litterbug
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
At the risk of inciting a riot I wonder what you all think about this.
So yesterday I'm taking a break from the wind and the stinging snow by visiting my usually terse bootfitter to literally iron out a wrinkle in one of the flaps above the boot tongue that was causing me some pain (I must have mis-buckled the boot before putting it in my Hot Gear bag). Afterwards, he appeared to approve of my Geishas and strongly suggested replacing the demo bindings because I'd enjoy them even more without the extra weight. :D
Then I asked him about boot flex because I've become unsure whether my boots are stiff enough. We've made several changes, so I'm not sure yet, but I told him I'm concerned that with what I call a lot of weight for my height the boot might not be supportive enough. He noted that my boot is "only" a 90 flex and allowed that it might be so (why am I talking like a southerner all of a sudden?).
Then he talked about "driving" versus "riding" a ski. It was getting late and I had more skiing to do so I didn't ask for a full explanation, but he did say that people who ride their skis don't necessarily need very much support from a boot, whereas driving the skis requires more stiffness. Although those last few runs were fantastic I regret not taking more advantage of his talkative mood to pump him for all kinds of info.
I think that nowadays I drive my skis--I actively initiate turns, flexibly control the movement of my mass both along my ski and down the hill, make all kinds of turn shapes, and use rhythm and turn completion to control my speed (although yesterday's weather chaos generated a lot of Grateful Dead psychedelic jams). Of course I still lapse and bobble and fall back at times, but more and more of my skiing is active and directed. Does this sound like driving? Of course I'd like it to be, because he appeared to approve of driving more than riding, and despite my age I still like the approval of a nice looking guy.
Oh, and by the way, for some reason unwrinkling the boot flap seemed to make it fit very well; my toes are still in there quite tight because of the pads behind my heels, but he said they'd pack out again. Too bad because now I won't get to see him before he quits and goes off to school. :(
So yesterday I'm taking a break from the wind and the stinging snow by visiting my usually terse bootfitter to literally iron out a wrinkle in one of the flaps above the boot tongue that was causing me some pain (I must have mis-buckled the boot before putting it in my Hot Gear bag). Afterwards, he appeared to approve of my Geishas and strongly suggested replacing the demo bindings because I'd enjoy them even more without the extra weight. :D
Then I asked him about boot flex because I've become unsure whether my boots are stiff enough. We've made several changes, so I'm not sure yet, but I told him I'm concerned that with what I call a lot of weight for my height the boot might not be supportive enough. He noted that my boot is "only" a 90 flex and allowed that it might be so (why am I talking like a southerner all of a sudden?).
Then he talked about "driving" versus "riding" a ski. It was getting late and I had more skiing to do so I didn't ask for a full explanation, but he did say that people who ride their skis don't necessarily need very much support from a boot, whereas driving the skis requires more stiffness. Although those last few runs were fantastic I regret not taking more advantage of his talkative mood to pump him for all kinds of info.
I think that nowadays I drive my skis--I actively initiate turns, flexibly control the movement of my mass both along my ski and down the hill, make all kinds of turn shapes, and use rhythm and turn completion to control my speed (although yesterday's weather chaos generated a lot of Grateful Dead psychedelic jams). Of course I still lapse and bobble and fall back at times, but more and more of my skiing is active and directed. Does this sound like driving? Of course I'd like it to be, because he appeared to approve of driving more than riding, and despite my age I still like the approval of a nice looking guy.
Oh, and by the way, for some reason unwrinkling the boot flap seemed to make it fit very well; my toes are still in there quite tight because of the pads behind my heels, but he said they'd pack out again. Too bad because now I won't get to see him before he quits and goes off to school. :(