Soft ski vs Stiff ski

[Ilivetoski]

What Differences will someone notice between a softer ski and a stiffer ski? Assume it’s the same ski, one is considerably more stiff than the other, what will the ski do different?

[JoelHowley]

Soft skis feel amazing untill I get to 38off after that they feel slow exiting the ball.

 

Soft skis slide and stiff skis grip.

 

You get much less pre turn from stiff skis but you also get far more aggressive turns and better acceleration with less chance of overturning.

 

Generally speaking everyone will run their first passes better with a softer ski but when the chaos of your hard passes starts soft skis will be too sluggish to keep up with the corrections you are making.

 

Too soft and too stiff are both bad but I think "some" skis on the market are too soft just so they feel good when you first ride them.

 

I'm quite bias tho, haha.

[Ilivetoski]

@JoelHowley what does “less pre turn” mean? Does that mean it doesn’t get as wide coming into the ball?

[JoelHowley]

Yes it does. Stiff skis will take a more direct line into the ball with less tail slide. They run a path more applicable to what is required at short lines or what is the reality of running longer lines on a less than ideal path like skiers tend to do on their harder passes.

[ScottScott]

There is a thread of Horton's review of the ARC. In that thread, most people preferred the blue ARC which is the softer version, where the yellow is stiffer.

[liquid d]

It's merely one component of what makes a particular ski perform the way it does. So many things affect what the ski does. The trick is finding the right combination that works for you. What do you need the ski to do? Finding someone better than you to ski with helps answer that question a lot quicker (less trial and error).

 

 

[Horton]

First and foremost skiers should trust the factories to get it right. Some shapes work better with stiffer flexes and some skis work better with softer flexes. Flex is just one factor that must work in conjunction with all other.

 

@Ilivetoski I wrote about this a few years ago

[Horton]

@Live2ski

 

In the last few weeks I have ridden two skis that are identical except one is 10 pounds softer at the tail and under my feet. To my complete surprise the stiffer of these two skis is WAY WAY WAY better. The lesson for me is that softer or stiffer is not better - it is the right combination of attributes that matters.

[liquid d]

You may also find they can both work for you if set up correctly. I had both of those ARC skis at the same time and was within a bouy on each one. They were set up differently, but both could get the job done. But as Joel stated earlier, when the line gets really short, the tendency is to go on the stiffer side, because if you can't get out there, it really doesn't make any difference.

[ScottScott]

Another thing I remember from the ARC review.... it was suggested in the comments that for someone at the lower end of the weight range, they may prefer the softer version where someone at the higher end may prefer the more stiff.

[eleeski]

I find that a softer ski works better in rough water. The stiff ski gets me more buoys in glass. Just another thing to consider.

 

I'm not Panda hunting so I won't talk about flex vs water temperature...

 

Eric