Thread: Snowboarder --> Skier --> What skis?

I've post-holed through one too many untracked flat areas and I'm done losing elevation on traverses - please enlighten me as to what type of skis I should be looking at.

I've ridden a board for ~12 years in Washington, so that is my ideal terrain. Trees, lots of heavy snow (hopefully). Some sidecountry, no park. If possible, I ride when there is new snow, so not much on groomed except for when I'll be learning on skis. Obviously, I will suck balls at skiing at first, but I'd like to buy skis that while they may inhibit my learning slightly, I'll still enjoy them in a season or two once I'm not a complete gaper and riding similar terrain to what I was on a board - this may be optimistic.

I'm 6'1", ~175lbs. Some skier friends have recommended something ~100 underfoot, early rise with normal camber underfoot. Line blends came up, as did S3's. I'll probably be trying many skis before I find one that matches what I'm doing, but I'm trying to limit costly trial and error.

So basically, what skis should I buy that I can learn on but will still be useful in 2-3 years when I can ride some actual terrain? Thanks

Buy a splitboard.

Jeremy Jones makes a pretty sweet rig.

Originally Posted by DasBlunt

Buy a splitboard.

Jeremy Jones makes a pretty sweet rig.

Which will help on traverses and untracked flat area's how?

Your buddies have given you good advice there. Get something 100ish, 185ish cm, not too stiff with some camber and tip rocker. Just get something cheep on sale or second hand, they will last you a couple of years and you won't be as financially attached when its time to move on. Invest in GOOD BOOTS.

Just thought, have a look at the Atomic line, some bomber 100mm ish skis at real good prices.

^^^ +1. Snowboarding got a whole lot more fun when skiers would top out and see it was a knuckledragger who broke trail and scored first tracks.

I started skiing occasionally a few years ago. Don't do it often, so it's a fun way to keep the stoke up in shitty conditions. I really envy the skiers that can throw a pair of touring bindings on a pair of skis and access just about anywhere they want, being as I haven't had the funds to invest in a nice split.

I second getting a good pair of boots. I would go for full tilt or dalbello just because you can swap the tongues as you desire a stiffer boot.

I ride JJs mostly and really enjoy them. I don't know, but imagine making the switch to skis might be easier on a more jibby, more center-mounted ski. If you can find a decent deal, I think the Atomic Blogs look like a terrific and capable ski. Lots of other fun choices.

vicik and some GOOD, WELL FIT, BOOTS

You're the perfect candidate for some Narrow Ass Snowboards.

i had to switch from boarding to skiing a few years back (2007 iirc) due to an ankle injury. i procured a cheap pair of head mojos (90 waist, twin tip, park skis) from a friend and made my first turns on groomers to figure out my turns. i skied those for a few weeks and then supplemented my skis some atomic thugs (120 waist, twin tips) which became my everyday go-to ski on or off piste. once you get the turns down, the transition to a bigger ski is not a big deal.

i would try to find a cheap pair of narrow skis to learn groomer turns on. then once you are comfortable on skis get the ski that is more ideal for you in powder. if you try to get something that does it all, you will get a ski that does it all poorly. it'll either make learning your turns more difficult or it will make your powder experience more difficult.

my 2 centimes.

I went from Snowboarding to a narrow Salomon Park Ski (Seventwenty: cheap, very lightweight due to the foam core, easy to handle) to relearn skiing, then soon upgraded to a Rossi S3 and added a CRJ for pow days after about a year on the S3s.

I also suggest you pick up some cheap, beat up park skis for your first moves, since going directly to a fatter ski probably feels strange and you will have a harder time controlling a fatter ski in the beginning...

I went through the same exact change 4 or 5 years back. I grew up skiing then switched to snowboarding for 12 years. My advice would be to get fitted for boots and buy the best ones you can afford. Then demo skis this year. In the spring when everyone is off loading their gear pick up a good deal on whatever you decide you like riding the best. I started with the older liberty helix which is pretty much what your friends suggested without the early rise. So I would say they are spot on. If you are anywhere near PDX I would check out ON3P's stuff. They have a great demo program. FWIW everything I own now is fatter than my old Helix which are now my rock skis. If you must buy this year then I would look at either a on3p vicik or moment belafonte.

