Jennings: Thin is in, once again, for skis
If you ever have a favorite necktie that goes out of style, don’t get rid of it. Someday it will return to fashion – and look even cooler than it did the first time around. Skis are a lot like neckties. They’ve evolved from thin and functional to fat and loud. Now there’s a buzz emerging among ski experts that thin could be in, once again.
Skis that have gotten as fat as 140 centimeters (5.5 inches) at the waist could be as fat as they’re going to get. Recent previews of next year’s models suggest the pendulum is swinging the other way.
In his newsletter realskiers.com, noted ski expert Jackson Hogen reported that most of the new models at the Snow Sports Industries Snow Show in Denver this year were less than 85 millimeters underfoot. Local Nordica rep and Coeur d’Alene resident Terry Godbout said the ski maker will offer an 85 mm iteration of a 100mm waist ski that sold out nationally this year. He welcomes the trend.
“It’s so American to go to extremes,” he said. “If 100 millimeters underfoot works so well, let’s go to 120 and it will be even better. But when you’re trying put 120mm wide skis on edge skiing a groomer, the lever arm that works laterally against the knee generates some significant forces.”
It’s true that my knees start aching when I spend too much time skiing groomers on fat skis. That’s understandable from a point of view informed by basic biomechanics. The distance between the edge of the ski on the snow and the axis of rotation under your foot increases with ski width. That distance is the length of the lever arm. The longer the lever arm, the more force your knees and ankles must generate to tip the ski on edge.
The Montana Kaimin, the student newspaper for the University of Montana, reported last year about a Montana State University study investigating the effect of fat skis on knees and ankles.
John Seifert, an associate professor of health and human development at MSU, used leg sensors to monitor muscle and joint strain on skiers as they used skis of varying width underfoot. He concluded that on a groomer, torque generated by the lever arm on a ski wider than about 85 mm puts undue stress on knee and ankle joints. What’s more, wider turns on wider skis require knees and ankles to flex for a longer period through the turn.
It’s hard to find a ski narrower than 85 mm at the waist at the ski shop these days. Even all-mountain skis marketed as a universal solution for any type of snow or surface range from 90-100 mm. Are we cheating ourselves by believing the hype that having a “one ski quiver” is actually possible?
“A carving ski functions like an ice skate,” Godbout said. “It’s up on edge and moves forward in an arc. A fat ski functions more like a water ski, lifting you on top of the snow. What do you think a compromise between an ice skate and a water ski would look like?”
Indeed, such a marriage would produce strange offspring. But most people can’t afford to have a quiver of skis to select from to match the conditions. Godbout, a former ski retailer, suggests replacing your skis less frequently. Except for the graphics, very few changes are made from year to year for most of us to notice.
Stagger the investment in tools for both powder and groomers out over a few years. You might not always have the latest model, but instead of having one ski that only works best some of the time, you’ll have the appropriate tool for the conditions on a given day.
Based on the forecast, it looks like I’m going to put my portly skis away for a while. We’re in store for some unusually warm temperatures. Between periods of rain, spring skiing conditions could persist for the next few weeks. I’ve got a pair of svelte slalom skis with a 65mm waist that could be just the ticket. My knees will thank me.