Skis are sized from your height, adjusted for how well you ski and where you ski. That sounds obvious until you notice it is the opposite of how a snowboard works, which is sized from your weight. The two sit next to each other in the same shop and follow different rules, which is why advice from a snowboarding friend is often quietly wrong.
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Why height for skis and weight for boards
A snowboard is one platform you stand across, and it works by bending under you, so what matters is the load: your weight. A ski is a long edge you steer with, one under each foot, and length decides how much of that edge is biting into the snow and how much tip you have to swing around at the start of a turn. That tracks how tall you are, because a taller skier has longer levers and more mass up high to move.
Weight still matters for skis, but as a second-order adjustment rather than the starting point. If you are notably heavy or light for your height you will flex a ski differently, and the tool above flags that if you enter it.
The method
beginner −5 cm · intermediate 0 · advanced +5 cm
carving −5 cm · all-mountain 0 · powder +7 cm
workable range: the result ±5 cm
Shorter skis turn with less effort and forgive sloppy technique, which is why beginners want them. Longer skis hold an edge better at speed and float better in deep snow, which is why advanced and powder skiers want them. Everything in between is a trade between those two.
Worked example
Ski length by height
All-mountain skiing. Shift 5 cm down for a beginner or for carving, 5 cm up for advanced, and about 7 cm up for powder.
| Your height | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 0 (152 cm) | 132 cm | 137 cm | 142 cm |
| 5 ft 2 (157 cm) | 137 cm | 142 cm | 147 cm |
| 5 ft 4 (163 cm) | 143 cm | 148 cm | 153 cm |
| 5 ft 6 (168 cm) | 148 cm | 153 cm | 158 cm |
| 5 ft 8 (173 cm) | 153 cm | 158 cm | 163 cm |
| 5 ft 10 (178 cm) | 158 cm | 163 cm | 168 cm |
| 6 ft 0 (183 cm) | 163 cm | 168 cm | 173 cm |
| 6 ft 2 (188 cm) | 168 cm | 173 cm | 178 cm |
| 6 ft 4 (193 cm) | 173 cm | 178 cm | 183 cm |
The chin to forehead test
Stand a ski on its tail next to you. Where the tip reaches is a decent read on what it will feel like, and unlike the same trick for snowboards it is not a myth. Roughly: chin height is a short, easy, forgiving ski; nose height is the all-round middle; forehead to the top of your head is a long ski for speed, stability and deep snow.
It is a tiebreak rather than a method. Use the numbers above to get to a length, then if a shop has two adjacent sizes and you cannot decide, stand them up and pick the one that lands where you want to be on that scale.
Width matters more than most people realise
Length gets the attention, but the number that decides what a ski is actually for is the waist width, measured underfoot in millimetres. Narrow skis around 70 to 85 mm roll from edge to edge quickly and hold well on hard groomed snow, which is what carving skis are built for. Wide skis from about 100 mm up float on top of soft snow instead of sinking into it, which is what powder skis are built for. Between those, 85 to 100 mm is the all-mountain range that does a bit of both.
A narrow ski in deep snow feels like hard work, and a wide ski on an icy morning feels slow and vague. If you only ski a week a year at a resort with mostly groomed runs, a narrower all-mountain ski will serve you better than the wide powder skis that look more exciting in the shop.
What the number cannot tell you
Two skis at the same length can be completely different tools, because flex, rocker profile and shape all change how the length behaves. A rockered ski, where the tip rises off the snow earlier, skis shorter than its number because less edge is in contact, so a 170 with a lot of rocker can feel like a traditional 165. That is also why powder skis get away with extra length.
So use the number here to know what to look at, then check the manufacturer's own chart for the specific model, which usually gives a height and weight range for each length. If you are renting rather than buying, tell the shop your height, weight and how many days you have skied and let them pick; they see what works on their snow every day, which is knowledge no chart contains.