Hey DMC, here's one for you

[Mumster]

Tenney didn't work out, but how about grass skiing?

http://www.bryceresort.com/summerTemplate-MountainActivities.html

[DMC]

Time to cut the cord.... I gotta move on to mountain biking...

I have to start training for a race next month...

[skicdave]

Hey mumsterarama,

I almost bought a pair of grass skis several years back... looks like a great alternative!

Now you being into racing and such, I suggest you add grass to you list of racing surfaces.

Oh my! :mumster: starts dreams... . o O

http://grass-ski.alpesprovence.net/images/start.jpg

We'll I'm off teardrop in the ADK in a few hours... be good peeps!

[DMC]

A friend of mine in Lambertville NJ has a pair of those "grass skis"... He's tried it a the old Belle Mountain... Said it was scarey. But they are really old - I bet the new ones are better.

As a side note... This same guy is in Whistler this week skiing in a mogul camp... (Insert green with envy graemlin here)

[Mumster]

Here is another pix from Skicdaves stash. http://grass-ski.alpesprovence.net/images/grski1.jpg

It looks too much like roller blading to me - broke my wrist on roller blades a couple years ago, and I'm scared since. I'll probably have to leave grass skiing to the kids.

DMC, a race???? I thought you were the ultimate noncompetitive spirit. Just goes to show how little info I glean from MB personas.

[DMC]

It's something I do with my friends at Hunter Mtn... It's the only race I do. And mainly just to promote that kind of activity at Hunter to help friends who own businesses.

There are actually three races in the Catskill series.. One in the Town of Hunter, one at Windham and the last at Hunter MTN..
The Hunter Mountain course is pretty tough - big uphill... I walked a lot of it.. I excel at downhill single track.. Blew 2 tubes last year - didnt finish..

[BladeGirl]

Mumster:
Tenney didn't work out, but how about grass skiing?

http://www.bryceresort.com/summerTemplate-MountainActivities.html Ya know, I'd probably try it if it were closer to New England. Thanks for the post, Mum.

-BG

[elwood]

Grass skiing?!?!?? Those crazy French will think of anything!!! :D

[Bannick]

Forget the French how bout the Brits!!!

Check out....

http://www.ifyouski.com/dryslopes/?Target=_top

B :snowboarding:

[Mumster]

Bannick:
Cool. I have to go to the UK this fall - will seek out opportunity to try it out.......a fun twist to an otherwise dull business trip.

[Frankontour]

Until few years ago, there was a "sand ski area" here, for summer, in Tadoussac (a little bit less far than going to Gaspesia). The trails were enough steep I think, but I don't know about their vertical drop (I think few hundreds of feet high). I had a pic of it but I don't where it is now (I'm gonna search a little bit). It was something really extreme and I don't know if there is a remaining official resort for sand skiing in North America, today :(

Really interesting for the grass skiing !!

[Bannick]

________________________________________________
Cool. I have to go to the UK this fall - will seek out opportunity to try it out.......a fun twist to an otherwise dull business trip. _____________________________________

I thought there were only a couple of hills but apparently they are all over Britain. My Dad lives in Manchester so I might head there at the end of the summer to check one out. I suppose you wouldn't want to wear shorts eh?

B :snowboarding:

[elwood]

Those crazy Limeys! Dry slopes! :D

[Skilasnow]

Bannick:
Forget the French how bout the Brits!!!

Check out....

http://www.ifyouski.com/dryslopes/?Target=_top

B :snowboarding: The Brits might be crazy but they started downhill racing as we know it:

"The first alpine skiers were wealthy Brits, who enjoyed hiking in the Alps during summer. Skiing was a way to enjoy those same Alpine villages and valleys in the winter. Brits loved to go fast, so they started racing on skis. One race, the downhill, determined who could go the fastest. Another race, the slalom, determined who could go the fastest around obstacles — in this case, sticks stuck into the snow. The first downhill ski race was the Roberts of Kandahar Cup, staged in Switzerland in 1911. This race continues today on the World Cup circuit as "The Kandahar." "

From this article (http://www.snowlink.com/newsresearch/history/alpine_history.shtml)

[Frankontour]

Hmm, this is an old topic, but I did few researches today and I found the pic I was talking of. So this was the sand skiing in Tadoussac until few years ago. I don't know if some people are still practicing and don't have an idea of the total height of the slopes, but as you may see, there is some competition poles ± visible on the scanned pic, so it was probably enough big !

