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Have skis got longer again?



 
 
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  #11  
Old December 13th 12, 08:38 AM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Ace[_3_]
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Posts: 177
Default Have skis got longer again?

On Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:25:52 -0000, "Paul S"
news_AT_ghweb_DOT_me_DOT_uk wrote:


"Ace" wrote in message
.. .
My first skis, in ~1994, were 205s. Seems incredible, but there really
was a general belief that longer was better, although very few people


So rule of thumb when I learnt to ski was the type should reach your nose -
what do you reckon it should be now - shoulder?


There's no rule of thumb based on height, but on what sort of skier
and skiing you are doing. A beginner should start with nothing longer
thatn around 160cm, otherwise it's just making everything moer
difficult for them. Hardcore freeride skiing would want something
closer to 2m, unless you're particularly small, so some women's
freeride skis do come as low as 180cm. Racers will use the shortest
ski they can for Slalom (which had its rules changed to stop them
getting too short) and something in the 190cm range for GS and
Downhill. Again, not dependent on height like it used to be (thought
to be).

--
Ace
Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk/
All opinions expressed are those of the poster and in no way reflect those of the Ski Club or its members
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  #12  
Old December 13th 12, 12:23 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Mike Clark[_2_]
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Posts: 19
Default Have skis got longer again?

In message
Ace wrote:

[snip]
Aye, and that, of course, was why there were so many variations of
tern involving lifting one or both skis to turn them off the snow,
either by jumping or the famous "Stem Christiana" and its variants.
Sadly some of these are still very much used by some people to this
day.


Don't knock the Stem Christi, it can be an excellent turn when touring
off-piste, tired at the end of a long day, with a heavy rucksack, and on
difficult snow and terrain conditions.

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
" || _`\,_ |__\ \ | caving, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user" http://www.antibody.me.uk/
  #13  
Old December 13th 12, 03:07 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Ace[_3_]
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Posts: 177
Default Have skis got longer again?

On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 12:23:51 GMT, Mike Clark
wrote:

In message
Ace wrote:

[snip]
Aye, and that, of course, was why there were so many variations of
tern involving lifting one or both skis to turn them off the snow,
either by jumping or the famous "Stem Christiana" and its variants.
Sadly some of these are still very much used by some people to this
day.


Don't knock the Stem Christi, it can be an excellent turn when touring
off-piste, tired at the end of a long day, with a heavy rucksack, and on
difficult snow and terrain conditions.


OK, so the 'sadly still used' was clearly tongue-in-cheek, and I agree
that there's a place for any technique that can work. I often stem the
start of a turn in a narrow steep gully, for instance, when I can't be
confident of what the snow's going to be like when I commit to it. Bit
of a wuss-out though, and often gets your weight in the wrong place
for the next turn, but still useful.

Not so good in breakable conditions though, where you're often better
doing something much more like what we teach nowadays as 'plough
parallel'. Getting something of a plough shape before changing
direction allows much of the force of the turning ski to be directed
across the surface of the snow, rather than down through it, so
reduces the risk of breaking through, then by rotating the inside ski
around to match the outside one, rather than stepping it as in the
Stem turn, you can keep the load more balanced between the two skis.


--
Ace
Ski Club of Great Britain http://www.skiclub.co.uk/
All opinions expressed are those of the poster and in no way reflect those of the Ski Club or its members
  #15  
Old December 13th 12, 07:35 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
PipL
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Posts: 37
Default Have skis got longer again?

On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:07:42 +0100, Ace wrote:

I often stem the
start of a turn in a narrow steep gully,


That's *exactly* what I was told would be useful in narrow, steep gulleys, by
a French ski instructor.

I have to say that narrow, steep gullies are my personal bete-noire.
--

Pip


  #16  
Old December 13th 12, 07:37 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
PipL
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Posts: 37
Default Have skis got longer again?

On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:35:30 +0000, PipL wrote:

On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:07:42 +0100, Ace wrote:

I often stem the
start of a turn in a narrow steep gully,


That's *exactly* what I was told would be useful in narrow, steep gulleys, by
a French ski instructor.

I have to say that narrow, steep gullies are my personal bete-noire.


.... and it gets worse: I seem to have a dificulty in spelling the plural of
'gully'.

See what I mean?
--

Pip


  #18  
Old December 13th 12, 09:02 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Rod
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Posts: 7
Default Have skis got longer again?

On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:41:52 +0000, PipL wrote:

On Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:48:55 +0000, (The Older
Gentleman) wrote:

Ace wrote:

My first skis, in ~1994, were 205s. Seems incredible, but there really
was a general belief that longer was better, although very few people
could demonstrate why that should be the case, except at racer level.


Back in the day, when wooden skis demonstrated a remarkable coefficient
of friction, you needed long skis if you wanted to move at all.

As regards later plastic skis, I do remember my Rossignol Drac 210s
(late 1970s vintage) having remarkable straight-line stability, but all
the turning ability of a supertanker.


I've still got my 195 Kastle skis - a few years ago, as I was driving to the
Alpes, I brought them along wiht the carving skis & snowboard.

Wow, what a difference: while they were docile enough and turned as requested,
I could /not/ get them to carve properly. They just felt sort of lifeless.
Also, I'd got into the habit of starting a slow turn by weighting the outside
ski and rolling that knee in: on the old skis, they immediately started to
diverge and I nearly did myself an injury a couple of times.


I must admit as a long time "plateaued" intermediate skier of dodgy
fitness I have no nostagia watchsoever for the days of "longer is
better" skis. I remember those 6 day ski holidays where by about day
3 I was running our of steam. These days I can pick shorter carving
skis and know that I can still be going well on day 6...

Rod
  #19  
Old December 13th 12, 09:29 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
The Older Gentleman[_2_]
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Posts: 47
Default Have skis got longer again?

Ace wrote:


I guess. But there you're talking about pre metal-edged ones, so 1920s
and earlier, I'd have thought. And I know you may remember them, but I
don't ;-)


Oh, no. My first pair of Kneissls had metal edges. Screwed in every four
inches or so.

Had to wax them two or three times a day.


--
Honda CB400 Four x2 Triumph Street Triple Ducati 800SS
Yamaha 660 Tenere Suzuki GN250, TS250ER x2
So many bikes, so little garage space....
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
  #20  
Old December 14th 12, 10:00 PM posted to rec.skiing.resorts.europe
Michael Chare[_2_]
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Posts: 14
Default Have skis got longer again?

On 13/12/2012 19:35, PipL wrote:
On Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:07:42 +0100, Ace wrote:

I often stem the
start of a turn in a narrow steep gully,


That's *exactly* what I was told would be useful in narrow, steep gulleys, by
a French ski instructor.

I have to say that narrow, steep gullies are my personal bete-noire.

Just anything narrow is a problem! One difficulty is that paths that are
not to narrow in the morning get rucked up at the edges - making them
much narrower.

--
Michael Chare
 




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