Types of Skis
Here is a quick summary of the major types of skis that you will come across. There have been recent developments in ski design that all aim to provide ski equipment that better suits particular conditions, terrains and levels of expertise.
Alpine Skis
There are several types of skis that have grown out of the Alpine skiing tradition:
All Mountain skis are the typical types of skis that suit all levels of skiing ability ad are ideal for downhill use on properly manicured pistes.
Freeride skis a wider type of ski for skiers who know what thye are dong and want to be sable to ski off piste and in a wide cariety of less-than-perfect conditions. A little confusingly, ski type referred to as All-terrain are similar looking skis but are really only to be used on properly maintained pistes.
Freestyle skis haver been popularised y thoes skiers that push the limits of skiing activity and are a type of ski that is good for tackling moguls, and using specailaized varied-terrain ski areas, and jumping - commonly used by experienced skiers without ski poles.
Frontside Carvers are a type of ski designed to allow fast carving down a properly maintained pistes - but they are less ‘extreme’ than pure racing skis.
Racing Skis the shaping and desugn of these types of skis is aimed at allowing freatest speeds to be obtained and therefore not the obvious choice for raw beginners. They are designed to be used on prepared pistes. The type of ski called Skier X also have characteristics of racing skis but with an increased surface area that can allow better use off-piste.
Traditional Skis or ’straight skis’ are those that have no shaping as with old-style, original skis. Modern manufacturers have repolaced the traditional design with the shaped types of skis as they offer greater potential control.
*****
Alpine Touring (AT) Skis
Alpine Touring (AT) or randonnée equipment would be the type of ski to choose for touring on ski through steep terrain.
This AT ski features a speacial type of binding that allows the heel to move free of the ski - this is useful when trying to traverse inclines. But when skiing downhill the heel clips back onto the ski and makes the process typically like normal skiing (unlike using Telemark skis - see below).
AT skis require a special boot that resembles something similar to a hiking boot, yet also with features of a typical downhill skiing boot. This means that they are lighter in weight yet they still provide enough support for positive turning and general control. AT ski boot will also allow a traction improving crampon to be fitted when climbing steep areas and carrying your skis to the next downhill section.
*****
Nordic Skis
Nordic skis can be used for cross-coutry skiing and also for ski jumping. They aer the type of skis used for the Olympic winter sports that is referred to as Nordic Combined - as this event combines both cross country and jumping elements.
*****
Telemark Skis
Telemark skis are different in desgn to the other major types of skis in that the ski binding only attaches at the toe. This allows the skier to raise their heel whilst skiing - which may help with some manoeuvers - but of course requires a degree of advanced skill and practice.
Telemark skis ares suitable for bith downhill skiing and also for touring. the feature of the free heel in the toe-only bindings remains constant hroughout use which is the significant difference between Telemark ski types and others such as AT skis.
