4 ms·

"Riding big fat powder skis everyday, inside and outside of the resort? More or less doesn't matter." Until you stop off at the bar on a Sunny day and ride hom

"Riding big fat powder skis everyday, inside and outside of the resort? More or less doesn't matter." Until you stop off at the bar on a Sunny day and ride home on dusk once everything has frozen again, then you'd be like "oh I wish I didn't tell everyone not to keep their edges in decent shape", as you fly off the cliff edge.

fragmede 2y ago
Yeah but the whole way down you're saying to yourself "I shouldnta have that last drink" because you coulda made it home in time, instead of blaming your tools, unless you're a bad craftsman.
- bamboozled 2y ago
  Good craftsmen drink beer.
aeyes 2y ago
It's easier on fat skis which haven't been waxed in a long time. They aren't as fast so I rarely have to really put them on the edge on ice. I do a slide turn while keeping as much contact with the surface as I can. That's also the biggest downside, you can't really rip it with fat skis. Not even if you go down dead straight.
- swader999 2y ago
  Fat skis put a lot of torque on the knees on ice if they are properly tuned and your carving in a high G turn. It's the wrong tool for that job, best to just slide around and chill like you mentioned.
- denhaus 2y ago
  On most firm conditions, I absolutely think you can rip it on fat skis with awful edges. Especially on groomers. I do it every year on 120mm waist skis. It is highly dependent on skill level. For an example, watch freestylers carve switch down some rock-solid melt frozen 45deg park feature on detuned $200 skis they picked up at a swap meet 8 years ago. The result is much more dependent on the rider, not the equipment. I’ve watched pro dudes rip harder than 99.999% of skiers on joke trash skis from the 90s (rusting, holes in the base, chunks missing from edges) and broken snowblades. On true ice, NO ONE is ripping it except racers or ex-racers with good equipment.
denhaus 2y ago
I laughed out loud at the “fly off a cliff edge” On the real however, getting down the mountain safely after dusk etc with dull vs. sharp edges will likely only affect intermediate skiers. Beginner skiers are going to crash no matter what they’re riding if on steep and icy terrain. Expert skiers know when and how to ride conservatively and can basically ride anything in any conditions “safely” (even if that means just sliding a firm patch rather than carving it), as long as they’re aware of the limitations of their gear. 90% of the year I ride pow skis in any conditions (including melt freeze etc) with super dull edges - it’s totally fine. The other 10% is just to have a little more fun on very firm days. Intermediates, on the other hand, will be overly aggressive beyond their capabilities. They’ll bounce their helmet off a melt-frozen knoll at first opportunity, similar to what you said!
- bamboozled 2y ago
  What I didn't really like about he parents comment is that it seems kind of "lazy" not to do your edges. My wife broker her arm recently when a kid fell over in front of her and she couldn't stop quickly. On steep icy terrain this is a concern. That was my true "fly off a cliff edge" example. The comment seemed like a "I don't wear a helmet because it's uncool" sort of thing...just do your edges occasionally, what's the issue?
  - denhaus 2y ago
    Well I did as a racer and still do on my firm snow skis. But there is a slight performance trade off depending on what kind of skiing you like to do. I keep my edges on my pow skis dull because it’s slightly easier to slash and dash in crud and makes very little difference on icy terrain. For fully cambered directional skis being ridden very aggressively, it would make more of a difference. Every once in a while i’ll do the edges on my firm snow skis though if I’m bored, since a few years ago I bought a full diamond edge tuning kit and feel like I need to get some use out of it. Point being, I’ve never found sharp edges matter much for most recreational riding. None of this has any relation to being uncool. Maybe in your wifes scenario, having razor sharp edges would have saved her from breaking her arm; almost certainly not.

fragmede 2y ago

Yeah but the whole way down you're saying to yourself "I shouldnta have that last drink" because you coulda made it home in time, instead of blaming your tools, unless you're a bad craftsman.

bamboozled 2y ago
Good craftsmen drink beer.

aeyes 2y ago

It's easier on fat skis which haven't been waxed in a long time. They aren't as fast so I rarely have to really put them on the edge on ice. I do a slide turn while keeping as much contact with the surface as I can. That's also the biggest downside, you can't really rip it with fat skis. Not even if you go down dead straight.

swader999 2y ago
Fat skis put a lot of torque on the knees on ice if they are properly tuned and your carving in a high G turn. It's the wrong tool for that job, best to just slide around and chill like you mentioned.
denhaus 2y ago
On most firm conditions, I absolutely think you can rip it on fat skis with awful edges. Especially on groomers. I do it every year on 120mm waist skis. It is highly dependent on skill level. For an example, watch freestylers carve switch down some rock-solid melt frozen 45deg park feature on detuned $200 skis they picked up at a swap meet 8 years ago. The result is much more dependent on the rider, not the equipment. I’ve watched pro dudes rip harder than 99.999% of skiers on joke trash skis from the 90s (rusting, holes in the base, chunks missing from edges) and broken snowblades. On true ice, NO ONE is ripping it except racers or ex-racers with good equipment.

denhaus 2y ago

I laughed out loud at the “fly off a cliff edge” On the real however, getting down the mountain safely after dusk etc with dull vs. sharp edges will likely only affect intermediate skiers. Beginner skiers are going to crash no matter what they’re riding if on steep and icy terrain. Expert skiers know when and how to ride conservatively and can basically ride anything in any conditions “safely” (even if that means just sliding a firm patch rather than carving it), as long as they’re aware of the limitations of their gear. 90% of the year I ride pow skis in any conditions (including melt freeze etc) with super dull edges - it’s totally fine. The other 10% is just to have a little more fun on very firm days. Intermediates, on the other hand, will be overly aggressive beyond their capabilities. They’ll bounce their helmet off a melt-frozen knoll at first opportunity, similar to what you said!

bamboozled 2y ago
What I didn't really like about he parents comment is that it seems kind of "lazy" not to do your edges. My wife broker her arm recently when a kid fell over in front of her and she couldn't stop quickly. On steep icy terrain this is a concern. That was my true "fly off a cliff edge" example. The comment seemed like a "I don't wear a helmet because it's uncool" sort of thing...just do your edges occasionally, what's the issue?
- denhaus 2y ago
  Well I did as a racer and still do on my firm snow skis. But there is a slight performance trade off depending on what kind of skiing you like to do. I keep my edges on my pow skis dull because it’s slightly easier to slash and dash in crud and makes very little difference on icy terrain. For fully cambered directional skis being ridden very aggressively, it would make more of a difference. Every once in a while i’ll do the edges on my firm snow skis though if I’m bored, since a few years ago I bought a full diamond edge tuning kit and feel like I need to get some use out of it. Point being, I’ve never found sharp edges matter much for most recreational riding. None of this has any relation to being uncool. Maybe in your wifes scenario, having razor sharp edges would have saved her from breaking her arm; almost certainly not.