Has anybody skied on ski blades yet? If so, what's your opinion? (I'm trying to figure out if its worth my time)

Snow blades ROCK! I just bought a set of the 99cm Snow Blades around Thanksgiving. I took them to Calgary in the Early season... They even do powder (6-8") well! Let alone, what they do for your skiing.

They make the skier stay rather centered. No sitting in the back seat here....

Also, when the conditions get iffy and booring, break out the blades... You won't have more fun on snow.

I agree wholeheartedly!!

I tried to go back to regular ski's after having a blast with Blades -- NO WAY! They are so agile and quick, plus they don't strain your knees as much, are easy to turn, and if you are into tricks you can ski backwards. I HIGHLY recommend them!

The SKI & GOLF shop in Chantilly rent them real cheap. They have great prices too on new & used equipment. Tell Greg that Rodney sent you and they'll give you a discount -- I've been turned into a loyal customer!

Rodney
ccs@tidalwave.net

Do any of the local ski resorts rent blades? I've got a rental pass for Liberty but the people at the rental counter didn't seem to know what a blade even was. I didn't go over to the snowboard rental area (different floor, different building). Liberty gave me one of those 40% off advantage cards for Roundtop and Whitetail - I'd be willing to go there to try them out.

Blades look fun; I sometimes ski backwards on regular skis but I can see that blades would make it much easier. I imagine you fall a bit more though, no? Surely, there must be lesser stability. I'm amazed to see people going down the expert slopes with blades. It's almost like a violation of physical laws. Are they nuts - or do blades work well on the steeps?

Ski Liberty does have snow blade rentals - they are also called shorty skis, etc. If they are not at the main rental desk, then check the snowboard rental shop.

Snow blades are great for maneuverability, but you have to be balanced over your skis. You will NOT be able to get away with leaning back or leaning forward even the tiniest bit like with conventional or shaped skis. If you do, you'll fall over! Snow blades are good in the steeps because of their maneuverability, but you will also give up stability.

Ski Liberty also has intermediate lessons that use the snow blades. Otto - who posts from time to time - is a PSIA Level II instructor (demigod status) that teaches on those things. You may want to give him a shout. You can usually find him Saturdays and Sundays after 2pm by asking at ski school.

I really want to try ski blades, i am going to caanan valley for president's day weekend. does anyone know if caanan valley rents them? also, i just moved to the silver spring area, can someone recommend a good ski and board shop in the area. thanks.

these blade things are a joke. i have never seen something so ugly. all skiers should be offended. they took your beautiful sport and turned it into a joke. if i was you i would poke fun at them whenever possible. they love the term fruitbooters.

ra is obviously a just another "snobby skier." Blades ROCK!

Sno-blades are a great developement for the ski industry and for skiers in general. So are those carving "shorty skis". I rented a pair of 140cm carving shorties in Tahoe one afternoon, and they really do carve up a storm, but this thread is about blades.

My wife rides sno-blades and loves it. She has been using them for 2 years on our few winter vacations. When we went to Tahoe last week, she was going down the all black diamonds with all us expert skiers and riders. If she were on skis, there would be no way she'd be hitting the expert slopes. Granted, she does in-line skate pretty well, so that helped her pick up the sno-blades pretty quickly. But she was looking like a pro and loving it.

Sno-blades opens up so much more terrain and fun for people who are not seasoned skiing veterans. It is just one more way that people can enjoy the variety of slopes, runs and trails provided by ski areas. Diversity is a great thing to have.

Sno-blades, freestyle snowboards, alpine snowboards, shorty skis, hourglass skis, downhill skis..........IT'S ALL GOOD.

Ski boarding is just like inline skating on snow. so... if you like ils, you'll love ski boarding. They're the right toys for mid-Atlantic snow conditions, esp if they've got sharpened edges and wax. And they'll take you places your skis can't: like the terrain parks @whitetail/liberty.

The only problem w/ ski boards is high speeds: if you're a fast skier, you may get frustrated that you can't go quite as fast without them getting squirrelly on you. Also, helmet and wrist pads are smart choices.

MUCHA -
I demoed ski boards from Ski Chalet in Gaithersburg. You can find directions to the shop online at skichalet.com

BTW:
What's up with the anti-skier policies at the terrain parks/pipes at the PA areas?? No skiing or they clip your tix?? Ridiculous!! For a skier/rider "renaissance wintersportsperson" like myself who likes to rip it on 2 boards & one, I find these park rules enough reason to steer clear of these areas.

Since Jim took my name in vain, I feel compelled to reply. I think snow blades, sno-runners, etc. are great. I am happy to see people use them, particularly since it is more difficult, but not impossible, to be off balance while using them. Besides, the point is to have fun.

