Plates on Race skis, needed or not?

[Phill]

Earlier I was eading the PNW summit thread where it was repeatedly mentioned that people needed to show up on boards longer than 210. Seeing as I was barely alive when peope still skied things that long, I immediatly made a couple calls and found a super ungodly sickter shit yourself cheap deal on a pair of barely used couple year old Rossi DHs. They are flat though, I do not know if they ever had a plate or not. My question is are plates needed, I always see race skis with plates and know they do something more than just rise the binding, though I am not sure what exactly, so can I get away with throwing a pair of binders on them or do I need to put a plate on.

[hop]

You don't deserve those skis. Where can I pick them up?

Most race plates help dampen the ride, but unless you're going race speeds you'll probably be fine w/o.

[SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU FUCKING MORON!]

Earlier I was eading the PNW summit thread where it was repeatedly mentioned that people needed to show up on boards longer than 210. Seeing as I was barely alive when peope still skied things that long, I immediatly made a couple calls and found a super ungodly sickter shit yourself cheap deal on a pair of barely used couple year old Rossi DHs. They are flat though, I do not know if they ever had a plate or not. My question is are plates needed, I always see race skis with plates and know they do something more than just rise the binding, though I am not sure what exactly, so can I get away with throwing a pair of binders on them or do I need to put a plate on.

Your question should be "are balls needed?" and the answer is yes so you need to grow a pair. Until then SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU FUCKING MORON!

[Voltron]

You want a plate. They stiffen things up and dampen the ride, which makes life a little more sane at DH speeds. And if the boards are of recent vintage within the past few years, they came with a plate. Specifically, a Vist plate or the metal RK plate in some runs.

[Phill]

Thanks guys. I'm petty sure I will not be going at DH speeds because I might(or will die) but i will check to see about the plate again.

STFUYFM, I heard you were a fag, so until you can confirm your heterosexuality I would prefer if you kept the conversation away from my testicles.

[Smails]

Plates don't just help for damping but for easier angulation. I know you guys have all taken Harold's class and are ready to carve the groomers so the plate is a must! Seriously though, I would never want to ski a race ski flat, that would suck. But if you are just F'ing around on them who cares. You are in for a ride if you have never skied DH skis before. Have fun!

[jonesy]

Back in the day they never had plates, Just eat off the floor. STFUYFM isn't a fag. I saw him in a Playgirl a few months ago.

[Damian Sanders]

You want a lifter/damping plate if you're going to be racing on them or skiing fast on icy snow. Very helpful, as is smooths things out quite a bit. Like a deflex plate or a vist plate. You can find closeout deals on elan branded vist plates for $100. They are heavy and usually weigh over a pound each/per ski. You'll also want some additonal lift that gets you up to a 50-55mm stand height (distance from base of ski to bottom of boot).

However, if you're just going to be freeskiing them, in mixed soft snow and powder, old school style, you do not want a plate and you want to mount flat. First choice would be a pair of Look P18's mounted flat.....you'd stand a ghost of a chance of actually being able to freeski on them, and might actually like it.

I would put a high din binding on them if at all possible.....12 din bindings don't belong on DH skis.

Oh, and be careful you don't bend them in the bumps.....

[doublediamond223]

It is a waste of a ski without a plate. Whatever you decide, be careful. DH skis are fucking stout, even for someone who freeskis squads.

[Damian Sanders]

It is a waste of a ski without a plate. Whatever you decide, be careful. DH skis are fucking stout, even for someone who freeskis squads.

Not if you're going to freeski on it, oldschool style......what do you think everyone skied on in 1990?

Broken in, flat mounted GS, Super-G and DH skis, 205 to 220+ cm.

That said, I have deflexes on my DH boards, because I use them for skiing on ice, fast.