SKIS, SKIS and MORE SKIS

The beginning of the season not only means its time to race, but it also means its time to “get to know your skis.” Warm skis, cold skis, fine snow skis, klister skis, stiff skis, soft skis, ZR1 grind, Q1 grind, 0+ grind, LJ03 grind and it goes on and on. Those of you familiar with skiing may understand all this jargon, but those of you not as familiar with skiing might wonder what all this means.

Every season I receive two new pairs of classic skis and two new pairs of skate skis. I currently have 16 pairs of skis (I think I counted right). You ask “why so many skis?” Each ski has a different flex and grind, and is better in certain conditions. Generally speaking, colder skis have a finer grind and warmer skis have a courser grind. The fine grind is more suitable for dry, cold snow because the snow crystals are smaller. The course grind allows moisture and water to stream down the grooves of the ski, preventing the skis from having a “sucking” feeling.

With the addition of four pairs of skis, it is important to ski them in a few times during training to get the feel of them and determine what conditions they work best in and how they compare to skis you “know” from previous years. It is best to “test” them against other skis in your fleet to see how much faster or slower they run. The first race in West Yellowstone is usually a great place to do this. Unfortunately, the usual ski trails do not have snow on them and the plateau is not ideal for ski testing, so we are unable to ski on our new skis and test them. Hopefully we will get some good snow in the next few days, not only so we can race, but so we can also “get to know our skis.”

The Sun Valley Ski Team getting ready to hit the trails.