Size matters

[Waternut]

Well I'll share my most recent experience with ski sizing. I've been skiing on a 66" 2010 Radar Annex for the past two years. At the beginning of this year I started skiing a course but was struggling heavily to make a full pass at 28mph and even when I did make it, I was inconsistent at best. My PB was 3 at 32mph and I had run that maybe 2-3 times but never ran any complete pass back to back. It usually took me 6-7 passes to get there. I'm 6' tall and weigh 175lbs so I'm right on the upper edge of that Annex but the Annex was designed for 32-36mph which I wasn't running so realistically, the ski was a hair too small.

 

I just bought a 67" 2008 Radar MPD. For all intensive purposes, the old MPD and the Annex are the exact same ski but slightly different materials were used to achieve the same result. The MPD and Annex were both considered slightly slower than the RS-1 and came out of the same molds. That said, I always felt out of control on the Annex and could NEVER get my hips up. Both ski's were set up with the same factory specs minus boot placement which is obviously different. I got on the MPD and my first set was awesome. I ran 28mph on my first pass which I've never been able to do. I was able to get my hips up and I was early at every single buoy on my 28 and 30mph pass. Usually my 30mph passes, I was just barely squeaking by the buoys and 5 and 6 were usually hook turns just to say I did it. My second set on the MPD, I was able to run 28 and 30mph passes back to back which I've never been able to do and then matched my PB on the 4th pass. On the 5th pass I pulled 4 balls at 32mph but got stood up at 4. Could've hooked 5 but was already happy enough that I didn't feel the need to push it. The wake didn't really bother me any more and I was no longer about to go out the front in my turns or wake crossings.

 

I'm not trying to say that equipment is the source of all my failures but I'm truly humbled at how much of a difference a properly fit ski has made.

[SkiJay]

Great move @jfw432. The right equipment totally matters. Why take a knife to a gunfight?

[sled491]

i'm no pre by any stretch of the imagination, but some of things you mention make me thinkyou would benifit greatly from a lesson. The first time I took a private laesson many of the problems you mentioned were fixed with such simple adjustments. That being said congrats on beating you PB

[estrom]

@jfw432, aside from feeling like it may have been the wrong size, did you like how the Annex performed? That is, do you feel it turned well, was it forgiving/stable, etc...? Thanks

 

[itch2ski]

I would agree with this completely. I would also have to say I am amazed how well skis work for their designed speed. When I started the course this season I was on my 67" CoX SL (32-36 mph ski) it took me a while to get my first 28 mph pass. A few days after I made the pass I had the chance to try again on a 67" Triumph (similar ski design, different materials, slightly wider 28-32 mph ski). My 28 mph pass was a walk in the park and I went right through 30 mph first try as well. I am now consistently getting 32 mph passes and am back on my CoX SL.