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  #61  
Old Posted Dec 21, 2007, 8:27 PM
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Originally Posted by freeweed View Post
165s? Short?? Wow. I'm your height and I've been skiing on 145 parabolics lately (ski shops usually suggest a 155). The control you have on modern parabolics (as someone else pointed out) is insane, and wearing a slightly shorter ski - pure heaven.

I avoided skiing for many years due to my memories of how terrible I was on the old style of alpine ski. After someone first stapped a pair of parabolics on me, it feels like I've been doing this since I was 5!
My skis are the old-fashioned straight kind. I've been so used to my skis because as I said, they've been rather stable at higher speeds, and I hear most straight skis this short aren't nearly as forgiving for someone my height. Not to mention that I also have very strong thigh and calf muscles. I learned to ski pretty quickly despite having not really learned to do so until I was around 20. By the way, I'm able to take on most black diamond runs, and even some double black diamond ones.

I don't doubt the ease of using parabolic skis at all, and I did once rent a pair a few years ago. They were okay. They took a little getting used to for me, but pretty shitty skiiing conditions at Marmot at the time didn't help me at all. So, in the end, I felt that I wasn't any better in them compared to my straight skis, and so I was turned off at the thought of getting a new pair of parabolics.

Now that I think about it, I'm quite sure I would've become a lot better used to parabolic skis and even become a convert, if I'd been able to rent them longer (I only had them for half a day and it was the day of my ski trip), and if there'd been more snow and less rock and ice.

In fact, they're very likely to be the kind of skis I'll get, probably within a couple of years or so. After all, my present skis obviously aren't going to last forever!
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Last edited by CanadianCentaur; Dec 22, 2007 at 2:49 AM.
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  #62  
Old Posted Dec 21, 2007, 10:43 PM
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To each their own, eh? A lot is what you get used to. Obviously a lot of people learned to ski well with straight skis; after all, that's all there was at one point. I'm just not one of them.

I've met a few people, like myself until very recently, that only know of traditional alpine skis. Just spreading the word, but it sounds like you've already tried them.

Mostly I laugh trying to picture myself on anything like 165s or longer. Hell, just today I was talking to a guy who skis on (I think) 210s!! Sure he's 6' tall, but still...
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  #63  
Old Posted Dec 21, 2007, 11:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freeweed View Post
165s? Short?? Wow. I'm your height and I've been skiing on 145 parabolics lately (ski shops usually suggest a 155). The control you have on modern parabolics (as someone else pointed out) is insane, and wearing a slightly shorter ski - pure heaven.

I avoided skiing for many years due to my memories of how terrible I was on the old style of alpine ski. After someone first stapped a pair of parabolics on me, it feels like I've been doing this since I was 5!
The last time I went skiing (late February) I rented a pair of 145s (I'm 178cm/5' 11") and I absolutely loved them. I owned a pair of 185s that were parabolic, but the difference in maneuverability with the shorties was amazing. I could ski terrain that I'd never be able to do with my longer skis - I even skiied some of the far stuff on Goats Eye! If I ever move back to Canada permanently, I will buy a pair of 145s without any doubt.
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  #64  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2007, 12:15 AM
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I thought your ski's are supposed to be taller than you, my snowboard is 160 (I'm 178) and from the sounds of it, that's taller than some of your skis.
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  #65  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2007, 12:34 AM
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Originally Posted by Deepstar View Post
Sorry, I don't mean to sound ignorant, but Edmonton has places to snowboard?
There are some places in the river valley that you can ski down. They aren't the biggest hills around (about half the size of COP), but for boarders they're not a bad place to get some boarding in.
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  #66  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2007, 7:19 AM
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Originally Posted by johnnyc View Post
I thought your ski's are supposed to be taller than you, my snowboard is 160 (I'm 178) and from the sounds of it, that's taller than some of your skis.
Personal preference. If you like more maneuverability, you go shorter, and if you like speed you go longer. It's more important that your skis aren't too long if you don't weigh a lot. I ski on some 174 cm twin tips, and I'm 6'3", but I'm usually in the treed runs, so I like to be able to turn on a dime when I need to.
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  #67  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2007, 7:54 AM
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Originally Posted by The Chemist View Post
The last time I went skiing (late February) I rented a pair of 145s (I'm 178cm/5' 11") and I absolutely loved them.
Wow. That means I could go even shorter. I wonder just how short I could get. You're right though - the extra manueverability I get with shorter skis makes me much more confident on steeper/bumpier terrain.
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  #68  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2007, 7:57 AM
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Originally Posted by johnnyc View Post
I thought your ski's are supposed to be taller than you, my snowboard is 160 (I'm 178) and from the sounds of it, that's taller than some of your skis.
Not with modern parabolics, or at least, I don't think so. I'm 170 and every ski shop gives me 155s unless I ask otherwise. And like I said, I've found 145s to be even better, and am now thinking even shorter (if they even exist with adult skis).

