Powder

Powder Skis have been around now for some time now. While a ski with a waist width of 100mm+ would have been considered a fat powder ski in 2006, powder skis have only become wider and wider in the years since. A wider ski means more surface area, and more surface area means better floatation. Powder Skis often have a softer flex, making the ski more playful and giving the ski greater arc in soft snow so it rises more easily to the surface. The drawback to a wider, softer ski is that the ski often becomes less versatile because it takes longer for the skier to move the ski from one edge to the other. In certain conditions, more surface area simply means that there is more ski to get caught in bumps or crud. A softer ski can cause deflection and instability at higher speeds. However, most advanced skiers believe the tradeoff is worth it, since powder skis make powder skiing easier, less tiring, and much more enjoyable. But as powder skis have become wider and wider, innovations have also made them more versatile than ever. Today’s powder skis carve far better than powder skis of yesteryear. While you may not want to put your powder skis in the car if it hasn’t snowed for weeks, more and more people are finding excuses to put today’s more versatile powder skis to use in a wide variety of conditions.

Powder skis range in width from 100mm to 140mm+. Most powder designs incorporate some form of rocker (Bluehouse Maestro, Maven, Monarch, Shoots, Radius), but there are still some that don’t (Bluehouse District). Powder skis range from a western daily driver that can do it all (Bluehouse District, Precinct, Maestro), to skis that are best suited for the deepest days (Bluehouse Maven), and skis that work best off trail and are great for destroying crud (Bluehouse Shoots, Radius).