Dynastar Exclusive Fluid Limited Skis

There are more and more women specific skis every year.  It’s about time too.  Women ski differently then men and the equipment they ride should reflect that.  Dynastar certainly believes this and has developed a pretty impressive advanced women specific ski in the Fluid Limited.  The lengths are more female appropriate, the flex is designed to allow for a lighter weight skier and the side-cut promotes easier turn initiation.  Another nice feature is the elevated heel piece that is being mounted on these skis to help women move forward onto the tip of the ski more easily.  This is a common skiing problem for women that is often the result of the anatomic differences of women from men.  Women tend to carry their center of gravity lower and more to the back then men.

This is definitely a ski that an advanced female skier should demo before making a ski decision.

Find new and used prices on the Dynastar Exclusive Fluid Limited Skis at the Alpine Ski Gear Store.

Filing Your Ski Bases

The other reason people tend to ignore their ski edges is that they are afraid of messing them up.  This is a healthy fear.  Done properly edge tuning can increase your performance.  Done improperly a file can render your skis useless and make them undesirable for resale.  Take a minute and watch this video on how to file your ski base and you’ll see that it really is simple and can be done at home with a simple flat file.  The alteranative is to take it to a shop where you will pay $50-100 for the same thing and shop guys are sometimes too lazy or busy to use a file and will just run your skis through a base grinder (this is overkill for most maintenance and also shrinks the thickness of your base).

Atomic Urban Punx Review

The Atomic Urban Punx Ski is veryspecific in its design.  It was built for park and pipe riding.  If you are looking for a multipurpose park ski, look elswhere.  However, if you spend 90% of your time in the park or pipe you can’t do better than this twin tip.  It has an extra edge reinforcment that helps to keep it from snaping in half on those aggressive rail slides.  The twin tips make for omni-directional skiing and the light swing weight allow for that 720 you are working on.

Find new and used prices on the Atomic Urban Punx ski at the Alpine Ski Gear Store.

Rossignal ZenithZ11 Mutix Review

Wow!  This really is technology cutting edge stuff.  It is almost gadget overload.  Imagine being able to ski all conditions with one ski that actually is able to adapt to various snow conditions by changing a single piece on the top of the ski.  It also lets you adjust the radius of the turn.  These are pretty cool!  The question now will be: How hard is it to change the bar each time?

Shop for the Rossignal Zenith Z11 Mutix and other Rossignal Skis at our Alpine Ski Gear Store.

K2 Apache Raider

The K2 Apache Raider is an advanced/intermediate ski with braod versatility designed for the intermediate skier who really only wants one ski in their quiver that can do it all.  Weaknesses might be that it will not perform as some wider skis in powder and may be a little too forgiving for crud conditions or heavy snow.  Otherwise one of the best choices at this price point.

Get new and used prices from several dealers in our Alpine Ski Gear Store.

How to Fix a Core Shot

The pent up anticipation of the upcoming ski season got the better of you and that premature trip to the mountain with a 16 inch base came with a price, sigh.  Well don’t despair, the proverbial ‘core shot’ tear in your base doesn’t have t mean a new pair of skis (even if it does mean lower resale value).  Petex is your friend and here are the steps to get the best repair you can.

1. Thoroughly trim off any chunks or hairs of base that have slivered off but are still attached.  A sharp box knife or razor works well for this.  Also, pick out any grit or dirt that may have become lodged during the scratch.

2. Select the appropriate color petex (generally either black or clear).  Petex is a hard material that can be melted and will bond well with your base materials.  Most ski shops carry it for about $3-5 a stick.

3. Heat up the base and core until it is warm, but not too hot to touch (you don’t want to heat up the core too much or it will warp).  This will help the base, core, and petex to bond better.  A hand held acetylene torch that can be purchased at the hardware store for under $10 works great for this.

4. Begin to heat up the petex stick with the torch until it begins to drip liquid petex.  Let the first few drops fall on a rag as these usually contain a fair amount of carbon residue and won’t bond very well.

5. Drip the petex into the groove in your base in a back-and-forth pattern slowly filling the defect up.  You may have to use the torch a few times to keep the petex liquid and dripping during this step.  It is important to overfill the groove so that there is a mound of petex and not a dip when you are done.

6. Allow this to dry thoroughly.  Usually about 15-20 minutes is enough.

7. Using a thin metal or sharp plastic scraper, remove the mounded petex just like scraping wax off of your ski until the surface is flat with the ski base.

