Freeriders are not restricted to the runs laid out and groomed by the ski resort. The whole mountain is their playground. They range from laid back types who want to cruise powder linking short turns to veritable snow surfers laying down wide curves and playing with the terrain to extreme big mountain skiers, hucking rock bands and tackling gnarly couloirs.
This discipline has developed from lift served off-piste skiing where equipment used to be Slalom, GS or Super G skis. Ideal on hard pack these skis required many months to master in difficult and powder conditions. With the revolution in ski shapes during the latter part of the 1990s manufacturers increasingly started to cater for the off-piste market producing wide, shaped and increasingly specialized skis.
Skis in this category are generally too heavy for extensive climbing but in recompense by offering excellent performance. Stiff but often exotic materials give them the torsional ridgidity for reactive turning and grip. Wide enough under foot (80+mm) to cope with deep powder. Turn radiuses are medium to large (20m+) to assist stability at speed and to enable the rider to pilot the ski.
The sector is dominated by big manufacturers such as Rossignol with the B series skis, Salomon, K2 and Scott but a number of Micro Marques have also appeared in recent years ranging from mid-sized Movement and Zag to smaller outfits such as Boheme and the ressurected Duret.
Good all round skis, as comfortable on piste as off it. Fat enough to give novice off-piste skiers enough float to cope with powder conditions but thin enough for edge to edge speed on piste. They are generally softer than Fat Freeride skis to lift in powder during turning and to help turn initiation on-piste.
These are specialized off-piste tools aimed at skiers who will spend the majority of their time away from groomers or who are fortunate enough to have at least two pairs of skis. Relative stiff with a geometry for medium to large turns perform well in powder, crud and should have enough grip on hardpack. Piste performance is usually okay but they won't shred moguls down the zipper line. The longest fat freeride skis are in the 190-200cm range and require considerable skill and strength to tame.
Swallowtails are designed for massive powder days. These are an ueber specialized ski that should see as much piste as it takes to traverse from the top of the lift station to the boundary ropes.
<< Ski Touring | Ski | Freerando >>