S3's sound perfect. I wouldn't want to learn to ski on Belafontes or Viciks. But start with boots that fit like everyone said.

There is already a lot of good advice on here, but I echo the suggestion to pick up some cheap narrowish ~78mm traditional camber skis to take out on groomers and on days w/crap snow. When you are working out a steep, icy traverse in the side/back-country on your fat, powder destroying skis in the future, you'll thank yourself for all the days you lapped icy, wind hammered, frozen coral reef shit snow while in-bounds, learning how to use your edges.

A good way to learn the techniques you'll want is to head out when the lift lines are short, and the snow is hard. If you buy even just a 100mm waisted do-it-all ski, you'll be making it much harder to learn the basics, and it'll take you longer to get back to the terrain you like to ride. If you can, pick up two pair of used skis - a 100ish mm, tip rockered ski for pow days and soft snow days and a front side trad camber carving ski. You'll be surprised how fast you can learn w/this option. Then when you add a more pow-oriented pair of (likely) expensive boutique skis in a year or two, you can use the other two pair for spring/summer touring. You'll have a start at a quiver, and you'll likely find the right pair of expensive pow sticks the first time around, because you'll know what type of skier you are.

Something cheap, sub 80 waist and a good amount of side cut. You're going to beat them up so cheap cheap cheap. Don't even bother going off piste or near trees unless you like getting hurt. It takes years to become a half decent skier. I'd be surprised of you go beyond a moderate blue run your first year, fatter skis (90+) would be a horrible idea for a beginner that's learning. If you want to learn faster get some lessons.

I'll second the Lib Tech Narrow Ass snowboards. My buddy was in the same position and not willing to make the full transition to ski brands and saw that as a happy compromise. He has the Jibs but I would look at the freerides. People seem to have good things to say.

Something cheap, sub 80 waist and a good amount of side cut. You're going to beat them up so cheap cheap cheap. Don't even bother going off piste or near trees unless you like getting hurt. It takes years to become a half decent skier. I'd be surprised of you go beyond a moderate blue run your first year, fatter skis (90+) would be a horrible idea for a beginner that's learning. If you want to learn faster get some lessons.

You're going to want to completely ignore this person. They must be one of those slow learners, like the people that tell you its hard to learn to snowboard. Many people here might agree that it takes years to become a decent skier, but their definition of a decent skier is much better than this. As I'm sure you've already assumed you're probably going to staron blue runs not progress to them. The fact they call 90+ fat is a good indicator they are clueless. Start with something narrow (around 100mm) that will be versatile, they are incredibly easy to ski. Most converted snowboarders grad their board on powder days anyway so something not too fat usually ends up filling out the quiver better.


I've probably just been trolled but whatever, check out:

Salomon Shoguns- easy to ski, great edge hold
Rossignol S3- fun, playful, floaty, get bounced around in crud
Atomic Access, Theory, Alibi, Ritual, Coax

Thanks for all the advice, lots of help. The idea of super cheap, narrower skis to start out on makes sense, as I'll probably take the board out on deep days at first anyway. I'll see what I can swing for boots, skiing is fucking expensive! Looking forward to learning. Snowboarding was just not that fun at the ski hill if there wasn't newish snow anywhere. Starting over will certainly make groomers more interesting!

I very nearly chopped a board in half to make a split, but this doesn't solve any lift access related problems. For pure BC, sure, but skis still seem more efficient. Plus, I'm looking to teach my 9m.o daughter to ride snow in a year or two, doing this on a snowboard would be not nearly as easy as on skis.

Agree with NAS comments since started by snowboarders anyways. Or just get some decent used all mtn skis or turny pow sticks on gear swap. I think its an easy way to go. Read some reviews and buy some $250 boards and spend the real money on boots. Boots will last a lifetime, skis will last a season or two and back on gearswap.

