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Pity the poor recreational skier. It's a simple sport they've been told, easy to learn, great for fitness and good health. "Just get some gear and c'mon out; you'll have a ball" is the word. So the intrepid neophyte hies on down to their local ski shop, walks in, steps up to the ski rack.and is confronted by what looks to be a mile-long picket fence of skis. Skis of all lengths and shapes, long skis and short skis, narrow skis and wide. The colors flash like a neon rainbow in the fluorescent light. The erstwhile sales clerk rattles off a spiel peppered with indecipherable terms: "sintered base," "positive nowax base," "sidecut" and "camber." By now our potential skier's eyes have begun to roll back. Then comes the killer: All measurements are in metric units. Our skier flashes back to elementary math, those horrible hours spent trying to decipher the metric system, knowledge that was fleeting at best and now is long since forgotten. Millimeters? Centimeters? Centipedes? Good lord! How did it come to this? Our potential skier is thinking not about the wonderful, simple sport he's about to try, but still trying to figure out what sidecut is and wondering which is longer, a millimeter or a centimeter or a liter. Simple sport? Not to this new skier. Things seem frightening in their complexity. So what's a person to do? What course of action to best spare the angst and agony of techno mumble jumble, and the confusion and consternation of sorting through things measured in some foreign system? Choosing skis isn't rocket science. Choosing ski equipment for the recreational skier is as simple, or as difficult, as we make it. Let's make it simple. Let's start with a basic observation that we all start to make the ski buying decision prior to walking in the door of the ski shop. Every skier, or potential skier, has an idea of what they expect from the sport. For some, it's a quick Sunday afternoon outing with friends in the local park skiing on prepared trails. They've driven past the park, seen skiers and it looks like fun. For others it's a fitness sport, fairly demanding, a wintertime compliment to fair-weather jogging, inline skating or bicycle riding. Others have heard their friends rave about this great activity and have a standing invitation for "expert" lessons and advice. But whatever the reasons and whatever the motivation, everyone has an idea of what they want. So the first bit of advice for the recreational skier ready to buy new gear is an easy one: Skier, know thyself. Know if you'll be skiing in a prepared track (the majority of situations in the Midwest); or out of the tracks, breaking trail (less popular but still a reasonable choice). Know if you'll want to ski fast for fitness or slow and steady for simple relaxation. Be honest about yourself and your abilities. Are you athletic? How's your balance? Have you dowhill skied or inline skated (they demand similar balance and weight transfer)? Have you ever XC skied before? How much time do you really want to devote to the sport? Then it's time to march into the ski shop and check out all those skis. Chances are that in spite of all the ski models you find there, you can narrow them down to a reasonable number pretty quickly. Remember that this isn't rocket science. First off, we address the question of wax vs. nowax skis. For the recreational skier, all follows from this decision. [An aside is in order here. Some may argue that the first choice may well be between striding and skating. Yet the simple truth is that the vast majority of recreational skis sold both in the Midwest and nationally are diagonal stride skis. Thus the following discussion will be based on the premise that most entry-level skiers will be looking for recreational diagonal stride skis.] After all is said and done, here's what it boils down to: Waxable skis require the skier to apply waxes to the base in order to provide grip and glide. Waxable skis, when waxed correctly (note the emphasis), give exceptional performance, especially in terms of smooth, easy glide. In the Midwest, where temperatures are generally cold and snow is dry, choosing a wax is a fairly easy task. Still, it does require some time to apply the wax and clean the ski. And, as with any procedure that requires making a choice, if the skier's choice of wax is incorrect, ski performance can be abysmal, with either no grip whatsoever, or with great amounts of snow sticking to the base and staying there. This hampers glide considerably. Nowax skis provide reliable grip through means of a patterned base that, when weighted, is pushed down against the snow and resists sliding backwards, allowing the skier to glide forward on the other ski. Nowax skis provide convenience at the expense of performance, especially when performance is measured in terms of glide. A person who skis only a few times a year and has no time or inclination to learn to wax or to do the basic maintenance on the ski is probably best served with a nowax ski. The skier who has an eye for added performance, sees nothing intimidating about applying wax and finds nothing inconvenient about cleaning and maintaining their skis will do well to choose a waxable ski. The decision between waxable or nowax skis is the first one a skier needs to make. Having accomplished that, a number of skis on the rack can be removed from consideration. What other variables influence ski choice? For one thing, skis vary in width. Wider skis are better suited for off-trail use. Why? Simple. More surface spreads the