HOW TO CHOOSE A BETTER PAIR OF SKIS

HOW TO CHOOSE A BETTER PAIR OF SKIS

Alpine skis will not be tackled. This article is not a test of existing models but rather an aid to choose its type of ski. Indeed, the range is very wide and the choice not always easy! Of course, if you're a hiker in focus on the gear ski alpine, this article isn't about you. 

On the other hand if you find that the models all look more or less alike, if you wonder about the length to choose, if your heart swings between several pairs, if you wonder why the neighbor has this or that type of skis then this article rots a maybe help you!

"What do you have for skis?"
"I have altitrail, it's a bomb!"
"Oranges?
"Not mine are red, oranges I think are vertical altitrail, but they are almost the same it seems to me."
"And they hang your skis?"
"Of course! I like to go downhill with it! And it's nickel! »
"Slope? Like 5.4 and up? Do you have the same skis as Tardivel? «
"Well, No, I'm doing 4.3 and it's not bad.... »
"And in the powder, is it good? And how big are you? And how much do you weigh? And what kind of ray do they make? And how much do they have on the skate? And what is the weight of these skis? And how much disparus do you make with it? Etc.
So many questions and so many different skis to answer!

Skiing is often not bad or good in itself: good skiing is the one that is suitable for practice and for the man! Only the skier is bad! Of course, some models are more unanimous than others and the community agrees on the quality of manufacture, on versatility, but the right ski is - again - the one that suits you: in size, weight, technique, type of practice! The skis of P. Tardivel (steep slope) and S. Brosse (competitor) are very good skis, certainly. But the practice of one with the skis of the other is incompatible!
Many magazines start by giving the program of skiers: 100%piste, 75/25 piste/off-piste, etc....We do not make this choice here as we cater to hikers. This is not to say that the track is excluded but that it is not the priority. In fact in our practice we can talk more about up/down. Buy your equipment ski touring at shop alpine touring.

Of course this remains very simplistic but has the advantage of allowing to eliminate immediately a certain category of skis. For example, the freerider who does not want to compromise on the pleasure of the descent will already put aside the skis and start on a freeride model! Ditto for the tight-pipette that wants ultralight skis. Certainly things are not so simple and most hikers do not have such a sharp practice:

"I would like a ski not too heavy but still comfort downhill, which runs well between the vernes and also allows to attack in the powder. And as I do a little slope it will have to be eye-catching. Not too expensive and not too cut for my skins straight it will be even better!

The internet users of the site had started to dream and had imagined the ski of their dreams AT SHOP TELEMARK SKI

A) THE FURIOUS:

He does not necessarily do compèt (or occasionally) but he likes the big trips (2000m of dev - minimum, much more often!). Or the rinds in the cleat! He does not want to compromise (too much) on the weight of his boards and often gets the hang of it with his buddies (or with himself!). The furious will opt for a ski either competitive (around 900g the ski) or quite light (up to 1.2kg the ski). Of course the comfort on the descent will remain ok but it will not be comparable with a wider and heavier ski.

B) THE TRAVELLER

Like the furious he likes big bambées but he is more contemplative. He doesn't care about the time (but don't have to do too much) as long as he sees the landscape and gets at least 2000m in the day before finding the kids! He needs some fairly light skis, but he also wants to be able to enjoy it a little downhill! The traveller will choose a fairly light ski also, around 1.2 kg per ski. Even if a slightly heavier ski can also do the trick: gaining size under the skate will allow a better descent!

C) THE FORMER:

He has more or less old stuff that suits him perfectly, he sees the friends with strange skis for him and wonders if it's really worth changing. He heard that the skis are now parabolic and occasionally he will try a pair of semi-parabolics (well yes do not push anyway!). He prefers comfort, he doesn't want to bother with gadgets. He has a very technical to himself anyway and will not necessarily be able to draw profile from new equipment (he thinks). He thinks that 1500m of a hike is good for a hike, but he is able to push a little (or not!). The problem of the old is that it has skis that are 65mm (or less) on the skate and that measure 190cm and that he has no idea of the happiness of having 75mm underfoot for 170cm (yes it measures 172cm the old one!): it will have to pass in the category of versatile and opt for for a shorter, wider pair.

