Many of today’s skis and bindings are relatively heavy, especially high-performance gear. For the most part, this is a result of the search for vibration control, the key to a smooth ride and solid connection on firm snow. All the various solutions add mass- whether it’s a layer of metal or visco-elastic material (ski-industry marketing speak for rubber) in the ski lay-up, or a mechanical device like the hydraulic damper in Marker’s Piston bindings.

Any skier can appreciate the result of this technology for carving turns on firm snow, but the trade-off is a potentially sluggish ride in other conditions- moguls, trees, powder, and the park. Not to mention lugging a pair of leaden boards from the car to lift: “Jeez these things are heavy,� is a phrase heard daily in our demo shop.
If you’ve got the muscles and the inclination to ski at high speeds or want maximum edgehold and stability, a beefy, heavy set-up is going to be mandatory- but there are other options for skiers who want to shed some pounds on the hill:

Look for skis without metal in the construction. Rossi, Salomon, Dynastar, Fischer, and K2 all have metal-free performance skis.

Avoid heavy integrated ski/binding systems. Tyrolia and Salomon seem to have the lightest systems on the market right now, as well as the lightest performance bindings. The new Salomon Z12 binding is impressive- it’s featherweight but feels very solid.

Ski ‘em short, especially skis with deep sidecuts, integrated bindings, and stout construction. For most skiers, boards like the Rossignol Zenith 9, Volkl AC40, or the Nordica Top Fuel will be more than stable enough for eye-watering speeds in the 170 cm size for men and 160 for women.

Top-of-the-line high performance gear can be overkill. Even if you’re an expert and you like to go fast, if you’re under about 175 pounds, demo some skis that are a step down in the line from the top- they’ll be lighter and easier to ski, and save you a couple of hundred bucks.

Check out the twin-tip skis. A turned-up tail almost always indicates a lighter ski without the sophisticated vibration damping of the performance all-mountain skis. Even if you have no intention of skiing in the park or backwards, the Salomon Foil, the Armada ARV/AR6, and K2 Public Enemy are great all-mountain boards.

Lightweight Performance Skis: anything from Armada, Salomon and Dynastar, Atomic’s Nomad skis, Fischer’s Watea series, K2 Coomba, Public Enemy, & Phat Luv.

Skiing is a balance sport: you stand several inches off the snow on a stack of ski, binding, and boot- not to mention the skeletal structure of your foot, lower leg, knee, and upper leg. It makes sense that the whole stack is only as strong as it’s weakest link, and instability or misalignment in any part of the system will hurt your ability to balance and transmit/absorb pressure.

Optimizing your ski equipment doesn’t mean buying the latest and greatest piece of gear, but instead paying attention to the system as a whole from a perspective of alignment- the idea is to make sure that your equipment works with your body, not against it.

The crucial elements of the equipment system are the ski base itself (which must be consistently flat), edges (filed at consistent angles), a supportive boot that conforms closely to the shape of your foot, and a custom-molded orthotic footbed like the Superfeet Korks we make at Footloose.

Because human bodies are rarely perfectly symmetrical, it’s normal to have less-than-perfect alignment of the foot and lower leg. And because skiing is so balance-oriented, variations that are not a problem in day-to-day settings can have a noticeable effect on the hill. Without underfoot support and stabilization (a custom footbed), many skiers and snowboarders will experience excessive foot movement inside the boot while skiing. This instability inhibits the ability to precisely pressure your edges, and can lead to boot pain and chronic problems like bone spurs.

Along with a footbed, choosing the right boot will also help to stabilize and secure the foot in the most effective and comfortable position. The boot shell and liner must match the shape of the foot as closely as possible and hold it securely. Bootfitting, the art of strategically modifying the liner or shell, will allow you to use a snug, functional fit without pressure points.

The ski tune is the last link in the chain- the edges and base are what actually interfaces with the snow. Like the carefully honed working edge of a craftsman’s chisel, a proper ski tune makes the ski feel precise, predictable, and controllable.

The base material must be ground as flat as possible, and the edges polished smooth at consistent angles and sharpness. A base that’s convex will tend to wander and feel disconnected on the snow, while a concave base will cause the edges to hook up unexpectedly and feel difficult to disengage. A flat base and consistent edges will engage and release smoothly and predictably, allowing you to pivot and skid without catching an edge.

