how to know what size ski you need

How to Choose Skis and Ski Length Chart

Carol Ching

Choosing skis can be daunting, simply we're here to aid you. Picking the right skis begins at the most basic level by knowing what length is advisable for you. This is strongly influenced by your power level but too by your riding way and terrain option. Let u.s.a. guide you through the process below!

How to Choose Skis and Ski Length Chart

The length of your ski depends on your height, weight, skiing way & power. There isn't an verbal formula for determining the correct size but in general the proper ski length should be between your chin and the superlative of your head. For example, a skier that is six' alpine will desire to look for a skis between 170 - 190 cm. The xact right size for you volition depend on your skiing power and way. Some things to consider as well are the ski category, type of terrain and snow you'll be skiing in. Beginner skiers will tend to desire a shorter ski for easier turn initiation and stability, whereas an advance skier volition want longer skis.

Skier Summit (ft) Skier Pinnacle (cm) Suggested Ski Lengths (cm) Shop Ski Lengths
4'4" 132 115-130 130-139
4'6" 137 125-140
4'viii" 142 130-145 140-149
4'x" 147 135-150
5 152 135-155 150-159
5'2" 158 145-165
5'4" 163 150-170 160-169
5'6" 168 155-175
five'eight" 173 160-180 170-179
5'ten" 178 165-185
6' 183 170-190 180-189
6'2" 188 175-195
6'4" 193 180-200 190-199

In that location are several reasons to cull a shorter or longer ski inside your size range. A shorter ski provides easier plow initiations yet the trade off is less stability at higher speeds. Rockered skis are easier to pivot between turns can be skied slightly longer than camber skis.

Reasons to size shorter

- You are a beginner or intermediate skier

-You lot weight less than average for your pinnacle.

-Y'all like to make brusk, quick turns, and seldom ski fast.

- You lot desire a carving ski with but camber, no rocker

Reasons to size longer

- Yous are skiing fast and aggressively.

- You counterbalance more than average for your height.

- You plan to do the bulk of your skiing off the trail.

- You plan to ski a twin-tip ski.

- You want a ski that has a lot of rocker.

Note that different ski brands will measure their lengths differently so there is a possibility that sizing volition vary brand to brand.


Ability level has become somewhat less relevant for choosing skis every bit ski engineering has made information technology possible for a beginner to ski a much wider variety of skis. Still, there are certainly features that differentiate skis, making them better suited to skiers of unlike ability levels.

Beginners / Intermediate

Someone who is new to skiing or a skier working on linking smoother turns falls into this ability level. Typical beginner ski qualities include: softer flex, narrower widths, composite, foam or softer woods cores, and capped constructions. The idea is to create a ski that is easy to turn and very forgiving if you do brand a mistake. The improver of rocker in the tip and tail tends to make a ski less "hooky" as well equally aiding turn initiation.

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Intermediate / Advance

The majority of skiers and skis autumn into this level, whether you similar to carve on groomers or venture into the pulverisation. These skis are mostly somewhat wider than beginner-intermediate skis, with a stronger forest core and sandwich sidewall construction. Depending on the blazon of ski, intermediate-advanced level skis may accept full camber, rocker, or some combination of the two.

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Advance / Skillful

Regardless of terrain pick, advanced to expert level skis are for the more aggressive and skilled skier. You will oftentimes find layers of Titanal, carbon, flax, or other materials meant to deliver meliorate operation at speed or in enervating conditions. Avant-garde-expert skis are generally stiffer both longitudinally and torsionally than intermediate level skis and can be challenging at slower speeds. You'll find good level carving, park, all-mountain and pulverisation skis with a wide variety of rocker configurations.

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There are many factors that contribute to the way a ski feels and performs, with a couple of common measurements used to describe them. You volition usually run into ski dimensions specified past a 3-number measurement for the tip/waist/tail, like 115/90/107mm. In this example 115mm refers to the tip width, 90mm refers to the waist width, and 107mm refers to the tail width. Other factors like flex and feel are more subjective.