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus/messages/2508/2634.jpg

[Bannick]

They used to do alot of sandboarding on the east side of Lake Michigan. We have the sandbanks around belleville on Lake Ontario but I am not sure if you could ride them or not since it is a provincial park. Wonder what it does to your gear?

[Frankontour]

Hmm, yep, I don't think this would be a real great thing for the equipment. It's quite a good way to pass some skis that you don't like.

I should try it on some steep slopes with grass, after a rain. I know one place which could be good for that as it's not rocky although steepy.

[BladeGirl]

I never thought I'd have to worry about the gritty feeling of sand in ski boots! At least avalanches are not a problem.

-BG

[skicdave]

Sand is messy, gets in your undies, hurts like hell and lacks the thrill of true downhill speed.

I suggest instead you try skyboarding instead...

http://jumprunproductions.com/pics/skysurf/_Ssrb1.jpg

I watched a movie about skysurfing once.. anybody else seen it? In the movie one of the guys surfs over a mountain and then lands at the top of a race course (parasail just before he landed).. probably won the race I suppose (makes the movie). A bit dumb... but got me thinking... would it be possible to skyboard (hey skyski even!) and land on a REAL steep slope.. side of Everest perhaps and then snowboard to the bottom for a :beer: or :beer: :beer:

This would rank as cool I would think :p

Skiskiing... now that would be more interesting... not sure what would happen however if you let your skis separate.. you know with the power of the wind. Better not think about it!

[M@]

There is a branch of sky diving where they use kinda wing-suits... like webbing between the arm and torso, and between your legs, and they can get very slow descent rates. They kinda fly like a glider a bit. I'm not sure, but I think they can land on the water maybe... with out a parachute.

Landing on a ski slope would be tricky... the horizontal approach would be a trick - if you had a relaly big bowl type area maybe you could risk it.

If god has meant us to fly he would have given us the intelligence to figure out how.

M@ :ducttape:

[skicdave]

Who votes we get Elwood to try skyboarding for us at Tucks?

[Bannick]

b]At least avalanches are not a problem.[/b]

Quicksand would suck too.

b :snowboarding:

[Bannick]

I think that no matter how "slow" your descent or how steep the slope is you are still gonna end up a stain.

hey umm terminal velocity is for real....

The bat suit things are pretty cool. Some base jumpers use em and they can glide out quite a distance from the thing they are jumping off. They still need to use a chute though...I think.

B :snowboarding:

[Bannick]

Suits like this...

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Photo_Submissions/Wingsuits&image=Katja1.JPG&img=&tt=

[elwood]

skicdave:
Who votes we get Elwood to try skyboarding for us at Tucks? I'll 2nd that vote! Wait a minute...

[Frankontour]

C'mon Elwood, you would immediately join Toni Matt in the heroes of the history of Mt Wash !

On my side, it's not impossible I go to Tucks for the 1st time in the next days. Would be a great thing to see it out of snow before to see it with snow, I think. Anyway, as I want to see Tenney, I'm not going to do 4h of road just to see one little spot of snow.

[Bannick]

So if Elwood did it naked would that mean that Toni Matt joins him in the Elwood Club.

C'mon man all the kids are doing it......

[skicdave]

Go Elwood, go Elwood!

http://timefortuckerman.com/gifs/nakedguy2003elwood.jpg

[Frankontour]

Hmm, you don't stop of talking of naked skiing (lol)... but do you know this website ?

http://kokotele.com/ski****.htm

It's not extraordinary, but quite funny to see once. I love the intro of the "bra trees guide"

quite slow to download the pics, too... but they're bigger than how they appear. Just have to copy them to see them bigger.

