For the technically inclined gear geeks

I have been thinking my ski skills are much improved recently.

Then I thought a dose of reality was do.  Call it a gut check or soul searching.  Your choice.

For various reasons I waxed and took a pair of 207cm Rossignol 4Gs out for a spin yesterday.  The skis are like new and when purchased in 1993, state of the art.  Reality checked in on the first turn.  A few runs later and I was enjoying all the good things about an old school GS race ski.  Solid under your feet.  They carve like a Samurai sword and they are stiff enough to plow through anything.

Conditions were literally falling apart at Alpental yesterday.  Snow turning to water the moment it hit you.  BIG slide evidence everywhere inside the ski area and a foot or so of heavy snow generally cut up where it wasn't simply avi debris.

Truth is, almost perfect conditions for a snow board.  But even they were finding the avi debris problematic. 

The 4Gs were fun, but hard to turn prior to building up some speed (warp speed).  Damn scary by comparison to a fat ski (or snow board) in the deep wet snow.  Pretty fun blasting through the chop though.  It was the kind of day most of us simply didn't bother skiing  BITD.  Too much work and too easy to sink a tip and get seriously hurt.

Enter my 196cm  Dynafit Huascaran.  First turn was easy.  Mindless actually with almost exactly half the boot technology on.  The previously frightening experience in the chopped up junk became almost  (almost)  playful by comparison.  The entire mountain opened up to me...almost as much as it had been to the snow boarders.  The Dynafit ski almost  doubles the surface area on the snow.  115mm under foot as compared to 67mm under foot.   And the Dynafit is so much easier to ski in the majority of conditions I see on the hill.

And to be honest of all my skis this 196cm Huascaran isn't the easiest ski I own to ski. 

So truth is my skiing skills haven't found a magically fountain of youth and improved skills.  Instead I am lucky enough to see the gear improve enough that it has easily made me a better skier.  Imagine what you might be able to do!

 

"What would Trevor do?"

Dude, he'd change to a fat, rockered skis.

http://www.denverpost.com/extremes/ci_11874810

More gear geek info here:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/the-power-of-gear-how-technical-equipment-redefines-our-relationship-with-extreme-environments/275177/