Jump Ski Size Advice

[zjbrannan]

Hey all,

 

Looking into buying a pair of jumpers for post collegiate skiing career. Currently riding team owned 86" Connelly HC 2000s. I am 5' 11" and about 145 lbs. I looked at d3's size chart and I know it says 86" is the correct size for me. I jump about 100 ft. Should I look at only 86" jumpers or should I also look at 88"s? I am right on the edge of the sizing guide, and if I start going farther would I want a longer pair?

 

Thanks

[mjump]

With seeing you jump it would be a tough call. My experience would be to work on a solid form and progressive cut to the ramp. The 86s will take you a long way.

 

[bojans]

There are a lot of ways to jump 100'. As stated above without seeing a video it is hard to judge. If you are going 100' on a single or an easy 3/4 with great form you could probably go a bit longer. If you are charging hard and flattening I would probably stay at 86 or even shorter.

 

Do you know you will have access to a jump site post graduation?

[zjbrannan]

@bojans I don't know if I will have access post graduation, but going to try to make it a priority. Here is a link to my jump at nationals. I was taking it a little easy, because I knew there was nothing on the line for my team and didn't want to be injured for snow ski season (like I did last year). If the link doesn't go to the correct spot it is at 7:54:50

 

 

[ntx]

@zjbrannan Based on the vid, I would say that you can ride 88's Looks like you ride the skis well and are solid in the air and landings. Keep working at it. Good luck on your search for some sticks.

[Horton]

Anything bigger than 72 is cheating

[Edbrazil]

In the Way Back, in the days of wooden skis, Aqua Sport made some top-of-the-line

jumpers. Around 65-66 inches. 68 was considered long at the time. Coming from an

area where a lot of water ski people also jumped with snow skis. Where the effects of

air form are obvious.

I suggested to Larry Brown, who owned Aqua Sport, about making bigger, longer skis. He

replied that water ski jumpers didn't go fast enough to take advantage of aerodynamics,

as they were only going about 50 mph max. Larry had done some tests with an

Aquameter speedometer mounted on a jump ski, with the skier being a top-level Eastern

mens jumper: Ralph (Sonny) Cantin, who was one of the early Century Club members.

This is documented in an article by Larry in a Water Skier magazine, probably mid to late

1950s.

Today's elite Men jumpers are hitting the ramp at 65mph and more. Around 1974, I did

some math work about speed, skier 'spring' and distance. Came out with some equations

and charts, where you measured the distance and time in the air, and could infer what

the speed at the ramp and spring were. With a few assumptions, such as any aerodynamic

lift was counteracted by the downward component of towline tension. And, that the

aerodynamic drag was such that the "terminal velocity" (where drag = weight) was a

certain speed, typically around120 mph. Gets into calculus, of course.

 

That all worked out relatively well until speed suits and BIG skis came along. The modern

jump skis appear to add some .2 second to the skier's air time, and speed suits reduce

the aerodynamic drag, but more study would be needed with better measuring of the

parameters. The new wearable GPS device(s) could produce some great data.

 

As far as modern big skis, my jumping days are over. However, I have skied around on

some 80 inch jumpers, and they felt surprisingly good. Maybe I'll get to try some 95+

jumpers at some time.

[ALPJr]

Nice jumps Zach!