This is an example of the content you will find there, although the "****" pics are may be just 35-40%. The rest are funny pics.

I won't put the image here, in case of there is kids looking, but you can take a look to this pic.
(this one is especially good for the guys)

http://kokotele.com/3899.jpg

Believe it or not, this was an ad of Bear Valley CA, few years ago.

[Frankontour]

Here is a suggestion of constructive thing to do this weekend (from ski****)

http://kokotele.com/skicults.gif

[elwood]

frank, I've been doing that the last 3 months!!!

[Frankontour]

Hmmm... three months...hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Exactly 3 months ago, at this hour, I was planning the probably craziest ski trip I've done in my life yet.

Not a place like Tucks or so... but trying to hike and ski the most ski areas as possible in the same day. I had 7-8 ski areas in mind, but some natural elements finally limited me to 4 ski areas and only 3800' of vertical skied in the day.

The sun never exited over the Lanaudiere like supposed, in the morning, so I skied Val St-Come on hard pack almost unskiable. 20 miles away, at la Reserve, no sun, but 2-5 inches of fresh though, blown in the Loup-Garou canyon for 12" of powder lol. So I did few runs there and after that, I was already tired, so I did only Mt Chantecler and Mt Gabriel north, as the sun came up in the Laurentians.

The same day, Way2ski was skiing Cannon in 20" of powder everywhere. April 25, 2003 was really a fantastic ski day for late april in the east !

But if you think to that... 3 months... 3 months... 3 months = oct 24... and Woodbury opened last year on oct 24. And Killington on oct 25 and closer to me, La Reserve on oct 26 + St-So for real skiing on oct 31.

But for now, It's time for hiking and I'm heading for the north, 2nd part, tomorrow. Avila, St-Sauveur, Habitant, Christie, Ski Morin Heights, Avalanche, Mt Ste-Agathe, Castor, Jasper, Garceau, La Réserve, Val St-Côme and Ski Montcalm on the way !

[Bannick]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO C'MON SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
YEAH!!!!!! Snow

Sorry lost the plot a little there.

Jeez Frank you really get around. Some people hike like crazy but me I jump in the car with two buddies and drive 53 hours straight to Whistler. Would have made it in 49 that time but we had a little run in with the fine, upstanding men of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Maple Creek Saskatchewan. But alas that is another story.

B :snowboarding:

[BladeGirl]

Frankontour:
Hmm, you don't stop of talking of naked skiing (lol)... but do you know this website ?

http://kokotele.com/ski****.htm

Thanks, Frank, this gave me a good laugh to start my Friday. As for praying for snow (to Ullr (sp?) the snow god), I wonder what the appropriate ritual would be? put on your ski/board boots and do a snow dance around a pile of parkas? make a bonfire of all old Bogner-inspired stretch-pants and send smoke signals heavenward?

-BG

[Bannick]

The ritual I was exposed to while living in Whistler was a big bonfire of old borads and skis and alot of booze and the like. :D

B :snowboarding:

[DMC]

We do that every year at Hunter Mountain...

We call it ULLR Fest... Burn skis and board in a bonfire...

Last year ULLR was happy.... :)
http://www.powderhound.org/2001/Tequillas_11-17-01_ULLR_dance.jpg

[skicdave]

DMC:
We do that every year at Hunter Mountain...

We call it ULLR Fest... Burn skis and board in a bonfire...

Last year ULLR was happy.... :)
That is an utter shame!!! Think of all those good rock skis that could have enjoy some days up at Tucks... what has the world come too!

Hey thats just me... I still have my old red white and blue K2 III's that I owned as a kid. We even have old wood skis from the 30's in our bedroom!

Burn skis? Now THAT is something that only maybe :disinfo: or his :packdonkey: would do.

Hey my two cents. Burn yours if you like. :p

[DMC]

Funny...
I never believed in the concept of a rock ski/board...

I always believe at Tucks or any steep terrain, I need the best ski/board I ride for safety sake...


...jmho..

