Volkl PRL Skis - Women's 2012

Park & Pipe

Park and pipe skis, often called freestyle skis, are for skiers who spend the majority of their time on jumps, rails, and jibs of all kinds. Traditionally park and pipe skis have narrower waists with full camber profiles, but this category is incorporating more rocker patterns and different shapes. You will almost always find these skis with twin tips as well as other park specific features like thicker, more durable edges, dense extruded bases, and butter zones.

All-Mountain

All-mountain skis are designed to handle anything you throw at them including powder, ice, groomers, steeps, heavy snow, and everything in between, but they aren’t necessarily a master of any one terrain. If you’re only going to own one ski to do it all, this is what you want. All-mountain skis generally have what we call mid-fat waists that range from 80-110 mm.

Whether you’re a progressing intermediate exploring new runs and terrain, or an accomplished rider seeking new thrills, the majority of skiers and snowboarders fall into this level. Intermediate to advanced skis and snowboards may be somewhat wider or stiffer than beginner-intermediate skis and snowboards, usually with a stronger wood core and sandwich sidewall construction. Intermediate to advanced boots and bindings range from softer flexing freestyle options to stiffer choices built for stability at speed.

Rocker/Camber/Rocker skis have the playfulness and float of a rockered ski as well as the added edge hold of a cambered ski. The contact points on skis with this profile are closer towards the middle of the ski than a fully cambered ski, but still not underfoot. The cambered midsection provides a longer effective edge on hardpack, increasing edge hold and stability, while the rockered tip and tail provide floatation in deeper snow and allow the ski to initiate and release from turns easier.

Desinged to allow you to ski backwards, full twin tips are found primarily on park & pipe skis and freestyle powder skis. More and more, we are seeing twin tips on all-mountain skis of all abilities, as it makes it a little easier to get around, and for the most part does not inhibit forward skiing.