Oh and welcome knuckledragger

Originally Posted by Wired2theT

I'll second the Lib Tech Narrow Ass snowboards. My buddy was in the same position and not willing to make the full transition to ski brands and saw that as a happy compromise. He has the Jibs but I would look at the freerides. People seem to have good things to say.



You're going to want to completely ignore this person. They must be one of those slow learners, like the people that tell you its hard to learn to snowboard. Many people here might agree that it takes years to become a decent skier, but their definition of a decent skier is much better than this. As I'm sure you've already assumed you're probably going to staron blue runs not progress to them. The fact they call 90+ fat is a good indicator they are clueless. Start with something narrow (around 100mm) that will be versatile, they are incredibly easy to ski. Most converted snowboarders grad their board on powder days anyway so something not too fat usually ends up filling out the quiver better.


I've probably just been trolled but whatever, check out:

Salomon Shoguns- easy to ski, great edge hold
Rossignol S3- fun, playful, floaty, get bounced around in crud
Atomic Access, Theory, Alibi, Ritual, Coax

I agree with this guy, once you get some technique down you should progress fairly quickly. Your existing terrain, and snow awareness will help a lot. If it takes you years then you're an idiot.

GET WELL FITTING BOOTS.

Then try picking up something like an older Line P100 on the cheap, it's an easy ski with a neutral personality.

I'd also agree that with a bit of technique and coaching, you'll find you progress quite quickly. I started skiing last season, having only snowboarded previously and I found that it was quicker and easier for me to feel confident, in control and actually like I was somewhat doing it right on skis than it was for me to learn to snowboard.

I took lessons for my first three days on skis, if you're in Washington, keep an eye on what Whistler does this year; last year they ran a weekend of 'Never-Ever Days' for first time skiers/snowboarders. You got a day of rentals, lift tickets and one of their Max 4 (4 students to one instructor) lessons FREE. You then got another 2 day of tickets/lessons/rentals for an extra $150. 3 days all told for $150, it was a fucking amazing deal. If they do this again, do it. If they don't, get some lessons anyway. Skiing is much more dependent on absolutely correct technique than snowboarding and the differences between correct and incorrect technique are much more subtle.

I'm 5'9", 165lb and skied the rest of last season on an old pair of 177cm Salomon carving skis that I picked up for $20 from the local second hand shop because they seemed long enough and weren't scratched to shit. I spent a lot more time and effort on getting a pair of proper fitting boots and had a blast dragging those POS skis all over the mountain in them and getting my turning technique down.

Originally Posted by rainier

Plus, I'm looking to teach my 9m.o daughter to ride snow in a year or two, doing this on a snowboard would be not nearly as easy as on skis.

Lots of good advice here.

Probably ought to hold off on the snowboard with your daughter until she's at least seven. Reason is, it's an asymmetrical activity, while skiing is symmetrical. Before seven, a kid's body can be adversely affected by something asymmetrical. Before someone here trashes this as overly cautious or something, I came across this through a friend who helped develop this program they recommend up in Canada: http://www.canadasnowboard.ca/File/snowboard_LTAD.pdf .

Page 10 says: "To offset the asymmetrical nature of snowboarding’s effect on bone and muscle growth, the Canadian Snowboard Federation recommends young children learn to ski before learning to snowboard at around 7 years of age ... Recommendation: Children should learn to ski before snowboarding and learn the fundamentals of all three disciplines (speed and air) before specializing in any one."

There's also the issue of hellacious falls that happen in learning to board by catching the front edge. Not only are these falls discouraging and maybe causing boarders to become afraid or quit the sport, there's the possibility of TBI and other severe body injuries hurting a young kid.

Also, just an observation. I've seen a lot of boarders who can ski like demons, but many fewer skiers who can board at all.

Just my two cents ...

Originally Posted by Wired2theT

You're going to want to completely ignore this person. They must be one of those slow learners, like the people that tell you its hard to learn to snowboard. Many people here might agree that it takes years to become a decent skier, but their definition of a decent skier is much better than this. As I'm sure you've already assumed you're probably going to staron blue runs not progress to them. The fact they call 90+ fat is a good indicator they are clueless. Start with something narrow (around 100mm) that will be versatile, they are incredibly easy to ski. Most converted snowboarders grad their board on powder days anyway so something not too fat usually ends up filling out the quiver better.

