Freeride
Collection
Heading north this summer? Going to immerse yourself in the deep powder
of Nisseko, Japan? Rip up the American Rockies or the European Alps?
Float through through the fresh of Fernie or Whistler? Well then, to
achieve maximum enjoyment of your dream skiing vacation overseas do
you need to get a pair of freeride skis?
What
are Freeride Skis?
Freeride Skis (sometimes also called 'mid-fats', 'wide body', 'fattys'
or 'big mountain' skis*) are basically a wider
body ski that is designed to enable the user to ski around the whole
mountain (and beyond - into the back country!) with ease & enjoyment.
Whether it be cruising through half a foot of cowboy powder, ripping
through waist deep fresh powder & trees, down chutes or couloirs
or heli-skiing in Canada, these skis are made for it!
While there is some crossover, they differ from 'all-mountain' skis
by being a little wider and a little straighter. Although not designed
to carve short radius turns, they will generally hold a longer radius
turn reasonably well on hardpack and are also good for getting through
Australian slush bumps (a.k.a. 'elephant snot') that typically form
later on groomers on warmer days!
At Bumps we endeavour to stock items for everyone, but realise that
most people would prefer a ski that can be used in Australia, as well
as overseas. Hence, we generally dont carry true 'fat' skis (90mm+ waist)
that are specifically designed for skiing DEEP powder all the time.
However, these are available and can be ordered in.
Why
Do I Need A Freeride Ski?
There
is nothing worse than first getting into powder and struggling on a
narrow pair of old sticks or a pair of super carvy skis that allow you
to sink deep under the snow. In this situation it is quite difficult
to turn and you might have even seen some people 'sitting back' on their
tails and pointing straight just to get down (not the way to ski powder)!
This is an intimidating experience and can be very frustrating for the
novice powder hound! A wider body ski gives you more surface area and
hence more flotation in soft snow. Most people will agree that once
you learn how to ski it, there is nothing better than powder, but until
then it is a fairly tough learning curve. Don't spoil your holiday by
being stuck on the wrong equipment!
Outlined below are numerous models of wide body/freeride* orientated skis.
Altough all are in the same category, as always, there is a lot of variety
& it is best to come in and talk to someone who has actually skied
on them!
* We realise that
some people may not consider some of these as true 'big mountain' skis,
but we figure if you're heli-skiing in Alaska all the time you'll probably
know what you're after anyway!
This Section Will be Updated with Winter 2008 Freeride skis Shortly. Please call the store
(1300 Bumpss) for any information or check out the brand catogories below. Thank you!
