GoBallzout's Official Ski Buyer's Guide

So you need to find a ski. Here’s what you need to know.

The first thing you need to think about is the style or type of skiing you are doing or plan on doing. Basically there are 3 or 4 different styles; Strictly powder, Big Mountain, All Mountain, and Park.

• Powder
  This is where you get dropped off at the top and you get to rip the big fluffiness all the way down.
  
  
• Big Mountain
  Here you are take on the challenge of anything the mountain can throw at you inbounds or out of bounds, Heli or Cat skiing. Whether it’s rippin’ chest deep pillow soft snow, droppin’ massive cliffs and cutting through the trees or if it’s powering through the hard packed wind blown crap at mach ten.
  
  
• All Mountain
  Do you like to ski in bounds at the resorts? Do you like to ride the chair up and hit everything on the way down, hop back on the chair and do it all over again? Maybe you like to take a cruiser on the fresh corduroy and then head over to the perfect zipper line in the bumps. Maybe you are catching first chair up to the back bowls to rip up the untracked pow pow before anyone else spoils the perfect freshness. Fast, slow you do it all here.
  
  
• Park
  You little hood rat. You’re all about the bumps, jumps, rails, and pipe. Not only do you like to be in the air more then on the ground, but, you gotta look dope while doing it.

What’s next? Ok so you can pick what type of skiing you like to do (or at least try to do) now we have to talk about your skiing level or “Skier type”. There are 3 “Skier Type” levels:

• Skier Type 1 (beginner)
  Just learning or maybe you just like to ski the easy green circle runs.
  
  
• Skier Type 2
  There is a large range within the Skier Type 2 catagory. You’re better than a beginner. You can ski the green circles to the black diamonds. You are pretty confident in the way you can ski but there is some room for improvement.
  
  
• Skier Type 3
  You can handle anything the mountain throws at you and you can do it with confidence. Not only can you rip up any black diamond in your way, you are eagerly in search of the perfect line @ the top of the peak. Not many are truly a Type 3.

Now let’s talk about the size of the ski. Unfortunately bigger is not always better here. With the “shaped” ski you can ski on a ski much shorter than the traditional straight ski. That’s because with the shorter and much wider shaped ski, you have the same amount of surface area under foot as you do on the older, longer, straight ski. Gone are the days when the average person used to find the right ski size by holding their hand up in the air and having the tip of the ski touch their wrist (ha ha). You now size a ski, generally speaking, anywhere from just below your chin (beginner) to your forehead area (more advanced). Ski manufactures have been making and improving on the way the shape helps to make turns for you. Shoot, skiing is so fun and easy now with the “shaped” ski that all you have to do is buy a lift ticket and show up. But that’s a whole other topic, let’s talk sizing.

• Beginner Skier Sizing
  Typically I would say that a beginner should be standing tall and have the very tip of the ski come to just below his/her chin. This will allow you to be able to turn and control the skis on the snow much easier, although any size ski is hard to control while skiing through the parking lot at the bottom of the hill. While being able to control the ski much easier you will be able to make those turns across the hill which will in turn control the speed at what you wish to go.
  
  
• Intermediate Skier Sizing
  For an intermediate skier you can choose a ski any where from your chin area to just around your eye level. Another big thing to consider here is your weight. The heavier you are the longer you ski should be or maybe you could even choose a little stiffer ski and stick with size you feel comfortable with. If you like a little more forgiving ride you should pick the next size up from what you would pick if you were in the “normal” range for height and weight. You want the ski to be able to support you all the way through the flex of the ski as you are coming in and out of your turns. If you are on the smaller end of the “normal” range for height and weight you could choose the next size down in the particular model of ski you are looking at. You want to be able to control the ski, and not the other way around.
  
  
• Advanced/Expert Skier Sizing
  You pretty much know what size you like. Maybe you like the tip of the ski to come right up to your eye level or maybe you like to goballzout and love the big daddy’s so you can rip those sweet powder 11’s. It’s your world.

Ok. Enough about sizing. Let’s talk about the stiffness of the ski. The softer the flex of the ski the more you are going to be able to make that ski turn at slower speeds while putting minimal effort into it. This is great for beginner skiers. The stiffer the flex of the ski gets, the more energy and effort you are going to have to put into it and the more energy that ski is going to kick back at you. A medium-flexing ski is perfect for a Type 1 skier on the move and looking to step up their game a little. A medium flexing ski is also great for a Type 2 Skier who is linking his or her turns and likes to just cruise around and wants that ski to still be forgiving As the ski gets more rigid in its flex the more a Type 3 skier is going like it. At the advanced/expert level you are looking to get back what you put in, just like a good relationship, or so I’m told on a daily basis. Now there are exceptions to these rules. For example, a powder ski typically has a softer flex, especially in the tip of the ski, so that it can float up on top of the snow. Some of the park skis are a little bit softer in flex as well, while other park skis are stiff so that they don’t wash out when landing the big airs.

Well that’s it in a large and over written nutshell. If you feel you need further assistance in choosing the right ski, give me a call or shoot me an email. I love talking about this stuff, it’s what I live for, as if you couldn’t tell.

Visit GoBallzout.com for Skis and Ski Poles.