How to enjoy slush?

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How to enjoy slush?

Postby cheesehead » Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:03 pm

Our snow has gone from ice to slush. It was not fun. Either the skis would bog down in the stuff so I felt I was going to be taken down by it or I would get weird fast spots because I couldn't get any traction on it. If it doesn't warm up too fast we might have a couple of weeks left but I think it will be slush from here on out. How do I handle this stuff?
--- aka John Carey
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby MonsterMan » Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:26 pm

M88's
"Someone once said to me that for us to beat the Europeans at winter sports was like Austria tackling us at Test cricket. I reckon it's an accurate judgement." Malcolm Milne
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby Skiasaurus Rex » Sat Mar 15, 2014 6:55 pm

with a smile
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby cheesehead » Sat Mar 15, 2014 8:18 pm

Skiasaurus Rex wrote:with a smile


I looked for previous posts, and about the only thing I found was, "Slush -- YUCK!"

The rollers and the "banked slalom" run were still cold enough to not be very slushy yet.

The rental shop has Waveflex skis (the rest of their skis I think are crap). Are those worth trying out? Are they anything like the M88's? Much different than my Supershapes?
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby JMD » Sun Mar 16, 2014 7:57 am

Spring/slush conditions can be challenging. Your Supershapes are a great ski, but spring slush can be a little easier with a good mid-fat ski such as HHs highly recommended Movement Jams. A slightly wider ski along with a 'deeper spring structure' and spring soft wax can help ease your challenging spring conditions.
Last edited by JMD on Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby JohnMoore » Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:15 pm

I've just come back from a week skiing in Switzerland, with sunny, very warm conditions and most slopes turning slushy by mid to late morning, and big mounds of slush forming by early afternoon. I have to say I really had no problem with the slush, and in fact really enjoyed skiing it - and I'm no expert skier. I put it down to 3 things. Firstly, by using PMTS moves I was slicing through the stuff, not trying to twist my skis in it (which can pull you down). Secondly, I was in general treating it with contempt, blasting through it as if it isn't there - I think if you give it too much respect, it can cause you problems. And thirdly, I was on Scott Crusade skis, which have a 15m turn radius but a 90mm waist, which allowed me to treat the slush as if it was powder while responding well to PMTS inputs (or at least my attempt at PMTS inputs). The PMTS masters would be able to ski this stuff just fine on narrow skis, but I have to say the flotation of the Scotts helped me a fair bit.
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby Skizoo » Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:30 pm

Agree with John about the Scott Crusades, at least the ones from a couple years back.. they are a great cruddy snow ski
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby sujo » Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:52 pm

I found the slush easy to ski today using a flexing two footed release with a focus on target tipping. And, I'm on narrow GS skis with 67 mid and 23 radius. I agree about staying aggressive to blow up piles of slush and soft snow.
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby geoffda » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:29 pm

I love slush. Especially since if I'm skiing slush, it usually meant I got hard snow early, followed by prime corn. Now it is baking hot, the skies are blue and ripping the slush is just the perfect ending to a perfectly fun day. Spring skiing is just hard to beat.

The big thing with slush is that proper waxing is critical. You don't necessarily need a warm temperature wax (I find my general purpose all-temperature hydro-carbon works just fine), but you do need to wax every day. Structure can also make a difference. You'll have trouble if your ski is set up with a fine structure because that won't allow enough water to escape and you will end up with suction. If your skis are bogging down, check your wax and your structure. It is very difficult to be successful in slush if your skis won't slide.

Technique-wise, if your skis are sliding, slush isn't really that different from any other kind of junk snow; you have to carve and if you have any problems with your transition, the snow will let you know. Also, if you are pushing against your skis, slush will let you know because they will break away. If you are struggling, try using a Super Phantom. Early on in my PMTS career, I found that release worked especially well in deep slush.
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby rwd » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:12 am

geoffda wrote:I love slush. Especially since if I'm skiing slush, it usually meant I got hard snow early, followed by prime corn. Now it is baking hot, the skies are blue and ripping the slush is just the perfect ending to a perfectly fun day. Spring skiing is just hard to beat.

