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April, 2025

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Using Powder Skis all year round?

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YeetCannon
Posts: 114 - Karma: 301
What do you guys thing of using powder skis as ever day skis if they handle well on hardpack like let's say the Pettitor or the Hoji?
9 years ago
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Dddsz
Posts: 3042 - Karma: 7,323
Hojis wouldn't be terrible. Anything over 115mm would be a bitch on hardpack imo. It also depends on where you are skiing.
9 years ago
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50Kal
Posts: 2836 - Karma: 5,541
You wouldn't be the first to ski a powder ski all season. But just realize that it will suck when its not powder.
I would rather be on a 90mm ski all season then a 110+ ski all season.
9 years ago
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OregonDead
Posts: 7063 - Karma: 26,508
YES! Haven't been on the Pettitor or Hoji but I've rode my YLEs in every type of condition. If you are limited to just one ski you should get pow skis so you can make the most of pow days. In my experience riding a huge ski down winch groomed boilerplate ice is more fun than spending all day getting left behind and digging skis out of the pow.
9 years ago
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gapersarefriends
Posts: 2158 - Karma: 4,270
Yeah I ride AK JJ's every day, 120mm underfoot, and the two times when i was genuinely unhappy riding them was when it was a day of sheer boilerplate ice at snowbird, and then one day it was pissing rain at my local. As long as you can handle the ski everyday, then it's a blast and tends to make a lot of situations more fun. I love riding them everyday, especially if you can lay em over
9 years ago
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cdblu_freeski
Posts: 85 - Karma: 65
I rode moment night trains for a full season haha as long as you know how to ski you can ride whatever whenever. Although it isn't as fun or enjoyable rocking pow skis on hardpack or park skis in pow
9 years ago
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.lencon
Posts: 6753 - Karma: 17,197
SconnieHojis wouldn't be terrible. Anything over 115mm would be a bitch on hardpack imo. It also depends on where you are skiing.


My YLES killed it on hardpack. Theyre 120mm and I skied them everyday

Its all preference, but I will say that I would only ride a ski that fat if I lived on the west coast, which I do. But I still ski at a mountain that gets less than 100" a year lol
9 years ago
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willifast
Posts: 248 - Karma: 299
I used 192 Opus' every day last year, and the only time it was less than ideal were bulletproof days at A-Bay and those massive tit high spring slush bumps where the ski was just too long to zipper through. I loved it, they're a ton of fun and can still be laid over. That being said I will be investing in an every day ski because I have the means, and a lighter smaller ski is much nicer on my knees and kankles. If you get enough snow to not look like a dipshit at your midwestern ice rink I would go for it. (I used my pow skis sometimes when I lived in Ohio, not a ton of fun)
9 years ago
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oxiclean
Posts: 615 - Karma: 693
OregonDeadYES! If you are limited to just one ski you should get pow skis so you can make the most of pow days. In my experience riding a huge ski down winch groomed boilerplate ice is more fun than spending all day getting left behind and digging skis out of the pow.


This. Its worth it when the snow's deep.
9 years ago
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chodo
Posts: 274 - Karma: 918
My everyday skis are Chetlers! Sure I get strange looks all the time, but F@$# em'!
9 years ago
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
As long as the pow ski is relatively stiff and has camber under foot you should be able to ski just as well as anyone anywhere but moguls.
9 years ago
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Pachankz
Posts: 729 - Karma: 838
californiagrownAs long as the pow ski is relatively stiff and has camber under foot you should be able to ski just as well as anyone anywhere but moguls.


I've been on the original salomon rocker 2 122's as my everyday ski for over 5 years and they are actually pretty sick in the moguls . The rocketed tips skim right over the bumps beautifully. They're great in tight east coast trees too as they pivot on a dime, great in slush and obviously shine in the pow , like others said only place they aren't that good is on boilerplate ice . But still tolerable .
9 years ago
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
PachankzI've been on the original salomon rocker 2 122's as my everyday ski for over 5 years and they are actually pretty sick in the moguls . The rocketed tips skim right over the bumps beautifully. They're great in tight east coast trees too as they pivot on a dime, great in slush and obviously shine in the pow , like others said only place they aren't that good is on boilerplate ice . But still tolerable .


If you're sliding bumplines, pow skis work decent. But they just aren't quick edge to edge do carving a bumpline is very unweildly.

Why would a fat pow ski not ski boilerplate as well as any other all mountain ski that has similar rocker?
9 years ago
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Rodigan
Posts: 1313 - Karma: 1,891
jeffrey 114 is the short answer
9 years ago
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No.Quarter
Posts: 5257 - Karma: 16,966
I ski my Jeffrey 114s and surface one life's on ice and shit all the time and honestly it's not that much worse than skiing on my 94 underfoot all mountain skis. Some people bitch so much about skiing pow skis on non pow days, fuck those people.
9 years ago
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Zypher
Posts: 2337 - Karma: 2,268
I use Icelantic Gypsys as my early season, beater, powder, and urban skis. Yes, they are 125mm underfoot. Yes, they are fully rockered with no camber. Yes, the are fun as fuck. The edge to edge radius on them is perfect for making those medium to longer turns on hardpack and since their fully rockered, you can really pivot them in the trees. As for urban and early season, and stuff (I do alot of stupid shit with skis) but these things are freaking bomb proof. Because I love them so much, I am actually making a pair of skis that mirror the Gypsys but smaller (about 104 underfoot) as my new dailys. IMO if you're going to get one ski that can do it all, powder skis are the way to go. They're usually bombproof, super butterable (rocker), nice for groomers with longer turn a longer turn radius, and overall better than park skis or designated all mountains.

tl;dr - I like 125mm underfoot skis for everything. Pow skis < all mtn and park skis.
9 years ago
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Casey
Posts: 8016 - Karma: 26,891
I only skied Hellbents last year. We're there days when I could barely get enough edge to carve? Yes there were. But overall it was fine. Even stepping up to a little stiffer ride with camber like the k2 pettitors would be an awesome daily driver in my opinion.
8 years ago
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milo-mcsenderson
Posts: 660 - Karma: 8,861
Got some Hellbents from when they were 122mm. They're super fun all around the hill, can crank em over if you put some effort into them but the flexy fatness is super fun, especially when it gets slushy, I had decent edges on mine too which did helped.
8 years ago
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