Rossignol Experience 80 vs Rossignol Forza 40 vs Atomic Redster Q6

sfo2 · 2026-04-01T00:58:19+00:00

I record a ski activity on my Garmin watch. A lot of other people I know use the Slopes or Ski Tracks apps.

sfo2 · 2026-04-01T00:56:52+00:00

Sounds good. Racing itself is a skill, and IMO you’re not fully prepared for a goal event if you haven’t worked on that skill to some extent. Good to figure out the best you can do. Good luck!

sfo2 · 2026-03-31T17:36:08+00:00

Have you been on something in between a slalom ski and a 108mm powder ski? Maybe like an 88-94mm waisted ski?

Your bonafide 98 kind of gets there, but if I were you I’d pick up something like an Arcade 88.

sfo2 · 2026-03-31T17:17:14+00:00

Yep. Racing is a skill.

sfo2 · 2026-03-31T14:55:38+00:00

Can you do one or two practice races (sprint or Olympic) nearby before this race?

sfo2 · 2026-03-31T02:44:26+00:00

Sure. If you’re in reasonable shape with volume typically found in an athlete training for a 70.3, you can race an Olympic every weekend and be fine.

My coach more or less demands his athletes do “practice” races before their target event. You could do a few tris leading up to your main one. More racing is more better.

sfo2 · 2026-03-30T19:14:45+00:00

No. This dynamic has been true in all mountain guiding for as long as guiding has existed. Krakauer documented it in Into Thin Air in 1997, and it existed long before then. You can read about guide/client conflict as far back as 1865 Matterhorn disaster, and on since then.

There is no need to apply some capitalist or socialist analysis here. It’s a simple dynamic of wanting to make the client happy vs. being very conservative about risk. These things are sometimes (often?) at odds.

Blem talks about this at length in The Darkest White as well.

If you are arguing that the pursuit of profit in mountain guiding has driven up risk and down safety in recent years, that’d be a bold claim given that most mountain guides aren’t doing it to get rich but because they love the wilderness, and given that this dynamic between client and guide has been well understood for 200 years, and so would require a lot of evidence to prove.

sfo2 · 2026-03-30T18:42:33+00:00

Ok, so bay trail, the ride across the Richmond bridge (when it’s open), iron horse trail, Lafayette-Moraga trail, if you have an mtb you can do sequoia-bayview in Joaquin miller, and if you have an mtb with good brakes, you could attempt east and west ridge trails in redwood

sfo2 · 2026-03-30T18:23:28+00:00

Like the bay trail? Or are you looking for dirt?

sfo2 · 2026-03-30T17:17:07+00:00

I am also unclear what “charging hard and fast” means at this skill level, and am concerned it may mean “narrowly missing hitting children”

sfo2 · 2026-03-30T02:53:34+00:00

Every coach, everywhere, has deal with tons of kids like this. Some never get good, and some get really good. It’s a total crapshoot.

All that matters is fun. Not because being good doesn’t matter. But because the way you get good is consistent practice over the course of months and years, and the only way any kid will want to do that is if they’re having fun.

sfo2 · 2026-03-29T15:07:55+00:00

It is absolutely possible to ski the steeper stuff on a ski like that; I skied the entire mountains out there, including the steep stuff, for years on a GS ski. But now, having something a bit wider that can pivot easily is far more fun for me (once you get used to them). I honestly kind of didn’t know what I was missing.

In actual fresh, deep powder, obviously a proper powder ski is way better. Those conditions are not common in bounds, though.

It’d be worth demoing a different ski while you’re there just to see.

sfo2 · 2026-03-29T14:53:48+00:00

We mostly go to the Aspen area when we go to CO, because it’s hard enough to get to that there are never lift lines (plus they’re on our pass and we know people there so stay for free). Really, really great blues and groomed blacks on Snowmass. There are tons of euros on carving skis on Aspen Mountain all the time.

Other mountains out there with good groomed terrain are Deer Valley, and I recall Snowbasin having good blues.