Ski Waist Width

The waist width is one of the most commonly referred to specs outside of length. This is the measurement at a ski'due south width at the middle (waist) of the ski, which is commonly the narrowest point. Waist width has a large influence on how easy the ski is to turn, and how information technology volition handle powder and non-grommed snow. Narrower waist widths are quicker edge to edge during turns, while wider waist widths provide better flotation in powder and choppy snow.

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Ski Turning Radius
Turn radius is the shape of a ski determined by its tip, waist, and tail width, normally expressed in meters. The narrower a ski'south waist is in relation to its tip and tail, the shorter the turn radius and therefore the deeper the sidecut. A ski with a deep sidecut (brusque plough radius) will brand quicker turns, while a ski with a subtle sidecut (long turn radius) will plow more slowly and is typically more stable at high speeds. Some modern skis combine two or more than radii on a single edge.


Turning Radius Turn Type Ski Type and Ability
<16m Short Carving Skis and All-Mountain/Powder Skis with Tapered Tips and Tails
17-22m Medium All-Mountain Skis, Park & Pipe Skis
>22m Long Powder & Large-Mountain Skis


Slant This is the traditional profile for skis and snowboards. Camber is a slight upwardly curve in the center of a ski or board, with the contact points - where an unweighted ski or lath contacts the snowfall - close to the ends. Camber requires more than precise turn initiation and offers superb precision with plenty of power on clean-cut terrain and harder snow. The rider'due south weight puts an even and concentrated force per unit area on the border from tip to tail, resulting in increased edgehold and better "pop." Racers and loftier level park riders ofttimes prefer camber.

Rocker Rocker (likewise called reverse-camber) is only as it sounds – camber turned upside downwardly. All skis and snowboards, rockered or cambered, when put on edge and weighted in a turn reach reverse-camber. Cambered skis and boards produce more pressure on the snow at the tip and tail since they have to flex farther to achieve this curve. The term rocker is borrowed from watersports where rocker is common. Rocker skis and snowboards offer superior bladder in the soft snow and increased ease of turn initiation with less hazard of "catching" an edge. Equally skis in general get wider, rocker helps keep the new shapes maneuverable for a wider range of skiers. Wide ski and board shapes designed primarily for pulverisation are ofttimes rockered.

Rocker/Flat/Rocker

Rocker/Flat/Rocker is another variation on the rocker theme that seeks to provide a little more than hard snowfall edgehold and pop than full rocker while retaining ease of turning and float. Performance is betwixt a fully rockered ski and a rocker/camber/rocker ski.

It'southward important to consider the type of terrain that yous volition exist skiing most frequently when choosing a pair of skis. Dissimilar styles of skis will excel on unlike areas of the mountain. You volition find that the lines betwixt dissimilar types of skis are more and more blurred these days so that many skis autumn under more than i category.


All-Mountain Skis
As the proper name suggests, all mountain skis are for skiing the entire mount. They are designed to handle anything you throw at them including pulverization, water ice, groomers, steeps, heavy snow, and everything in between, merely they aren't necessarily a principal of any i terrain or snow blazon. If y'all're but going to own ane ski to do it all, this is what you want. That said, all-mountain skis come in a range of shapes and widths to match the specific needs of different skiers. All-mountain skis by and large accept what nosotros phone call mid-fat waists that range from eighty-110mm. The cardinal is to effigy out where you will be spending the bulk of your time on the mountain and what type of terrain you lot like to ski near. Remember, information technology's not just about what you ski now but what you aspire to; trust us, today's skis can help you make leaps in ability that will blow you abroad.

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Powder Skis
These skis are for the deep days. If y'all similar to find powder stashes at your local resort, keep backcountry missions for the freshest of fresh or heli ski trips to BC, pulverisation skis are what you need to stay adrift. Skis in the pulverisation category are wide (115 mm or more than in the waist) and most frequently have some form of rocker or early rise plus a relatively soft flex. Some have unique sidecut shapes like reverse sidecut; the tip and tail are not always the widest parts of the ski. Many pulverisation skis today are versatile enough to handle mixed atmospheric condition and harder snow.

