CARVING UP THE POWDER MODERN SHAPED SKIS MAKE THE SPORT EASIER FOR BEGINNERS.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN - Claudia Mueller glided gracefully down an intermediate run called Mambo at Mammoth Mountain, making round, linked turns on her modern shaped skis as her instructor watched.

This new ski design, an hourglass shape - wide at the tips and tails and narrow under the boot - swept the ski industry in the late 1990s. The result is that skiing is less demanding for newcomers, and intermediate skiers can make ``carved'' turns like experts.

``It's a lot easier to progress,'' said Mueller. ``I've gone from green to blue runs.''

Originally called ``parabolic,'' the shaped skis are also shorter than traditional straight skis, so they are lighter and less awkward. The reduced length makes it easier to pressure the ski early and make it arc.

Finlay Torrance, manager of the Sports School at Mammoth Mountain, advises trying skis shorter than you think you should.

``Modern dynamic skiing is about having both skis carving, making nice clean lines with the skis and making round, fast turns,'' Torrance said. ``Shorter skis do that much more efficiently. The ski is designed to turn, where in the past you had to turn your legs first.''

Shorter skis have less swing length, so if you're not too athletic, it's easier to turn them and not as tiring on your legs.

``The big change in modern skis, much the same as when golf club and tennis racket heads got bigger, is that the sweet spot is larger, and it's easier to achieve the goal,'' Torrance said.

New ski design means that skiing and teaching techniques have changed. Turns can be initiated by rolling onto the ski edges. Rather than just the downhill ski, both skis can be used in turns. More subtle movements are used at the feet and ankles with modern shaped skis.

``Now both skis want to turn at the same radius, so if they don't do exactly the same turn at the same time, it's a little like two fighter jets flying in formation,'' Torrance said. ``If both jets don't have the same altitude and wing angle, one will crash into the other.''

This isn't so much of an issue for beginners, but the key to better performance in advanced skiing is getting both legs doing the same thing, according to Torrance.

The first shaped skis were easy to turn but unstable. Ski manufacturers have improved the design, and now skis have less side cut and are shorter. There also are a variety of skis meant for different tasks.

``You should ski a ski that has the right characteristics for what you want to do,'' Torrance said.

He said selecting the right width is important, and the choice depends on the terrain you are skiing. For groomed slopes, skis are short and narrow underfoot with a big side cut. Skis are a bit wider for going off- trail. For powder, you want something really wide. This means that a skier can end up with an assortment of skis.

``Ski them short, but ski them in different widths,'' Torrance said. ``Like golf, have a bag full of clubs, if you can afford them.''

Even with the new skis, Torrance said a lot of people get to a point where they can ski on difficult terrain but are missing something.

``Just because you can get down something doesn't mean it feels good or you're having a really good time,'' Torrance said. ```Oh, I survived it,' you say. If you want to learn how to really rip, you should come take a lesson.''

The easier-turning skis mean ski boots, often torturous on your feet, can be more comfortable and easier to walk in. With modern shaped skis, boots don't have to be as stiff in forward flex as in the past.

Most ski boots also have heat-moldable liners that adapt to the shape of your foot.

Much of the impetus to the new ski design came from snowboarding. Skiing was thought to take a long time to master, but snowboarders testified that they could rapidly and, after initial spills, soon be carving up the mountain.

This caught the attention of ski makers.

``We can thank snowboarders 100 percent for the advances in ski design,'' Torrance said. ``Snowboarders could do things skiers couldn't do, and skiing wasn't as much fun at the time - a lot of swishing around and not a lot of dynamic stuff going on.

``Ski companies started making big side-cut skis, and now skis do the same thing as snowboards. Because of that, you see a lot more people coming back to skiing, and that's great. It's nice to see kids in the park chucking big air, then landing and carving out. Half are on skis, and half are on snowboards.

``Modern skis are really cool.''

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Claudia Mueller (above, left) of Redondo Beach takes a ski lesson from Ali McGrain of Scotland at Mammoth Mountain. Mueller quickly has advanced from beginner slopes to intermediate hills, in great part because of new, fatter skis (above). The design of the modern-shaped skis was influenced by snowboards.

(3 -- color) A younger skier gets a lesson from an instructor at Mammouth Mountain.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News