realskiers

Max:  I can see they need a reference point.  But I also believe that it's hard to do this statically and that on the snow is far superior.


My question is the assumption that the Center of Mass should be over the center of the ski??  I know of binding mounts with the BOF (ball of the foot) over the COR (center of the running surface), but I thought/assumed that you wanted your center of mass somewhere over the front of the ski in order to bend it (more?).


At least in my mind that's a goal, maybe its a goal because my center of mass is well behind too much of the time.

Jim, I used to think that the BOF-CRS mark was the easy way to find balance and the sweet spot on every ski.  But experience with different skis, and different skiers, has shown this is not always the case.  It's just a starting point (and a good one) for experimenting with moving the bindings fore or aft until you feel the most balanced.

Example:  Terryl skis her Progressors 1 cm behind the BOF-CRS mark, but skis her iM78s about 1cm ahead of the mark.  Ramp angle of the bindings is the same for both skis, which rules out that variable.  This makes me think that sidecut geometry has something to do with the differences from one ski to another, and perhaps flex pattern of the ski (ie. relative stiffness of tail vs. shovel).

You've got the Powerail on all your skis....have you tried moving them fore and aft to see if you can feel the difference? I've done it with all my skis, and I can tell immediately that something has changed.  It usually takes me about half a day with the new setting to decide whether the change was good or not, as I like to put the skis through varying scenarios -- steeps, crud, carving, short/long turns, etc. -- to see if it works well in all conditions.

Bottom line:  like forward lean and heel lifts, finding your balance is something individual and unique to each person, but well worth fiddling with to find that elusive sweet spot.  If you happen to be lucky enough to own some skis that already have a big sweet spot built in, well then you've got a much easier job of it.  My Mach 3's and Mythics are like that, but my Progressor 9's.....not so much  . 

Unfortunately, for techno/engineering/math-type guys like us, there is no simple mathematical golden rule of geometry that will be our fix-all for our ski balance woes.  Sometimes we have to live with all these darned intangibles.  Frustrating, ain't it?

Good luck with this. And don't blow a fuse trying to figure it out.