[TheOctopus]

DMC:
Funny...
I never believed in the concept of a rock ski/board... I always believe at Tucks or any steep terrain, I need the best ski/board I ride for safety sake... What DMC said. Besides, all skis are rock skis. If skis look pretty, it means you ain't skiing them, and *that's* a shame. (Of course, I'd never intentionally damage equipment or neglect it, and I take a lot of pride in treating my gear well. I treat it well, it treats me well. But stuff breaks sometimes when you use it, and I think that's just life. And it's also a reason to get new gear!)

Last year I took slack from a fellow skier on the Sherburne -- "Nice rock skis" he said, looking at my new-this-season R.exs with Freeride bindings, a total look of disgust and contempt on his face. I told him if my plan were to ski over the rocks, I'd be sporting what gear he was, and then I skied off, joyously hopping from one marginal patch of snow to another, merrily into the sunset....

[DMC]

As long as you dont tear out an edge or delaminate a board - everythings OK.... :)

[M@]

I bring my rock poles to Tux.

M@ :ducttape:

[elwood]

M@,

Don't you bring your rock :ducttape: to tux?

[Frankontour]

aaaahhhh... back from a crazy road / mountain trip in the north, looking for a bad new (widening trail or so) but it's arriving here that I saw the worst new.......

Tenney just gave up for the summer SKI. They will continue the tubing, but nothing more for "skiing".

more after supper ;)

[Frankontour]

Don't you worry Bannick, the snow will come soon. Last year, the first one in USA was on august 30 at Telluride. 4" of powder. I think Alberta got snow earlier than that, but I'm not sure if it was in 2002 or 2001.

In 2001, the first one (if no in Alberta) was in Summit county on sept 13. I have a nice pic of Loveland that day.

So summer is damn too long, but winter will win and be back !

About Hiking vs Whistler. I hiked 16 mountains this spring lol. I had only hiked one before 2003, but with the reports of Lftgly (on FTO), it was impossible to not hike more often, even though I don't have a Cannon or obviously a Tucks. This year, it was impossible for me to go west anyway, as I finished my school summer term on early july.

I skied the "Tremblay" at le Massif on may 13, this year... in a snow storm... and this trail doesn't have snowmaking. Ok, it wasn't very wide to pass, but there was still a good 2 foots depth in the woods (but it's almost impossible to ski in the woods there). If the upper side had snowmaking, I'm sure it could remain skiable until june. And as the parking is at summit now, they could run just the double. I'm eager to see that, although Killington remain a correct choice. I'm eager to see the mountain when it will be totally developped. On early nov last year, they've already got 3 foot of snowfalls, so I guess they could easily have the longest lift-serviced season in the east. With the MAJOR investments in the next years, I think in 3-4 years, you won't have to go Whistler to ski lift-serviced after Killington.

It's a pleasure, for Ski****, BG ! About the snow rituals, I don't really know what's the best thing to do, but I would never put my rock skis in fire. As I'm in the kind to break some new skis in my first turns with, I exclusively use some rock skis. I have one par less old, but not parabolic, that I use if I'm sure to not take a rocky trail in my ski day (I took them twice on my last 67 ski days)

The average of years of my 4 pairs of rock skis is about 30 years old and I'm quite sad to know one day, I'll have to ski with those fu**** parabolic skis. They're damn too much dangerous in the deep woods, IMO.

Back for the rituals, the one I prefer is just not to love summer and talk of skiing 10h a day during the whole summer... when I'm not going in the mountains like today ! lol

(yes, I'm the worst of the pathetics)

So today, I've visited a dozen of ski areas + I've seen 6-7 others... so this keep my mind frozen and snowy.

And of course..... 0% of chance of rain in the Laurentians / Lanaudiere = few ICE cubes falling on the top of la Reserve... but I'm used to that anyway. This is one of the most weird climate in southern QC, with 5-6 enough big mountains doing a circle. (Mt Ouareau, Jasper, Gaudet, La Réserve and few others that I don't know the name).

