Adapted from GoSki 1999 Ski Buying Guide - www.goski.com

(Be sure to see some general rules from Head/Tyrolia below)

The 1990's brought new ski designs described in various places and at various times as shaped, super side cut, parabolic and carving skis.

All skis have a "shape" -- a concave contour running the length of the ski from tip to tail, and have for a very long time. In the ski biz, this curving profile is known as the ski's side cut, and it is the main determinant of the kind of turn the ski makes when set on edge. It was only in the 1990's that the side cut varied much.

For example, the old Elan SCX or a newer extreme carving ski with an extreme side cut is made to carve short turns -- with a radius of 8 to 15 meters. In contrast, a competition jumping ski is very long (8 to 9 feet), very wide and has essentially no side cut. It isn't designed to turn at all.

Before the 90's,  most skiers except by those with exceptionally good technique made skidded rather than carved turns, because the skis of the time were not designed for carving.   Back then, you really only needed to remember two variables in choosing your ski - length and stiffness.

Everything began to change when Elan produced the SCX.  It looked to most skiers like some winter carnival freak, and was greeted as such. But a few brave souls began to try this and other "shaped" skis and discovered a new sensation, that of the carved turn.

Add to that big changes in the basic width of skis - wide skis came into vogue for skiing in powder off the trails.  Now there had always been "powder" skis, which kind of resembled water skis.  Instead, enter the mid-fats and fat skis. Now we have skis that combine the advantages of the shape ski with the wide foot print needed to "float" on ungroomed snow.

Snowboarders have also had their influence, ushering in the age of the twin-tipped skis for a type of freestyle skiing once ignored as "corney".  It's currently the fastest growing segment of the business.

Just remember not to buy into the "one size fits all" hype of ski manufacturers and ski magazines. The nature of things dictates that a ski optimized for one task will suffer in the performance of others.  For example, good carvers don't typically do well in moguls (a thinner, more conventional side cut is still the rule), and some mid-fats just won't hold an edge on the Northeast crud no matter what you do. Not everyone is really going to do well on some of these carvers, while for others it is the only thing to ski on.

Remember this simple rule - the more radical the side cut, the smaller the turn radius at any given length.

In order to allow different levels of skiers to ski these carve machines, manufacturers alter construction and material to vary the softness, waist width and height, and have added all sorts of exotic dampening systems. When choosing a ski, be honest about your ability level and choose and appropriate level ski.  If you ARE an intermediate skier, don't get on an expert ski yet just because it's what the magazine editors rave about.

So now skiers have to select skis based on length (we're tending toward shorter skis), stiffness (generally soft = easy, stiff = performance), side cut, construction (to Beta or not to Beta, X-Frame anyone?), materials (would you like some titanium with that or will carbon do?) as well as customizations that allow the whole new range of specific styles of skiing - wider widths for off-trail (mid-fats and fats), freestyle (twin tips, symmetrical and not), shorties, etc.  So how do you know what you should ski on?  Try one - when you are comfortable with what you have strapped on and are having fun - that's what you buy.

FInally, while the popularity of the shorter extreme carvers suggests that they are a lot of fun, don't let someone tell you that you have to give up your 190 cm skis if that's what you enjoy.  Only you can decide what you should be skiing on.

General Rules (Adopted from Head.com)

Shovel width. The wider – in relation to the waist width – the greater the pull of the ski in the turn. The narrower it is, the less pull in the turn.

Waist Width. The narrower it is, the quicker the edge change; the wider it is, the more speed and tracking stability on off-piste snow and the more “ground clearance” for extreme edge angles.

Tail width The wider – in relation to the waist width – the greater the carving action at the end of the turn the narrower, the easier to skid the ski.

Area of Surface. The wider it is – in relation to the length – the more floatation, contact in deep and soft snow and the more speed stability in off-piste terrain.

Radius. The smaller, the tighter the turns that can be carved. The wider the radius, the wider the turns.

Shovel. The higher the shovel, the more suitable for off-piste skiing. The flatter the shovel, the longer the effective edge grip due to the longer effective edge.  So a typical "Freeride ski" must be skied longer to get the same effective edge as a slalom carver.

Twin-Tip. High turned-up tail for safe backwards skiing and landing; perfect contact on snowboarder runs or off piste.

Racing. - Quick edge change, maximum control precision, turning behavior depending on the discipline (speed, distance between gates). Narrow waist for fast edge changes, small radius and shorter ski for carved slalom turns; larger radius and longer ski

Freeride. Maximum floatation in deep snow, excellent maneuverability in ungroomed terrain. All in all wider and higher
shovel; the wider along the entire length and the larger the radius, the more terrain-oriented.  The more narrow along
the entire length, slopestyle.

Mogul. Narrow, stiff skis for maximum edge to edge control.  Style specific ski.  A more conventional sidecut is the rule.