Ski for BIG guy?

[elr]

My son wants to start skiing again after 5 years. He has grown to 235 pounds in the interim, and I don't believe the skis we have at the boat house have enough surface area -- especially for starting the course at 28 to 30 MPH. I was thinking a 69" Senate. Any better choices out there?

 

Thanks

Ed

[Horton]

Big Senate or Big Vise are easy choices. There is also a new big Goode.

[Rup]

HO Triumph 71

[Chef23]

At 30 mph a 69" Radar Theory would work also. If you think he is going to progress past that you might want something else. The Connelly V comes in a 69 and I believe is 34 mph capable.

[maverick]

I'm a bit bigger (260#) and my brother is about the same size as your son. We found ourselves with the same dilemma when looking for skis last year. We ski open water almost exclusively, and for pure fun both of us preferred the Connelly Outlaw over the HO Triumph. Both of us intend to hit it a bit harder this summer, so I picked up a Connelly V, and he went with an O'Brien Sixam 2.0 (but he's in the midst of a tonnage reduction plan to make that work for him...) You're probably not going to find many good "performance" options for him if he's wanting to ski at speeds less than 30 mph. In the end, I was deciding between the Connelly V and the Radar Senate, but I was also looking at skis knowing that I tend to ski at 33+ mph. Don't know if either ski will work well at 28 mph for a guy that size, but if speed is an important factor, I'd probably go with the Theory over the Senate.

[EF]

I have a 68.75 2010 A1 Extra Stiff. A couple of sets is all I have on the ski, went down a size. I have flex numbers, fostersworkout@frontier.com

[Chef23]

I ski my opening pass at 32 mph but 22 off on my A1 and have done it as heavy as 240 and it works fine. I haven't tried the ski at 30.

[Ed_Obermeier]

If he was a reasonably compentent skier before the layoff and will be working up in speed before too long I'd agree with your thoughts on going with the 69" Senate. Will work at 30 but is better suited to 32 - 34 mph IMO. If he is more likely to be at 28 - 30 mph for awhile I'd more go with the suggestions on the 69" Theory. The Theory is a performance ski that you can just cruise on too if that is your thing, but it's limited to a top speed of maybe 32 mph max. A 69" Triumph would also be an option but again I wouldn't personally ski one over 30 - 32 max.

 

Ed

[bxroads]

The 69" Synchro will float a heavier skier better than any ski out there. It performs well too.

[elr]

Thanks all for your responses - yes he was a competent skier prior to layoff I will talk him about his goals. One more quick question, has the Senate changed shape since the 2009 model, and if so would the change impact someone trying to get up to max speed?

 

Thanks

Ed

[Chef23]

The Senate has changed shapes it is now based on the Strada shape. I saw a Boys 3 skier on a Senate C last year skiing into 32 off at 36 mph so it will go those speeds. He had just moved up from Boys 2 and 34 mph and hadn't gotten a new ski yet but it didn't look like the Senate C was holding him back.

[eddie_roberts_jr]

The 69" 2011 Theory might also be a good choice. It has the same rocker, bevels and sidecut as our Strada and Senate with a round tail and a little extra width. It would probably even be better than the Senate until he gets into 34 MPH. It has a full sheet of carbon in it so it's definitely not a dog. It comes standard with a fixed fin so the one thing I would recommend is to order an adjustable.