Hey folks,
It sure has been a while. Due to life circumstances and moving around a lot, I haven't been able to ride as much for the last couple years. On top of that, I switched to long skis for a while after coming out to CA and riding at Big Bear and Mammoth. I guess the longer/wider/steeper terrain out here made me a little nervous about stability and edge grip so I got some long skis to try to compensate for that. It did make a bit of a difference, but I missed the maneuverability of skiboards every day, especially in the woods. I took the Spliffs for a spin this weekend and man it was good to get back on them. I think my concerns about edge grip and stability were a little overblown and mostly related to abilty rather than gear. I think it's safe to say I'll be skiboarding again from now on. My only boards are Spliffs with receptors and they work for pretty much anything. However, I'm looking to maybe supplement them and make a 2-board quiver. While I can ride the Spliffs in anything, if I know the conditions are going to be hardpack/icy for the day then maybe having boards with a little more grip would make it more enjoyable. I know I can't get grip like long, narrow skis no matter which board I choose, but I think if I pick the right boards I can come pretty close.
I'm leaning towards getting some DLPs because I like the 110cm length, and they are narrower than my Spliffs and don't have any rocker. As I understand it, all of that contributes to more grip and should make a noticeable difference. Plus, if I pick the "wrong" set of boards for the conditions, the DLPs can still be pressed into any role that the Spliffs can. A classic game of tradeoffs, but they're both still super versatile and I like that a lot. I was about to pull the trigger on them but now I'm wondering if the SIIs are more what I'm looking for. They are a tad narrower than the DLPs, and they have a larger turning radius which I think would help with grip. I wish they were a touch longer, but it's still a very small difference. My concern with the SIIs are that they might not be stiff enough to complement my riding style, or maybe they don't have as much grip as I think because of the rocker. I'm a somewhat aggressive rider, I like to ride in the trees wherever possible, I go pretty fast on groomers, and I hit a few jumps here and there but overall my park skills are very weak. I've never ridden either one, so if anyone has ridden both the DLPs and the SIIs, I'd love to hear your opinions on which you think would be a better fit.
It sure has been a while. Due to life circumstances and moving around a lot, I haven't been able to ride as much for the last couple years. On top of that, I switched to long skis for a while after coming out to CA and riding at Big Bear and Mammoth. I guess the longer/wider/steeper terrain out here made me a little nervous about stability and edge grip so I got some long skis to try to compensate for that. It did make a bit of a difference, but I missed the maneuverability of skiboards every day, especially in the woods. I took the Spliffs for a spin this weekend and man it was good to get back on them. I think my concerns about edge grip and stability were a little overblown and mostly related to abilty rather than gear. I think it's safe to say I'll be skiboarding again from now on. My only boards are Spliffs with receptors and they work for pretty much anything. However, I'm looking to maybe supplement them and make a 2-board quiver. While I can ride the Spliffs in anything, if I know the conditions are going to be hardpack/icy for the day then maybe having boards with a little more grip would make it more enjoyable. I know I can't get grip like long, narrow skis no matter which board I choose, but I think if I pick the right boards I can come pretty close.
I'm leaning towards getting some DLPs because I like the 110cm length, and they are narrower than my Spliffs and don't have any rocker. As I understand it, all of that contributes to more grip and should make a noticeable difference. Plus, if I pick the "wrong" set of boards for the conditions, the DLPs can still be pressed into any role that the Spliffs can. A classic game of tradeoffs, but they're both still super versatile and I like that a lot. I was about to pull the trigger on them but now I'm wondering if the SIIs are more what I'm looking for. They are a tad narrower than the DLPs, and they have a larger turning radius which I think would help with grip. I wish they were a touch longer, but it's still a very small difference. My concern with the SIIs are that they might not be stiff enough to complement my riding style, or maybe they don't have as much grip as I think because of the rocker. I'm a somewhat aggressive rider, I like to ride in the trees wherever possible, I go pretty fast on groomers, and I hit a few jumps here and there but overall my park skills are very weak. I've never ridden either one, so if anyone has ridden both the DLPs and the SIIs, I'd love to hear your opinions on which you think would be a better fit.
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