Ski Sizing

We have ski sizing down to a science at levelninesports.com.

Before you look at any useless ski sizing charts, we need to remind you that the greatest ski sizing and selection tool can be found in the upper right of our website - the Ski & Boot Selector.

So let’s get started with a little ski sizing history. Back in the day when skis were straight, they were also really narrow and really long. People were rocking 210+ cm skis in order to obtain more speed and stability. At that time, reaching your arm straight up to touch the tip of your ski was a totally acceptable rule of thumb.


Then came the parabolic revolution (you know, shaped skis), and skis became easier to turn, as well as wider. This allowed people to bring their ski lengths down to something more manageable. The parabolic rule of thumb for adult ski sizing is the tips should measure to the chin for beginner, nose for intermediate, and eyes/forehead for advanced skiers. This is largely what ski sizing is based off of today, however with the recent appearance of early rise and rocker skis, this is starting to change again.


If you don’t know already, early rise and rocker are terms that refer to a ski that begins to rise up from the snow before the tip of the ski. This technology is being used more and more frequently in all skis, from carvers to park and powder. So what does this all have to do with ski sizing?


Well when you’re riding on a ski that lifts from the snow before the tip of the ski, the actual surface area of the ski that is in contact with the snow is reduced. This results in a ski that “skis shorter” as we like to say around the shop. In order to counteract this, we often recommend going a little longer on skis with early rise and rocker technology. How much longer is a bit harder to generalize, and really depends a lot on the ski that you select. For instance if you choose some Rossignol Experience skis with early rise, then you’d only want to go maybe 5 cm longer than normal. If you’re getting a powder ski with crazy rocker, like the Atomic Bent Chetler, then you can easily go a full 10-15 cm longer. If this is all a bit overwhelming, don’t sweat. Just check out our ski selector, or get in touch with our Customer Service department.

Sizing for Kids

All right, so let’s take it down a notch and talk about Kids skis. Junior ski sizing is easy, since rocker technology has yet to infiltrate this market. Kids skis should always be sized at the chin or shorter, unless your kid is already pretty good. Do not give your kids longer skis than this with the idea of them lasting a couple of seasons. It is best to get them the correct size for this season and have it a little short for next season. That way, they can learn faster and not be hindered with extra length and weight for an entire season.

Boom, there you have it, ski sizing. See, it’s not really that hard! Trust us. We know what we are talking about and it is our job to know. If you have any problems with our sizing recommendations, or are confused about any of this, we’d be glad to answer any questions you still have. Get in touch!

Choosing Your Ski Size

Here's one of those, not nearly as useful as our Ski Selector, ski sizing charts we were talking about
All Ski size listed are in centimeters (cm).

Height (in)	Beginning	Intermediate	Advanced
3'-3'1''	65-75	-	-
3'2''-3'3''	75-80	-	-
3'4''-3'6''	80-85	-	-
3'7''-3'8''	85-95	-	-
3'9''-3'10''	95-105	105-110	-
3'11''-4'	105-110	110-115	115-125
4'1''-4'2''	110-115	115-120	120-130
4'3''-4'4''	115-120	120-125	125-135
4'5''-4'6''	120-125	125-130	130-140
4'7''-4'8''	125-130	130-135	135-145
4'9''-4'11''	130-135	135-140	140-155
5'-5'1''	135-140	140-145	150-160
5'2''-5'3'''	140-145	145-150	155-165
5'4''-5'5''	145-150	150-155	160-170
5'6''-5'7''	150-155	155-160	165-175
5'8''-'5'9''	155-160	160-165	170-180
5'10''-6'	160-165	165-170	175-185
6'1''-6'2''	165-170	170-175	180-195
6'3''-6'4''	170-175	175-185	190-200
6'6''+	180+	185+	200+