14ers.com

andrewdoumont wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 2:25 pm I am 6'3" and on the light side. My touring setup is 185cm, but was considering going shorter for a more mountaineering focused setup.

If you say shorter, how much shorter do you think? If not shorter, why not?

Thanks

I'm 6'2"and regularly use 176.
I used to actually go with a 165 for a while years back but wanted more stability.
Overall I'm a fan of shorter skis.

pvnisher wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:13 pm

andrewdoumont wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 2:25 pm I am 6'3" and on the light side. My touring setup is 185cm, but was considering going shorter for a more mountaineering focused setup.

If you say shorter, how much shorter do you think? If not shorter, why not?

Thanks

I'm 6'2"and regularly use 176.
I used to actually go with a 165 for a while years back but wanted more stability.
Overall I'm a fan of shorter skis.

Cool, what do you think you prefer about them?

I'm interested in shorting up a bit, but have only ever skied around 185

andrewdoumont wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:56 pm Cool, what do you think you prefer about them?

I'm interested in shorting up a bit, but have only ever skied around 185

I'm 5'11" and mid-weight and most of my skis are in the 180s, though I have a pair of 171s for ski mountaineering. Lighter on the up, jump turns are easier, and plenty of stability on hardpack and corn. If I'm worried about funky snow then I'll consider a different ski. I wouldn't go any shorter though.

andrewdoumont wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:56 pm

pvnisher wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:13 pm

andrewdoumont wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 2:25 pm I am 6'3" and on the light side. My touring setup is 185cm, but was considering going shorter for a more mountaineering focused setup.

If you say shorter, how much shorter do you think? If not shorter, why not?

Thanks

I'm 6'2"and regularly use 176.
I used to actually go with a 165 for a while years back but wanted more stability.
Overall I'm a fan of shorter skis.

Cool, what do you think you prefer about them?

I'm interested in shorting up a bit, but have only ever skied around 185

Feels like ski season just arrived today! Skied the NE side of Peak 1 this morning. I used 184s with 99 underfoot. It hits high 40s.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but I find both a stiffer ski and a larger sidecut radius to really help with stability on jump turns. The larger radius just gives you more contact with the snow on edge and the stiffer flex gives you more spring when you pop off the ski as well as preventing you from having that jarring jiggle when you weight the ski on the landing. I just kind of like longer skis for opening it up on the apron.

andrewdoumont wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:56 pm
Cool, what do you think you prefer about them?

I'm interested in shorting up a bit, but have only ever skied around 185

My 165 were pretty old, had lots of sidecut. They were good for tight turns, which is why I bought them originally. But they were outdated, no rocker, and too short for anything but tight turns on hard snow.

My 176 are k2 pinnacle 105. Pretty light for the size, lots of float, short enough to turn easily. Love them.

The best ski I've ever used in the BC - the Ski Logik Howitzer's (178 length, 110 underfoot), the company went out of business and I am now lost and at odds with regards to what I'll do when the 3 pairs I have are retired. They are bonafide Grundle Busters and seemingly impervious to core shots, so I'm hoping I can get 25-30 years between the 3 of them and swiftly retire from skiing and retire to a beach in Mexico. But the gaperdom in CO is getting exacerbated by covid, so I think that timeline will be affected.

I haven't replied to this thread in awhile but I wanted to thank everyone for all the information and advice. Since my original post it was a little while before I got started but this has been my progression so far:

In 2019/2020, I when to places like Winter Park, late season hut, and Montgomery Pass to work on technique. I basically used AllTrails and looked for snowshoeing trails. Gear was Scarpa Maestrale RS boots and Shift bindings on 190 Moment Blister (heavy...)

2021, did similar resort/snowshoe trips but decided to go after Mount Quandary Peak on 5/1 and made it up and down safely. Gear was still the same

2022, decided to get a dedicated touring set up and moved my Shift bindings to some 190 Moment Wildcat 108 Tours. Another resort tour at Big Sky, a nice BC tour in Beehive Basin, and a fully guided yurt trip near Bozeman (Bell Lake Yurt for 3 days 2 nights). The yurt trip was pricey being fully guided but they information was really valuable (what to look for, working on turns, etc) and I learned a lot about my gear including (gloves, jackets, taking on and off skins).

Then yesterday (5/1) made another successful tour and ski of Grays Peak (even though we had late start and snow was absolute crud)

Thanks again for everyone's input. I'm still amazed that some of you can do these trips multiple times in a week. After 6 miles up (about 11 round trip) and 3,800' at Grays Peak we were beat. Safe skiing out there!

I'm curious if someone has a list of the D ratings for all the Sawatch Centennial 13ers?
I've seen Otina's personal listing.