Nice first day of the Tahoe Season with my son at Heavenly yesterday . He thought he would ditch his long skis and try the Crossbows for the first time.
A word about my 26 year old son . I introduced him to skis as early as 4 years old but he pretty much disliked skiing and trying to learn how to ski until age 8 when he discovered snowboards . He rapidly became super good on them and joined me in the backcountry at age 11 carrying his snowboard and using snowshoes.
As a young teenager I reintroduced him to skiing through skiboards. Originally , I had him on Summit Mauraders and then Spruce 120's , Ospreys , and Sherpas .
Later as an older teen he migrated on to long skis. He now divides his time skiing and snowboarding and is expert on both . His current favorite long ski is pictured above along side the crossbows. It is a 181 cm Salomon Quest 106., rockered/cambered at the tip 140-106 -122
I asked him what he thought about riding on the Crossbows and in general his thoughts on riding skiboards vs skis. Ps. after 1 run he adjusted to riding the Crossbows and was riding them better then I charging down the slope. I was also on the Crossbows. We both had a great time on the Crossbows. Basically he said that for him , skiboards were much easier to turn then regular skis . They almost turned by themselves with just the slightest weight shift , almost like think a turn and then they turn . He says he had more fun turning a lot rather then just setting them on edge and making wide arcing turns like on a long ski. He said that a higher speeds ( he was going way faster then me , kind of how Dave Lynam or Courtney rides skiboards on groomed snow ) he felt that they were significantly less stable then long skis requiring more careful attention to small changes in balance and terrain then a long ski. He says that he can understand from riding the skiboards in the past in backcountry snow how skiboards are easier to turn and maneuver in technical snow and terrain especially at lower speeds and that how in technical terrain , tight trees, difficult snow , steeps etc. longer skis while more stable , are more difficult to maneuver and generally ride faster . He doesn't think he will ditch his long skis for skiboards but enjoyed riding them for a change of pace. Meanwhile , I did try riding my long skis a bit last season and I won't be ditching my skiboards any time soon for them !
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