What ski to demo at Jackson Hole?

[marta]

I'm going to Jackson Hole in two weeks!
I'm bringing my Burnin Luv's but plan to rent something wider. What do you gals suggest? Given that the Burnin luvs are 68 waist, how wide should I go 78?, 88? Looking at Lotta luvs, Tough Luv, Exclusive Legends, Legend Powders....

 

[Gloria]

I ski Jackson a few times a year, and it depends on the conditions and what you will be skiing. Jackson has alot of nice chutes most of which most feed out onto pretty well skied and ussually bumped out runs. Even Tower 3 gets bumped out pretty quickly. If the conditions are "Epic" you could go fatter, but you probably won't be too dissappointed with your burnin luvs overall for the most part. The new skis they are demoing that I remember are the Salomons, The Rossi Bandit series, Elan Mag spice?, K2 luv series ( I don't remember seeing any Phats, but the always have had them in the past, and Fishers at JHMR. Teton Mtn Sports has Volkls (AC's and Auras I think) Rossi B series, and Heads, and a couple others as I remember. The shop between the two has some crossover plus Dynastars. ( Yes I was there with a group of women, we hit all the shops apres ski ) If you like your K2's the Phat is always a great choice for Jackson, lots of women ski it there, the Aura is always popular and alot of women in this geographical area swear by the Rossi B series. The Dynastar Legends are also a really popular womens ski at Jackson. It's hard to say exactly which is most suitable for you without knowing where you plan to ski on them etc, but at least you know which direction to head for what you decide. ( Teton Mtn Sports has a nice card that shows you what they have and how each ski performs etc. ) To me it seems that Jackson is one of those places that you may ski a little untracked powder then hit some gnarly BiG bumps and then traverse to an icy groomer to get back to the chair. ( Especially now that the Tram is down ) So I would look for something fat yet versatile to as there is just no way to avoid that last stretch to the chair. Jackson is a great place though, enjoy it!

 

[Gloria]

One more thing, you can always switch skis out throughout the day when demoing. I would recomend one of the smaller shops if you want to do this, the two (without naming names ) closest to the gondi are ussually more crowded and take longer if you choose to go this route. Just sayin'

 

[marta]

That's good to know! We like the small shops anyway. Which skis would be more on the light and nimble side do you know?

 

[Sheena]

If you can get your hands on a pair, you may want to try a pair of the Atomic Sugar Daddy skis. They are 99 underfoot.

These skis are AMAZING in powder. Today was the deepest I have skied succesfully - about 15 in. And I just cut right through the powder. Absolutely amazing. I also took them out on a steeper slope with moguls covered up with cut up powder. I have usually stayed away from these types of conditions because I never felt stable or that I could make turns where and when I wanted to. But with the SDs it made it easy for me.

For a fat ski they are really surprisingly good on hard pack - although definitely not as good as other narrower skis. However as long as I kept my speed up, they performed pretty well on the hard pack.

When I was on the hard pack today it was the only time I wished I had my IM 88s - those skis rock too!

 

[Shellski]

That's good to know! We like the small shops anyway. Which skis would be more on the light and nimble side do you know?

If you are looking for light, cross the K2 Lottas off, they are pretty hefty.

 

[Sheena]

Sugar Daddy skis are incredibly light....

 

[Quiver Queen]

Don't forget about Head Sweet Fat Thangs--semi-fat but very versatile, light, lively, and fun. I'm taking mine to Jackson later in the season.

 

[dloveski]

Sweet Fat Thangs...

and for hard-pack days--see if you can get your hands on the Sugar Mamas (Atomic).

After 4 demos, I finally sprung for the Sugar Mamas as my Christmas present. I test drove them on groomers---and they are peppy.

I agree with other Divas---it will depend on the conditions. I am liking my Sweet Fat Thangs for all-round softer conditions, mixed powder and trees, even soft groomers.

 

[marta]

The sweet fat thangs and sugar mamas are both great suggestions! For the hard pack days I'll have my burnin luvs with me. If there are any that is! From what I'm hearing it hasn't stopped snowing there since Dec 3. Our cousin who lives there reports powder up to his waist yesterday. Perhaps I should bring my snorkel too, LOL

 

[marta]

Hi - so I ended up skiing Tough Luvs. I chose it because it came in 146 length, one of the few that comes short enough for tiny people (I'm 4'11"). First day out, I thought they were a bit heavy and sluggish, but it was also my first day out in real powder in many years, and my first time ever on fats. But the 2nd day, I got to know them. I ended up having a lot of fun with them, and their hefty feeling seemed to disappear. They were good at whatever I threw at them, powder, crud, groomed, steeps. They especially liked bumps and choppy snow. Easy turning and suprisingly very grippy on the groomed as well. Seemed like they're built much like my Burnin Luv's, just wider.

I thought I'd also try Auras and Scarlets, and Rossi bandits seemed popular around the mtn, but since I was having fun with these and the ski shop was located in my hotel, I kept them for the rest of my trip.