Fat, short, stiff.
After lusting after that floating on air feeling for years, I finally broke down and purchased myself a pair of powder specific skis.
Yes, I know, I should try snowboarding, but I'm old skool with a capital 'k', and I'll always be a skier at heart. And with the new tech skiing is so much more versatile than boarding. Sorry, but when was the last time you saw a boarder tear up a mogul field with freestyle liquidity punctuated by the occasional hellicopter.
Anyway, After much consultation with the venerable Mr Hinton I ended up purchasing a pair of Volkl Gotamas with some Salomon Z12 Tis mounted boot center. Micah recommended going shorter with the 176s, and I'm glad I did.
The skis perform great in powder, no surprise, 105 underfoot gives lots of lift. What was surprising was that they worked almost as well on the hard pack and moguls.
Saturday skied the remnants of the mid week dump, found the occasional pocket of fresh in the trees, spent time on outer limits enjoying slicing through powder that had the most amazing crystal formations on it's surface. Reflected the lake beautifully.
Sunday skied granite chief with the same boards. They held great on ice and navigated the moguls well.
Verdict, go with a stiff ski, it's paramount to maintaning control when not in the powder. Go short, otherwise the skis get too fast on the groomers, and unmanageable in tight spaces. Choose lighter bindings to keep the overall weight down. And most important, don't forget to take the day off next time it dumps 7 feet on your favorite mountain.
Remember, no regrets.
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