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First Time Park & Powder

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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10

Hi guys,

First of all, let me just saw awesome site!  So stoked I have found this!

OK, here’s a little background on my skiing to date – started when I was about 5 in Switzerland and lived in Crans Montana for 5 years or so, so got pretty good.  Then moved back to the UK and didn’t ski for 12 years (bummer I know!!!).  Started again when I was 27, but a lot changed in that time and I bought my first carving skis, so have had to ‘re-learn’ to ski a bit.  Have been using them for 3 seasons solely on groomers.  Cut a long story short, last year, met some awesome boarders and they got me into the boardercross and park – absolutely loved it, so much so, I rarely wandered out of those areas once discovered, though my skis, Salomon Aero GTi’s were not ideal!  This year I will be heading to the slopes most weekends and have booked to go away with the boarders in Jan.  I basically want to learn to do park properly (mainly jumps), whilst at the same time starting to explore some powder (again something new for me).  I would say I am a pretty good skier – can handle speed and control it well.  Small jumps are OK too.  Never tried powder!

So, my question is, which skis?  I have been doing as much research as I can and have shortlisted K2 Revivals, K2 Kung Fujas and Salomon 2012’s – but I am open to looking at others.  I just can’t find a definitive answer.  I know the Kung Fujas would be the best for powder, but a lot of people have said they would be a hard park ski to start on.  The Revival’s seem to be a good park ski, but not sure how they will do in the powder and the Salomon’s are all new so have no real clue about them.  It’s probably not the best idea to try and start two new areas of skiing with just one ski, but budget constraints mean I can’t go for a park pair and powder pair. 

Any thoughts or comments would be really welcomed.


Cheers.

Dec 3 2010 3:26AM
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Ski.Ballet
Posts: 2860 - Karma: 200
Of those, the Revivals may be your best bet. I'd also look into the Liberty Morphic.
Dec 3 2010 3:29AM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Cool cheers, hadn't heard of Liberty (which probably shows how out of touch I have been).  Will check them out for sure though - looking forward to getting on the snow tomorrow, even if my new skis take a week or two more to get in!  Awesome start to the season here in Europe - coldest temperatures for years and heaps of fresh snow!
Dec 3 2010 7:50AM
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Chompo.
Posts: 4952 - Karma: 88
Of those three I would say revivals. But also check armada alpha 1's or armada halos (they are the same ski with different flex patterns.) they have a rockered tip and tail with will help them perform in powder while they are a killer park ski. They also ski very short while having the stability of a longer ski. So if you get these get 176's or 181's unless you are under 5'6. Welcome to ns!!!
Dec 3 2010 10:18AM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Thanks for adding those to the mix and the welcome to NS :)

I went up to Isola 2000 (local ski resort for Nice, where I live). Good to get back on the white stuff, but had a shocker of a day - hadn't been able to get new skis before I went up and there was a lot of powder which my mates on boards were ripping up. I did give it a go on my current skis, but it wasn't the best for me. tried to go buy new skis after lunch, but the crappy French resort only had 3 shops selling gear and didn't stock K2, or any other twin tips. Going on the hunt again this week as having a long weekend on the slopes next weekend - need need need them before then so fingers crossed!
Dec 5 2010 9:45AM
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B4NE1
Posts: 876 - Karma: 16
Line blends would be a good pick as well if you can find them. They are great in park and hold there own in powder as well as they are 100 mm under foot and this years has very slight early rise to help out.
Dec 5 2010 1:12PM
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Mr_pretzel
Posts: 4616 - Karma: 1,289
Way to big for him.

I would say something like the ar7 or revival would be the best choice.
Dec 5 2010 1:16PM
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max...
Posts: 1379 - Karma: 801
^ no. i agree. line blends are what he should get
Dec 5 2010 1:26PM
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Mr_pretzel
Posts: 4616 - Karma: 1,289
He will most likely be skiing park the most, blends would be to big for him as a beginner.

He wants something around 90 underfoot.
Dec 5 2010 1:30PM
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max...
Posts: 1379 - Karma: 801
i would agree with you had the op said he would be doing more rails than jumps. however, he said he wanted to do jumps in particular as well as dabble in the pow.  Now i would imagine he would eventually want to combine the two.  blends would be good cause they are wider underfoot and more stable and he would be all set to transition from park to pow whenever he pleases
Dec 5 2010 1:39PM
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Mr_pretzel
Posts: 4616 - Karma: 1,289
Lets hope you dont get raped again.
Dec 5 2010 1:56PM
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OMGHEDIDNT
Posts: 706 - Karma: 12
salomon s3, the french resorts will have that ski for shure. It doesn't do anything extremely well but does everything ok. I'd look into that ski. Or maybe the s4jib, i think that has rocker this year, dunno about pow on that ski though.
Dec 5 2010 2:52PM
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OMGHEDIDNT
Posts: 706 - Karma: 12
euh i mean rossignol ofc
Dec 5 2010 2:54PM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Thanks so much guys, this advice is awesome - good to get unbiased advice as you're never sure in the stores, especially if they only stock a couple of brands. Looked at the Line's and they say they are fully geared for a park / powder combo which would be ideal. Am concerned about the width though, so may just go for the Revival's this season, see how I get on and how much I do go to the powder and take it from there.

