: > You should seriously thing about getting him 2 pairs of skiis. One for
: > racing which should be a little longer and stiffer than the other pair
: for
: > free skiing.
: Actually Janet the proper answer is that you need 7 pairs of skis: race
: slalom, Super G GS, super sidecut GS, midfats, Fats, Tele, and some
: of those super short mutant skiis.
I actually do know someone who may have all of these ... ;-)
If he's racing on a regualr basis its also really nice to have a pair of
skiis that are only used for racing which won't get "trashed" by free
skiing.
: >For example, I'm 5'2" and ski on 185's (Rossi 4SV's) and race
: > on 190's (K2 SL Race). and yes, i know they're slalom skiis, but since i
: > could only get one pair for racing it's much easier to use slalom skis in
: > GS than GS skiis in slalom - I race in an *** recreational league, so
: > we'er not talking future olympians or anything like that.... ;-)
: Olympians are overrated. What really matters is beating your rivals.
: > The point is, i have something longer and stiffer for racing than what i
: > use for free skiing.
: >
: Stiffer, maybe, but not necessarily longer. In the past people used
: long skiis to have more edge. Now that ski engineering has improved,
: GS race skiis can be shorter. Good GS racing requires carving
: technically perfect turns rather than going straight. Of course most
: recreational GS courses are set pretty straight on flat hills, so there
: might be an advantage in using a longer ski for recreational racing.
OK, I agree that for GS there are some sidecut skiis that are used at
shorter length than for non super sidecut skiis.
Also, I'm from the east, so the extra length give me a little more edge
and stablity on the "packed powder". For me, i do notice a big difference
between the skiis, even on something as "easy" as NASTAR. (we typically
don't use NASTAR courses for our racing, we're more technical/difficult
than that. We do have a couple of fun races at the end of the season on
NASTAR-type courses and include our non-racing significant others and
children in the race)
: In addition, one should choose ski length based on weight and
: muscular strength rather than height. Is this kid skinny or is he a
: fireplug? Using too long a ski can be damaging to his skill
: development.
Agreed. I was in a hurry and didn't pick up on the kids' age. But his
skill level is 7, so he's not a novice at this either.
: -erik
: Vail-It ain't length, it's what you do with it.