Skis for Colorado, Powder Versatility

EMSC

EMSC

Well-known member
In pic #1 those look like powder baskets on the poles. I've been getting guff for skiing with small, racer style pole baskets this year for the first time I can recall. I do use backcountry, adjustable poles with powder basket in certain circumstances, but never felt my baskets limited me otherwise. Anyone else?
 
EMSC said:
In pic #1 those look like powder baskets on the poles
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That reminds me of a Paul talking point during the Harald Harb/PSIA arguments on Epicski back then. He refused to use fat skis on powder days, saying that he wanted to ski IN the snow, not float on top of it. Has he maintained that POV?

For what it's worth, more often than not I'm on my 82s in powder too -- not a conscious choice but rather because I usually only bring one set of skis on destination trips and I'm too cheap/can't be bothered to rent fat skis.
 
Paul’s daily drivers are 78 underfoot and his powder day skis 94. Mine are 98 and 112.

Paul’s choices strike me as appropriate due to:
1) His skill level
2) Due to living all his life in Colorado and thus being a strong bump skier, the 78s are a good choice for the majority of his ski days.

Paul’s poles are bamboo, made by a company in Steamboat. He likes them for swing weight and says yes they are durable. I used Justin’s bamboo poles Monday because one of mine broke late Sunday. After skiing yesterday I bought new carbon poles on late season sale at Vail.
 
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Tony Crocker said:
Paul’s choices strike me as appropriate due to:
1) His skill level
2) Due to living all his life in Colorado and thus being a strong bump skier, the 78s are a good choice for the majority of his ski days.
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Of course, he could ski whatever he wants effectively. My point was that back then, starting with Shane McConkey's Volant Spatula, everyone was switching to wide boards so when he made that comment about preferring skinny skis in deep powder, it was funny to watch most of the Epicski collective flip their wigs. As mentioned, it seemed to be part of the Harb vs. PSIA ski instruction war (apparently still going in the late 2010s).

In any case, Paul was so passionate about it, I bought three Harb books. Equipped with my new hip, I'm going to re-read them and watch some of his videos in time for next season. Can't hurt.
 
EMSC said:
I used to also very much prefer skinny skis in powder (specifically I used to use my SL race skis until ~10 years ago!)
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While rereading the Bob Peters interview recently, I thought about him guiding in the JH backcountry on typical skis back then. Did having ultra long boards provide any additional float to counteract how skinny they were?

I remember getting a used pair of 2000-vintage Chubbs (88-width?) and thinking how incredibly wide they were. :icon-biggrin:

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They've been serving ably as the feet of my ski chair for the past decade:
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jamesdeluxe said:
Of course, he could ski whatever he wants effectively. My point was that back then, starting with Shane McConkey's Volant Spatula, everyone was switching to wide boards so when he made that comment about preferring skinny skis in deep powder, it was funny to watch most of the Epicski collective flip their wigs. As mentioned, it seemed to be part of the Harb vs. PSIA ski instruction war (apparently still going in the late 2010s).

In any case, Paul was so passionate about it, I bought three Harb books. Equipped with my new hip, I'm going to re-read them and watch some of his videos in time for next season. Can't hurt.
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Howdy!

It takes a lot of snow for me to be on anything else but my Head Peak 84's or Blossom 78's. And yes, my feeling is still the same about the fat skis. In that, they're not for me. Nor are the reverse camber skis. When I was with Tony and Liz I think I skied my Head Ventura's, which are 92.

A change is that I don't ski my skinny skis (68 underfoot) much now. The tails are too stiff.

Heading to Abasin this weekend for a couple days, will let you know how it goes!
 
jamesdeluxe said:
While rereading the Bob Peters interview recently, I thought about him guiding in the JH backcountry on typical skis back then. Did having ultra long boards provide any additional float to counteract how skinny they were?

I remember getting a used pair of 2000-vintage Chubbs (88-width?) and thinking how incredibly wide they were. :icon-biggrin:

View attachment 40607

They've been serving ably as the feet of my ski chair for the past decade:
View attachment 40606
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I remember these!
 
I bought the original Chubb (110-90-100) in November 1996 and used them as my powder skis until they wore out ~2008.
 
Peter Keelty wrote the Inside Tracks equipment reviews and I recall whatever new shaped ski Head had just introduced in 1997 was his top choice. A Jindabyne shop had that ski for demo but at 180cm which was about 10cm short for me in that design. So they didn't have the best high speed stability but they were great in the low tide alpine/off piste terrain at Thredbo.

