J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by verbier_ski_bum

I second Bandit that the difference between men's and women's ski is not in the graphics. If it says that it's a women's ski don't buy them even if the graphics is not girly. If you are set on El Rey, get them, they are the best of your selection, but if you want powder performance I would still recommend something wider and with some rocker too. It will make your life easier:)

Looks skiable though I can imagine in last season's conditions it was quite an ordeal. At least here Tortin and Mt Fort looked like battlefields - tanks surrounded by trenches. Was busy season for rescue workers. The guy on first video walked away quite easy

Thanks Admin! This is exactly my point with stems. I can't jump sometimes because I am too slow so I just make a step turn which is a piece of cake if you can stem;)

No-one is saying that stemming is the way to ski, but I refuse to see how it leads to bad habits once the skier learn further. And knowing how to put stem and transfer weight on that ski can be helpful in very difficult situations. If I don't have enough speed for a jump turn or room to gain speed for a jump turn, I stop completely, rest my weight on a pole, stem, pick up ski and I am fine and ready to go. Doesn't make me force my turns on slopes, but let me change direction my skis are facing in pretty much any situation. If I didn't learn how to do it in the beginning I would have to learn it now, but learning it on my first day allowed me not to be afraid of the mountain on the second. But yeah, of course if you have the luxury of keeping beginners on bunny hills for weeks, then, yes, they can learn to carve first. But realistically in most major resorts beginners are out to red slopes on their second day and they need to be able to turn and stop their skis before they can progress further, and while it's not the most efficient manner it's effective so it works, I don't see ski schools being in a rush to discard it and haven't met a person yet who learned to ski bypassing the stem, didn't cause them any issues and I don't see why it should.

Yes, the thing is that it was quite balmy, so the snowfall was very uneven and often a lot of what was falling fell as rain below 2000m and the same warm temperatures limited the snowmaking, so bottom slopes have very low cover and might become unskiable by end of March. At least in Verbier snow on upper slopes is 3 times deeper than it was last year, so it will last well. But I wouldn't mind if it snows more:) I am getting used to flat light and don't find it a massive issue, but then I regularly meet this group of bilnd skiers on Tortin, so I always remind myself that if they can ski it totally blind I should be able to ski it with low contrast or a slight white out.

I tried Scott Dozer last weekend, which is a rockered twin tip. I tried 165 cm (I am 5'6", female) dimensions are 129-96-126, at 175 they would be 131-98-129. 175 should be perfect for you. I am advanced skier but it is not a demanding ski in any respect. I really loved how it skied, floated nicely in pow and could also carve on fast groomers. Very agile ski. Awesome in moguls. It is branded as all-mountain/big-mountain, but description says that the ski is well-suited to the park. Very versatile ski. I wouldn't advise buying a park-specific ski as it would be too noodly for you if you spend 70% on piste. Look for the ski with wood core, not foam. And if you want good off-piste handling - 90-100 in the waist. It will also give you a better landing platform if you are into park. AFAIK, K2 Apache Crossfire is not a twin tip at all, it's an all-mountain carver. All other skis (I think apart from El Rey) are older models, 5-6 years old. nothinhg wrong with it as such, but technology has been improving all these years.

Trencher wrote:

rossyhead wrote:i may be wrong here but i think the equipment is def changed the way you can learn to ski powder-you do have to lift yourself out of the snow anymore

When you put a snowboard on each foot, you ski powder like a snowboarder - surf it :wink:

Absolutely! what an awesome feeling too! I bought my JJ's last season when we had a snow drought and I was afraid that it would happen again, but I already had 5 powder days. Even if it was just one day a season the ski totally transforms the powder experience. So worth it! When I bought my current day-to-day skis they were also marketed as skis for powder, but they are not even close and so much more work too.

I have POC with mirrored orange lenses, they work really well both on sunny days and flat light conditions and don't fog.