DIY ski improve

[Didier Lafond]

I found someone on Youtube that has made modifications on his skis when he needs to travel in deep snow. I found his work quite interesting. However, the video is not about this guy nor his skis. There is not much information if it is indeed efficient. I'm thinking of doing something similar with my skis since I find that they sink pretty bad when I'm traveling in deep powder.

Has anyone ever try to do something like this with their own skis? I'd be curious to hear about your experiences.

Post-scriptum: if anyone is curious, here's the link to the video (in french). You'll find the skis at 2:32

[Krummholz]

I think you are going to find that the ski tips are less important than ski base area, length x width, and the flex profile (which can be hard to get info on). The modification would probably help with skiing through/under crust. What are you skiing on?

[Didier Lafond]

I am a novice in terms of ski construction. I figured the ski tip was the problem since it is the part that sinks in the snow when I'm traveling on the flats. But I might be wrong and sinking may be because of another part of the ski. My girlfriend has the same skis (though they are smaller) and she floats better.

I ski Alpina Discovery 102 which are 102-64-87. They are 178 cm long (the longest size possible). I'm 6'2, 170 pounds (1m87, 70 kg).

With these skis, I mostly ski in forested area where the snow is untouched. It is fresh powder more often than not. It is in this kind of environment that I suffer the most from a lack of flotation as I often have snow up to my calves. Even on frozen lakes, I find that they don't seem to travel as well as the skis of the people I ski with.

[Krummholz]

Flotation is a mix of ski base area, ski camber (stiffness), and speed. Since you’re not skiing downhill you don’t really have a way to increase speed in a meaningful way.

So you can increase base area with a downhill oriented single or 1.5 camber ski. Usually scaled.

Alpina Discovery 102 - 102-64-87 avg width 8.4cm, length 178cm, approx base area 1501 sq cm

Fischer S-Bound 112 - 112-78-95 avg width 9.5, length 189cm, approx base area 1795 sq cm

Madshus Panorama M78 - 109-78-95 avg width 9.4cm, length 192cm, approx base area 1804 sq cm

Or use a more nordic, less downhill, usually longer, oriented ski that has more camber and spreads your weight more evenly over the full length of the ski. Usually wax, some scaled.

Asnes Amundsen 67-57-62 avg width 6.2cm, length 201cm or 208, approx base area 1240 sq cm, double camber

Asnes Nansen 76-56-66 avg width 6.6cm, length 200cm or 205, approx base area 1320 sq cm, 1.5x camber

Asnes USGI - 78-67-73 avg width 7.3cm, length 200cm or 210, approx base area 1453 sq cm, double camber

Fischer Excursion 88 Crown - 88-68-78 avg width 7.8cm, length 199cm or 189, approx base area 1552 sq cm, double camber

And after all this you’re trying to glean info from reviews, dealing with price / availability, scale or wax.

If this is all too much you can try being the last person in line and let whoever is in front pack the trail down for you.