Shellski
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Long story - 2005 in Vail, I demo a pair of Burnin' Luvs, and adore them completely. So I buy them, ski all over Vail, Breck, Telluride etc in all conditions from hard groomers to over a foot of fresh snow, no worries at all, they may be fairly narrow but have a nice wide shovel that just plows through the snow.
But skis just seem to get wider and wider, so I think I may be missing out on something. We plan a trip to Chamonix, so when I see a good deal on a pair of 2007 Lottas last year, I break my cardinal rule and buy them without demoing.
Chamonix - February. When we arrive, there isn't any fresh snow so the first couple of days are on nice firm groomers, the edge hold isn't quite as good as the Burnin's but they are quite decent otherwise. We have a private lesson just to iron out a couple of kinks since we haven't skied in two years. No major issues there, we do some basic drills, but the instructor says 'you are both good skiers, you can handle pretty much all Chamonix terrain'.
Then it starts snowing and everything falls apart. I cannot, cannot get forward on the skis in the deep snow (up to knee deep). It's like my upper body can't catch up with the skis. If you've ever waterskied, that's what it felt like, it was bizarre. It's not a problem I have on the groomed, or have had in deep snow on any other ski, it's not a fear thing, I have no issues committing to the fall line even on steep slopes, I ski double blacks with a fair amount of confidence. They just seemed to keep pushing forward, it was the oddest feeling.
Does anyone have any insights? I don't know whether it's a matter of just getting used to the feeling of floatation (although they aren't even all that wide) rather than skiing 'under' the snow. I can't think of what else to do other than hope my regular instructor here on home turf can spot the problem. Or throw them in the nearest dumpster. I was actually half wishing the airline would just lose them!!
But skis just seem to get wider and wider, so I think I may be missing out on something. We plan a trip to Chamonix, so when I see a good deal on a pair of 2007 Lottas last year, I break my cardinal rule and buy them without demoing.
Chamonix - February. When we arrive, there isn't any fresh snow so the first couple of days are on nice firm groomers, the edge hold isn't quite as good as the Burnin's but they are quite decent otherwise. We have a private lesson just to iron out a couple of kinks since we haven't skied in two years. No major issues there, we do some basic drills, but the instructor says 'you are both good skiers, you can handle pretty much all Chamonix terrain'.
Then it starts snowing and everything falls apart. I cannot, cannot get forward on the skis in the deep snow (up to knee deep). It's like my upper body can't catch up with the skis. If you've ever waterskied, that's what it felt like, it was bizarre. It's not a problem I have on the groomed, or have had in deep snow on any other ski, it's not a fear thing, I have no issues committing to the fall line even on steep slopes, I ski double blacks with a fair amount of confidence. They just seemed to keep pushing forward, it was the oddest feeling.
Does anyone have any insights? I don't know whether it's a matter of just getting used to the feeling of floatation (although they aren't even all that wide) rather than skiing 'under' the snow. I can't think of what else to do other than hope my regular instructor here on home turf can spot the problem. Or throw them in the nearest dumpster. I was actually half wishing the airline would just lose them!!
