Advanced skiier trying freeskiing

let me be one of the first (if not the first) to say you made a good choice and welcome to ns.

^^word.

I'd say get comfy on some little flat boxes, and get to where you can go sideways pretty good. And also work on 1's and 3's. Then you can try rails and such, and other boxes, and more switch riding into stuff. Make sure you can hit jumps comfortably before you spin.

gotamas are gonna be way to wide for park, pick up a pair of narrower park sticks. learn every aspect of park, from switch riding, to jumps to rails. Work on 3s they are gonna be difficult at first but you will eventually master them, rails suck learning but we have all been there, keep it up and keep trying. welcome to NS.

your Gotomas might be a bit interesting in the park - with a ski width of over 100mm it's going make landing jumps a bit easier, but it might make spinning a bit harder cause you gotta swing more of a ski around.

^word to that. start with flat boxes. as for jumps start doin ones and threes off everything. and when not in the park pipe or pow ski switch as much as possible cuase once youve got that down there are so many more tricks that you can master. and again welcome to ns

This must be the most epic first post i have ever seen.

all i can say is your gonna fall probably hard just get back up and keep trying best of luck also i find my arvs which arent quite as big but i find them easier to slide than skinny park skis

learn flat boxes and jumps first, id say try not to focus on either one too much, park is more fun (for me at least) when i feel like im strong at everything

i started last year i got ones and threes down and started on fives.  i was lucky the first few times i tried a three i landed them and was like wow this is easy then started to get careless and got off axis.  but anyway push urself to the limit without getting hurt and make sure u obey park rules dont be a gaper and if u fall get out of the landing fast for ur own sake. u will fall so dont be afraid of falling or it will happen more often

if your lookin for a cheap park ski just get some rossi scratch ghettos

and just go at your own rate... start out with 1's and 3's probably and just little rails and then just progress as fast as you're comfortable with

Get comfortable riding switch, even if you're not landing switch quite yet, it helps a lot.

I was in the same situation as you a couple of years ago, except I was younger (12, had been skiing since I was 3)

A progression that seemed to work for me was:

1. Start out by learning 180s and basic flat and down boxes.
2. Gradually I started to take my 180s to bigger jumps, and I started hitting bigger boxes with kinks.
3. I then learned 360s and started attempting rails.
4. Next I learned 540s added a grab or two to my 360, and tried 270s on/off of boxes and 270s off of rails.
5. This year I want to learn 270s on/off of rails and switch ups on rails. Jump-wise I'd like to learn a lot more grabs with 3's and 5's, and I'd like to try some 7s. I'd also like to try a frontflip.

But just because this progression worked for me does not mean that it will necessarily be the same for you, in fact it probably won't. I've heard of some kids who have been skiing park for just as long as me and can only 360 without a grab, and other kids who have learned double backflips in their second year. It all depends on how much you will be skiing and how dedicated you are.

As far as skis go, Gotamas are not necessarily going to be that great in the park. They are fatter and heavier than a traditional park ski and are probably mounted farther back than you would want to mount a park ski anyways.
For your first park ski I would recommend the line mastermind. Its not completely symmetrical so it won't seem too weird, but you will want to mount closer to the center of the ski and it is significantly narrower than your gotamas are.

Good luck and welcome to NS!

definetly get some cheap park skis but seeing as you have been sking for quite a while it ahould be kinda (kinda used loosly)easy to learn. 1s 3s should be easy enough and most people in that park are nice enough to help you out if your willing to talk to strangers a little bit...even though mommy said no.

Yeah dude never give up if a rail is acting like a bitch get back up and show her what's up. Welcome to ns dude and have fun in teh park!

Much karma to all for the helpful advice. I'll be at vail/bc for 18 days around new years so hopefully I'll be stomping some ish by the end of that.

man just go have fun, don't focus on what tricks you need to learn, just go out and try stuff. Go in the park and watch people, get stoked and try shit. btw your 'advanced' skiing skills won't help you in the park, if anything skiing park makes you better at skiing all around since it makes you way more comfortable on your skis.

You shouldn't rush anything. Take it easy, and be prepared to fail.

Success comes from Attempts.
Attempts usually comes with mistakes.

As for your skis: I'm probably the 30947857th to tell you that they're pretty wide for park. Although it might not be a major problem, but IMO, you should buy yourself a cheap pair of park sticks.

Advanced skiing skills will definitely help in the park.  And it will not make you a better skier, you have to keep up your skills to keep them.  I definitely notice on some runs that I am not as forward as I should be when skiing.  You gotta keep your skills going.

you completely missed what i said. just cause your good at skiing around your little local resort will not help you at all in the park. it may help you skiing up to the jump and up to the rails but it won't help you DO the jumps and rails. though it does go the other way, once you become good at park you become super comfortable on your skis as if there your own feet and since park takes much more skill than just normal skiing your way more comfortable doing other shit like cliffs and steeps. it's all about being comfortable on your skis man and park definately helps that more than anything else.