What you need to know about powder skis

[tradygirl]

Big, Fat Powder Ski Basics, Part 1: Why go big?

So you want to ski powder like Sage, do ya? Sick of being left wallowing while your friends smoke you down that powder field yet again? Well here are the basics to help you through demoing and purchasing your next pair of fatties so you can start slaying the pow too!

First of all, whatever I say here will probably be blown out of the water by the end of next season. Ski designers are getting extremely creative and innovative with their designs and I’m sure there are even more fun breakthroughs in the pipeline. So, here's a quick primer about what elements are driving the new generation of powder skis.

Camber
In the early 2000’s Shane McConkey shocked the skiing world with the unveiling of the Volant Spatula. The ski introduced a radical new design that would change powder skiing forever. Since then, the term “reverse camber” has been thrown around a whole bunch. So what does it mean?

Camber is amount of fore-aft curvature designed into the ski. Conventional camber is dome-shaped, which means if the ski is on the ground un-weighted, the waist of the ski will be higher than the tip and tail. Conventional camber is what gives you so much control on groomers – the curvature allows the full length of the ski edge to stay in contact as the ski compresses underfoot during a turn. Reverse camber is therefore bowl-shaped, which means that if the ski is on the ground un-weighted, the tip and tail will be higher than the waist. This means that since the tips are already higher than the waist, as you weight the ski into a turn you’ll lose even more edge contact! This is the reason that full reverse camber may not be the best choice for groomers. It feels like riding on two saucers. Rockered is another term being thrown around, which is usually referring to reverse camber at only the tip or tail. Early rise is yet another term that describes moving the contact point of the snow backwards towards your boot. For instance, if you laid the ski flat, the tip loses contact with the ground sooner than a typical ski.

So traditional camber skis are made to keep the tip and tail of your ski in contact with the snow, right? What’s the hardest part about powder skiing? Tip dive! Reverse camber solves the problem of having to lean way back in order to keep from kissing your tips and doing a powder somersault. The tips float no matter what you do! The other BIG benefit of reverse camber is lack of “edge hooking” in variable snow. Reverse camber skis cut through heavy snow, crusts, chop, and wind blown almost like powder.

Side cut
Simply put, side cut is the difference in width of the waist compared to the tips of the ski. Side cut radius is the radius of the circle that would fit within the curvature of the side of the ski. Larger side cut = smaller radius. The amount of side cut a ski has will change the turning radius of a ski. As a ski decambers when weighted in a turn, the amount of side cut will determine how much the ski will decamber before the edges engage under the foot. More side cut = more decamber = smaller turning radius.

However, let’s consider powder skiing. What’s the last thing you want to do? Sink. Imagine that super side cut ski you were just ripping groomers on. It’s made to decamber a lot to allow your edges to stay engaged in a tight turn. So what happens in the powder? You weight the ski and your feet sink at the point where your ski is the narrowest. Less side cut = less decamber = less sinkage!

So this gets us into reverse side cut, which was dramatically displayed by the Spatula. A fatter underfoot and tapered tips will keep you on top of the snow while also cutting through snow like a hot knife through butter.

Width
Only a few years ago, a ski that was 100mm underfoot was considered overkill, but we are now seeing skis 120+! The difference is the camber. Make a traditionally cut and cambered ski 120mm wide - although it may float better due to shear surface area, the ski is still designed for tip dive. Now make a 120mm ski on a reverse camber platform, and there ya go, skiing like Jeremy Nobis. The drawback to going wider and wider for either reverse or traditional camber is that the ski gets harder and harder to get on edge. Going heli-skiing? Go fat with minimal sidecut - no worries about edging! Skiing at the resort every weekend? You may want to think a little bit harder about the design you choose.

Length
Again, new ski designs are destroying the old sizing rules. Ski length is now all about “running length”, or how much of the ski will be in contact with the snow while turning on a groomer. Traditional skis are made to keep as much of the ski as possible in contact to increase control and speed on groomed runs. However, powder skis with reverse camber designs will only have a fraction of the length of the ski in contact with the snow during a groomer turn. This effectively makes the ski feel shorter! The beauty of this is that you can easily handle a bigger ski that will float even better in the pow.