[TheOctopus]

DMC:
As long as you dont tear out an edge or delaminate a board - everythings OK.... :) My instructor during the Taos ski week this last season totally blew out an edge and sidewall on his schweet Jerry Launchers of Day 1. Field repair was made by removing the jagged metal remnants of the edge by scraping with the other ski, and then switching skis so that the blown edge was on the outside. Since it was off-piste pow pow pow all week, he never got around to getting it fixed and skied with it that way for the next 5 days.

[TheOctopus]

Frankontour:
The average of years of my 4 pairs of rock skis is about 30 years old and I'm quite sad to know one day, I'll have to ski with those fu**** parabolic skis. They're damn too much dangerous in the deep woods, IMO. How so? Personally, I love the shaped skis in the woods, especially tight woods. They're so much shorter and maneuverable. Add the flotation of fatter skis (currently my most narrow ride is 85mm underfoot), and I'm loving it (and feeling way more in control) in the seriously tight woods.

[Frankontour]

I must add that I use some 160 for 13 seasons now. It's completely false that it's cause it's parabolic that you should use some shorter skis. Parabolic or not, 160cm is the best length for doing anything you want with your skis :)

May be it does a difference in deep powder, but here, skiing in 20" is something quite rare anyway.

with some 160 not shaped, you can do some carving turns just like with some parabolics and it's totally a fraud or something like that to sell some skis 500-1000$ more expensive, cause they're parabolic. Most of the effect looks to be due to the shorter skis.

Anyway, this is just my opinion, but personnaly, I simply don't understand the skiers who buy some ski equipment 2000$ and don't have $$ to buy lift tickets after that ! lololol.

[skicdave]

M@:
I bring my rock poles to Tux.

M@ :ducttape: ha ha... bent ones no doubt :ma:

[SkiStooge]

Rock (Rolling) :beer: :beer: :beer: 's!!!!!!!!!! Have fun, be safe. Al :skistooge:

[elwood]

Frankontour:
you can do some carving turns just like with some parabolics and it's totally a fraud or something like that to sell some skis 500-1000$ more expensive, cause they're parabolic. Most of the effect looks to be due to the shorter skis.
I am going to have to disagree with you on this one Frank... I used to be a straight ski advocate, but I have skiied many different shaped skis in the last few years (and plenty of straight skis before that too). Straight skis cannot compare to the responsiveness of shaped skis. Shaped skis are loaded on the turns, they practically turn themselves... Parabolics are MUCH more manuverable than straight skis. The only danger with them is you ski on your edges much more which makes them much faster. Which is alright with me. :D

[DMC]

I stopped skiing long before the "shape ski" thing started...
My last pair of skis were K2 SLC 206...

I really want to try and ski on a shaped ski just to see what it's like and prove to some people I can still beat their a$$es in the bumps - even though I havent skied in 10 years...

[Frankontour]

Originally posted by Elwood
I used to be a straight ski advocate, but I have skiied many different shaped skis in the last few years (and plenty of straight skis before that too). Did you tried some 160 not shaped + shaped skis in the same day ? Also, for the test, it would be good to compare some 190+ not shaped skis, with 160 + shaped ones. With that, we could see if a 160, not shaped, is closer of the feeling from shaped skis or from long not shaped skis. I'm sure it's looking more like shaped ones.

Anyway, this was more an opinion than a scientific fact. But a sure thing is that I really didn't like the shaped skis in the woods.

[elwood]

My experiments were far from scientific too Frank. However I used to ski exclusively on straight 207s. For fun one day I got on a pair of straight 170s after skiing all morning on my big skis. There was a definite difference, but not like when I switched from the long boards to a pair of 185 shaped. There was a huge "WOW" factor in that switch, and now I will not go back. Of course Dynastar is a big client of my company, and the account manager hooks me up with great deals, so I don't pay retail prices. Pro-deal all the way.

