Even before I had set a foot into the vast exhibition hall of Olympia and the ski show, I had spent weeks thinking about and researching what new skis to buy for this season. Spending 5 days at the ski show on our stand there also gave me time to look around the other exhibitors and most importantly at the dazzling array of shiny new skis on offer for this winter.
So how do you decide on what skis to buy? Well for me the choice was relatively simple and as I live in Chamonix all year round they will get plenty of use all winter long, so the cost is justifiable. Skis get fatter and fatter every year and it has taken some time to win me over to the huge fat skis you now see. I've always thought, "well if you can ski less fat skis fine and have plenty of fun then who needs a massive pair?" Well I think this is still true to some extent but there is no question that the fat skis are more fun and technology has moved on so much that they can be skied across the whole mountain on and off piste with relative ease.
So a pair of FAT skis it is for me, by this I mean a width of more than 100mm under foot. So moving onto the make of ski, where you have so many to choose from. Everything from the main stream brands of Salomon, Dynastar, Rossignol to the new small relatively unknown ski makers like Black Crow's, White Dot and Heidi Skis; where do you begin?
For me the choice was easy, Volkl. I already have a pair of Volkl skis which I love, they suit my style of skiing and felt great from the moment I first used them. They are made with a wood core which gives great feeling and a more uniform flex along the ski; they have a reputation for making excellent bombproof skis and they work with many top ski racers and freeskiers so their R&D is also excellent. And fortunately most of the skis they produce they make in a size that is right for me, 170cm or thereabouts.
Looking through their range of freeskis, some are just stupidly huge like the Kuro that comes in at a whopping 164-132-139 side cut, a snowboard some would say! I decide on the Kiku, a women's version of their much raved about Gotama ski. The Kiku has a side cut of 137-106-122, so big but not too silly! It has the new rocker system in it, which makes the ski look like its bent up the wrong way! According to Volkl's website "Volkl's ELP rocker design is a complete system that enhances the versatility of the ski, it allows easy turning and speed control without sacrificing is performance on firm snow". The ski should combine amazing flotation in powder snow with all-mountain versatility.
Pic courtsey of www.volkl.com
All sounds good to me, they are now proudly sitting in my house waiting for a binding to be mounted onto them and more snow to fall so I can take them out to play. Now I just need to move the other 4 pairs of skis already in the garage, to one side, to make room for the new ones.
