Skis
Skis
There are basically six different types of alpine ski to buy: piste, race, all-mountain, freeride, freestyle and touring skis. The most popular and widespread type of ski is the piste ski. It is also called allround, fun or sport carver. These skis have a strong waist, maximum edge grip, a fast reaction time and a strong preload. The piste ski also has a very light rocker to iron out unevenness on the piste. Similar to the piste ski is the race ski, which includes the slalom, giant slalom and pure downhill ski. Raceski are suitable for advanced or professional skiers who have a sporty style of skiing.
A more recent phenomenon is the all-mountain ski. It enables a good skiing experience on and off the slopes. Under the binding, this ski usually offers enough width (80 - 90mm), which gives you some lift in deep snow without having too slow an edge change on the piste. All mountain skis are light but often equipped with stabilizing elements, which makes them easy to ride on and off the piste with a lot of smoothness. The sidecut of these skis is not extremely pronounced, so they are not suitable for particularly aggressive skiing. In contrast to the piste ski, the all-mountain ski has a more pronounced rocker in the nose to achieve as much lift as possible.
The particularly wide and long freeride skis with hybrid profiles show their strengths especially off-piste and especially when there is fresh powder snow. The directional shape enhances lift and makes your freeride ski the perfect fun vehicle on the piste as well. You can choose between the extremely wide, pure powder skis or the slightly narrower freeride skis. The latter are suitable for remote new and deep snow slopes, but deliver better performance on the piste and when ascending with skins than pure powder skis.
Jib and freestyle skis have been very popular for years and continue to inspire new generations. Centrally mounted bindings on True Twin Tip skis have revolutionized the sport: These freeskis can be steered equally well forwards and backwards, and thanks to wider constructions they provide additional stability for long jumps. The length of the freestyle skis is usually about your height. Symmetrical tips and tails make it possible to concentrate the centre of gravity directly in the middle of the ski.
The touring ski is a special ski that is used for touring. A touring ski is usually shorter, wider and softer than a normal alpine ski, to make the descent in deep snow and turns in wet snow easier. In addition, it is lighter than a piste ski, which allows you to climb uphill with less effort. However, this makes the ski less comfortable on the piste, as it is not as hard and direct as the alpine ski. This is of benefit to touring skis in deep snow. With touring skis it is also important to distinguish between 3 different types: Ascent oriented touring skis are suitable for regular, longer tours with ascents of 1000m and more (up to 83mm width under the binding). All-round touring skis are suitable for pleasure touring skiers who enjoy both the ascent and the descent and want to master everything with one ski (84 - 89 mm width under the binding). Downhill-oriented touring skis are designed for short tours with an inclination to freeride downhill (90mm + width under the binding).