[Frankontour]

There is also a big difference between 170 and 160, in my opinion. I must admit I skied 1 year with some new 170 (not shaped) and when I came back after to some 160, I understood I regressed a lot, skiing with those skis. It was a good thing to destroy them at Bromont. 160 is just perfect for me :)

May be I should try some other shaped skis. When some of them will be good for garbage, it will be the time for me to take few $ of my pockets ! lolol

(without joke, we found in garbages the skis I use for 2 years).

[elwood]

Frank,

You may be right, but I cannot bring myself to jump of 160s. I am 6 feet tall and over 200 pounds, I would not feel safe on those little guys!!! I am scared to death of those snow blades (no offense Bladegirl!), and 160cm skis are getting too short for me! Especially after skiing for 10 years on 207s!!!

[Frankontour]

Elwood,

I'm 5'11" and I weighted over 200 pounds also, few years ago. Now, It's less, but I've never been scared on my skis. Ok, it's sure I didn't use some 207 during 10 years ! I got my first 160 at 10 years old and I'm still skiing with that length ! lol. (except a short break, feb-dec 1997 with long skis (170) :D )

I also have some "cut skis" back from 1995, 2-3 years before the snowblades arrived on the market. They're just 70cm long, so it was too short, but I liked them a lot, the first time I hiked for skiing in late spring. Now, I won't have this problem anymore, cause I just bought a ski back-pack this afternoon... in case I would bring my skis to Tucks this weekend :D (no... don't think so)

[SkiStooge]

The basic thought of 160's still kinda scares me! I have for years skiied an average of a 207. My fischers are a 195 and that STILL feels short to me. I am one of those people that feel more comfortable doing "pedal" or :hop" turns on steep (please note "steep") terrain. The shortest parabolic I feel comfortable with is about a 185 or so. I DO sorta like that size. I may actually switch over to a shape in the next year or two. (Funds permitting, of course.) Oh, well. Have fun, be safe. Al :skistooge:

[Bannick]

Frank,

You gotta bring the skis. Even if you can only get one safe turn, up hill from the snow arch, you will have been skiing in August and that is all that counts really and have some photos to boot and post for us all. I hope to see some "snow" at the biodome this weekend. Which is all I can get for now.

B :snowboarding:

[Frankontour]

Stoogie,

On my side, it's weird, it looks I'm just not able to ski decently with longer than 160 and particularly with expensive skis. The best way to improve me is to have 2$ equipment to not fear to break it.

Bannick,

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
don't tell me something like that !!!! lol
I don't stop to tell me that I just won't bring them, but now that I have a ski back-pack, I would like to try it and anyway, I would do anything to ski once again before november ... but I'm scared of carrying all my equipment for nothing. It's my 1st time in the ravine. It wouldn't be safe to make it with all my ski equipment :( BUT NEXT YEAR..... !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bannick]

Frank.....

Three words for you.....NEW Ski Pack. You at least have to try out the new gear. Kinda like training for next spring so you know what to expect and get your duct taping technique perfected and the straps adjusted to perfection. Now is the time to do this so you have no surprises in the spring.

B :snowboarding:

[Frankontour]

Tuckerman Ravine is probably not the best place for practice ;) When you count 2500' high to the floor of the ravine from Pinkham Notch... and the snowpatch is higher than that.

As I did 16 hike & ski trips last spring (a dozen of days), I will certainly have the chance to practice before going to Tucks next year with my skis ;)

The forecast for saturday begins to look better !! They changed the Thunder storms for sun and isolated thunder storms, in the ravine, so with a little bit of chance, they could remove the rest of the storms for just let us sun :)

[BladeGirl]

elwood:
Frank,

You may be right, but I cannot bring myself to jump of 160s. I am 6 feet tall and over 200 pounds, I would not feel safe on those little guys!!! I am scared to death of those snow blades (no offense Bladegirl!), and 160cm skis are getting too short for me! Believe it or not, 160s are too short for me too! When I'm not on blades (which is most of the time) I ski 170s: Rossi Bandit X.

-BG

[RR]

I guess I'm just plain mixed up (not to mention thrifty): I'm 6' and just under 200lbs and my 205 G3's are flat out grin makers on all but the narrowest terrain. In the trees I like my 185's (Merite Carbon) but when I'm free heeling, the little 180 Elan Carbons are just plain fun all over the place....

