I was just wondering what skis dcskiers are using for their sliding pursuits here in the mid-atlantic. I'm especially curious about which skis folks are on for skiing the trees.
The brutal truth is that I'm an out of shape, plateaued intermediate level skier who rarely gets more then 10 days on snow per season. Fortunately, I have some flexibility in my schedule that allows me to chase a few storms each year. I picked up some 98mm underfoot Blizzards 3 years ago with subtle tip and tail rocker and they radically improved my ability to ski 3 dimensional snow. The real surprise for me was how well they perform on the groomers. Because I'm generally only skiing fresh snow and the Blizzards are so fun, I rarely pull out my old Head im72's anymore.
It seems like there are a lot of great skis out there for every type of condition and skier.
Anyone willing to share which sticks their on? I'd especially like to hear from you guys skiing the trees at Timberline.
I think you're right in the zone with those 98mm Blizzards compared to what some of those T-Line regulars use. I'm not that big a tree skiing animal. I like the variety they present, but just don't get access to them that much. I bought a pair of 2013 Nordica Burner Evos (170cm long x 84mm wide) via the StartHaus blemish sale last summer for $299 with bindings. I bought them as my daily driver/east coast/75% on-piste ski. This is billed as an intermediate/advanced level ski and I never demo'd them, but couldn't resist that price and took a risk. I probably bought them a little short/underpowered for optimal high speed groomer zooming, but surprisingly they proved to be the best skis I've had in a long time for the bumps. They are very turny and light as a feather compared to some of my older skis. They have a little bit of tip rise and are good in moderate amounts of new/loose snow. I have yet to figure out what was blemished about them. I'm tempted to buy a 100+mm ski via this year's blemish sale for use on trips out west and rare occasions when I get to an eastern hill before it's all groomed out.
ski in action
You're spot on for the size/type of skis most of us at t-line are on. For tree skiing, at t-line, a longer ski might be harder to ski some of the lines we get into. A goodly number of us ski the Vokel Bridges which is very similar to what you're doing. I'm on the 170s and find them to be like having power steering in tigh lines. They are also great in the bumps on the drop or OTW. Wide enough to turn and float in the typical glades and not so typical glades we like to jump into. Sometimes, I'd like to have something a little wider, especially if the pow is wind blown. Prior to the Bridges, I was on Rossi Z11s and Z9s. They were normal camber and although a good ski for groomers and power on groomers, I found them real ackward when making tight turns in the trees. When the snow is hard and fast, I'm on my Fisher, 68, underfoot, slalom racer which turn, turn turn.
I have two skis in my quiver. My normal skis are a set of Line Prophet 90's in 172cm length-- I use them for groomed, bumps, all mountain, and in up to about 6 inches of fresh.
For powder days, I use a pair of 20 year old antiques: Atomic Powder Cruise's in a 190 length (115 under foot). The skis were the original heli skis of the period. They're ceramic core, and when I ski 'em on a hard groomed surface, they give the weirdest sound you've ever heard. It sounds as though I am dragging a Correl plate behind me.
I have rock skis too: Atomic Beta Ride 10.20, and Volkl AC3. They're normally used only in November and early December
skimunky wrote:
I was just wondering what skis dcskiers are using for their sliding pursuits here in the mid-atlantic. I'm especially curious about which skis folks are on for skiing the trees.
The brutal truth is that I'm an out of shape, plateaued intermediate level skier who rarely gets more then 10 days on snow per season. Fortunately, I have some flexibility in my schedule that allows me to chase a few storms each year. I picked up some 98mm underfoot Blizzards 3 years ago with subtle tip and tail rocker and they radically improved my ability to ski 3 dimensional snow. The real surprise for me was how well they perform on the groomers. Because I'm generally only skiing fresh snow and the Blizzards are so fun, I rarely pull out my old Head im72's anymore.
It seems like there are a lot of great skis out there for every type of condition and skier.
Anyone willing to share which sticks their on? I'd especially like to hear from you guys skiing the trees at Timberline.
I'm skiing narrower daily drivers this year; I think I got into some bad habits skiing exclusively wider skis over the past few years. You can do OK on groomers on wider skis, but you can really arc 'em on a high performance narrower set.
I often choose my ski for the day upon the coverage of the trails/trees I'll be skiing; don't want to mess up edges/bases on some sets of skis, don't care about others.