The big thing with slush is that proper waxing is critical. You don't necessarily need a warm temperature wax (I find my general purpose all-temperature hydro-carbon works just fine), but you do need to wax every day. Structure can also make a difference. You'll have trouble if your ski is set up with a fine structure because that won't allow enough water to escape and you will end up with suction. If your skis are bogging down, check your wax and your structure. It is very difficult to be successful in slush if your skis won't slide.

Technique-wise, if your skis are sliding, slush isn't really that different from any other kind of junk snow; you have to carve and if you have any problems with your transition, the snow will let you know. Also, if you are pushing against your skis, slush will let you know because they will break away. If you are struggling, try using a Super Phantom. Early on in my PMTS career, I found that release worked especially well in deep slush.


Geoff, regarding wax/structure: do you have to have a special base grind done just for Spring skiing, or can waxing technique alone provide what you need? Please elaborate on what technique (ie. scraping in a stepped pattern, brushing rather than polishing the wax, etc.) you have found helpful. Thanks.
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby geoffda » Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:07 pm

rwd wrote:Geoff, regarding wax/structure: do you have to have a special base grind done just for Spring skiing, or can waxing technique alone provide what you need? Please elaborate on what technique (ie. scraping in a stepped pattern, brushing rather than polishing the wax, etc.) you have found helpful. Thanks.


I don't do anything particularly special for spring other than perhaps wax a bit more. Typically, I try to wax after 6-8 hours on the ski. In the spring, if it is especially sloppy, I might wax more like every four hours. I'm using Briko/Maplus Race-Based Medium temperature hydrocarbon which works well for almost the entire temperature range we see here in CO. Every once in a while, if it is really sloppy and I know I won't be skiing on hard snow in the morning, I might throw on a softer wax. Typically, I just do three passes with the scraper, 2 passes with a brass roto-brush, then 3 passes each with copper, nylon, and horse-hair. I don't find the need to regrind for spring; a medium structure seems to work fine.

Other locations may require different waxes or structures. If your skis aren't sliding, play around a bit. Try some different waxes & structures & see what works.
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby Icanski » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:25 pm

Hi,
I was skiing in a bit of that last week. Fine at the top and then at the bottom where it flattened out a bit there would suddenly be a bit of a grab on the skis: suction. I found technique-wise, like some have mentioned to blast through it, I also make sure I'm in a good balanced position and flexed abit, so if they grab, I can react absorb and keep going. I see people who are standing tall suddenly get sort of tripped and even go 'over the handle bars'.
I also find keeping the ski abit on edge helps to slice through it vs a flat ski which can get sucked down.
And like others mention: keep them waxed. I'm not sure how to get the open structure. I brush my hot wax with a copper and then nylon brush in X pattern to break up surface tension.
And make sure your pants are waterproof! :wink:
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby dan.boisvert » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:14 pm

Icanski wrote:...
I also find keeping the ski abit on edge helps to slice through it vs a flat ski which can get sucked down.
...


This is what I do, too. Keeping my skis on edge almost all the time makes slush pretty easy to ski. I don't really ever notice getting bogged down. (I also sharpen & wax regularly)
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby Max_501 » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:13 am

Not all slush is the same. Some is so sticky it is basically unskiable regardless of structure and wax. Setting that crap aside and focusing on "good" slush the biggest gear change you can make is getting a base grind and asking for a heavy spring structure. Next is waxing more frequently but that is not nearly as effective as the heavy spring structure.
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Re: How to enjoy slush?

Postby JohnMoore » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:21 am

I guess I must have just been lucky with the slush last week. I don't service my own skis and just had a local shop do an edge sharpen and wax before I headed out to Switzerland, but only occasionally did I run into problems with my skis grabbing. This was skiing often in temperatures of 10C (50F) or more.
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