4FRNT Hoji Skis 2013

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.

Big Mountain

Big mountain skis are designed for charging big lines with high speeds and big airs. These skis varry in width from wide, powder-oriented skis for skiing Alaska spines to narrower, mixed condition skis for ripping the beat up headwall at your local mountain. Skis in this category tend to be on the stiffer side, often with more rocker in the tip and less in the tail.

Alpine Touring

Also known as backcountry skis, alpine touring (AT) skis are designed for going uphill as well as downhill. These skis are typically light for their width and many feature fittings that accept climbing skins. AT skis vary in width and weight, with the wider heavier versions usually used for winter/deep snow touring and the skinnier, lighter skis usually used for spring/summer/long distance touring.

Whether you charge the steepest lines, hit the biggest jumps in the park or carve with race-like precision, advanced to expert level skis, snowboards, boots and bindings are for the more aggressive rider. In skis and snowboards, you'll often find layers of metal, carbon or other stringers for rigidity and power, while advanced to expert level boots and bindings are usually on the stiffer side of the spectrum for rebound and precision steering.

Rocker (also called reverse-camber) is just as it sounds – camber turned upside down. Rocker skis have a side profile with a smooth downward curvature and a contact point at the middle of the ski. Rocker skis excel in deep powder. This profile provides the skis with less tip and tail hang up to prevent from catching edges and allows the skis to initiate turns extremely quickly. This profile doesn’t perform as well in icy conditions or on harder snow but if you spend lots of time in deep, untracked snow and like a more playful ski, Rocker is a great choice.

> 22 m radius is best for powder and big-mountain.

Partial twin tip skis have a tail that is turned up, but not as much as the tip. This gives you the ability to ski backwards and back out of tight spaces, but these skis are mainly designed to ski forward.