Next: So why all the different designs?

 

[tradygirl]

Big, Fat Powder Ski Basics, Part 2: Putting it all together

So, what does all of this mean? It means that you have a plethora of choices before you as you start shopping. Here’s a few of the more popular designs, along with some personal musings about why the design is good. Remember, the skis I mention here just scratch the surface of what’s out there. Many boutique brands have cropped up with their own fat ski designs, like Bluehouse, PMGear, Icelantic, Armada, etc.

Volant Spatula – Full reverse camber, reverse side cut
The original. 131-136-124, only available in 189 length. Full reverse camber and reverse side cut. These bad boys are even slightly rockered edge-to-edge! Although they were singly responsible for ushering in a new era of powder skiing, they have some major drawbacks. First, they are H-E-A-V-Y. Second, the reverse side cut/full reverse camber shape makes them very hard to handle on anything but wide open powder fields. Don’t even think about holding an edge, including on that spicy traverse out to that yummy powder field. This design has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaurs due to the lack of edge control, but it paved the way for the powder ski revolution.

K2 Pontoon – Tip and tail rocker, tapered tail, traditional underfoot side cut
The spawn of the Spatula! 160-130-120. Rather than a full reverse camber, the Pontoon has a rockered tip and tail, keeping the center part of the ski flat with a traditional side cut. This makes the ski much easier to handle on hardpack and when you need to set an edge. The tapered tail also adds to stability at speed and easier landing when you want to huck big.

Spatula vs Pontoon

K2 Hellbent – Tip and tail rocker, traditional underfoot side cut, twin tip
Very similar to the Pontoon, but designed specifically for bi-directional travel (twin tip). 150-122-141. Again, a rockered tip and tail with a flat, traditional side cut in the center. The tail is not tapered, so you can get your switch steeze on in the powder.

Black Diamond Megawatt – Flat camber, early rise tip, traditional side cut
153-125-130. Although subtle, the Megawatt takes a slightly different direction than the Pontoon. The tip is rockered (or early rise) but the tail is traditional. The result is a very humorous flapping-toe “clown shoe” effect (if you’ve see it you know what I mean). With a flat-cambered tail and a relatively straight side cut from the boot rearward, the ski performs like a fat traditional ski on hard pack.

Rossignol S7/Roxy Mumbo Jumbo – Tip and tail rocker, traditional camber and side cut center
Yet another attempt to find the holy grail of do-it-all powder skis. The S7 has a crazy profile – a tapered rockered tip and tail, reverse side cut partway to the boot, traditional side cut under the boot. The best attempt yet at harnessing the powder performance of the Spatula while also providing some control on groomers.

Rossi S7

Roxy Mumbo Jumbo

Next: Show me the really new stuff!

 

[tradygirl]

Big, Fat Powder Ski Basics, Part 3: The next step

So those are the basic designs that have set the standard. But...

There are many new designs coming in ’09-’10 that will be mixtures of the components pioneered by the skis discussed above. The most popular trend seems to be applying a tip rocker to an otherwise traditionally cut ski similar to the K2 Obsethed or the Solomon Czar. Other manufactures are doing “reboot” designs of skis we already know and love, like the Volkl Gotama and Kiku (which are both getting a tip rocker as well).

Volkl Kiku

Another extremely exciting segment (at least for the backcountry crowd) is the lighter weight stuff with a rockered design. This type of ski could be considered the Holy Grail to most backcountry powder hounds. Check out the DPS Lotus, the new Black Diamond Justice, and the K2 GotBack.

DPS Lotus - these things are made of carbon fiber. Talk about light!

Black Diamond Justice

K2 GotBack (OK - these just look really fun!)

In my experience, it's pretty hard to go wrong with any of these designs - just try them out and pick out the one that is best suited for the situations you'll be skiing in the most. Warning - once you try, you'll never go back. Happy shopping!

 

[tradygirl]

Link to a great Backcountry.com article explaining the wide world of rockered skis:
Rosetta Stone of Rocker