Alpine Resort Skiing

A quick word on choosing the correct ski length

Advances in the design of downhill skis have made it impossible to make a blanket recommendation for your 'best' ski length.

A 'rockered' or 'early rise' ski on hard snow will have a shorter running length, which means less of the ski will be touching the snow surface. This means on hardpack the rockered ski will feel shorter than you expect (it will 'ski short'), which can feel 'squirrely' and require you to ski more slowly and turn more often. However, once in powder the entire length of the rockered ski will be in the snow, allowing super-easy turning with quick turn initiation and reduced likelihood of 'tip dive' (when your ski tips get buried in the soft snow and make you crash). In general, if you're looking at a ski with considerable amounts of rocker or early rise to the tip and tail, choose a longer length. You'll want the longer running surface on hardpack, and you'll enjoy the additional float in powder.

A ski with 'traditional camber' will have a longer running length, which means on hard snow more of the ski's running surface will be touching the snow. This makes a traditional camber ski feel longer on hard snow, increasing stability at speed. However, when skiing a trad camber ski in deep snow the skier will need to keep the ski tips from diving down under the snow surface. This can be especially difficult in deep snow with a crust on top (breakable crust). These days, traditional camber skis are considered frontside/hardpack specialist tools (as in ski racing). If you're an intermediate/recreational skier and you're looking at a traditional camber ski, go with the traditional length recommendation you'll see on many ski shop websites (for intermediates, stand the ski up in front of you and choose the length where the ski tip comes up to someplace between your mouth and forehead; on the short side for beginner skiers, on the long side for more advanced).

As you can see, once again — Everything is a compromise. You can't have a blazing fast resort hardpack/racing ski that's also a surfy, easygoing powder ski. The two are mutually exclusive. Today's 'all-mountain' skis are a blend of rockered and cambered characteristics trying to strike a winning compromise using the best characteristics from both extremes. How much of one characteristic vs. the other makes for an infinite number of possible designs.

...And that is why it's impossible to make a simple statement that 'if you weigh so much and are this tall, choose this length of ski.'

For a more in-depth look at this issue, check out How To Think About Ski Length from blisterreview.com.