Local leagues and especially at the lower age groups have more relaxed rules. You'll see racers on 30m skis carve down a course where you can barely make the turns with your "masters" 17m skis and that's normal, it's the skill level: they have many years of training in these conditions on you.įIS racers do not have many options, they are constrained by the very specific rules set out by the FIS. However, always make sure to read the guidelines and rules for the specific racing organization you'll join. Choose based on your current ski ability: if you're an experienced racer, a 23m can be a lot of fun, although an 18-19m can provide a lot of fun on all sorts of sets. The differences between these are not just radius, but also stiffness. GS skis, because of the recent changes in radius and sizes, come in many varieties: from 14m junior skis to 17m cheaters, to 21-25m masters to 30m FIS compliant. often lovingly referred to as "disco sticks". Slalom skis are also shorter and more manoeuvrable. Don't get an "all mountain" 16m ski and expect it to be ok in gates: it won't be! The smaller the more maneuverable and easy to ski. dimensions: radius and length (type of ski)įor Slalom, the radius of the ski varies between maybe 8m for juniors to 11m for some masters skis, to around 13m for FIS. ![]() The general characteristics that we use to choose race skis are: Save your moneys for good custom boots and training. Reasonably used skis are much cheaper and you can swap them much easier when you find something that suits better. The rule of thumb is that, unless you are looking at racing at the highest levels and especially at the younger ages, you don't really need to get new equipment. Testing, especially at the higher levels, is how you'll find the fastest ski for you. Failing that, demo days are the thing to go to, although they don't always bring the race equipment. Good clubs will have a few different skis for athletes to try. Most also have a race room version, hard to get, reserved for top athletes. Generally, up to U14 we use "junior" race skis while for U16 and up, depending on size and ability, we'll have to choose among 3 different levels of "race" skis - most manufacturers have about 3 ranges of race skis between masters (more friendly) and FIS (more performant). You need to get an appropriate race ski, even at the smaller ages: recreational skis are made for a variety of snow conditions and ability levels and cannot put up with training and racing on hard snow and ice. One important issue here is to get a boot tech with race experience: footbeds must be fitted to the small room available inside a race boot and must not restrict the movements of the foot inside the boot. Likewise, depending on the shape of the foot, custom footbeds may become important as well.
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