Is it stupid to ski switch in powder?

[Below Zero]

What Bum Z said. That is all.

[72Twenty]

I love skiing switch. I like it because it is hard, and it feels cool. (uhh, that sounded bad...) The first time I got twins I tried skiing a whole groomer switch, making carve turns like I was going forward. Linking the whole run at a reasonable speed was almost like learning to ski again. It was FUN. Now that I have bigger & fatter twins, I flip switch in pow and crud occasionally and try to ride it out for a while...

Are going to start critisizing technique now?

[Steven S. Dallas]

Powder is a lot like sex...

I've never skied powder with a 12-year-old Vietnamese boy, so I can't really comment.

[bcrider]

Its only stupid to ski switch in powder if you are NOT wearing camo pants, a puffy down jacket, iridium goggles, and have green hair….otherwise its totally cool.

Seriously though, I think its one of those things that is fun to do and can look cool at times but for the most part is stupid.

Ps. snowboarding switch in powder…now that’s another thing. It looks way smoother and natural than when the skiers try to do it.

[72Twenty]

I've never skied powder with a 12-year-old Vietnamese boy, so I can't really comment.

I just about blew snot all over my screen.

That was funny....

[Viva]

Powder is a lot like sex,

So, you didn't get laid much last winter, eh?

[KevinDineen]

Skiing is fun. therefore: skiing powder is fun, and skiing switch is fun, which ultimately means skiing switch in powder is fun. What's stupid is worrying if someone else might think the kind of skiing you're doing is stupid, thereby ruining the fun of it.

[mtbakerskier]

So, you didn't get laid much last winter, eh?

Actually I had some of my best lays ever, and some of my best Powder days, I even got pics to prove it

[jayfrizzo]

Unless people ride that way normally it's not called switch. It's called fakie.

</Jayfrizzo Typical Rant #4832984>

[jibij]

switch replaced fakie because fakie is gay.

Didn't you get the memo? It came out a couple seasons ago.

[jayfrizzo]

switch replaced fakie because fakie is gay.

Didn't you get the memo? It came out a couple seasons ago.

Yeah, I know, it's still annoying.

[Particle]

I like this thread better now. People have had good, interesting things to say about it

I ski switch in pow occasionally. KD and Z really put it best. Skiing is fun. Period.

[KevinDineen]

Unless people ride that way normally it's not called switch. It's called fakie.

</Jayfrizzo Typical Rant #4832984>

Since we're stealing skateboard terminology, Frizzo is technically correct. It's impossible to ski switch-stance (unless you click in backwards, I guess). It's used incorrectly in snowboarding, too (which actually peeves the skateboarder mag guys more, since they don't really pay attention to skiing, anyway).

We're coining a new term in the Oct issue that is more technically correct. "Ass-first."

[H-wood]

Skiing backwards is stupid in the sense that you can't see where you're going and knees don't bend the right way to absorb impacts when you're` skiing backwards.
But by the same logic, driving hundreds of miles and paying thousands of dollars to go up a mountain and then slide right back down again probably doesn't make a lot of sense either.
If skiing backwards is fun for you, then it's not stupid.
What's stupid is the ski industry/media getting sidetracked with building $800 fat twins, when they should be trying to build an AT boot that skis like a real boot, or lightweight binders that go to 16,

[72Twenty]

Anybody use the rearview mirrors from your bike helmet to ski swit.. err faki... err uhhh "ass first" all day? That would be cool. Just remember that everything is backwards in your field of view and objects are closer than they appear.

[mtbakerskier]

Fat twins arent made for just skiing pow switch, they actually ski better in powder since, the twin tip causes the ski to release ouf of the turn easier.

[freshie247]

I think that it is fucking rad to see some one mix a line up and throw in some switch pow turns. The key for me is the person has to do it with STYLE.

Sking pow is fucking fun, and skiing switch is fun, so why not both.

Powder is a lot like sex, you dont always have sex in the same position, so why not mix up your powder skiing too.

Because I don't take it up the ass!

[BakerBoy]

Actually I had some of my best lays ever, and some of my best Powder days, I even got pics to prove it

That's because you were a virgin at 25 before your first girlfriend, silly.

[H-wood]

Fat twins arent made for just skiing pow switch, they actually ski better in powder since, the twin tip causes the ski to release ouf of the turn easier.

Fair enough, but so would a shorter ski.

I just don't like 'em because they drag and hang up when you're skiing on a flat ski, there's less to lean back on when you're nuking, they get tangled up when you're herringboning uphill, and you can't jab 'em into the snow when you're climbing. I do think they're nice when you're trying to slither and sideslip into tight spots though.

[shera]

I'll never have straight tails again. I feel like they hang up in tight places. I also feel like I can't get around switch and back smoothly enough, although I do ski my explosivs switch sometimes inbounds and it works. I'm just not that good at it. But you could poke your eye out on the sharp pointy corner.

Don't get me wrong, my skis have been great. /ramble

[BakerBoy]

they get tangled up when you're herringboning uphill,

If you can't say this with a straight face to someone from this board, it's not a valid point.

I think you have to get into a turn first Gunder, instead of just swiveling from the tails.

[H-wood]

I can say it with a straight face, but what's a Gunder?

[BakerBoy]

I can say it with a straight face, but what's a Gunder?

...cue the picture of a Gunder laying in his own pile of hurl....

I can't find it, whoops.

[mtbakerskier]

I think you have to get into a turn first Gunder, instead of just swiveling from the tails.

Well we all know that I would actually get a chance to make some turns if I wasnt always having to stop every 5 feet for you to pose your way down.