What Does this mean.

a fountain of all knowledge as usual trencher! :lol:

Trencher wrote:

rossyhead wrote:
i agree with the on piste comment-slalom skis obviously having the wider tail than a GS ski-my GS ones are practically straight! and skiing switch and jumping is better and easier with less sidecut

but in powder? i dont understand? why would more sidecut make it easier? you want the skis to work together in powder so surely you want a less violent turn and it be smoother with both feet?

Taper is how much narrower the tail is than the tip, regardless of the sidecut radius. A narrower tail sinks lower than a wider tip in powder. The Burton Fish snowboard was an extreme example of this. I don't know how a rockered profile has affected the need for taper.

Trencher, you messed around with rockered boards yet? I feel adulterous and have been eying up a Prior MFR Rockered Hybrid of late. They have the rockered section at the tip and tail whilst maintaining a traditional camber between. I still love speedy days on groomers, but find myself jumping more, off in the trees and generally messing about in powder 50% of the time. If I believe Priors own hype this sounds ideal, and my current Prior board is my darling. However never having used a rockered board I'm cautious. I also wonder about the width, I like a long board but not a wide board, I'm tall and trim with smaller feet, so don't need the width. Thought I'd ask you as it was you who put me onto them in the first place. Heard any noises?

Ta, tino

Pre-cambered/decambered tip and tail is de rigueur for carving performance on snowboards these days (Ski manufacturers are only just figuring this out).
I have seen some good carving by guys on fully rockered boards, but I think the consensus is that for carving, you still need some regular camber under foot. From what I hear most of the manufacturers are moving towards all their boards having rocker, or decambered tips,and tails. Prior are a big name in carving/race boards, so expect good carving performance from their all mountain boards.

The board that everyone treats as the gold standard for boards that can rip powder, and groomers is the Rad Air Tanker. They made that with rocker only this season.
http://www.rad-air.com/09/en/tkr.php
I believe there is a waiting list

Trencher wrote:Pre-cambered/decambered tip and tail is de rigueur for carving performance on snowboards these days (Ski manufacturers are only just figuring this out).
I have seen some good carving by guys on fully rockered boards, but I think the consensus is that for carving, you still need some regular camber under foot. From what I hear most of the manufacturers are moving towards all their boards having rocker, or decambered tips,and tails. Prior are a big name in carving/race boards, so expect good carving performance from their all mountain boards.

The board that everyone treats as the gold standard for boards that can rip powder, and groomers is the Rad Air Tanker. They made that with rocker only this season.
http://www.rad-air.com/09/en/tkr.php
I believe there is a waiting list

You are gonna get me into trouble, that is one sexy board, and I found one in Austria with 195 EURO off, last one in stock. Just been told off by my girlfriend for looking at boards too when I cant even get round to fixing the sink. Luckily its 187cm, which is too big. I want something about 170-173cm.

People ride them big, but I think you are right. The problem is, on a day when there are few people around, a 187 would be great. On a crowded day, it would be a pain in the butt. Anyway, I think it's best to work your way up slowly through the sizes.

yeah, currently riding a 165cm and on powder days a wider 168cm, a full 20cm is a big jump, i'll keep my eyes peeled however )