Chris Rossi on What Size Ski

Chris,

I absolutely love my 65” Strada. I sometimes wonder what a 66” would feel like, especially if it was laid up very soft. I was telling a friend that, and he thought maybe I ought to go in the other direction. e.g. 63.5”

What are you finding with your 67” Strada after being on the 66” for so long? Did you have your 67” laid up softer than normal?

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Bud,

I think skiers should ride the biggest ski they can AND still feel good at their hardest passes. In the past when I have tried longer skis, I felt great at 32, 35, and 38. Then at 39 and 41, I felt like the ski over powered me. I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that I was setting the fin very similar to how I ran it on my 66. When I tried the 67 this spring, it did not feel this way. I decided to run my fin further forward than I have on previous 67 experiments and the ski actually felt better than my 66. The bigger ski allows me to carry more speed everywhere so I can create more space before the buoys and also allows me to less effect zero off. Here are the settings from both my set ups:

66", 28 5/8", 2.521, 6.837, 0.752, 9°

67", 29 1/4", 2.507, 6.841, 0.775, 9°

Also, I ride a stock lay up on both size skis. When you see pictures of my garage and there are lots of test skis on the wall, those are what help get us to our stock lay ups. Every one of our skiers ride stock lay ups both at 34 and 36. We have tried softer lay ups and have not found it to be better for the Strada.