New gear, starting this fall...maybe, but with plastic boots I'm thinking about 188 SuperStinx for all of my tele needs

[kmrnskier]

Hey everyone! I'm 5'4", have skied for 27 years, many of them on 185 straights. A few years ago I, reluctantly, changed over to the shaped skis. My first season I started on 177s, "they" told me it was way too long for me, but nooooo, I didn't believe them (duh). I found out the hard way, and the next season, I went right down to 160s, and would actually like to go a little shorter this year!!!! They are SOOOOO much fun, easy to do everything, and tons of fun in the trees and bumps!! I know some people say that the new skis basically ski for you, but its just not true. It's just incredible how you can just carve a turn so hard, it's the best feeling!! :snowflakes:

[Frankontour]

*Contour likes the big carving turns with his 160 not shaped :D

As I'm a short skis lover, I should try sometimes the real snowblades. It looks easy to do about anything with that. One of my buddy was skiing for his 7th time or so and he was following me into the "little" extreme trails of la Réserve like this one (Pirouette)... He even survived to his day. Personnaly, on my 7th ski day, I was just beginning the bumps... but ok, I was just 8 y/o. But it took me many years before to ski some trails like that !!

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/discus/messages/2508/1786.jpg

[elwood]

Since I am used to skiing on the long boards, I was scared to death to make the switch to shaped skis (I ski a 185 shaped now) because I would have to drop length considerably. So I had a choice between the entire Dynastar line and picked the heaviest, stiffest ones I could find, the Skicross. Love 'em. Here in Vermont we are used to jungle skiing, and those babies treat me great in the woods! Of course, the added weight is a bear to carry up to the ravine, but I'm young. I can hack it... I'll get light skis when the knees give out...

[Mumster]

I'm back again -

1. BG finally downloaded her pic
2. Skicdave updated his :teardrop: image
3. Glad there is still some snow on Tucks
4. Tenney confessed to being a washout for heat-wave skiing.

I can't believe you guys are going thru the ski length thing again. Length just isn't that important (assuming a minimum requirement is met). It's 156-170 for me.....stiffness is more important for most of what I like to do. :cool:

It's good to be back. :D

[BladeGirl]

Mumster:


I can't believe you guys are going thru the ski length thing again. Length just isn't that important (assuming a minimum requirement is met). Sure, Mumster, thats what we tell the guys: its not the length of your ski, its what you do with it. ;)

-BG

[RR]

you two have me laughing hard enough to get dirty looks from the boss!

[Frankontour]

back on the original topic of this thread...

where the hell is this place ?????
http://www.kotv.com/pages/viewpage.asp?id=49107

(in case they remove the article...) :


North America's newest ski slope broke ground Monday in Sand Springs

Don't wait for snow, don't head to the mountains, year-round skiing is coming to Green Country.

Dryslope North America broke ground Monday on "The Slopes" in Sand Springs. It's the first outdoor year-round ski and snowboard park in North America, minus the snow.

John Sieler with Dryslope North America, "material is similar to indoor outdoor carpet, it goes down over foam, so when you fall it's actually softer than falling on snow. What makes this unique is the incorporated mister system, which goes off and sprays every few minutes to lubricate, similar to sliding on snow."

"The Slopes" will offer a variety of challenges for all ski levels, from runs to snowboard jumps. It should be open by New Year’s Eve.

[elwood]

Forget the original topic frank,

Bladegirl and Mumster are talking about wave size vs. motion of the ocean!!! :D :D :D :D :D

[SkiStooge]

Sand Springs is in Oklahoma. Check out Dry Slope NA.com. (I believe)...Something like that anyways. Google search under "Dry Slope" They say it hurts less than snow to yardsale on. Might be another alternative, however. Personally, I'm not a HUGE fan of sweating my testosterone storage container off while skiing, BUT I would definitely try skiing artificial turf if it was within a couple hours of drive time. Anyways, Have fun, be safe. Al :skistooge:

[BladeGirl]

Mumster:

Length just isn't that important (assuming a minimum requirement is met). It's 156-170 for me.....stiffness is more important for most of what I like to do. :cool:
And just to add a comment I should have added earlier, I agree that a certain stiffness *is* certainly necessary for what I like to do. Floppy equiment just won't do the job. ;)

-BG

[DMC]

I have a big wide board... I think girth is where it's at... Slightly stiff.. But still very flexible...