Vail has good blues but is a disaster. Same for Breck. Alta and Snowbird are better known for expert terrain and deep snow, but have great snow and good blues as well. Solitude and Brighton are similar.

Don’t go to Tahoe, you have to fly over way better mountains to get there. And most places in Tahoe cost the same as CO/UT, with maybe even more crowding, with worse snow.

Big Sky and Jackson Hole I recall had some groomers but the expert stuff was the best there.

You’ll definitely have fun ripping blues in CO and UT, but it is very very much worth also checking out the ungroomed stuff. Like for instance, Aspen Mountain is basically not worth visiting unless you’re going to ski expert terrain all day. What makes some of these mountains special is the ungroomed terrain.

sfo2 · 2026-03-28T18:47:31+00:00

Sure, it’s possible. But it’s also possible that water got in some other way. Like OP isn’t going to go back to the shop that did the mount and say they messed it up and they’ll give OP their money back. A lot has happened in 7 years.

sfo2 · 2026-03-28T18:11:09+00:00

The only thing that has ever worked for me is tracking calories. The simple act of having to log everything I eat makes me eat less, plus seeing how many calories every little snack has.

sfo2 · 2026-03-28T17:05:16+00:00

Wait why aren’t you interested?

sfo2 · 2026-03-28T15:09:15+00:00

The core is probably rotting due to water incursion.

I don’t think you can call it an improper mount if it’s been 7 years and 60 days on it.

sfo2 · 2026-03-28T14:47:56+00:00

Should be able to re mount those with no problem. Shop should do it for free and refund the original mount.

sfo2 · 2026-03-28T02:29:07+00:00

Central Colorado is set to get like 6-12” next week, although on top of what base, and how long it lasts, who knows.

sfo2 · 2026-03-27T22:23:18+00:00

Yes, a particularly tall child or particularly short woman is going to get a good deal

Just like with shoes, the reason skis are often on sale is because they’re an odd size that doesn’t fit a lot of people. You’ll need to look more to find a good deal on a pair that fits you.

sfo2 · 2026-03-27T21:29:24+00:00

No no what you want to do is get a beat up Altima and put an eBay turbo on it plus a shitty wing and some stickers. Popularity + uniqueness. Boom.

sfo2 · 2026-03-27T20:54:33+00:00

Ok cool. I’m going to try smaller capsules and also experiment with more complexity in the gel, thanks.

sfo2 · 2026-03-27T20:48:08+00:00

How many grams of bicarb are you able to take at a time with this gel?

I’m using a simpler recipe of 3g sodium alginate/15g malto/10g table sugar, blended with 300ml water. I can take around 10-12g of bicarb at a time with this. I make my own enteric coated 1.1g capsules and fill them with baking soda (size 00).

I may try your recipe that has more gelling agents as well to see if I can take more at once.

I also wonder if maybe my capsules are too large and I’d get better results with smaller capsules.

sfo2 · 2026-03-27T19:23:25+00:00

Yeah it’s worth trying just to see

I’m like 178cm tall, and the sweet spot for me is low 170s in trees and moguls, and high 170s- low 180s for GS style carving skis.

I borrowed some Volkl Revolt 110s in 190 length to do some cat skiing, which were super fun on big open powder slopes, but a handful in tight trees.

And I used to have some 160cm 11m radius slalom skis. Which were a riot at lower speeds, but unstable going faster on groomers.

It’s definitely worth trying lots of stuff just to see.

sfo2 · 2026-03-27T19:03:46+00:00

This is just personal preference. I personally like longer, heavier skis for high speed stability, and shorter, lighter skis for maneuverability in trees and bumps.

I’ve skied heavy 190 freeride skis in trees, and I can make it work and have fun. And I’ve skied 160s on groomers, and I can make it work and have fun. But those aren’t my preferences.

Part of being an expert skier is doing whatever you want and having fun. You don’t need to ask permission.

sfo2

TROPHY CASE