SKIERS: Say you ski with a 175s, and they don't have it, would you ski with 182s or 170s?

Question

I wanted to buy my bf a set of skis as a present and joe's sporting good is have a big sale on ski's (75% off) he told me once he's a uses 175s and they're out, the only thing they have is 186s or 170s which one should i get? should i go up or down? i would really appreciate your answers! thanks

Answer 1

It says 182's in the headline and 186's in the question.

Better to go down 5 centimeters than up 16. The 186's will ski significantly different than the 175's where the 170's will ski pretty much the same. Don't know anything about the skier, but if he currently has 175's chances are they are the correct size for him and increasing the length will only hamper his abilities. This is assuming the new skis are a close comparison to his old ones as far as ski type.

   If, in fact, you meant 182's and he has been skiing 175's for several years, then a jump to 182's is not too bad. I'd go with them, but only if he's been on the 175's a while and he's mastered those.

Answer 2

Well, first off, it's hard to go wrong with a 75% off sale. Another thing to remember is there's very little difference in lenght between a 170 & 175. These are metric measurements & not inches or feet. The measurement is in centimeters. You can check the conversions but the 170 isn't even 2 inches shorter & he probably wouldn't know the difference in length. A 186 is much longer than a 175 & it would be much different to ski on. A longer ski is much harder to turn on & harder to control & can also be extremely faster. If he's such an expert skier & wants much more speed than he might like the 186 but I doubt it. A rule of thumb is that your ski should be about same height as you are or a little bit shorter. I've been an expert skier for over 35 yrs. & I had a deal on skis that were a little bit shorter & I think they made me a better skier in the long run since I really learned how to turn better in a short period of time & then I bought a little bit longer ski & didn't know the difference. If I was buying new skis i wouldn't think of any difference between a 170 & 175. Skis are very expensive & the savings would be worth the money. A jump from 175 to 186 would be too much. I'll give you an excellent example. New skiers are taught using the GLM (gradual length method). This means they start off using a shorter ski until they master it & after each lesson they slowly increase the length gradually until the find the riggth length for them. This GLM type of lessons is taught by the best ski schools world wide. Not to mention that your bf will be getting brand new skis & this should make him a better skier as well. I would bet if you don't tell him that he wouldn't know the difference in length unless he measured it. I hope this helps & good luck. If I had the opportunity to buy new skis for 75% off & they were only 5 centimeter shorter, I would buy them immediately. You may never find a better deal. You must be quite some gf to spend that kind of money on your bf. Good Luck & I hope this helps!!!

Don