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Carving Skis
For those that like the archetype feeling of laying a ski over on edge and arcing a perfect plow, carving skis are what you want. These skis have narrower waists and shorter plough radii for edge to edge quickness and responsive turn initiation and exit on groomed runs and difficult pack. The beginner-intermediate skis in this category are designed to make learning how to plough every bit easy as going from pizza to French fries.

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Park, Pipe & Jib Skis
Park and pipe skis, often called freestyle skis, are for skiers who spend the bulk of their time in the terrain park. If jumps, track, and jibs of all kinds are your thing so check out this category. Though traditionally park and pipe skis have narrower waists with full camber profiles, this category is incorporating more rocker patterns and different shapes. Y'all will almost ever observe these skis with twin tips equally well as other park specific features like thicker, more durable edges, dumbo extruded bases, and butter zones.

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Women's Specific Skis
Skis designed specifically for women are typically lighter, softer, and shorter. Women normally have a lower middle of gravity and less body mass than men of the same height and therefore exert less leverage and force on their skis. Women's skis crave less force to ability and turn; this is achieved by using thinner, softer cores and less laminate layers in the construction. As well, to tailor the operation to women, mounting positions are frequently a centimeter or so further forward on these skis. There are plenty of difficult charging skis built for women these days and the graphics often characteristic fewer trucks, skulls and blood than men's graphics. Of class there is no reason a female skier cannot ski well on a men's ski, and vice versa.

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Information technology's important to cull the right length skis for children so that they can have the virtually fun possible on the mountain and then that they can learn and improve their technique. Superlative and weight are both important determinants in selecting the right size skis for kids. A good rule of thumb is that youth skis should come up up somewhere between the kid'south chest and nose. Need a starting point? Use the Kids' Ski Size Chart beneath.

ane. Measure your child'southward height and weight.
2. Locate that top on the kids' ski size nautical chart below.
3. Line upwards their height with the corresponding ski length to get the correct ski size range.

Age (yrs) Meridian (in) Height (cm) Weight (lbs) Weight (kg) Ski Length (cm)
iii 37 94 34 xiv seventy - eighty
4 40 102 37 16 lxxx - xc
five 43 109 42 xviii 90 - 100
six 45 114 46 21 95 - 105
seven 47 119 50 23 100 - 110
8 50 127 57 26 110 - 120
9 53 135 63 29 115 - 125
10 55 140 seventy 32 120 - 130
11 57 145 79 36 130 - 140
12 59 149 89 41 135 - 145
thirteen 61 156 100 46 130 - 140
14 65 164 112 51 150 - 160

Your kid might exist betwixt two of the heights listed; in that case find their weight on the chart. If they are lite for their height, yous're going to size a ski to the shorter top, and therefore will end up with shorter skis. If they are heavy for their height, you'll get off the taller height and end up with longer skis.

- They are a beginner or cautious skier
- Their weight is lighter than average for their height.
- They like to brand short quick turns and ride at slower speeds.

- They are skiing fast and aggressively
- They weight more average for their height.
- You desire to purchase a ski with room to grow. Children grow fast and at that place are boots and outerwear designed to conform this, nevertheless, we do not recommend sizing their skis much bigger than the recommended range.


The traditional method of choosing the correct length ski poles is to turn the ski poles upside down and hold them underneath the basket. In this position, your arms should be at a 90 caste angle when your upper arms are at your sides. Some skiers may prefer to utilise longer or shorter poles. See our ski poles size nautical chart for an approximation of ski pole length past height.

Skier Height (ft) Pole Size (in) Pole Size (cm)
6'vii" + 56 140
half dozen'four" - 6'6" 54 135
half-dozen'1" - half-dozen'3" 52 130
v'x" - 6'0 49 125
five'7" - v'9" 48 120
5'4" - five'6" 46 115
5'1" - 5'3" 44 110
4'9" - 5'0" 42 105
4'5" - 4'8" 40 100
4'1" - 4'four" 38 95
3'ix" - 4'0" 36 xc
3'five" - iii'8" 34 85
iii'4" 32 80

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Source: https://skiisandbiikes.com/blogs/ski-guides/how-to-choose-skis-and-ski-length-chart

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