I cursory search reveals that the e-Original is a current not a vintage ski. Those well reviewed early shaped skis in the 1990's were the Cyber series. The "Supershape" terminology dates back at least a decade but I don't know how much farther.
 
Tony Crocker said:
Peter Keelty wrote the Inside Tracks equipment reviews and I recall whatever new shaped ski Head had just introduced in 1997 was his top choice. A Jindabyne shop had that ski for demo but at 180cm which was about 10cm short for me in that design. So they didn't have the best high speed stability but they were great in the low tide alpine/off piste terrain at Thredbo.

I cursory search reveals that the e-Original is a current not a vintage ski. Those well reviewed early shaped skis in the 1990's were the Cyber series. The "Supershape" terminology dates back at least a decade but I don't know how much farther.
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I thought Peter's reviews were well done. I don't believe they were influenced in anyway, other his own biases of course. I wonder if Peter was first with his style? I also wonder if his was the first popular ski review website?

I had nice interactions with him online. I wanted to meet up with him in Utah but it never worked out. As I recall he was a ski patroller?
 
Here is my quiver.

Left to right.
Head Ventura - 181 - 140/95/126, 16.0m radius
12" or more, powder day only skis. These are old skis. But since I don't ski them but a couple times a year (we don't get big powder days here that often -- once, twice a year at most) they have plenty of days left

Head Monster 78 - 177 - 125/78/111, 15.7m radius
Early season/late season rock skis. I'll take these to the Basin this weekend. These are old too. But I loved 'em, so I scored a 2nd pair. Cool story. We used to rent our apartment on Airbnb. Some guy stayed there who looked me up, saw that I loved these skis. So he bought a pair and brought them out with him from MN. He hated them. He left them in the apartment for me. I tried to pay him, but never heard back. I hope he's doing well.

Blossom WhiteOut - 176 - 131/77/11, 15.0m radius
This is one of 2 of my every day skis. Meaning, when one is getting tuned I used the other. Oh man, I love these skis. I should look for another pair next year.

Head Peak 84 - 177 - 129/85/133, 16.8m radius
This is my other every day ski. These are old too. This is my 3rd pair! If anyone finds these anywhere and you don't want them, please let me know! Why Head stopped making this ski is beyond me.

Head e-Original - 170 (longest they make 'em) - 129/66/107, 12.1m radius.
Long time forum readers like @jamesdeluxe and @Tony Crocker knows the history. Yes, it was Harald who introduced the SuperShape to the world. But I'm the one who made them popular! Because I blogged about on on epicski.com. The first version really was a fantastic ski. But then for some reason I went away from them. I think I got lazy. But a couple years ago I read Harald going on about them so I decided to give them another go.

There's no doubt, skiing this ski requires paying attention. As I've got older I still think about a few moves when I ski - tracking back to PMTS. But I'm also relaxed. In that, I've crafted my own style. After all, skiing is an individual sport. I brought these out last year a few times. But I noticed the tails were stiff, which isn't conducive to my style. Or maybe I just wasn't feeling it yet. I'll take 'em out again next year, see how I feel about them.

Also. Now that Harald is older (I think he's 73?) and he's had new parts (hip, knee), he doesn't ski the challenging stuff anymore. Of if he does, he doesn't post any pics or vids. So you gotta temper his reviews now. This isn't bagging on Harald, btw. Father Time is undefeated. They'll come a day when I don't ski the tough lines anymore. But that time is still a few years off! :)

So there you go,
 

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spinbackwards said:
Now that Harald is older (I think he's 73?) and he's had new parts (hip, knee), he doesn't ski the challenging stuff anymore. Of if he does, he doesn't post any pics or vids. So you gotta temper his reviews now. This isn't bagging on Harald, btw. Father Time is undefeated.
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Impressive that he's still running his shop in Dumont and ski instruction biz at that age! The website says that his 2024-25 ski camps are sold out. I hope I have that amount of energy at 73.

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spinbackwards said:
I thought Peter's reviews were well done. I don't believe they were influenced in anyway, other his own biases of course.
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That was the point of Dick Needham's Inside Tracks newsletter. It was exclusively subscription-based with no advertising. I wrote resort reviews for it until it folded in 2002, so it was the basis for my NASJA membership 1999-2003.
 
jamesdeluxe said:
Impressive that he's still running his shop in Dumont and ski instruction biz at that age! The website says that his 2024-25 ski camps are sold out. I hope I have that amount of energy at 73.

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Harald has a fervent and loyal following. But I think the core of their business is boot fitting. Like I say, I regularly see his stickers on skiers boots at the Beav.
 
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