(This might be the post that gets me JONG'ed, but I'm truly vacillating between four choices and I'd like to see what the mags think.)
So I'm trying to take advantage of some end-of-winter deals going on for some bona-fide touring skis to update/append-to the pair of inbounds skis (specifically, 176cm Volkl Gotamas at ~2kg per ski) that I've recently pressed into touring duty. I obviously don't have to do this, but man... those deals are tempting.
So my confusion derives from the two very different answers I get depending on what a particular sizing chart focuses on: height or weight. I think both types of charts makes a big assumption, that is, that the user is of an average build.
The problem, I realize, is that I'm short at 5'8", but unusually heavy for that height at 185lbs.
(I guess it needs to be clarified that despite my 28.1 BMI... I'm not fat. I boulder at a V5/soft-V6 level, and one of my two weekday aerobic workouts is a 5-mile run. I guess I'm of average fitness, and maybe slightly-stronger-than-average on a strength-to-weight basis. I don't have a six-pack, but neither do I have a keg... the former probably owing to my less-than-optimal dietary/imbibing habits. But yes, my weight-to-height still seems a bit inexplicable.)
It seems like my height suggests something ~170-175cm, but my weight suggests something ~185cm.
I understand that ski sizing, at least from an on-piste perspective, is a function of both the height (the length of the lever arm) and weight (the force at the end of that lever arm). From a backcountry perspective, practical concerns such as skinning weight, kick turns and pack-strapping come into play.
In the absence of a choice right down the middle, what would you choose for me for a 105mm-waist touring quiver-of-one for average Tahoe/Sierras conditions: 175cm or 185cm?
Alternatively, what would you choose for me for a 95mm-waist spring touring ski (also Tahoe/Sierras) : 173cm or 183cm?
(In case anybody cares or might possess esoteric knowledge of relevance... the cheap skis in question are the Black Diamond Route 95 and Route 105.)
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