There are great skis out there, and plenty of shops that will put a good tune on them, but hands-on custom bootfitting and footbeds are the key to getting the most out of your gear, and maximizing fun on the hill.

Ski wax is an arcane subject, shrouded in obscurity for most skiers, but just a little knowledge can make your skis slide faster and turn easier. Just as with footbeds and bootfitting, wax is one of the less glamorous parts of the ski equipment system but it can make a huge difference in your day on the hill. It simply doesn’t matter if you have the best skis in the world if they don’t slide. All the parts of the system- footbeds, boots and bootfit, skis, tune (including wax)- are equally important for on-hill performance, but wax is the easiest (and cheapest) element to address.

Ski bases are made from porous plastic known as P-Tex that needs to be saturated with wax to slide on most types of snow. Wax, along with the pattern ground into the base surface by a stonegrinding machine, reduces suction and friction as the ski slides over the snow. Wax and the grind pattern break up and channel the layer of water that skis actually slide on (water is squeezed out of the snow by pressure and friction). This is why wax is more crucial on wetter snow like spring slush.
Waxing not only allows the ski to slide faster downhill but also laterally across the snow, making it easier to pivot and maneuver.

Most skiers wax infrequently, and we’re not getting the most out of our skis. Ideally, skis should be hot-waxed (wax is melted and ironed into the base, then the excess is scraped off) about every seven to ten days of skiing, and more often in the spring.
The exception is when we have very cold snow- this is when the appropriate stonegrind pattern (finer-grained and smoother to slide across sharp snow crystals) becomes more important. In spring, switching to a coarser pattern (or ‘structure’) will help to channel water across the base.
If your bases are getting grey or fuzzy looking, if water doesn’t bead up and roll quickly off the base, they need wax. The standard procedure is to melt wax into the base with an hot iron, and then scrape and brush off the excess.
For everyday waxing, corking (melting the wax in by vigorously rubbing the base with a block of cork or foam- cheap and available at ski shops) is a great option- it saves effort, wax, and cleanup (no scraping). There are rub-on waxes and gels that don’t require corking, but they only last a run or two (ditto for ski shop belt waxes).

Picking a wax can be confusing- there are different waxes for different temperatures and a wide price spectrum. The more expensive waxes contain fluorocarbons and other chemicals that reduce friction in wetter snow. Bottom line for Mammoth skiers: get a cheap bulk warm-temp wax for iron waxing (or have a ski shop do it), and a bar of the good stuff (or two: for warm and cold snow) for corking in. In Mammoth, warm snow wax will work well on all but the coldest days of mid-winter.

Shape and sidecut were about the last ski characteristics the industry paid attention to- but when they did, they went to town. Ski shapes changed only gradually over 50 years as manufacturers played with stiffness, flex profile, camber, materials, vibration control, and mass before they finally got around to trying new shapes.

These days shape is about the biggest determinant of a specific ski’s function and performance on the hill. You can choose a wide, straight shape for skiing fast in powder, or a narrow, deep-sidecut shape for slashing carved turns on hard snow- and just about anything in between.
But even within a single category, shapes vary- so what difference do those more subtle variations make? How do they change ski performance and function?

Tip and Tail Width: Some companies (notably Dynastar and K2) generally build skis with relatively wider tips than tails- 10mm or more. The wide tip floats better in soft snow, and pulls you into a carved turn, while the narrower tail releases from the turn and skids more easily. This shape allows you to ski more in the fall line, and will be more stable in long turns at speed- preferred by all-mountain skiers for versatility.

Other companies make models with relatively flared tails- less than 10mm narrower than the tip. This shape is better for packed snow carving performance- the wide tail slingshots you through the end of the turn and across the fall-line. It can also work really well for arcing turns in supportable crud or spring snow. These skis will be trickier to skid, and that wider tail can make the tip prone to diving in soft snow- since it will float more, it’ll also push you forward, and the tip down. Most park skis tend towards this shape for better carving in the pipe and initiating spinning tricks.

Overall Width: At the extremes, the widest skis (over 100mm underfoot) are pretty much powder-specific, while the narrowest (sub-70mm) are essentially hard-snow specific. In between lie the skis that most of us use every day: all-mountain skis… but there’s a big difference between a 75mm-waisted all-mountain ski and one that’s 90mm underfoot.

