Snowboard Theory

Ok, hear me out.

This all started because Jason got a free pair of skis from the Teton boys, the Black Crows Nocta. Jason was skeptical. Not only are the Nocta Doodle Doos, as he calls them, 122 cm wide, the ones he was gifted are the shortest length (177 cm—he’s keen on longer powder skis). And also quite heavy. And soft. And damp feeling. Maybe not all bad things, but certainly outside of the ordinary for his tastes. But like all good things, he’s coming around. 

After a few days of skiing them, Jason brought them to my house so we could remount them further back. Jason has bigger feet than the skier who gifted them, so that, combined with his more traditional skiing style, he was hoping to garner better performance from a mount that was -6.5 from true center. Still plenty progressive, but about 3 cm back from the BC recommended boot center. 

Since I am sneaky and a good ski tech, I set the heel pieces up so I could squeeze my smallest boots onto them and take them for a spin as well.

Fast forward a week or so, and Jason left the skis with me after a day harvesting some of the excellent creamy pow we have been getting pummeled with. After getting home, I tossed the skis in the garage and went upstairs for snacks.

 Later, when I ventured back to the gear zone to tinker, the Nocta Doodle Doos happened to be laying on the floor right next to my splitboard.

I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the outline of the short-fat skis and my snowboard.

This got me thinking.

I have taken my split board out on some super deep days and always enjoyed plenty of floatation, easy tight turns, and a nice surfy feel. I’ll claim that in deep snow, snowboarding is more fun than skiing. A synapse fired: Would riding short-fat skis in deep snow translate to a similar experience?

I decided to find out.

If you ask google what the consequences are of having too-short skis, this is what the AI tells you:

“If your skis are too short, they will likely feel unstable at high speeds, making it difficult to maintain control, and you might feel like you’re ‘going over the handlebars’ when applying pressure to the front of your boot; essentially, they can be less stable and harder to manage in various snow conditions, especially when trying to make longer turns or ski at higher speeds.”