8. Draw a flat file across the base to remove any small irregularities and smooth any edge damage.

9. Re-wax the skis with a fresh hot wax.

The good news is that this will protect your ski core from water damage and allow you to continue to use them without worry.  The bad news is that even the best petex job has a limited life and this process may have to repeated several times per season.  Oh well, lesson learned, next time just take your old rock skis up on those early season days.

Salomon Pocket Rocket Review

This ski is not in production anymore, but was put out in the early 2000′s and is still available as used skis.  It was so popular that we felt obligated to add it to our review list.  It was replaced by the Salomon 1080 GUN and really was the same ski with the exception of a bit stiffer flex.

The Pocket Rocket was designed as a mid-fat ski that originally was built for the park and pipe, but had such good skiability that it became an all-mountain/powder ski.  It’s strength was primarily its easy turn and light swing weight.  This meant quick response and agility in uneven terrain and inconsistent snow conditions.  The twin tip added an element of cool when carving due to the rooster tail of snow that shoots off the tail.  The drawback was mainly that the ski was fairly soft in its flex and meant that skiers over 190 lbs were really too heavy for it.  The newer 1080 GUN solved this problem however.

The 85 mm waist meant that it really wasn’t a fatty for powder, but we found it to be quite good in powder conditions on an aggressive skier.  They had good floatation, but allowed you to actually be “in” the powder, rather than simply riding on top of it.  This is half the fun right?

Another great role for this ski was the back country.   Because it was so light the pocket rocket with a pair of randonee bindings was perfect for ascents and descents.

Find new and used prices on the Salomon Pocket Rocket and 1080 Gun at the Alpine Ski Gear Store.

K2 Recon Review

The K2 Recon is marketed as an all-mountain ski with the ability to lay trench on piste and blow through crud like whipped cream.  It is agressively designed with a fairly narrow wasted much like a GS race ski and has a significant torsional and flex stiffness to it.

We can tell you from my experience that this is a serious ski for serious skiers.  It gives back every inch of energy that you put into it and then some.  On groomed runs, it is lightening fast with razor precision edge control.  It seems to go faster with every turn made and even gets a little scarry on long runs.  We found it to be a little less of a off-piste ski than anticipated as the stiff ski is very unforgiving and makes you work to stay on top of them.  It deffinetely will blow through the crud, but be prepared for a heck of a ride.

All-in-all a great ski, but it makes you work pretty hard and is not for the lazy skier.

Shop for new and used K2 Recon skis at the Alpine Ski Gear Store.

K2 Skis

Born out of Washington on the Peuget Sound as America’s Ski Company 40 years ago, this US based ski manufacturer is still making great skis as K2 Sports.  They now have 16 brands recognized throughout the world and continue to be innovators in the realm of alpine skis.

The latest line of skis added to the arsenal is the apache line.  This includes averything from wide 100+ cm powder skis to aggressive all-mountain and park skis.  Many pros and amateurs alike agree that the apache line may be the most overall impressive line of skis out there.  Some of the more outstanding models are the Coomba, Recon, and Outlaw.

Pole swing

Have you ever been watching from the chair lift and seen someone making rhythmic, graceful turns that seem to be timed out by a metronome?  Sure you have, and you’ve undoubtedly wondered what the key to this controlled perfection is.

Honestly, there are many factors that play into the ability of a skier to precisely control speed, turn shape, and turn length.  But one of the biggest factors is the simple movement of the pole swing.  You’ve probably seen those skiers who never swing their ski poles as they ski, but instead hold them rigid and often pointed at odd angles like useless hunks of copper pipe.  ‘These skiers don’t look as graceful.

The pole swing is like the metronome that keeps time for your turns.  By starting to move a pole forward in it’s swing you are indicating to the rest of your body that it is time to initiate your next turn.  As the pole passes your leg in it’s arc, you should be well into your turn and are beginning to engage your ski edges.  As the pole reaches forward and touches (not stabs) the snow, you should be in the middle or apex of  your turn.  This is where the pole starts its backwards swing and you complete your turn.  The pole works as a feeler if you drag it lightly as you pass it. This gives you a sense of your position in relationship to the snow and enhances your balance.

The next step is the most critical.  Now that you have accomplished your first turn you must initiate another pole swing.  If you don’t, you break the rhythm that you were striving for in the first place.  Skiers who get caught in a moment of uncertainty will not make a pole swing and this can mean disaster when trying to avoid an obstacle.  Make the swing!

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