Most importantly, more width = greater floatation, which means easier skiing in soft snow, but width also changes how skis work on the packed. The wider they are, the slower the transition from edge-to-edge, and the further you have to angulate your leg to get the ski tipped up on edge. This makes for more sluggish transitions on packed snow, and the wider skis can be difficult to carve for more conservative skiers. On the plus side, the wider skis offer a larger, more stable platform on any snow surface, and they skid more predictable in the steeps.
Less width = more precision and quicker transitions on the packed snow, and a more demanding ride in the soft stuff.

If you understand how ski shape affects performance and function, it’s a lot easier to narrow down your choices when there are all-mountain skis with a wide spectrum of different shapes.

The stock liners that come in most ski boots last about 60 ski days- about 4-5 seasons for the average skier. Unless you walk a lot in your boots, the shells should last considerably longer.

In order to sell a large quantity of boots, manufacturers use materials that can adapt to as many foot types as possible- this usually means soft felt and open-cell foam. Consequently, liners break down long before the shells, leading to fit problems.
By now, most skiers know about the benefits of custom-molded insoles, but few have tuned in to the custom liner as a bootfitting solution. We stock two types: Zipfit self-molding liners and Conformable foam-injected liners.

Many racers are already familiar with foam-injected liners as a performance upgrade. In this system, a sturdy liner containing hollow internal chambers is molded by injecting the chambers with two chemicals, while you wear the liner in the shell. The chemical combination reacts and expands into a stiff foam-like material, introducing a lot of pressure around the foot and creating a firm-fitting custom mold of your foot and lower leg.

Although injected liners are typically an option chosen for their amazing sensitivity and power transmission, they also can be real problem solvers. For challenging foot shapes, the Conformable’s molding properties can be an excellent alternative to extensive boot and liner modification.

These liners do have limited capability to be moved from shell to shell, because they’re molded on both sides- to the shape of the shell, as well as your foot (you can usually transfer them to a similar shell from the same brand). Injected liners require an orthotic footbed, and a time- and labor-intensive process that includes a multi-day break-in period.

Zipfit liners are a newer, comfier alternative, designed by boot genius at large, Sven Coomer, the founder of Footloose. The liner is made of extra-durable materials, and filled with a viscous oil that contains chips of cork. This thick fluid molds around your foot, adjusting on its own, by body heat and pressure transmitted through the boot as you ski.

This material is an ideal medium for the application- it remains malleable (unlike a foam liner) so that as temperatures and boot shells change, the liner just needs to be skied to be re-customized. It doesn’t compress like the open-cell foam used in stock liners, so with proper care Zipfits will easily last for hundreds of ski days. We have local patrollers, instructors, and shop employees (150+ days/year skiers) who’ve been skiing these liners for multiple seasons- and they’re still going strong.

Zipfits are not only stiffer and far more supportive than stock liners, their self-molding property fills more of the voids between your foot and the boot shell, improving precision. Zipfit liners fit in any conventional ski boot (and can be easily transferred from shell to shell), but they do require a custom footbed like the Superfeet Kork.

Either way, if your liners are shot (and the shells are not), or it’s time to take your bootfit to the next level, it’s worth checking out the custom liner option.

It’s a sad fact of life that the ski industry is set up to serve the mythical average European skier- 120 pound women and 165 pound men, with size 7 and 9 feet respectively. For skiers far off that average in either direction, finding the right gear can be extra challenging. Heavyweights and featherweights have different needs from their equipment, needs that won’t necessarily be answered by every ski, boot, or binding. The key is keeping it proportional.

Skiers in the heavyweight division (say 190 lbs +) need gear that can withstand the application of greater forces. Skis need to be stiffer so they don’t just fold up when you pressure the tip or wash out on hard snow. They must be built with stouter materials that won’t buckle the first time you hit a rock.

The Austrian/German companies like Volkl, Atomic, and Head tend to make the best skis for bigger, stronger skiers, with burly constructions that lighter skiers often find too demanding.  K2 now makes stiffer laminate-construction carving skis that will work well for heavyweights (the Apache series), and their torsion box fat skis like the Chief and Seth Pistol have proven incredibly durable for big skiers who want a soft-flexing ski. Binding plate systems like Marker’s Piston interface can give a lightweight ski more heft and stability, but they don’t make the ski any stiffer.

