My Wife Thought They Looked Funny

In the winter of 1997/98, I started looking at ski equipment again. My children were 4 and 7 and I was ready to return to the slopes after an absence of about 7 years (birth of first child). I spotted a colorful pair of Salomon Snowblades. I thought they were a cute display ski for advertising Salomon products. The ski salesman told me they were meant for adults and really worked. I had just suffered a major health setback and was looking for something lighter than normal skis. After three or more trips to this ski equipment store, I couldn't resist anymore and bought the Salomon Snowblades. On my third run on the Snowblades, I remember being somewhat disconcerted because the short tips of the Snowblades were vibrating side-to-side. It wasn't long after when I found out that the Snowblades were much more stable when riding on the edges all the time. The trick was to stay constantly in a turn or slide sideways using the edging and unedging method for going down a hill as skiers sometimes do when going down a steep hill, only faster. I fell in love with my Snowblades because they were so liberating as opposed to the 180 cm skis that I normally used. You can stand still and turn the skis 180 degrees just by turning your body - on long skis, you had to be moving at some speed before making the skis turn. The freedom and control were great. The trade-off was the speeds I was able to attain was lower and the Snowblades felt less stable when going fast than my 180 cm skis. I was more than happy to accept the differences.

With the Snowblades, I found that I had to give myself a little more room when trying to stop on ice. The Snowblades carved incredibly well and changed directions very quickly. I found that it didn't do well in heavy powder, sinking into the snow. I've seen other reports by skiboarders that Snowblades do work in powder if the terrain is steep enough. It was great to go skiing being unemcumbered with carrying long skis. Toward the end of that ski season, I got my wife to try my Snowblades finally. While my wife thought they looked funny and at first didn't want anything to do with them, she found out that she could easily ski down the most difficult runs and the Snowblades were particularly good in the moguls. I ended up giving my Snowblades to my wife. Since that time, my wife tried her skis one more time and has decided to give up her skis.

Ed,
Age 50
Milpitas, CA

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