J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by CTskigrrl

If you're planning on buying a helmet: bring your goggles and try them on with the helmet. If you're buying a helmet and goggles, try them on together. I just bought a pair of goggles that claimed to be "helmet compatible" but were not. The strap was too short and the goggles are not flush with the top of the helmet - even when the helmet is down on my brow. Zeal goggles come with a really short strap. Great goggles, but I think it's a conspiracy; they claim to be compatible with helmets, but add that you can purchase a new strap for 14.99 if necessary. BS! spend $.02 for the extra length and be true to your claim! Sorry for the rant, but seriously, try them out together before you buy.

I don't ride alpine yet, but my husband does. I just ride a regular freestyle board, but alpine carving is suddenly becoming more popular out here. This season, I saw more people out on alpine boards than I have in all my years skiing. I do want to try it some day, but I have to improve my overall snowboarding technique first. I hear those boards are extremely punishing if you don't know what you're doing :)

Pavel - you're absolutely right. I love spring skiing because I can really apply everything I've learned during the season and truly "test" myself. Also, I feel like no workout on earth compares to skiing variable Spring conditions. I love the way my legs feel at the end of the day and the feeling of accomplishment I get in knowing that I just skied about every cr*ppy snow condition possible in one day.

ellistine - you're not hijacking the thread. Fear not. Trencher's advice on carving is right on. Good luck with it!

An update on the chatter issue: I went skiing yesterday up at Stratton, VT. It had rained the night before, so they hadn' t had a chance to get the groomers on the mountain. When I got there in the morning, everything was rutted boilerplate and blue ice. I used Pavel's advice about skiing soft, and Trencher's advice about finishing the turns completely - worked like a charm. Chatter didn't disappear completely on the ice (of course), but it was not nearly as bad as it had been.

Skiing soft was the key yesterday since by noon it was 58 degrees. Everything that was ice in the morning turned to slush and glue in the afternoon. However, by skiing soft, I was able to easily handle the variable conditions (ice, slush, bumps, dirt, vegetation) that were apparent in each run. My bump skiing improved dramatically! Maybe I'm crazy, but I love spring conditions. Definitely keeps me on my toes!

What you measured was the boot sole length, which is different from the mondo point scale used to measure the length of the foot chamber. The boot sole length is important when setting bindings, but is not related to the mondo size. (For instance, I have two sets of boots, both 26.5 (men's size 8.5 US) mondo, but with different sole lengths.

here is a link to a website that will help you determine the approximate mondo size of the boots.

http://www.bomberonline.com/store/boots/sizing_boots.pdf

30.5 mondo translates to about a men's size 12 US/12.5 British or 43 Euro.

Since the boots are too big for her, remove the insole and measure that in cm. It should give you the the approximate mondo size. Hope that helps!

CT stands for Connecticut. We have three ski areas to speak of. I work as an instructor at one called Mount Southington. It has fourteen trails and 425 feet (129 meters) of vertical. Our season is short, with little or no natural snow. Up until last week, we had 12 inches for the season. Conditions at my mountain consist of: scratchy yellow ice, smooth blue ice, groomed ice, icy death cookies and in the spring we have slush and striped slush - kind of like skiing on astroturf. Racing is huge. Needless to say, outside of instructing there, I do most of my skiing in Vermont/New Hampshire and Maine.

I looked up the flex on my boots and it's what Technical calls 95-100. Their highest flex is 130, their lowest, 70. Each company seems to have different relative flex ratings, so from what I can tell, my boots are two steps below race flex. I can flex them well...except when it is really cold, but I'm thinking about new boots for next season anyway. I want a women's boot because I have very wide, muscular calves and find that the boots I have now tend to cut off circulation in my legs. Not to mention that orange boots clash with pink skis :) just kidding. Where are you from?

Thank you both for your input! The chatter only happens on steep pitches with hard snow (in New England, it's that yellow manmade ice base that's left after all the fresh snow has been scraped off). I usually have no problem holding an edge in those conditions, but on the steeps, fear becomes an issue and all my nasty old habits come back. Pavelski- I do tend to tense up on the steeps and get "in the backseat" so to speak. I am very aware of this habit and can usually self-diagnose and adjust when it happens. I will however, try to be more mindful of relaxing and skiing "softer" next time.

I have tried carving hard and fast on intermediate runs and have never had a problem with ski chatter. Trencher - I think you're right about the inclination and pressure. When I feel the ski start to chatter, I make sure that I get into the front of my boots and increase the forward pressure. I found that helps reduce the chatter. Next time, I will also adjust my hip inclination and see if that does anything.

Sidenote -My ski boots are Technica ALU Icons. Not sure what the flex is, but they are very stiff - I like the responsiveness of a stiff boot. Pavelski, could you explain how a softer boot could help fix this problem?

I'm going skiing tomorrow, so I'll try out your suggestions and let you know how it goes. Of course, it's supposed to be very warm - 60 or so. Ski chatter probably won't be an issue in the slush. :)

Hi I'm new to this forum and would like your opinion on what could be causing my ski to chatter on steep runs. I am an aggressive skier who loves to carve on intermediate/advanced runs, but when I am on steeper pitches I have noticed that my downhill ski will start to chatter. At first I thought I was bracing against the turn with my downhill leg (which I was), so I tried to fix it by pressing forward into the turn instead of bracing down the hill. I find that if I relax and go "with the turn" the chatter is reduced...but only for left turns. I am right-leg dominant and figure that a weaker left leg could account for the difference between my right/left turns. If so, any suggestions on how to strenghten the weak-side turns?

I first noticed the chatter on my new skis - Head Wild Thangs/149 cm and thought that the short ski might be the culprit. However, I have since skied on my old SX9's/160 cm and on Volkl Supersport/170 cm. Same thing happens, so it's probably my technique. Does anybody else have this problem, and if so, what can you do to fix it? I would greatly appreciate any input.