Thoughts on Skiboards and powder

[jjue]

This has been an amazing season in Tahoe for powder riding . Last week Sempai and I got first tracks after the rope dropped at Northstar after a 4 feet fall of snow and yesterday I got first tracks at Sierra at Tahoe after a 3 feet snow fall . I was worried that my skiboards would not have enough float and brought along my Icelantic Shamans long skis at Northstar but I was really surprised that Sempai was having just as much fun and floating along nicely on his Sherpas which had significantly less surface area. So yesterday with every one sporting big wide long rockered pow skis at Sierra I gave a go on my Sherpas . ( I brought along Condors and my Shamans also but never rode them ).
Here is a pic of the nice snow . ( Sorry sometimes the Flicker embed code doesnt seem to work )



My first run in the deep pow was lots of fun , but I kind of wished for the floatier and faster long pow skis but by the second run as the pow became cut up a bit , the Sherpa was super fun , and I was starting to wish I was on Condors or Spliffs or even Blunt xls . So what gives ? I really think that big floaty pow long skis are really fun in unbroken deep pow ,with more surface area they float up higher and are faster then skiboards , BUT as soon as the snow gets broken just a bit or in less deep pow , skiboards float just fine and allow for a straighter fall line descent in more control because of a natural breaking action in the broken snow . At ski areas pow lines get broken up very quickly and on a pow day you are descending a lot in broken variable soft snow . A big floaty long skis gets going pretty fast in that kind of conditions where as it is easier to kill speed and ride in control with skiboards. This also allows you to take tighter lines in narrower trees where the big skis have a difficulty time navigating.
In most deep pow conditions , I have the most fun with wider skiboards then narrower skiboards and it is the width that seems to be the defining factor for me . The longer the skiboard the more fore and aft stability and the more speed I have .
For me the sweet spot in deep pow is something in the length and width of a Condor or Spliff.

I would be interested to hear other folks experiences.....

[Ruben]

I don't have that much experience in the powder, but due to my skiboards breaking, I was forced to go on powder skis for the last runs of the holiday. I did not really like them in pow, especially in the tree runs. At one steep tree run I was just unable to find a good line that the skis could handle and I wished my boards were still in a good enough state to use them safely . Never going back on skis, unless it's absolutely necessary.

The boarders did fine, but the other skier started to see the advantages of them too at that moment...

[Toro]

I was in Utah last week and there was a ton of powder. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to test out all my options since my primary focus was just skiing, but I think I got a good sense of things.

I rode my spliffs centered on a day with both choppy powder and untouched. Mine don’t have the setback option but I also didn’t move my non release back. This was fine on groomers and chop but in the deeper stuff really required leaning back.

This experience kind of scared me off when I went to Brighton and it really really was dumping and basically everything was untouched. I resorted to some 171 115 nomads which were amazingly fun, just so much float and so little effort. I wish I could have tried my Sherpas in similar conditions, I suspect setback I would have had a similar experience. I also don’t know about the XLs or RCs as I’ve never ridden them, but I do suppose there may be a limit to how much powder can fall before large people on skiboards start to lose float. I will say that that feels like it should be a rarity since I’m talking feet of powder that fell over a few days in Utah


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[Bad Wolf]

I’m tired of working hard, leaning back, weighting the tails. It’s exhausting!

Set back Sherpas are my go to now. For me they handle the new snow, skiing through tracks, soft bumps, trees, chop and even partially compacted snow.......all with ease. They have just the right amount of float and stability, without sacrificing maneuverability and versatility to handle everything a powder day can throw at me.

[valmorel]

Jjue, you may remember a post I did a lifetime ago about riding Lozere on a thigh deep powder day in France. I was on Revolts that day, the original low profile tip ones and had a fantastic time. BUT. When I skied the off piste, it was broken by skiers. I agree. Skiboards work especially well in broken powder. Nothing broken about that powder I skied with you on Mt Rose though, and 120s did just fine that day, some clown on narrow shorties bashing the tree branches out of the way with a club notwithstanding lol.

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[jjue]

...... Nothing broken about that powder I skied with you on Mt Rose though, and 120s did just fine that day, some clown on narrow shorties bashing the tree branches out of the way with a club notwithstanding lol.

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Great memories! Really special day ....!!!

[wjeong]

[QUOTE=

Set back Sherpas are my go to now. For me they handle the new snow, skiing through tracks, soft bumps, trees, chop and even partially compacted snow.......all with ease. They have just the right amount of float and stability, without sacrificing maneuverability and versatility to handle everything a powder day can throw at me.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I've been in bottomless powder with them. They worked, but it was scary and weird to only feel float. No bottom at all. Unfortunately, I don't get these conditions very often.