In keeping with the proportionality theme, if you’re looking for an all-mountain or soft snow ski, remember- bigger skiers will need a wider ski for more floatation. A 95mm-waisted board like the Volkl Mantra may be powder ski for the average person, but for a guy whose 6’ 4� and 235, it’s a perfect all-mountain ski- he’ll need something fatter for a powder-specific ski.

Athletic women over about 140 lbs will probably have better luck on unisex skis, rather than women’s specific models, which are made for lighter skiers. The same goes to a lesser extent for women’s-specific boots.

Skiers in the Heavyweight Division also will need a stiffer boot that doesn’t fold over like a wet newspaper when flexed- even though you may not be an aggressive expert, if you’re big and strong, you’ll need a high-end boot for proper support. Big guys should look for boots with a 120-130 flex index like the Lange WC 120 or the Salomon Impact 10.  Unfortunately, heavyweights pack out liners more quickly than little people- consider and aftermarket liner like the Zipfit when you wear out the liners before the shells- longer lasting and more supportive.

Similarly, go with heavy high-performance bindings; get the ones with a DIN tension scale that goes up to 14-16, even if you aren’t skiing super aggressively. The lighter models (DIN 10 or 12) are built with more plastic and less metal- the plastic flexes under loads more than steel, which can compromise the ski’s handling and edgehold, and contribute to unwanted releases. This is especially noticeable with wide skis on hard snow, causing edge washout and vague turn initiation.

Ski sizing is arcane at best- 170, 201, 183- the numbers might as well come from a magic eight ball. And to some degree, it is arbitrary- you could probably make it down Stump Alley on a pair of 223’s or 150’s. But the odds are good that something in between will work way better.

Over time, skis have shrunk. Gold Country miners raced on ten-foot long planks in the 19th century. Standard ski size for decades was as high as you could reach- 210 cm for most men. Today, professional freesking, World Cup Giant Slalom and mogul skiing are all skied on 185’s.

Technology circa 2004 essentially squeezes a long traditional ski into a new, wider and shorter shape. A modern all-mountain ski has all the mass of an old 207 GS ski and just as much edge contact- but it’s a foot shorter so it’s easier to hop around. It has almost 50% more surface area, so it skis soft snow better. Its been designed and tested on a computer, and the construction integrates a variety of carefully sculpted materials in a sophisticated package that absorbs shocks and vibration. Binding integration allows the ski to flex freely, conforming to the terrain, increasing edge contact and grip. The overall flex is softer, easier to ski and more forgiving. The deep sidecut initiates effortlessly and pulls you through perfectly carved turns.
That big old GS ski still might have the edge in straight-line stability on hard snow (only because of is straight sidecut), but in every other aspect, the new ski wins.

The size range is what it is (150 to about 195cm) because the smallest sizes are about right for the smallest skiers, and the biggest sizes are about right for the biggest, strongest skiers (and the chronically insecure). In general, sizing today is pretty simple- ski length should be about your head height- a couple inches more if you like more speed, a couple inches less if you are more conservative (or prefer short turns). This will put most men on about a 180, and the ladies on 160-165’s.

Going to the next longer size will add stability and smooth out the ride a little, at the cost of low-speed maneuverability. When you drop a size, the skis feel more responsive, but less stable at high speed. The bottom line is that you should ski the shortest size that you’re comfortable skiing fast on. Anything longer is just unnecessary extra effort, and using skis that are too big can force skiers to develop awkward technique to compensate. The skis should be short enough to turn easily at the speeds you ski at, and long enough to feel stable when you open it up.

If you can, try different sized skis for yourself- get a feel for what changing length does the way the skis (and you) work. You’ll learn something and its good for your technique- going from long to short (and vice versa) forces you to re-center and adapt.

Anyone who’s been around skiing long enough has heard about race-stock equipment- gear you can’t get in the shop (until now). So what make it different?

Race stock skis are typically wood and metal laminates- a traditional construction that still rules the roost in speed events because it glides fast. There’s nothing exotic about laminates, but the skis are hand-made to a higher standard; they need to withstand being slammed down rutted-out ice by large angry Austrians. These days, the FIS (the international governing body of competitive skiing) mandates limits on sidecut, length, and binding rise, so there’s nothing special there.

