The first, and arguably most important, step in creating the perfect shot-ski is finding the right ski. If you don’t have old skis, ski shops will often have some pairs lying around. Thrift and second hand gear shops are also a great place to look.

This pair of Spalding Extreme Powder skis used to be screwed onto the exterior wall of Porters Sports in Tahoe City. In addition to having the words “extreme” and “powder” printed on the topsheet, they’ve also got fluorescent pink bases and a sweet helicopter graphic. At 70 mm underfoot they certainly don’t meet today’s standards for powder skis but they absolutely fit the bill for making a shot-ski. Whenever possible find a ski that has some kind of sentimental value to you, like those Volkl P9’s you used to shred moguls on back in the day.

Remember, the longer the ski is the more shots you can fit on it. For example, my 202 Spalding Extreme Powder’s comfortably fit four (shots, on a 225 DH ski you could probably fit five.