Incomplete skiing. No continuity between shuffling on the flats, a line to ride uphill and groomed snow downhill

[Stephen]

I like this current setup a lot for skiing ungroomed XC trails that are narrow and turny, even icy. But what I can't seem to do is get a nice carved turn out of this rig. I can skid and stop on iced up groomers, but I can't get them to carve even on soft, fresh, groomed snow.

I don’t know those skis.
If you put the tail on the floor, hold the shovel in your hands, up by your left shoulder, swing your right foot up on the ski, at the binding, let the weight of your leg press on the ski, and sight down the edge of the ski, is it bending in a nice single camber arc, or is there a double camber flat spot under the foot?
If the latter, pretty hard to arc the ski without a lot of speed and pressure.
If nice single camber, what’s not working?
Maybe not enough articulation (edging)?
The boots should be stiff enough to getting edging.
Actually “carving” a turn (no skidding) takes practice.
Like you are saying, it takes speed to build the energy needed to arc the ski.
Like @fisheater said, start with what you can do under control and increase slope angle / speed as you gain skill / confidence.

[bornaginalpiner]

@MSU Alum and @Montana St Alum

I am not sure who fish was suggesting I ask, so I mentioned you both.

The photos below are what I have now.

If I was made of money I would probably go for new NTN boots, bindings and new skis. But I do not have a bottomless ski budget.

I was thinking I could get a good resort ski, an active 75mm binding and try to get more use out of these old T2s.

Are the boots also no good?

I like this current setup a lot for skiing ungroomed XC trails that are narrow and turny, even icy. But what I can't seem to do is get a nice carved turn out of this rig. I can skid and stop on iced up groomers, but I can't get them to carve even on soft, fresh, groomed snow.

It's not that the boots are no good, imo, just the ROM and lack of lateral support are less than ideal for edging on hard surfaces. I really like your current setup and love my T4s and Ultravector s when conditions are nice at the resort here in PA. The feeling of connection between foot and ski is superb.

I sacrifice that feel when I ski NTN for great lateral support and reduced ROM (grande of motion). This provides significantly better edging on hard surfaces.

2 things I would suggest is to get a good tune per Mt St Alum's advice. Next notice your technique on hard surfaces. Are you getting your weight over you downhill ski. This is more crucial than gear, imo. If we lean towards the hill or stay upright it will result in a skid at least. If we lean out over our bottom ski by articulating our upper body at the waist so that our head is in line with our knee of the downhill ski we create more pressure on the edge with our weight and increase the edging power of the ski.

If those two things don't work you might want some new equipment. I just got a pair of Wayback 88s for the resort and I love them on in all conditons. They are super light at @ 2600 gram/pair but are stiff in the mounting area. Otherwise, great soft flex. You might also consider the Elan Ripstick or Blizzard Rustler 9. Heavier skis than the WBs, but lots of fun with NTN gear or a T2 eco/T1 75mm.

PS. The Waybacks are considerably ligher than my UltraVectors.

[FourthCoast]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

I am now shopping for a quality edge tuning kit. I have a gummy stone that probably needs to be thrown out. Otherwise I don't have any edge tools.

Can someone help me put together a kit that will let me put an edge on my skis without spending any more than I have to. I would like to keep it under $100, but I would also like to hear from anyone who thinks I need to spend more than this to put a good edge on my skis.

Right now I have my eyes on the $89.99 kit from racewax.com shown below.

[fisheater]

https://www.tognar.com/multi-edge-tuning-tools/

The multi-edge tool for $50 will take care of your edges. You’re probably better off getting a base grind every year or two. I’ve done the hand base scraping and hand structuring, it was 20 years ago, and most likely the tools are better. I think that you would need to do a good collection of skis to make it worthwhile. A base scraper is handy though, to remove the ridge that forms to the side of the rock gouge. A bit of touch and a sharp wood chisel works too.
Edit I am saying get the multi-edge tool and call it good. You just need sharp edges, you’re not out to win races