There is however, some real technology in the built-in plates used on all World Cup skis. These plates absorb vibration and allow the ski to free-flex; Rossi’s race plate actually allows you to change the flex of the ski. In the end these skis, while handmade and sweet, are heavy, stiff, and worthless for anything but skiing fast on hard snow. In fact, retail skis (which don’t have to conform to the FIS specs) can have more sidecut and lift, and be skied shorter- in many ways making them ‘higher-performance’ than race-sock skis.

Like skis, race stock bindings feature less technology and more metal. “Green Springs� (their extra-stiff springs are painted green or red to prevent mix ups) are the Neanderthal version of a retail binding: heavier, stronger and dumber. Their mission is to keep you attached to the ski, regardless of little things like knee ligaments. Retail bindings can only be adjusted to 14 or 15 on the DIN scale (measuring the tension that keeps you in the binding). This is plenty. Green spring bindings have tension ranges from 8-18 or (for the truly disturbed) 12-24. While no one outside the World Cup needs a 20 DIN, many hardcore freeskiers hoard green-springs like gold for their durability and superior retention.

Race-stock boots are narrower and stiffer than their retail cousins, typically featuring far better liners and more internal lift. For strong, experienced skiers, they will offer the ultimate in precision, responsiveness and power. These boots are built simple so they can be easily modified- which they will probably demand. The trade-offs for the ultimate in boot performance are the sheer amount of boot work that may be required, and the fact that unless you’re actually skiing hard and flexing the boots, they’re going to be just about the tightest, stiffest thing you’ll ever clamp on (“…somewhat claustrophobic� in the words of the immortal Kevin Hepburn). You’ve probably noticed how the first thing ski racers do after the finish is unbuckle their boots…

For most of us, this gear is irrelevant, but for elite-level racers (and some freeskiers), it’s the price of admission.

Modern technique, if you read the ski magazines, is all about taking advantage of the carving capabilities of newer deep-sidecut skis to make powerful arced turns. And carving is unquestionably a very effective technique on smooth packed snow and supportable crud. But everything has its limits- try carving round arcs through Hangman’s or down a tight line through the trees.

As skiers at the bigger resorts have increasingly turned to fat skis for their floatation and stability in soft snow, the perceptive ones have re-discovered that high-speed drifting- long, drawn-out sideways skids down the fall-line- can be the most efficient way to ski the steeps. This technique is really effective on pitches that are too steep or narrow to make round carved turns, but roomy enough that short hop turns are a waste of energy- areas like the Paranoids, or the Avvy Chutes.

Shane McConkey, a professional freeskier from Squaw Valley, was the first to articulate that in powder, sidecut and carving are actually counter-productive. He felt that sidecut interfered with skiing in soft snow, causing instability and unwanted hooking when he tried to skid or go straight in powder. Shane put his money where his mouth was: he had his ski sponsor, Volant, build him a ski that worked like a surfboard, with reverse sidecut and camber- and the result was the Spatula, the anti-carving ski.

The Spatula worked as advertised, and McConkey was able to exploit its shape and skidding capabilities to ski very fast and fluidly in soft snow with less effort. Unfortunately, the ski is terrible on packed snow, so it remains a specialty tool- but the point was proved: the new crop of fat skis all feature more moderate shapes that are more conductive to skidding, and skiers that are ahead of the curve are skidding more in steeps, using the McConkey approach to gobble up big chunks of terrain in a few smooth turns.

This technique is really useful in big terrain, but it can be applied anywhere. The advantages on snow become obvious quickly- you can ski faster through sections with less turns, expending less energy. In soft snow, skidding keeps your skis floating on top of the snow so it’s easier to pivot and turn when you need to. Drifting also allows you to change direction while continuing to move down the fall-line, especially useful in chutes.

The safety factor is less obvious, but ultimately just as cool: while carving can force you into highly angulated, vulnerable body positions (imagine the position of a ski racer laid out in the middle of a turn), drifting allows you to stand tall in a stable and powerful position with your skeleton supporting your weight. Because the drifting turn is far less dynamic (you really just kind of stand there), you can focus your attention further down the hill, instead of right in front of you.

Carving is a crucial skill, but when you’re off the groomer, sometimes it’s best to just let ‘em drift