Who owns the uphill and then the downhill? No one. Each to their own. Barry Wicks seeks a more progressive resort uphill ski. Barry Wicks takes us on his journey.
In this episode, with Gavin away guiding in Japan, we’ve got Barry Wicks as our host. Wicks is a die-hard ski tourer who brings supremely positive energy into the hills. He’s also a recovering bike racer who claims he’s sworn off Lycra. Despite his baggy clothes, he’s still fast. And he still knows gear.
Anyhow, Wicks has a playful nature on skis. And we’ve been bantering back and forth for a few months about adopting progressive ski designs for those who uphill at resorts. It sort of makes sense—when there is an uphill, hopefully, there is a downhill. And why not try to make the downhill as enjoyable as possible?
Is this the future of resort uphilling: a lightweight version of the Line Honey Badger? Seems mighty rowdy.
The metrics on this rowdiness: 172cm, 120-92-116, twin tip and rockered…and coming in close to 2kg per ski. Yes, the weight would have to come down—a lot.
Wicks’ quest to find a rockered twin-tipped ski that is light…isn’t exactly easy. On his journey, Wicks speaks with Max Smith, VP of Reno, Nevada’s Moment Skis. Who knows, maybe a mythical and lightweight 85-underfoot Wildcat Tour is in our future.
If you have specific questions regarding the information (and opinions) presented in the podcast, you can comment on the website or email us on The High Route’s contact page (editor@the-high-route.com).
Max Smith: VP at Moment Skis.
Thanks for listening.
The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you’ve spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, “Beautiful Alien” is a good tune to begin with.
Fat-ypus L’toro. Buttery, light but not too light, 100 under foot, twin. some demo’s on sale now: https://www.fat-ypus.com/skis/ski-sale/
The old Volkl BTAs were pretty rockered, but not super playful.
I tour on the Deathwish 104 Tour most days and find that to be a healthy balance between weight and progressiveness!
Something like the Faction La Machine Micro (or even mini) seems like a reasonable approach to fast+light+playful+progressive too. I’ve thought about that ski for spring skiing (but I have too many skis). I know it used to be full rocker and has eased up, but I think it’s still categorically “more playful” than anything else 90mm underfoot or 1300g
I’ve definitely considered the hot mess as a spring ski before, ultimately just didn’t love the surface area to weight ratio. A 1300-ish gram version could be awesome! I’ve been on the la machine mini this year and have definitely enjoyed the increased pivotability, looking forward to seeing how they perform in spring conditions. I’m interested to hear what Gavin thinks of the micros, especially regarding how much a progressive shape/mount point can make up for reduced width in variable conditions.
Hey, I’m curious — what length mini do you have and where did you mount them? Now that you’ve had some time on them, would you place the bindings elsewhere? I recently got a pair but haven’t taken the time to mount them them up. Best, David
I’ve got a 178 mounted at progressive. I’m 5’10, 155ish. Take all this with a grain of salt, as I’m not a particularly great skier and have been skiing them with F1 XT’s, so I get knocked into the backseat fairly commonly. Firm breakable crust is still a nightmare with my very average technique, and I’ve felt underbooted in thick/variable pow. If I were to mount them again with the intention of still using light boots, I think I would bump them up to newschool. If I was using a shorter ski or beefier boot, I’d probably keep it at progressive though. I believe I’ve read somewhere that newschool is right at the center of sidecut. I think the three mount points are -9.5, -8, and -6.5 if I’m understanding the skimo chart correctly. https://skimo.co/ski-mount-points
Thanks! I got the 183, am a fairly strong skier, 5’10” 180lbs, beefier dynafit radical boots. I’m planning to mount ~-7 or 7.5, bumped a tad forward from ‘progressive’ to make sure I get the easy pivot that I want from a spring ski.
Enjoy!
Another great podcast on the nuances of touring gear. I loved the question on how much a ski’s shape can compensate for its lighter construction.
Seems like there are more inching this way with the influence of the Raven’s type of tail rocker. Long and low without a lot of splay so they don’t get in the way (tagline?!) for sticking in the snow and kickturning. (You don’t get annoyed with a twin tip until you start to tour a lot in varied terrain and start wondering if your snow saw will be able to cut off the tail…). I’m not convinced so much tail splay is needed on a touring ski when 90% of us don’t ride switch, but maybe there’s a reason they have them on their touring skis other than they already have the presses. But Max’s point about not simply being able to make a smaller-waisted & shorter Wildcat Tour that is inherently lighter (because it’s just smaller) was really interesting.
Skis like the unforgiving traditional ZG 85 suck off the top of a peak when your legs are blown and the snow is still iced chunder, and your stiff upright carbon boots offer no suspension or help in weighting the tips. An easier to ski more progressive mounted 80-90mm waist <1200g ski with a little camber but long and low tip and tail rocker without a much tail splay…that has way more widespread appeal than just as a resort uphill ski IMO!