Front side daily driver: 81mm Vokl RTM-81's or 81mm older Blizzard 8.1's (pre-rocker.) If the coverage of the trails I'm skiing on is not that great or the conditions are a bit soft, I'll dig out the Blizzards (got them for $150 and share the slider-plate mounted bindings with another set of skis.) Otherwise, Vokls. They rip, rock and roll on groomers and bumps.
When I hit the trees or it's a pow day: older set (pre-rocker) of Line Prophet 90's. (Edit: these used to be my WV daily drivers.) The bases have been through a lot, so I don't mind taking them anywhere. They are a very stiff ski (lot's of metal in them), so they are great crud busters but they can be tricky in tight spaces in trees since they don't turn incredibly well at low speed. Note: I think more recent models of the LP 90 are a lot different than the 7 yo or so pair that I have.
When the trees are really good and deep, I'll dig out my 98 mm Rossi S3's. If the LP 90's weren't so stiff, I probably wouldn't have the Rossi's. I ski them very short for me (178), so they are very maneuverable in tight spaces. They are also a soft ski, so you can creative with turns in tight spaces at low speeds.
For trips out West, 98 mm Blizzard The One's (in 184 - which is great for out West but tricky for most tight WV tree lines.)
I buy a new set of skis every 1-2 years or so and keep them forever. Generally bargain hunt. So, my quiver grows over time.
i'd say ( .... b-o-r-i-n-g ... repeat rrepetitive repetition ...) PALMER 01's in a 173 but if you had to start fresh i'd try :
I thought they were an excellent choice for tree skiing.
My all around ski is my 168 Salomon Lords. Great bump ski and they got to see some tree action this year as well. This is the ski I'm using 80 - 90 % of the time. My other ski is an 170 Ogasaka EC, which is a narrow waisted carver that I use for Nastar and carving on really hard snow.
I used 10 year old Volkl Explosiv 165s in TL trees. They have a 95 mm waist and not much sidecut, 120/95/113 if I recall correctly. They are the CMH heli skiing edition which I got brand new in the shrink wrap for $120. It was a CMH sell off that a friend learned about. At the $ level that CMH clients pay they don't want skis with last years graphics on them. Volkl made that ski for 13 years and finally took it out of production over the anguished protests of many. The replacement is the Mantra which is not as good. My Explosivs have more than 300 days of use and are showing no signs of decline. I hope to keep them forever. I currently have an adaptor plate on them such that I can use Hammerhead or Axl tele bindings or Dynafit AT bindings. The Dynafits are on there now. I got the 165 in order to have a lighter setup for skinning, accepting the possibility of some loss in performance. The reality is that they are as powerful a ski as I've ever ridden and have no speed limit. They are as quick as they need to be in the trees.
That's about the same dimensions of my BD Kilowatts, but in 185 length. Not great for tight trees, but otherwise superb east and west. I was on 182 Scott Punishers which I passed to my son. The Scotts are a ton of fun, stiff but funky twins with a big side cut, while the BD are stiff flats with very little sidecut but still light enough to be manuverable. Before the Scottss were the 188 long K2 Axis X, which were tanks even at something like 75 waist. The point is I tihink it's more fun to have different types of skis. I still have the old K2 comp 810s at home, still fun at something like 60 waist, tip, and tail !
pagamony wrote:
The point is I tihink it's more fun to have different types of skis.
I couldn't agree more and have been trying to get this concept across to my wife for years. :)
I have a 2 ski quiver. Line Sir Francis Bacon's 184 cm 140-108-136 on snow days and on3p's jeronimos 176 cm 131-101-123 for everything else. Once you go fat you won't go back.
skimunky wrote:
I was just wondering what skis dcskiers are using for their sliding pursuits here in the mid-atlantic. I'm especially curious about which skis folks are on for skiing the trees.........
Anyone willing to share which sticks their on? I'd especially like to hear from you guys skiing the trees at Timberline.
Old ones. My current skis are 90mm underfoot and 184cm long. Old skis are great for skiing the woods at Tline, don't have to worry as much about hitting natural features. Carefree skiing.
Kim - I've been eyeing a pair of Bridges, but they only come in a 179cm or 187cm. Do the Bridges ski long or short? How do the ski the hard pack? 179cm just seems way too short.
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