D) THE FREERIDER:

What matters is the descent! Of course it is not the freerider of the TV otherwise we would not find it on this site and it would have skis of 105mm to skate ...! The freerider is here a hiker who wants above all to have fun on the descent! And for that he wants to drool at the climb (besides he does not care a little about the climb) as long as the descent is good! Pretty young skier he wants a ski that sends! He plans to go out around 1000 to 1500m of a dozen, sometimes he can do more but he is aware that going out for 2000m of deniv at each outing is not for him, and will prefer to tease off piste when the conditions are good!
The freerider will choose a wide and rather long pair (its own size or more) to send to the descent. Wide ski ingdling means 80mm to the skate for those who still want to enjoy it on the serious downhill (2000m?), 88mm for those who have fishing and want to attack the descent. Beyond 90mm it's still playable of course, but it starts to get a little heavy to follow the buddies over 2000m all 3 outputs!! I personally a pair in 94 with the tLT climbed skate: it's incomparable in the descent and I can do 1500m without problem on the occasion of a few outings but I do not plan a second to do a serious and complete season with this stuff!

E) THE VERSATILE:

Perhaps the most common profile: it's everyone! He mostly hikes, a bit of track with the children on occasion, likes the climb, likes to see the landscape. He also enjoys the descent, teases the slope a little (but not too much!). He wants the correct stuff, good everywhere and not too expensive! He doesn't want to look for hours on the net to find the magic pair: as long as his skis allow him to live comfortably his hikes! It will take a ski at its size, with a radius of about 20m, a weight around 2.5kg a pair and a skate not too narrow (between 75mm and 80mm max)

(F) THE SLOPER:

His thing is the slope! But be careful, he knows that he is not Tardivel, otherwise he would have already sent an email to the gentleman and bought the same skis (in reality he has already done it but he knows that the 8800 legend of Dynastar are a bit heavy for hiking anyway!). He also knows that he will not only make steep slopes, that the powder will not always be guaranteed depending on the information he has had (or not) on a slope at the bottom of the Oisans (who said the northern corridor to the Olan?). He is a little obsessed with the radius of his skis, by the width to the skate, by the hardness of the flex, by the max size not to exceed, in short not easy to find the pair that goes well! He is looking for an eye-catching ski but still pleasant to ski off the slope which does not represent all his outings either. Radius (around 24m?), skate width (around 80mm?), hardness of the flex (a ski rather not too soft?) are the elements that will determine his choice!

WHAT SIZE TO CHOOSE?

"I'm 170 cm tall and I hesitate between skis of 168 and 175."

Eternal question that we see all over the forums. The answer that goes with it is usually:

- if you are a big size then take 175, and if you weigh 60 kg then opt for 168cm.
- If you want to send then take 175 and if you ski father then take 168....

In short, the better you ski, the faster you ski and the heavier you are (these 3 factors are independent!) and the bigger the skis! The opposite and true!

Add to this the ski ings: the wider a ski and the more you can take it small. I mean by that if your choice turned on a pair in 88 to skate (which is already quite in hiking!) then, in the example of the top size 168 will be a good compromise between lift and galley in the vernes!! But then again you have to determine your program and the compromises you are willing to make, or not!

For my part I think most people twist their heads to choose the size of their skis while:

- if you are good at very good skiers you know exactly what suits you!

- And if you hesitate it is because you do not intend to ski like a sick and therefore the lower size (168 cm) is the right one! In any way in hiking you never ski with cleat set at the limit of the break, except when the conditions are miraculous and the terrain particularly suitable: you might say it right away it's not all exits if you go out regularly (this reasoning doesn't hold out if you go out 5 times a year and wait for the said conditions). You will then have to manage the ends of hikes with vernes and other shitty genets, the 150 conversions of this pseudo endless corridor, the infamous snow that will sometimes force you to make conversions to descent and so on..... and then you will congratulate yourself for having taken these skis in 168cm.... Not?

This article was to say that knowing each other helps greatly in the choice of his skis. Once the pair is at home it is important to weigh it with the fix, skins and shoes. It is also important to know the measurements of your skis (spatula width, skate, heel and radius). So you will have "an idea" of your skis that you can relate to the terrain: you may know better to choose the next one! I remember our cham-zermatt crossing (Italian variant: 10days for about 15,000m of a night in the world... My configuration of the moment (in terms of weight) allowed me to enjoy it fully without drooling too much! So I know that with this weight I am able to do a lot of disv without putting myself too much in the red! The next pair of skis will be in this weight range but I will take it wider and a little shorter! That's how I went from TG10 in 175cm to vertical altitrail in 170cm! Bingo!