In regard to lessons, I see people sometimes show up for group lessons with snow blades on. That would be fine if everybody, including me, also had them for the lesson. Unfortunately that does not happen and these people are wasting their time and mine.

However, Liberty (and a bunch of other mountains) has a special lesson package using very short Elan carving skis - the "downhill" model is 133 cm and I ski on 123's - and these are great for teaching people how to make carved turns. These are "true" skis with release bindings and great things are happening for a lot of students on these skis. For more information on this program, see www.getskiing.net To see what the skis are like, check this out:

http://www.elanskis.com/1999-2000/about_elan/about_news_ripple.html

As far as half-pipes and terrain parks are concerned, I think it is a shame that skiers are often kept out of half-pipes etc. Unfortunately, as an instructor I spend a lot of time on the slopes and get to witness a lot of the "idiot" factor at work. To be sure, stupidity and recklessness is not confined just to skiers with release bindings, but I think the resorts are justifiably concerned about allowing skiers into the mix in half-pipes.

(somebody get Scott to turn HTML on!)

Well since I started this post I guess I should follow up.

I tried sno-blades yesterday at Winter Park. I loved them. Going down some of the blue-blacks (no blacks open) they handled moguls, got great speed on the flats, and gave me lots of joy all day long.

However, there was a blue glade open and the powder just stopped them. They dont handle well in deep powder (even 6 inches). So when I want to ski glades, I'll have to use skis.

For what we get on the east coast, these things will be awesome. I cant wait to get home.

Try out the new Twin Tip skis (literally have a tip on each end). They combine the best of both worlds - the fun of snowblades with the stability and safeness (they have standard releasing bindings) of a more standard ski. Like the Elan Short Skis, they are much shorter than a standard ski (example - if you ski a 180, you would use about a 123 in these). The handle more like a ski but allow for the fun of snowblades.

I LOVE SKI BLADES!!! THERE SOME OF THE FUNNEST THINGS EVER INVENTED BUT THEY GET REALLY REALLY BORING there good for like 1/2 days a season........ i got a pair of twins and some other imatation solomons skiblades..<-sucky but good for speed... i love the twins...NEED TO WAXED ALOT just a caution if u buy them they need to be waked about every 2/3 days of skien !!PAIN IN THE A$$!!!! THERE ALSO GOOD FOR BEGINNERS there super easy but there is only so much u can do... i love my board and skies but every now and then i get out the blades..(normally get called FruitBooter 1 if not more during the day but hey... i would not reconmend buying them like me if u wana use them rent them......because you will probably get tired of them QUICK!!! unless u dont go that often

I didn't heed your advice airhawk and I bought skiblades. However, they did not disappoint. I bought a pair of Solomon Snowblades, 99.9 cm.

The only problem I found is they can't handle deep powder. I was able to ski in powder to my boot top. It was pretty tricky though. I had to lean back the entire time which goes against all conventional ski wisdom. In Tahoe, I was able to ski in my buddy's tracks in the boot top high powder. Going outside of those tracks got pretty hairy. Once we got another foot of snow, I had to switch to skis.

I have found that they are great for moguls. I've begun to use poles in the moguls and I surpassed my friend on skis. The turns are quicker and cleaner. My legs don't burnout as quick as when they did without using poles. The poles also were handy when standing in crowded lift lines. Later in the day, when the lines became icy, it is hard to control the blades without stepping on other peoples skis. It's also harder to stop as precisely as you need to in lift lines without creating mass havoc. However, skiing all day on groomed trails becomes a pain in the butt carrying around the poles.

I've just recently learned my landing point on the blades. I would try to do jumps and was having trouble hitting the landings. This week at Wisp, I finally felt comfortable hitting the landings and not falling. Now I have to work on the tricks.

Overall, I'd recommend these to anyone. I especially think beginners could benefit because their feet do not get as big. My wife who is becoming a good skier, still has the trouble at the beginning of the season getting used to long feet. Next time out, we are renting blades for her to see how she adapts to them.

they are fun but they have another major draw back

1)--there slow
2)--they get really boaring fast
3)--there easy
4)--while they help ur skien form they really hurt it
5)--you mist well rent them because there is nothing special about them and they are over price
5)--THEY SUCK IN POWER

my advice is dont sue poles with those thing u will do major damange to ur skien form and look gay......just dont use poles i tried it once and i did horrlbe u might think ur doing better but your doing worse.....

i would of gone with twin tips but i hope u like them and have fun!!

>>
my advice is dont sue poles with those thing u will do major damange to ur skien form and look gay......
<<

Since I am gay, in my case they would probably make me look straight. Eeeeek!

That was funny twin.

I'm curious Air, why do you say they get boring? When you can't go in powder, then they do limit what you can do and that's not boring to me, that's frustrating because I now have to rent skis to go hit the powder.

