Why I'm skicking to Fat Skis

[Idris]

Ok first I got lucky this year with equipment, I scored a cheap pair of explosives from mtnlion, POB gave me an old pair of lawnchairs and Martina gave me some Atomic Powder Pluses......This morning Ispied my K2 x axis that I haven't realy skied on all season (the nice guys at K2 gave me these whrn my sillymon xscreams died) ...I though I'd have a play, Conditions were refrozen mush. First 2 runs on the piste were great, lean to carve, laying down great arcs without using much energy.....I miss this on my big mountain boards....but then I headed up the top of the Grand Montets, climed the balcony rail and scrambeld down the Patrolers walk...skis on and into some cup up pow and sun afected stuff....Powder was work but skiable, the sun afected was unplesent....yesterday I'd spotted an almost untouched area below, it requierd a bit of effort to get in but I wanted a few fresh turns, scrambling over rocks on skis is always a pain, but side slipping winloaded snow isn't normaly...I was now finding shaped skis a pain in the rear...reduced to sidestepping to get any sort of control....I got my frsh turns, only a few but they were nice...from here down to the glacier was refrozen and partialy melted mush with lots of tracks in...from here down I wanted my explosives, yes my xaxis were better than old skinny straights but I was having to ski as though I was on them, jump, turn and land in the direction you want to go, no more powering through the crud, maybe jumping a little to start the turn...shaped planks may be great fun on the piste but anything at all skinny underfoot sucks off piste when the snow is less than perfect....went home to fix my skinnyest ride for next season.

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic22476.jpg

Red arrow is the untouched bits

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic22477.jpg

My hard earned hard to find turns

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic22475.jpg

My roomate was going to throw these out ?

[bad_roo]

Chamonix's own Jack Kerouac tells it like it is.

[Big E]

Those would probably glide better if you removed the clamps.

Maybe not, though

[Mulletizer]

Originally posted by Idris
My roomate was going to throw these out ?

I assume you are only keeping them because they will make a nice chair?

Interesting what you wrote about the skis. I'm trying to work out what my ideal quiver would be for next winter and was leaning towards one quite shaped ski (like a first gen Stormrider) for those days when the snow is really hard everywhere on the mountain (special-La-Grave-North-facing-snow).

I don't ever ski pistes. Now I'm getting confused about what I should really try to get. D'oh. Maybe 190 Gotamas (or Mulé Pro Models), 178 G4s (w/Freeride), 184 Stockli XL... Heck, I'm really confusing myself now. Note to self, try not to think. Aaarrghhh...

[bad_roo]

I'm hearing what you're saying but can't help but note that none of these skis feature green robots.

[Idris]

Originally posted by Mulletizer
I assume you are only keeping them because they will make a nice chair?

Interesting what you wrote about the skis. I'm trying to work out what my ideal quiver would be for next winter and was leaning towards one quite shaped ski (like a first gen Stormrider) for those days when the snow is really hard everywhere on the mountain (special-La-Grave-North-facing-snow).

I don't ever ski pistes. Now I'm getting confused about what I should really try to get. D'oh. Maybe 190 Gotamas (or Mulé Pro Models), 178 G4s (w/Freeride), 184 Stockli XL... Heck, I'm really confusing myself now. Note to self, try not to think. Aaarrghhh...

Nope, fixing the edges on 181 Sally 1080's I fancy a pair of jib sticks, especially at the price

As for your quiver, wouldn't go any straighter or narrower than G4's...wouldn't put the freerides on them, more a screaming round the mountain on a hard day kind of ski than a do all/anything IMHO....I lke my lawnchairs for that purpose...not fantastic at anything but will go anywhere, and as good as anything on a nast sideslip...unlike anything wth much shape to it...I'm keeping my Powder Pluses for big days (guess Mulé Pro Modelstakes care of that one) and my exploders for most anything else, even getting resonable at bumps on them.

