What skis to rent for spring skiing

Traveling to Whistler end of March/beginning of April. Decided to leave my
skis at home and just rent. Question though, for skiing in mush do I want
wider skis. On the East cost I ski pretty skinny skis and love them (Rossi
RPM 100s) but when I last went to Vail I rented midfats and found I could
ski powder so much better. I am curious if wider is also better for mush.
I hate mush and last time I skied at Whistler in the spring it was mush from
11:30 on. (Ice until 11:00. 1/2 of great conditions surrounded by crap.)
So, should I rent midfats again? Any other thoughts on ski choice for
spring conditions?

DZN wrote:
Traveling to Whistler end of March/beginning of April. Decided to leave my
skis at home and just rent. Question though, for skiing in mush do I want
wider skis. On the East cost I ski pretty skinny skis and love them (Rossi
RPM 100s) but when I last went to Vail I rented midfats and found I could
ski powder so much better. I am curious if wider is also better for mush.
I hate mush and last time I skied at Whistler in the spring it was mush from
11:30 on. (Ice until 11:00. 1/2 of great conditions surrounded by crap.)
So, should I rent midfats again? Any other thoughts on ski choice for
spring conditions?

I hear lots of people like midfat AKA all mountain skis for slush, while
I prefer a scalpel (long, relatively narrow, heavy GS ski) - each to his
own.

But what I wanted to mention is that deep slush is the definitive test
of carving - any skid in your turn, the slush will tell you immediately.
Roll the skis up on edge and let it do all the work, no steering
allowed. You'll have a lot more fun. So chose a ski you are confident
will carve for you effortlessly.

Signed: Slush Fan

Definitely rent something wider for the soft conditions. You ride
higher on wider skis so it keeps you up and out of more of the mush.

There's a cool shop called Backcountry Access not far from the
Blackcomb Gondola that has a variety of wider skis for rent. From the
gondola, walk past the right side of the Longhorn and then the shop
will be on the left about half a block up. Great local dudes in there
who can give you good advice.

You should have an awesome time skiing in Whistler that time of year
if you get nice wide skis--- like 90-100mm underfoot. Trust me. Try em
for one day and if it doesn't work for you you can always get
something else. (I haven't owned skis narrower than 90mm underfoot in
about eight years.)

Chris

Mighty Chris wrote:
Definitely rent something wider for the soft conditions. You ride
higher on wider skis so it keeps you up and out of more of the mush.

Why is that desirable?

Cuz it makes skiing easier. Surely you're not shredding Squaw on
skinny skis all the time?

Chris

Mighty Chris wrote:
Cuz it makes skiing easier. Surely you're not shredding Squaw on
skinny skis all the time?

Chris

Yes he is, and it's Alpine Meadows.

Alpine Meadows, thank you for the clarification. :-)

I thought in 1996 when Shane McConkey won the Red Bull Snow Thrill in
Chamonix on Volant "parabolics" that the benefits of wider skis were
thoroughly discussed and then we moved past the whole issue. I mean,
everyone I know did.

It's mentioned in a couple RSA threads even...
from 1996: http://tinyurl.com/2db5ae

Here a guy even brings up the Salomon X-Scream. I shredded those
myself in 1997-98!
from 1998: http://tinyurl.com/ytu2qv

Chris

Mighty Chris wrote:

Alpine Meadows, thank you for the clarification. :-)

I thought in 1996 when Shane McConkey won the Red Bull Snow Thrill in
Chamonix on Volant "parabolics"....


"Paraobolic" was a marketing term used by Elan, not Volant. In any
case, the sidecut is not a parabola for any ski, Elan's offerings included.


that the benefits of wider skis were
thoroughly discussed and then we moved past the whole issue. I mean,
everyone I know did.


Wider skis with a more pronounced sidecut *are* easier to ski and make
more of the mountain accessible to mediocre skiers like me. Really good
skiers don't need the additional help, although most of them will gladly
take it. There are some exceptions, like lal. And Ernie whatshisname.

It's mentioned in a couple RSA threads even...
from 1996: http://tinyurl.com/2db5ae

Back in those days a guy named Seth Masia used to post here. He wrote
the definitive article on the history of shaped skis he

http://www.skiinghistory.org/sidecut.html

Check it out.

//Walt

Walt wrote:


Back in those days a guy named Seth Masia used to post here. He wrote
the definitive article on the history of shaped skis he

http://www.skiinghistory.org/sidecut.html

A few years ago Seth, a couple of his clients, and I had a fine time
ripping up the Alpine spring crud, I of course on my favorite skis, the
long, heavy p-30s. I was able to show them some of the interesting stuff
including Estelle and High Yellow.

Watching some other skiers having difficulty on their shaped wide "crud"
skis, Seth observed that experience counted for more than ski in
difficult situations. I agree.

Mighty Chris wrote:
Alpine Meadows, thank you for the clarification. :-)

I thought in 1996 when Shane McConkey won the Red Bull Snow Thrill in
Chamonix on Volant "parabolics" that the benefits of wider skis were
thoroughly discussed and then we moved past the whole issue. I mean,
everyone I know did.

It's mentioned in a couple RSA threads even...
from 1996: http://tinyurl.com/2db5ae

Here a guy even brings up the Salomon X-Scream. I shredded those
myself in 1997-98!
from 1998: http://tinyurl.com/ytu2qv

Chris

Chris, it would be helpful if you could leave part
of the post you are replying to in your reply.
Snipping out superfluous parts is OK but us older
guys need mnemonics.

As for LAL skiing everything on slong skinny skis,
yes, he pretty much does but to what degree he can
speak for himself.

Yes great wide powder boards do let you float up on
the surface of the powder... just like a snowboarder.

I have this great picture that used to be my computer
desktop. In the foreground is a skier up to his
nipples in powder and wearing a diver's snorkel.
In the background is a snowboarder right up on
the surface. Neat picture.

People have been skiing powder since there have been
skis. The main thing that a powder ski should be
is soft. The Miller ski is that (I believe LAL has
a pair) while remaining long and fairly skinny.
I myself don't own anything which could be considered
a powder ski, but my Metrons are wide in the tip and
come up nicely when we have what we consider to be
powder around here.