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*Probably.

These days everyone seems to want their partner to be skinny and their skis to be  fat. Every year the trend gets fatter and fatter.

I’m doing a season in Rossland BC,  looking around it seems that my 95mm waisted ski are a bit, well….skinny. Now this place is known as a bit of a powder mecca. I’ve certainly been looking for it at every opportunity, either at the hill, the local backcountry or longer tours further afield.

I’ve been here about 50 days now and have had 2 days that I would consider “Epic”. Only once have I actually thirsted for  some fatter skis. Looking back over 20 years of skiing,  including many seasons in Europe and Canada, I’d say the following split would be about right:

So the reality is, for 95% of the time a ski that performs well in mixed conditions of about 85-95mm is the best. If you can lug about a 2nd pair then sure, get a fat set too,  but it will be the mid width ones you go to most days.

The majority of days are mixed and you want a good ski that can handle that. For me that means a relatively stiff and responsive ski that can work in bumps, tracked powder, steeps and handle icy pistes. They also need to be light enough to tour on. Any ski that can tackle that lot will still be good in powder.

The problem with fatter skis is that they just don’t ski mixed conditions particularly well and they are a bit heavy  for touring. If your only aim is to ski powder faster than everyone else then fair enough.

Having a set of fat powder skis as your “do it all ski”  is a bit like having a rally car as your daily driver, or a 6inch travel bike for your daily commute. Hmmn,  maybe need to rethink as I want a Subaru and I use a 6″ travel bike. Damm. Where are those K2 Obsethed skis.

Would love to hear your comments.

Sunny weather and the Ski Lifts not opened yet. Time to go touring!

We skied the North side of Mount Kirkup in the Rossland Range in BC.

This is a peak that is accessible from the main road as it goes up towards Nancy Green  pass.

You park then start hiking straight into the forest.  A 700m vertical hike gets you to the top. Conditions were pretty poor in the bottom1/3rd with not enough coverage in the forest. Things mightily improved above this and we skinned up through a foot of compacted powder through some really nice forest glades. Big grins all round.

A couple of laps of the best North facing snow, then we bushwhacked back down to the car. A great day.

I am lucky to be spending this Winter in Rossland, BC. It’s home to the Red Mountain ski area. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but a place worth seeking out.

Well it’s been snowing on and off for the last 2 weeks and finally is getting in good enough shape for some touring. We had 30cm in the last 3 days which has really helped.  Base is now between 50-100cm depending on altitude. The resort doesn’t open for another 10 days.

There’s still plenty of bushes sticking out but it’s mostly ski-able now.  I toured on my own today. I love touring on my own when conditions are safe, there’s something special about the solitude.  Well that’s my excuse for being Billy no mates today.

I have a new demo pair of skis- Movement Logic X’s. These are seriously light when paired with Dynafit bindings. All I can say so far is they climb very well and don’t make claggy snow seem easy.  I’ll do a more in depth review when I have skied them a bit more.

It was a quick and easy tour, 500m of climbing then and mix of powder and claggy snow to the bottom. 2 hrs total. Nothing epic but still nice to get out and stretch my ski legs.

View from towards the top of Red Mountain looking towards Granite mountain.

View of Granite