Also, you should try poles in moguls with them. Unless your already an Olympic caliber mogul skier, you'll have a blast in there.

I own a pair of Line Skiboards (which is btw far and away the best manufacturer of Skiboards there is) -- this sport has a long way to go before it catches on and gets the respect it should. Skiboarding is more about hitting the terrain park than freeriding on the mountain -- these things in the park completely rock. There is a huge combination of grabs, rotations, etc. that are much easier to pull off on Skiboards than on skis.

Those things are worse than roller blades and should be banned from the slopes. Get a snowboard if you want to hit jumps.

>>Those things are worse than roller blades and should be banned from the slopes. Get a snowboard if you want to hit jumps.<<

Guess what they used to say about snowboards?

I don't understand the rollerblade connotation. I rarely see anybody with rollerblades on the ski slopes.

As far as getting the snowboard for jumps, then I'd have to wait at the top of the jump for 30 minutes before I went down. I like to spend more time moving. Most boarders cant hit the same jumps as skiers anyway. It would be a waste of my time.

Phil must be a skateboarder. Just as there used to be animosity between some skiers and some boarders, there was animosity between between some skateboarders and some inline skaters.
I don't own a skateboard, but I in the X-Games, the inline skaters can do much more dramatic tricks than the skateboarders.

I feel I'm constantly breaking the myths of ski blades.

People say you can't use them in powder. In fact, I've said it in this same forum. But last weekend at Copper Mountain, I did the back, back bowls in my ski blades. The powder was knee deep. Now granted, it was not easy. I felt every muscle in my shins and hams to keep standing and skiing. I fell a couple of times. But once I got the rhythm, I was doing super G's down the steep slope.

I will continue to push the limits on these things. I can't wait till next season!!!

FYI: I "LOVED" skiing on the Ski Blades...
BUT - These things are inheritly dangerous. The non-release bindings increase the risk of Tibia/Fibula Sprilal Fractures by 4 to 12 times. ((Like the old days with skis without release bindings)). I should know. I just broke my tibia and fibula in 5 spots 2 months ago at Heavenly.

I beg all manufacturers including Dynastar and Salomon to produce ski blades with RELEASE BINDINGS.

((It might cost a bit more to manufacture, but it sure would make the product a lot more safer..))

B

yea they are dangerous but so is everything...You should know u limits and what ucan do and dont be the "daredevil guy" that has to do the double black untill u know ur ready..........hey everything has risk even walking ur dog......but make u sure dont take crazy ones... i am sorry about ur injuries... will they heal...... thats why i quit skiblades...and movie to another sport where not only that h break both my legs in probably at least 5 different ways but crack my head open... fracture my back.... break my arms...and ur wrists(no fun) and all of those quite easy...gota love snowbarding Well i hope ucan ski again.... remember ski safely

oh yea and to ur statement saying that they could make them with non realise bindings...they cant....i belelve.. i skies and so small and the way they are disigned they put alot of tork of that connection area and if u have realise bindings in there...they would have to be realy tight...which would probably be useless....also thos ethings are so small that any binding would have to realise from the side which is impossible....(they roll often times when u fall unlike normal skies to there extremly small size.... which causes what happened to u...i would reconmend a pair of twin tip skies... those things ARE AWSOME even thow they are not as small they are alot safer and provide alot of the beifits.... i think that if they could put realise bings in they could but its not feasable for a number of reason... i could be wrong but i think thats the reason why they dont...(a ski patrol at shoe told me and it makes since) hopefully they will come up with some new teconolgy binding from them that realise from the side......The guy also said that he sees people on really short rentail skies (which seems to be commen at snowshoe they love giving them to beginners and first timers AND I MEEN SMALL there like ski blades.. he says he sees that same kinda igury..Tibia/Fibula due to there tendency to roll (which ur leg does not) and as we all learned in elementy school if u twist something hard like that it will break and in the case of bones cause a spiral fracture.... best of luck to u bman

I live in Chile, where the hell can I buy a pair? Any company that will ship them out cheap?

>>I live in Chile, where can I buy a pair? Any company that will ship them out cheap?<<

It's the wrong season in the northern hemisphere to find much ski equipment online, but I did see skiboards at this site:
http://www.sportchalet.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=295360&cp=18081
Is this what you're looking for? I'd bet they're on eBay too.
Here's another site:
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=549141&cp=549163
Amazingly, the same three boards are shown and in the same order. I wonder what that means.

twin58

I wished I lived in Chile right now. That means 2 months to ski season. Sigh!

Airhawk is right. You can't put release bindings on blades because one tiny twist and they would pop off. However, the risk of fibula breaks is smaller. I've taken some nasty spills on these things with no problems. They're small enough that they don't catch on things like skis will.

yes i have and it is really fun they are lite weight and really easy to handle. but if you want speed ski blades arent what you are looking for.