WINTER PARK — They call it the “one-ski quiver.”
For years, it has remained as elusive as the Fountain of Youth, the Loch Ness monster and sasquatch combined. Hearts have been broken by promises unfulfilled, hopes dashed and resolve questioned during the transition from front-side cruising to off-piste powder as the “ski of the moment” once again flubbed the versatility test.
But skiers seeking a single pair of skis capable of handling almost any conditions can take heart. Design advances, long focused on ski width and shape, have progressed to the realm of rocker and camber combinations that allow easier turning in every snow condition on planks once considered too fat to ride on all but the deepest days.
“The rocker makes for easier turn initiation even in a larger ski,” said Hardy Bodenhemier, Colorado sales rep for Head Wintersport. “It makes a wider ski more accessible to more of an intermediate skier as well as the expert.”
The general translation is that by raising the front end of the skis off the snow (a.k.a., rocker), there is less edge to catch on firm snow, enabling a quicker turn on skis as wide as 110mm underfoot. The bonus is when the snow gets deep, the wide, raised tips float easily above it, doubling a skier’s pleasure.
“We believe in rocker,” said Marc Lee, Colorado sales rep for K2 Skis, which introduces rocker to all but two skis in the 2010-11 line. “We’ve found the byproduct of the floatation for crud and powder and wind-affected snow was that it just made skis easier to ski. So why not take it down in the line and make it easier for the beginner and intermediate skiers too?”
The challenge now is selecting that single pair of skis, since this industry-wide phenomenon has saturated the market with more quality merchandise than the sport has ever seen. Fortunately, last week’s Snowsports Industries America Snow Show in Denver also featured an on-snow demo considered the largest in North America.
That gave prospective buyers such as Shaun Filiault, hard goods manager for Pepi’s Sports in Vail, a chance to sift through next winter’s lineup in an effort to help skiers narrow their choices.
“You have to try to do your customer the service because there are so many products,” Filiault said. “We definitely recommend you try before you buy. The hard part is that there are so many good skis out there for next year.”
The Denver Post was among the 3,400 participants in last week’s on-snow demo. Although it was impossible to test them all, here are a few candidates we found for next season’s one-ski quiver:
Nordica Girish
(Test length) 191 cm (139-110-129), radius 26m @ 181cm,
Nordica is adding an early-rise rocker to its big-mountain charger, combining traditional camber to create a surprisingly nimble plank in a 110mm footprint. This flat-tailed ski has earned high praise since replacing the Blower in 2009, sandwiching two sheets of metal around a wood core and vertical sidewalls. The result is a sturdy ride that dismisses variable conditions and makes use of a subtle 4mm rocker to rise up in deep powder or easily swing into shorter-radius turns on hardpack. Less aggressive skiers may want to consider the softer, skinnier Enforcer (135-98-125). Just remember that Girish translates to “lord of the mountain.”
Head Jerry
191cm (130-104-120), radius 26m @ 181cm,
The newest addition to Head’s all-mountain freeride line pays homage to the Woodstock era in name alone. Designed as a do-it-all twin-tip, the Jerry includes Head’s early-rise “rocka” in both tip and tail to add some state-of-the- art smearability to traditional turn shapes. A lack of metal keeps the skis light with minimal sacrifice in stability thanks to sandwich construction and ABS sidewalls. Rocka remains unnoticed until the trees get tight and snow goes au natural. Then it’s merely a matter of trusting these versatile boards to keep on truckin’ like they’re designed to.
K2 Coomback
181cm (135-102-121), radius 22m @ 174cm,
This lightweight, cap-construction ski is designed as a backcountry board first, although K2 lovers will find it rides the frontside just fine. Because it’s not a stiff ski, it’s best suited to lighter skiers who like to turn. The combination of traditional camber and K2’s now ubiquitous rocker make turn initiation almost too easy, although the Coomback performs like a powder ski at heart. Tip and tail holes for K2’s integrated climbing skins ease uphill efforts.
Liberty Helix
167 cm (135-105-122) radius 19.5m,
Our tester — a 120-pound, aggressive, expert skier — fell in love with the Helix, saying, “I could ride this ski for the rest of my life.”
With 105 millimeters underneath the boot, the ski is secure and stable in all conditions, but the bamboo-poplar core keeps it light and nimble. The ski’s slightly rockered tip and tail combine with flex and camber to give it impressive agility in tight pockets.
Liberty’s custom glass weave layer beneath the bamboo core keeps the Helix stable on hardpack and prevents the rockered tip from washing out at speed. A two-year warranty offers durability assurance.
Icelantic Shaman
184 cm (160-110-130) radius 18m,
With a ridiculously large shovel and peerless sidecut, the Denver-built Shaman doesn’t appear maneuverable. But despite the boxy look, the Shaman is a hybrid floater-carver. The fat 160mm shovel manages to bite hardpack as the fiberglass-sandwiched poplar wood core delivers powerful edge control. Despite its heavier weight, the Shaman’s broad tip floats the ski in deep snow. The descending sidecut releases from turns easily, making the Shaman one of the more forgiving mid-fats on the market.
Artist Travis Parr’s gallery-worthy topsheet designs are overwhelming. Between ski days, these are the boards you leave in the living room.
Rossignol S5
185 cm (128-98-121) radius 21.3m,
So 98 millimeters underfoot isn’t the powder platform most steep-and-deepers expect, but the S5’s prowess hides in its versatility. The S5’s tip — rockered just so — gives the ski pop in the pow while allowing unanticipated maneuverability in trees and bumps. The stiff midsection grabs hardpack and the softer tip and tail smooth out the crud. The twin-tipped S5 is popular among the jibbers who soar on and off-piste — namely spry pro stomper Kye Petersen. But its design crosses over to the non-leaping crowd looking for agility and stability in all conditions.
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
Jason Blevins contributed to this report.
