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.....
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.....
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