Yes, while I've resigned myself to the fact that I probably wont be doing a ski decent of Rainier this winter, I think I'll pick it up more quickly then someone who hasn't been sliding on snow for 12 years. Thanks for the ski advice.

Originally Posted by charles martel

Lots of good advice here.

Probably ought to hold off on the snowboard with your daughter until she's at least seven. Reason is, it's an asymmetrical activity, while skiing is symmetrical. Before seven, a kid's body can be adversely affected by something asymmetrical. Before someone here trashes this as overly cautious or something, I came across this through a friend who helped develop this program they recommend up in Canada: http://www.canadasnowboard.ca/File/snowboard_LTAD.pdf .

I was actually planning to teach her how to ski at first, then let her snowboard later if she wanted to be like mama. I figure skiing is more intuitive for someone who can barely walk. Thanks for the info though, I hadn't considered developmental issues with teaching a little one how to snowboard

For someone learning to ski, radius is more important than width. Feeling the carve is the key to learning to ski beyond a beginner/IM level. I would think something around 16m or so radius, but I'll defer to an experienced instructor to make a recommendation re what radius would work best for learning. 85mm to 95mm waist or so is a bit more stable than 80mm, but wider requires more angulation to carve. Again, you should defer to an experienced instructor re radius and width. The ski schools have figured out this shit.

The ski that's best for learning will suck for off-piste or touring. Learn to ski first with a good instruction ski. You can find one, new or used, for cheap. After you develop some chops, then come back here and ask for recommendations.

Best o' luck and have fun.

+1 on the advice to spend your money on boots, get some used or demo skis for cheap (maybe 85 - 95mm), and then look to upgrade to something wider (and longer) once you have a feel for what kind of flex and sidecut you'd prefer. That way you still have the first pair for early season / rock skis.

Originally Posted by Wired2theT

You're going to want to completely ignore this person. They must be one of those slow learners, like the people that tell you its hard to learn to snowboard. Many people here might agree that it takes years to become a decent skier, but their definition of a decent skier is much better than this. As I'm sure you've already assumed you're probably going to staron blue runs not progress to them. The fact they call 90+ fat is a good indicator they are clueless. Start with something narrow (around 100mm) that will be versatile, they are incredibly easy to ski. Most converted snowboarders grad their board on powder days anyway so something not too fat usually ends up filling out the quiver better.

I don't understand on why anyone would choose to learn how to ski on a 100mm+ ski. Typical TGR response though. For learning you basically stick to groomers until your confidant to go off-piste, since it's deadly if you're not ready. A carving ski is the tool you use because that's what it was designed for, Hard Pack. You can pick up a cheap pair for like $50 and beat the shit ouf of them and spend more money on boots, which is where you SHOULD be spending it. Also I said "Fatter" not "Fat". I find it funny that you call 100mm narrow when it's actually a MidFat, 70mm is narrow, 100mm is Mid, 125mm is Fat...Classify the ski by what it is in the REAL world, not your little world.

Any ski instructor would laugh at your general understanding on learning how to ski.

Originally Posted by huhh

I don't understand on why anyone would choose to learn how to ski on a 100mm+ ski. Typical TGR response though. For learning you basically stick to groomers until your confidant to go off-piste, since it's deadly if you're not ready. A carving ski is the tool you use because that's what it was designed for, Hard Pack. You can pick up a cheap pair for like $50 and beat the shit ouf of them and spend more money on boots, which is where you SHOULD be spending it. Also I said "Fatter" not "Fat". I find it funny that you call 100mm narrow when it's actually a MidFat, 70mm is narrow, 100mm is Mid, 125mm is Fat...Classify the ski by what it is in the REAL world, not your little world.

Any ski instructor would laugh at your general understanding on learning how to ski.

Calm down pal, you are right in the ski if you ask me....but come on....easy blue runs? I bed he is on a black after a week or so, easy.