[Mulletizer]

Thanks for the advice. I am a bit torn about what to put the Freerides on to be honest. Originally I was going to go for a 180 Launcher (helps that I have the right skis for a 188 AK Enemy) but there didn't seem to be any point getting them when I could have a G4 instead. And, as you say, a 178 G4 aint a good ski for Freerides.

Any suggestions for a decent, fat, touring/mountaineering ski around the 180-185 mark? Exploders might be a possibility but pretty heavy and not so cheap at the moment...

edit: I delamed Telepath's Exploders teleing bumps on them. Made me feel like a real man (although he had done it to them before...)

And apologies for the toal hijack.

[PlayHarder]

Exploders might be a possibility but pretty heavy and not so cheap at the moment...

Cupolo sports has 165, 173 & 180 cmh exploders new in plastic on ebay right now - Starting $99 us. Still heavy though.

[Idris]

Originally posted by Mulletizer
Thanks for the advice. I am a bit torn about what to put the Freerides on to be honest. Originally I was going to go for a 180 Launcher (helps that I have the right skis for a 188 AK Enemy) but there didn't seem to be any point getting them when I could have a G4 instead. And, as you say, a 178 G4 aint a good ski for Freerides.

Any suggestions for a decent, fat, touring/mountaineering ski around the 180-185 mark? Exploders might be a possibility but pretty heavy and not so cheap at the moment...

edit: I delamed Telepath's Exploders teleing bumps on them. Made me feel like a real man (although he had done it to them before...)

And apologies for the toal hijack.

I like my 180 lawnchairs because I can push them around with AT boots, but if was touring in alpines I might go with exploders....from what I see around town delam issues are restrikted to the wizzard and lightning bot ones, older or newer don 't have the same issues ...hoping mtnlion has some more CMH's.....snowrangers?

[ak_powder_monkey]

fat skis are phat

[Mulletizer]

I saw the Cupolo CMHs. Put in the first bid on the 180s, got outbid, waiting to see how high they go. They sop being worth it when I start getting hit for import tax as well as shipping.

Thanks for the input. And sorry for the hijack again.

[powndnstein]

I picked up a used pair of 180 Launchers this season and put my freerides on them. I had reduced my quiver to two pairs of skis one for bc and one for resort. The launchers changed that to one pair of do it all skis, with one pair of boots Denalis for resort as well as bc. Thinking about adding a pair of explosives for next season. Just a question what is the big difference in the way they ski compared to the Launchers. Is it that they are more solid at speed due to being a little stiffer and wider underfoot?

[comish]

Mulletizer,

Do you already own the 178 G4? If not, My guess is too small for a life serviced ski. I would definitely want more at La Grave. I loved the 188cm G4 there, but found it a bit too stiff for me at mtns a wee bit smaller than La Grave. Also, if I remember right you are bigger than me and they were too small for me. The 180 exploder wasn't. Just a thought.

I actually thought your original quiver concept was just about ideal. The lawnchair for AT, and something stiffer for all mtn rippin. I too wouldn't go narrower than 80-85mm for the all mtn ski and have actually picked up a new old pair of 188cm Flame Big's for this purpose after trying most everything out there this year. Perfect flex for me, but I'm only 5'9 and 160lbs.

[shamrockpow]

Yeah, the 180s w/freerides and alpines is a hell of a setup going uphill (great for burning calories), but it's so good going down, I just don't know if I could deal w/anything else. For me it's perfect for laying out long buttery pow turns, but isn't too long to get through tight spots.

As far as durability, it's also great to have a ski that can go over rocks without more than cosmetic scratches. The edges are bomber beyond belief and the bases hold up great. I've managed to partially delam one pair of CMHs, but they probably had 50 days before I put 75 more on them. My other pair that I got from Tresckow is also starting to delam a bit, but I've put 60-70 days on them in short order and haven't been gentle.

[jstead]

Originally posted by PlayHarder
Cupolo sports

Lied to me a few times. I will not suggest dealing with them. But hey that's just me.