PNWtwigboiThey just look so much fun….but maybe too big for the no snow days.
Haha I’ll be out back soooooon.
Im in the powder about 50% of the time but I’ve got some bigger boys for that so I think I need to tackle the icier days…and swing weight is definitely a factor in my decision. A park day would consist of S and M jumps and boxes.
Alright so a more dedicated park ski. In that case the main question you want to ask yourself, do you want to learn butters and rails and more box techniques? Or do you plan on focusing jumps. If its mainly park only ski a smaller waist width is kind of a no-brainer. It allows you to have more rail control, and a lower swing weight allowing you to throw tricks easier. The key here is the flex. There are kind of two categories of park skis, playful jib skis, or large jump skis.
Jump skis: Barely any rocker in the tips and tails if any, and camber underfoot. They are stiffer so that they are more stable on landings so they don't fold when you don't land perfectly. Their less forgiving on rails when you are trying to learn them, and they are a real challenge to butter, especially if your trying to learn either of those. They also are harder to turn at slower speeds and its harder to slash your turns.
Jib skis: These are the skis with the description "Playful" that everyone throws around. Their flexible which allows you to press the nose or tail into the snow for butters. They also have lots of rocker which reduces the effective edge, which in turn allows you to slash and maneuver at low to medium speeds. They will also have some camber but not as much as jump skis just so that it has some edge. These are very fun skis for rails. I understand that you may not want to do rails right now, but they are very fun to hit once you go through the challenge of learning them. These skis allow for tail taps and nose taps mixed in with some shifties. The downside to these is their stability for jumps. They can handle small and medium jumps, but larger jumps are less forgiving and if your skis fold like wet noodles after landing slightly backseat can be a challenge. These skis also pop, meaning that when you put energy into the tails or noses they will bounce back in a way.
I would think that a moderately flexible ski would be good for you. It would be stable enough for small jumps but still be fair to progress on boxes with. Going to stiff is a problem, because people see pros using stiff skis and think those are what they should buy. If you are learning you could get frustrated because your ski is not helping you learn boxes or butters.
Here are some possible skis:
Line Tom Wallisch pros - This would be a good option because its a little more stiff than lines chronics and blends. That allows it to be more stable on jumps but it is still described as having a playful attitude as well, without sacrificing much stability.
https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/In-Depth-Review-2021-Line-Tom-Wallisch-Pro-Roofbox
Faction prodigy 2.0s - These are also described to be stable and poppy at the same time as well.
https://www.newschoolers.com/ski-gear/2022/Skis/1381/Prodigy-2-0
ON3P Jeffery 102 - Killer durability, I don't know how I should describe these and I got some stuff to do, so hopefully someone can help with that.
Here is newschoolers top picks:
https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/Newschoolers-Ski-Test-2021-Test
If I got anything wrong please correct me.
