the    sides

I finally broke down. It has been a secret passion/desire of mine since college to own a pair of big ole’ fat, wide powder skis. Why wide? As Pontiac said - wider is better.

Enter the 2007 k2 Apache Chief. They’re 188s with a 128/98/116 dimension.

Don’t have a clue what all that means? Let me help you out.

Length
188 is the length of the ski in centimeters. The other numbers are the width of the ski in millimeters at the front, the midsole (underfoot) and the tail. (Why do they use centimeters and millimeters? Because skiing developed over in Europe and they use the metric system. Like the rest of the world. It sucks but you’ll get used to it.)

Length of the skis typically affect how fast you go. Longer = faster. Generally speaking, you want the ski height to be somewhere between your eyes and your forehead. Unless of course you are doing ski jumping or are just a stud. In which case, you aren’t reading this post and you probably ski on 200s and look like a Nordic god.

Width at tip/midfoot/tail
Basic premise here is this - wider is better for powder and backcountry, narrower is better on groomed and moguls (bumps). Generally speaking, the narrower the ski, the easier it is to turn.

I’ve got a pair of Bandits that are 70 mm underfoot. Awesome for moguls, terrible for powder. The narrow skis tend to bury themselves in the snow. It’s incredibly funny watching someone ski these in deep powder…it’s not fun for the skier but will provide hours of entertainment for anyone else watching. Looks like someone learning how to drive a stickshift.

Wider skis give you ‘float.’ The ski sits in or on the powder as opposed to underneath it. Makes smooth turns in the powder and is awesome for busting through ‘crud.’ Crud is a special type of snow that is hard on the top but soft underneath. Conversely, skiing moguls with wider skis is akin to strapping two snowboards to your feet. It’s doable but not recommended.

Flex
The flex of ski is the most overlooked characteristic. Generally speaking, the heavier you are, the stiffer you want your sticks. More flex makes the ski more maneuverable but also makes it less stable at higher speeds. They call this ‘chop’ because that’s what the skis sound like they are doing - chopping. It’s all relative on one hand because what might be too flexible of ski for me would be perfect for you because I’m a 6′2″, 240 chunk of pure muscle. Or not.

Stiffer skis handle the higher speeds better and can plow through the ice and crud but are a bit heavier and harder to turn.

One of the coolest things I’ve seen is how guys test the flex of ski. They hold it upright, grab the top of the ski while pushing on the underfoot. See how far it bends over. I’ve seen a guy bend a ski almost in half like this. It looks cool and I seriously thought the ski was going to break like a pencil but it didn’t. I also swore I’d never put my big body on that ski.

So I’ll be on the Apache Chiefs today with Dad and Mary at Winter Park. I’ll post some pics later if I can.