Really thanks so much though, all the advice is seriously appreciated :)
Dec 6 2010 1:01PM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Hi, just been re-reading after a night's sleep and am back to undecided again!  You are completely right, I am more interested in jumps than rails and eventually I would love to be jumping in the back country, landing in pow, but would imagine I am a fair way off that at the moment!  Have found a stockist of both Line and K2 down here, so going to go visit them at lunchtime and see what they say.
Dec 7 2010 3:40AM
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Legoman
Posts: 533 - Karma: 13
Yeah blends are a good option but the Chronic Kryptos/Revials are going to do better in the park, chronics will probably give you a bit more groomer performance.
Dec 7 2010 12:30PM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Found a shop which stocks both the K2 and Line's - the guys in there have actually pushed the Kung Fujas 179 more than the other two. They said for the pow here and some jump riding, the added width on them will be better all round for me. Said they are good for learning switch on too. Having a think about all the comments and will go buy tomorrow....finally....now on to the gear to go with it ;)
Dec 7 2010 1:42PM
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Mr_pretzel
Posts: 4616 - Karma: 1,289
The thing with fujases are that they are too soft (in my opinion) and that the blend or Chronics would be better.
Dec 7 2010 1:55PM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Haha, that's the reason the guy in the shop was saying they would be good for me. He was saying the tips of the Chronics have a similar level of flex to the Fujas, but it was the tails where the difference lay - they Chronics being stiffer. If I were to go down Chronic line, would it be better to have the 178 or 173? I weigh around 165 pounds (75Kg) and am about 5 foot 9' in height. I know with an all mountain ski I need to be longer than am used to.
Dec 7 2010 4:26PM
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Danoo
Posts: 77 - Karma: 146
Line Blends for sure. Most of the above mentioned are NOT powder skis. A 80-90mm waist will be total s*** in powder, you need 100 at the very least in any normal amount of powder. Line Blends will be heavy in the park but hey, it just makes you that much better. Also landing will be more stable with a wider ski. gl with your purchase.
Dec 7 2010 5:50PM
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Mr_pretzel
Posts: 4616 - Karma: 1,289
def 178.
Dec 8 2010 2:06AM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone for your posts.  I bought some 179 Kung Fujas last night and can't wait to ride em this weekend.....just hope it stops raining in the resorts now and starts snowing again!  Only time will tell if I have made the right decision, but as long as I am skiing with a big smile on my face, that's all that matters.

Big up to everyone on NS!
Dec 9 2010 2:53AM
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Rockhound
Posts: 3432 - Karma: 851
hey man! welcome to Newschoolers!
(i wish every new member would be able to make a thread as clear as yours...haha)
of those skis you listed i would say to check out the revivals.

also, you really cant go wrong with the armada ARV, it is wide enough to do some pow, but also has a nice flex for park.

you also may want to look at the line chronic cryptonite, i would suggest the line blend, but it sounds like you really wanna rail the groomers, and i dont think that you need a 100mm+ ski underfoot.

sorry that post is a bit jumbled, but, check out those skis and have fun in the park(just call your drop)

Dec 9 2010 3:33AM
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Rockhound
Posts: 3432 - Karma: 851
oh shit... i didn't read the thread! haha
Dec 9 2010 3:35AM
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DeGuzman
Posts: 16 - Karma: 10
Haha, I have done that before ;-)  Loved my Fujas this weekend, really forgiving ski - almost went down a couple of times and they saved me!  Would have gone for an all out park ski, but will see how I get on this year as I want to do a lot of backcountry as well.  Cheers for helping though :-)
Dec 13 2010 10:13AM
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brakes
Posts: 457 - Karma: 11
all I can say is... 2012s. period. They are such an amazing ski for everything. They carve groomers excellently, give you confidence for miles on jumps, have an impossibly low swing weight, flex for butters and nollies seamlessly, dont noodle at high speed, deal with east coast ice pretty damn well, shred rails to bits, and then float in waist deep pow!(watch the euro trip salomon freeski tv episodes) I had my doubts about the whole rocker thing, but these skis have just blown my mind. get them. now.
Dec 13 2010 6:53PM
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brakes
Posts: 457 - Karma: 11
woops looks like you already got some kung fujas haha, still though, demo some 2012s sometime, they will rock your world
Dec 13 2010 6:54PM
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