Laim, I have said this before (although maybe not on this forum) and that is that Rocker has been a game changer for guys that ski in films or rip that way or at those speeds. I have no direct experience of what it takes to ski those lines, but from what I am told by guys that ski those lines at those speeds (Scott Schmidt being one as we have become decent friends) is that the ability to schmear the tails to bleed off speed makes their work a lot easier and it enables them to ski lines at speeds they would not have attempted on flat tailed skis (where at speed you better be real careful about pressuring the tails!!). So yes, it is definitely changing the face of sking and the way pros and intermediates ski.
As for technique and PMTS technique, I think I have made my points on why rocker doesn't support a skier advancing with that technique and I think all the talk of sliding. pivoting, schmearing etc pretty much proves that out. As I said before, everyone should make their own decision about what they want in a ski and how hard and how far they want to go with acquiring solid PMTS technique.
I wish I had the K2 demo team video that someone threw up on the PMTS forum last year. They had the 2 Crist brothers skiing on tip rockered carving skis and they were demontsrating their high edge angle carving. Now both these guys were on the US Ski team and on the A team at one point in their careers. The skiing is sloppy and the carving would not come close to holding up in a race course. Makes sense, they are no longer racing. But their fore aft position was back which was never the case when they were racing (I Know their coach from the ski team). So is it the skis that they were on that day (rockered tips forcing them aft)? Or is it that they are skiing rockered skis all the time so they naturally have moved aft in all their skiing? or some combination of both? So if the best skiers in the world are finding that their technique is slipping from skiing rockered skis, what do you think they will do for the rest of the skiing public.
Hey in ten years carving and brushed carved SRT's from a forward position on the skis may be a lost art. Clearly the sport is evolving. I will never be able to do what park rats are doing on rockered skis and what they are able to do in the air. It's amazing. But very few of those kids can carve or brush carve arcs the way I can much less the way Max, HH and Diana can. What they do is unattainable for me (I'm 51 and I am not about to start working on my acrobatic jumps!!). It is also unattainable to the vast majoritty of skliers over the age of 30. What I have learned and worked on is attainable for anyone that is willing to put in the time, energy and intensity. I guess that would be the only point. Lost of guys skiing on rockered skis because Sage is on them, but they have no shot of ever skiing like Sage, but they could ski like HH or some close facsimile. But again it is each persons individual choice. Probably a great message for today, 9/11!!
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