J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Neiltoo

Trencher wrote:

There's what people used to call carving and then there is actually carving. A lot of people still don't seem to know the difference. Very few people can carve reasonably tight turns on skis with sidecuts over 21M yet alone the 35M plus sidecuts of years go. You must be one of those few bandit.

Trencher

The definition of a carved turn as I have always understood it is where every single point along the edge of the ski passes through a single point in the snow.
With the required technique this can be done on any ski that has the slightest 'shape' . Straight skis, as you call them, were not completely straight.
The turn radius will vary depending on the ski but a carve is not defined by the radius of the turn.

Ian Wickham wrote:An old boy on in Norwich used to service my skis he gave me an awful telling off about my new carvers,
he said " these things are bloody dangerous " I asked him why " because they make you think you can ski when you can't " he was a grumpy old sod,
So have carvers made it too easy to learn to ski ?????

Could have been me except I've never been to Norwich )

I don't think that it can ever be too easy to learn to ski but bypassing certain stages will affect the end result...Be it Ski Evolutif where snowplough was considered unnecessary (you can always tell someone who learned by this route imho) or using carving skis before your technique is up to it.

I suppose its natural to want to progress as fast as possible but it doesn't always finish up with the best result.

Carving is often talked about as if its some new discipline - as long as skis have had any side cut at all, people have been carving turns its just got 100 times easier to do with modern skis.

As Bandit says nobody is a learner any more after a few lessons, when talking to skiers in our shop the only people who call themselves beginners are those who haven't skied at all.

I don't often rent skis but on the occasions that I have, I have always emailed the rental shop first.
This means that I know they have the ski I want, I know in advance what I'm going to pay and as my query is usually dealt with by a manager (and not the Saturday help) I find i usually get better service when I arrive. :D
This probably only helps with the smaller rental shops though and doesn't help with price unless its low season. In Tignes, in the summer, for example I was quoted a price by email that was half of the advertised price.

bandit wrote:Excess speed by inexperienced skiers could be curbed by resorts ceasing their overgrooming of pistes, and not remodelling (aka bulldozing) them so that all of the terrain is dumbed down.

I agree, but I think they 'dumb down' the pistes because they think it makes them safer. If it does result in inexperienced skiers traveling faster
then any extra safeness is lost.

RossF wrote:I know, I know, was just kidding :wink: I am all for cheap gear if it does the trick.

Me too, but if you find some, could you point me in the right direction cos I'd like to be selling it )

Do you think that modern carving skis have resulted in many skiers skiing at higher speeds than they used to?

This occurred to me last April while watching a particularly busy piste in Verbier.

It seems to me that as it has become easier to carve, there are many skiers carving before they have learned to balance properly on a skidding ski. The result is a lot of skiers who are not in as much control as they might be in terms of being able to stop suddenly or make a sudden change in direction when necessary.

I'm not convinced this is the case but I'm curious what others think.

I dont know anything about this particular jacket but as Ise said there are a lot of slightly outrageous claims made for many fabrics.

The Decagon Jacket is a fully waterproof ski and snowboard jacket prefect for anyone who prefers a lighter weight jacket with no insulation. This means it's also a very versatile piece as you can layer up underneath on colder days and just wear it over a baselayer on warmer ones. Two Layer Hyvent is 100% waterproof and very breathable, four outer pockets provide plenty of storage options and a protective collar, excellent hood, and a snowskirt seal out powder.

Suggesting that a fabric is 100% waterproof and at the same time breathable is I think, at present, technically impossible. The waterproof level in mm of hydrostatic head or however it is measured, is the level at which the material will fail. If it will fail at some point then it can't be 100% waterproof :)

Also as Ise referred to, a waterproof fabric is one thing, but if the garment is badly made then it will leak. I'm not suggesting your NF jacket is badly made ) NF still have a fairly good rep.
At one time WL Gore vetted the manufacturing processes of any company that used their materials. They may still do this but in my opinion not so carefully.

There are some very interesting new processes for producing waterproof and breathable fabrics which are starting to appear. They use something called 'ion masking'. Very limited availability as yet

Bindings affected are :

Atomic
Race 301 /Race 412/RaceRace 310/RaceRace 412
Xentrix 310/xentrix 311/xentrix 412 /c 310 /c311/c412/cr310/cr412/r310/r412/sx310/sx412
Device 311/Device 412
Centro 310/ Centro 412

Dynamic
ADX 310/ RD10 / X412/ Centro 412

All bindings produced between 1998 and 2002

Recall notice says you should take your skis to a dealership and they will determine whether your binding is affected.

UK recall mentions heel unit only

Doh! Just typed all this out then I noticed that CEM had posted a link!