They go by a variety of names (you'll find 'carving toys' and 'Big Feet' in
there too!). Generally these new gadgets are 80-100cm long (less than half as
long as traditional skis) and you can choose to use ski poles or not. They are
great on groomed runs, in snow adventure parks (at Cypress Bowl, Grouse Mountain,
Mt.Seymour and Whistler/Blackcomb), in moguls, on steeps and up to 6 inches of
powder. Because of their limited floating surface they start to nose-dive or submarine
with a lot of powder! Riding them is a blend of in line skating
and downhill skiing.
A
Mini-History of Mini-Skis
Mini-Skis are not something all that new.
For the past decade plus, you've seen the odd eccentric rider
show up on the hill with gadgets that were short on the tail
and a little longer in the shovel ('Big Feet' being on of them).
They were fun to goof around on, but they had little control,
didn't carve and riders spent a lot of time on their butt!!
Then there were the old 'Head-way' short
way learning skis (90cm - 130cm) that many Vancouverites learned
to ski on (up at Grouse Mtn.). They had no side-cut, were great
for pivoting and skidding turns but couldn't carve worth a *?!*.
Those of us who were taught skiing on those shorties were glad
to see them go (as we had spent so much time repairing our own
skiing technique when we stepped back into our own long carving
skis).
The most recent and 'soon-to-be-ill-fated' product on the market were
Sled-Dogs (this company repeatedly came up in the red in each of their fiscal
quarters and bankruptcy lurked around the corner). These gadgets were basically
a ski boot with a ski (boot length only) built into them, designed to go after
the inline skate market. Sled-Dog finally realized they should build in metal
edges and they did decide to make the running surface a tad longer on their 'K-9'
model but there was very limited snow conditions (perfectly groomed and packed
and 'not-too soft') that allowed them to function well. The only rider in town
who really had them wired is my team-mate Mark Fogel.
Wearing his helmet, flashing night lights on his wrists and pulling off his fantastic
continuous 360 degree spins down Cypress Bowl's night runs, 'Mr.
Spin' is definitely some-one to watch!
So much for the historic devices. What makes these things work- the new
snow-blades ('Snow-Blade' is actually a copyrighted name for Salomon's product)
and ski-boards (the generic name the overall industry is trying to use...especially
since Salomon grabbed the 'Snow-Blades' term), is 'shaped-ski technology'. Yes
these are mini 'shaped', 'parabolic' or 'hour-glass' skis. The wide shovels and
tails with a narrow waist and mono-cap construction gives them 'tip-to-tail' flexibility
and torsional rigidity! Put that all together and you get carving
ability!!
The most recent version is the product put out by Head that has releasable
bindings, which are very easy to get on and off.
How
To Ride These Puppies
--> Get snow and stay low!
Flex your ankles forward and bend your knees until you just go
past the point where you can't see your boot toes any longer.
Get your butt cheeks lowered (like on a heel-side carving turn
on your snowboard).
--> Get wide and glide!
For lateral stability have your feet wider apart than you would
for downhill skiing or in-line skating. Generally you check out
the width of your shoulders and hips and match your foot stance
width with the wider of the 2 (in traditional skiing you match
your foot stance with the narrower of the 2).
--> Get
your hands out front and you won't dump!
Due to the short length you have to adjust your fore and aft
balance. Bring your centre of balance farther back to your heels
than you would in downhill skis. Also keep your tips up so you
don't hook them in snow clumps and fall on your face. With your
tips up and your weight back you need to counter-balance by having
your hands out front more (OK...you might look a bit like a zombie
or Frankenstein, but it's better than 'crashing and burning'!).
--> Scissor
your Snow-Blades and slice up the slopes!
In regular snow-skis you might have your lead ski (your ski on
the inside of your turn or your uphill ski) about half boot length
of the other. On your ski-boards you need to exaggerate this
scissoring action and have the inside ski father ahead to provide
you with a longer running length for high speed riding.
--> Take
a lesson and spend less time on your butt!
If you thought learning to snow-board was quick wait until you
try this sport. I recently gave a lesson to a friend of mine,
Randy Dahlquist. He had only skied once in his life and inline
skated twice. Admittedly he had been a skate boarder back in
the 70's and generally had some good balance skills...but snow
knowledge was something new to him! In a 2 hour snow-blading
lesson he learned 'stance and balance', how to snow-plow, how
to do 'yo-yo' snow-plows, how to ride-a-frame, how to swizzle
and how to ride parallel, how to pivot his snow-blades for parallel
turns, how to ride green circle and blue square difficulty runs,
how to carve turns and how to ride backwards on gentle grades.
I've found my other students have done just as successfully!
As the sport is new this season there is a shortage of qualified instructors
(instructor qualification requires both down-hill skiing and inline skating instructor
certification as both techniques are utilised). I recently wrote an instructor's
manual for the International Inline Skating Association, so hopefully we will
be running some instructor programs for inline instructors to convert in the future.
P.S. You'll see
articles in magazines like Snow-Country or Snow-Blading Tips
written by dual certified instructors (Down-Hill Skiing and International
Inline Skating Association).
Who
is a Candidate to Become a Snow-Blader?
People who don't have
the time or patience to acquire mastery. (like the years
required in down-hill skiing). Instead become a novice in a day,
an intermediate within a week, advanced within a month and an
expert within a season! (P.S. Riding them will improve your downhill
skiing huge!)
Inline Skaters.
Missing the opportunity to get out on your roller-blades during
the winter? Transfer your skills over and keep your skating muscles
happening.
You can actually skate up-hill in these babies. If there's
snow on top of your Burnaby Mountain or on a hill in your neighbourhood
park, you don't need a chairlift! Just grab your ski boards and
go!
Downhill skiers
who ski less than 15 times a year. Tired of starting over each
year? Improve each time you get up with less hassle.
The typical Vancouverite
with a storage room full of wind-surfers, skis, skates, mountain
skies, golf clubs, tennis rackets etc!!! Snow blades are small,
don't take up much storage room, don't need a roof rack (just
throw them in your back-pack) and you only need one pair for
the family. They come with adjustable bindings and one size fits
all!
Those looking for a good deal! (Isn't that
all of us?). They're only half the length of down-hill skis and the bindings come
with them, so they are only half the price. Any ski boots will work with them
and because they are shorter with less resistance from the edges running length,
lower tech, less expensive ski boots work great!
Folks who also want to transition to the new "super-shaped"
slalom skiis. Snow-blades will help you refine your fore-aft balance before you
take on these high-performance units.