Allows you to plow into anything....

[Mumster]

Noteworthy point, DMC. It supports the notion that the total recreational value of the ski experience is multifaceted.

[skicdave]

Back from :teardrop: again. Our house is BOILING hot so bare with me here...

I believe length matters (for skis) :mumster: . Anything shorter than 170cm just doesn't carve a nice stable GS turn (well for me.. 6ft). It took me until this year to give up my straight boards (197's and 205's). I finally gave into the marketing types who told me I needed to have some fine shapely skis. I ended up with 180's.

By the way: A true Toni Matt club members would ski on something stable like Toni did. His were at least 215cm (7 ft) long. Straight and long they be. And he didn't need hard edges either. Cable for bindings also please. Oh and ditch the molded plastic boots... rotting leather will do fine thank you very much. Leave the goretex at home also.

Anybody know if Toni had a pair of 'rock skis'?

Dave

[TheOctopus]

DMC:
I have a big wide board... I think girth is where it's at... Slightly stiff.. But still very flexible...

Allows you to plow into anything.... Funny, I'm becoming more and more like the snowboarders every year.... I couldn't agree more with DMC. I'm all about fats skis now -- my "general use" rig is 85mm underfoot. And I'll ski the heliskis without too much provocation, even in the allegedly icy East (hey, it ain't icy where I ski). I find that nice, wide boards let me run over nearly anything. Since I spend just about no time on groomed terrain, even at 6'1", I can ski some pretty short skis without conequence. Not carving too many turns these days, and the short length lets me ski some pretty tight stuff that I wouldn't want to try on my (retired) 190 GS skis. I'm all about flotation (fat) and maneuverability (short). But hey -- whatever you like to use to slide on the snow, it's all cool with me.

[Bannick]

I got into the wide boards while living out west. I have a 155 Sims Neil Drake with a nice cracked edge. It was 31.9 cm wide nose and tail, was one of the widest available back then. My size 8.5 feet had no toe or heel overhang. It is nice and floaty in the powder and still lets me get up on any slush and crud. The board is now a wet noodle still great for the pipe but I still drag it with me out west cuz it still floats like a dream. My regular board is a Limited, LTD 155 slightly narrower but is a rocket and can float pretty well from light and dry to the heavy stuff at Baker.

When I make the move out west this season, I will probably pick up something around 165-168. I know that this might not mean much to all you skiing types but for the sake of the snowboarders out there it is nice to have some board talk mixed in with the ski banter.

I would love to try skiing, particularly tele but alas 17 seasons of hockey and a line drive off the knee playing short when I was 13 have taken their toll. My orthopedic surgeon told me to ride hard till I blow em out and he will rebuild me all bionic like.

B :snowboarding:

[Mumster]

Having learned to ski in the Poconos, where everything is groomed, I don't have much experience with fat-waisted skis. My race skis sink; my rock skis do a bit better in powder. Still, I'm looking forward to the day when I can master fat skis and float around with the rest of you... :skifemcool:

BTW, Skicdave, welcome back. Who is doing the heelclick over the teardrop, anyway? http://campadk.com/images/daveheadclickoverptpj.gif It doesn't look like RR Kate :chair:

[skicdave]

Hi :mumster: ,

Bet you had a blast at the Hood! Will get those pix posted today sometime.

Thats me doing the heel click.. hey men can do that too yah know!

[Mumster]

skicdave:
Thats me doing the heel click.. hey men can do that too yah know! Impressive :skicdave: . Not only do you ski on those long straight boards like Toni Matt, but you do heel clicks like :chair: as well.