skier's weight over a greater area and the skis don't sink in as much (same concept as snowshoes). Thus they are a clear choice for off-trail skiing. Plus, a wider ski is more stable and thus less tippy for the person of not-so-wonderful balance (remember the "be honest about your abilities" from above?). On a packed trail the extra width is not needed and because of the extra drag created by a wider base, it is usually a hindrance. Trail skis need not be as wide and will glide more easily on the packed surface. How wide is wide? Here we can get into the metric measurements that confuse the issue. In the spirit of keeping things easy, ask to see examples of a wider, off-trail ski; an in-track recreational ski and, for comparison only, a very narrow race ski. Hold the skis, one atop the other, and you'll quickly find some means for comparison. The skier looking for an in-track ski will generally discard from consideration the wider sliders. Vice versa for the off-trail aficionado. A person who skis on a prepared trail but is not very athletic may lean a bit more toward a slightly wider ski for the added stability. Length is another variable that need not be overly confusing. For generations, skis were designed to be skied in a length that was longer than the skier was tall. That worked well in the past and works well today. Things changed in the past decade, however, when a newer type of ski was developed that was shorter in length than what was traditionally accepted. These skis were designed to be skied in a length about the same as the skier's height. The shorter skis offered obvious advantages of easier maneuverability, lighter weight, easier control, and the like. They gained immediate acceptance and have grown in popularity. Still, traditional length skis (longer than the skier's height by up to 10 inches on average) remain popular even today. They offer greater stability in straight-ahead downhills and for most people are comfortable to handle and easy enough to control. Let's face it, they've worked well for years. Why not just buy a shorter length in a traditional design instead of buying a compact ski of the same length? Basically the traditional length skis (and there are about seven different lengths for each model versus usually three in the compact skis) are built so that the longer sizes work better with a heavier body weight. Thus a longer ski (210 cm or so to use the metric sizing just once) is designed to hold a 6-foot tall or so adult who might weight 180 to 200 pounds or thereabouts. The shorter traditional-length skis are built for a shorter, lighter person. Putting a tall, heavier person on a short ski of traditional design causes the ski to drag more than it should and not perform nearly as well as it might. A compact ski may be the same length as a short traditional ski but be designed from the start to take a heavier person and will work well with that weight skier. Popularity of the different types of lengths are about equal with longer skis edging out more compact lengths among beginners, in many cases simply due to economics as they're generally less expensive. What's the right choice for our average recreational skier? Again, it comes down to what the skier expects. If speed is any type of a factor, the longer skis are a better choice. Maneuverability points to the shorter lengths, and less athletic skiers will find the shorter skis easier to turn and easier to herringbone up a hill. So we've gotten our skier to narrow the search down between wax and nowax skis; between wider off-trail and narrower in-trail models; and determine the type of length most appropriate. By now the choices are probably down to just a few models. What helps differentiate the remaining skis? Well, weight is important. Every time you move a ski forward, whether striding or skating, you need to pick the ski up. The lighter the ski, the less effort to move it and the less fatigue that develops in the long run. So a ski that is lighter is generally a good choice (it's also generally a more expensive ski). Then there's always the cost. Certain models of skis are lighter, have better ability to carry the skier's weight efficiently, and are made to closer tolerances and exhibit cleaner workmanship. They're also more expensive and those are some of the reasons they're worth it. But they make sense, for those little things all add up and make for a nicer skiing ski and a better ski experience. Good equipment does make a difference. It also comes at a cost and most skiers do have a budget. That's pretty simple as well! By now, our skier should have sorted through the forest of skis and narrowed things down pretty quickly to one or two models. The decision now is an easy matter of finding the one or two details on which to make the final determination. If they've done their work well, thought things through before they came into the shop and taken some time to sort through the skis at hand, the ski that's right for them should be at hand. Then it's off to fit the boots, find the poles, get the bindings mounted and they'll be all set for the first snowfall. The ski selection process need not be
complicated. By taking some time to figure out just what it is that appeals in the sport, by being honest about abilities and time considerations, and by keeping an eye on budget, it's pretty quick and easy. No need to get caught up in indecipherable terms or bogged down in too many decisions. Just keep it simple! And use the time and energy saved to go skiing. | |
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