realskiers

An approach.

1 - Look at the icons.? The blue upright skier and the black upright skier reflect skillsets based on traditional technique, as opposed to the "skiers in a tuck" icons that represent skiers working on (or already possessing) "modern technical skills".? I assume that there is no value judgement by Peter implied here, there are lots of people that have been skiing very well since before shaped skis came on the market.

2 - Look at the "soft edge" (or "skid" in prior years) values for the various skis.? The biggest difference in modern technique vs. older technique is the initiation of the turn.? New technique focuses on edge engagement leading into the carve, earlier technique relied upon a stem christie turn initiation (which was initially skid based and then the skier progressed to more parallel turns).? A ski that will allow you to skid the tails (a soft edge rating of 4 or 5) will support the earlier technique, a ski with a lower "soft edge" will feel like it grabs or bucks as you try to push the tails into the new ski directioni.

FWIW, many of the very good skis (short of slalom skis or hyper carvers) will support traditional technique very well (or at least so I hear).? Early shaped skis didn't necessarily have this flexibility.

NOTE:? This is not a list of suggested skis, just examples of what you might look for in the ski reviews.
? ? Fischer Vision Vapor - upright black icon, soft edge rating of 4 (but still a clean carve rating of 4)?
? ? Head Every Thang - upright black icon, soft edge rating of 4 (but still a clean carve rating of 4)
? ? Head Power Thang - Upright black icon, soft edge rating of 4 (clean carve of 5)? = more of a carver, but still a candidate.
? ? Elan Black Magic - soft edge rating of 2, no upright icons, comment of "Requires well developed cross under carving skills" == would not be a good choice


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