In the old days, yeah, your skis were supposed to be longer. Unless you're thinking cross-country, in which case definitely they should be longer.
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  #69  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2007, 5:12 PM
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I was at Louise a few days ago, and it wasn't bad, it did get pretty icy by the end of the day though. Anyone been to Fernie yet?
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  #70  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2007, 6:18 PM
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Just rolled in from the Kootenays late last night.... Whitewater and Red Mountain were phenominal... Silver Star was a big dissapointment, they'd received a bunch of fresh snow but the hill had no base.
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  #71  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2007, 8:29 PM
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I've been sticking to my usual Sunshine, and the snow just keeps getting better. Went on the 27th, which for those not in the know, is just about the busiest day of the year. By 10am the parking was well down the road. We lucked out and actually got sent to about 5 rows from the gondola - they managed to fit 2 more small cars in, and mine was one of them!

The best part was the temperature - it hovered around -13 or so, which apparently is "very cold" to many people. By 2pm or so everyone was leaving so we had a couple of hours of empty lifts. Growing up in Winnipeg is good for something, after all.
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  #72  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2007, 10:22 PM
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  #73  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2007, 11:14 PM
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Was at Whitefish yesterday, snow conditions are amazing.
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  #74  
Old Posted Jan 1, 2008, 11:47 PM
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^Second that. Skied on the 30th and 31st at Whitefish. Pretty much made fresh tracks through thigh deep powder all day on the 30th. Had to look harder for it on the 31st, but still managed to find some. They have so much snow there.
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  #75  
Old Posted Jan 2, 2008, 2:57 AM
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Great to hear about the conditions at Whitefish, I'm going down there in a couple weeks.
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  #76  
Old Posted Jan 2, 2008, 6:20 AM
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The powder was amazing, so were the lines some of the longest i have seen there.
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  #77  
Old Posted Jan 2, 2008, 6:56 AM
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you don't mean lift lines right?
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  #78  
Old Posted Jan 2, 2008, 3:35 PM
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Was in Kicking Horse for a couple days after Christmas. I was suprised at the vertical on that mountain, definitely more than I had expected. Blue runs would have passed for black diamonds almost anywhere else, but the snow was great, lots of hidden powder stashes, and relatively short waits for the chairs/gondola. Not an instant hit, but Im sure it will grow on me. Golden isnt much of a ski town yet, but its coming along.

Hit up Fernie after Kicking Horse in time for 50cm of fresh on the 28th. In-fucking-sane. I have to say, Ive never boarded through snow that deep and fluffy. Currie Bowl was amazing, and Cedar was offering face shots all day long. The hill was busy as hell though, and I cant wait to go back on the 11th.
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  #79  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2008, 4:32 AM
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Kicking horse is known as a tough hill, lots of advanced terrain.
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  #80  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2008, 4:49 AM
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you don't mean lift lines right?
Yes!
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