold Z10 is also a great turning ski!

Good luck!

Trencher wrote:
Mike, you say that the first skis did not want to turn. I would guess that they had a much larger sidecut radius than your previous skis. Going from a 13M to a Twenty meter would need a huge difference in skiing style and ability. Combine this with an increase in stiffness, and you have quite a leap. I would make a note of the side cut radius, and length of each ski you use. Move up in small increments if you want to go straighter/ longer, or stay on a smaller radius, and just get a stiffer ski, as you improve.

Trencher

There is so much brilliant advice on determining the best type of ski for the differing levels of ability that it is difficult to understand it and take it all in.

How do I know the 'sidecut radius' of a pair of skis - I guess it is marked somewhere on the skis, but don't recall seeing it.


Aitch

brandyaitch wrote:

There is so much brilliant advice on determining the best type of ski for the differing levels of ability that it is difficult to understand it and take it all in.

How do I know the 'sidecut radius' of a pair of skis - I guess it is marked somewhere on the skis, but don't recall seeing it.


Aitch

You are correct it's printed on most skis. You will see 3 sizes, tip/waist/tail and the radius number. This week I used skis with 15m and 17.1m radius, and I was skiing with someone using 26.8m radius skis.

Most skis have a set of numbers somewhere on the ski. It would look something like this 100-70-98 R-18M

The first set of three numbers are the dimensions of the ski, The width at the tip, waist (middle), and tail. The waist is the number that most people talk about when discussing ski width.

The R,or radius number gives you the average radius of the arc (circle) in metres, that would fit the shaped sides of the ski. The smaller this number is (say 11M), the thighter the ski will naturally turn, and the larger it is (say 23M), the wider the ski will naturally turn.

Hope that helps a bit

Trencher

Trencher/Bandit

Many thanks - very useful - I am still a relatively new skier and have totally relied on the hire shop to provide me with skis which they consider match my ability.

I can't say that I had actually looked for or noticed any dimensions or markings other than the length.

From this and earlier posts I am beginning to get a better understanding of what I need and what to look out for on the hired kit so that I have a better feel they are the correct skis for me before I leave the shop.

Aitch