I will try my best to make it short (impossible).
First off, you dont need to spend a lot of money to get started. A cheap left over hard tail frame will even work quite well, just as well as a suspension bike for carving. A resort that will allow the bike on the lift, it will get banged up from the chair and see a lot of water, so no need for expensive or a nice frame unless thats all you got. Your set up can change a lot, from a steep short rise stem and bar, to a BMX 6" rise bar too. Depends on you, carving is harder when you have a real tall front end.
The rear needs to be firm and not sag much, when you go lean it over hard carving, you will feel the force Luke...!!!! Like G-force sucked down in the seat.
If you go a hardtail, get a soft comfy saddly for carving. You will be surprised how much you will rely on it for leverage. I use a long Tioga DH. Only thing that saddle was ever good for....!!!!!
Boots.....any will do. I prefer snowboard boots, worn down tread. They have more protection and support than a Sorel, but something like a Sorel will definately get you playing.
Kits....There are a few ways to go out there. The ski kit I like is a system of pegs in place of your BB, brackets the skiis mount to, and even a 20mm version for through axle forks, an optional riser is available I believe.
http://www.winterxbike.com/
Now the safety part. They are hard to stop quickly, takes a lot longer to stop one than any skiis or board on the hill, not by a little, but by a lot. Look much farther ahead of you for others, as well as behind you if at a resort that allows them. Sierra at Tahoe is where i go locally here in Lake Tahoe. Blue runs are more than enough to get going too fast. If you go steeper than a blue, you will need powder to help keep your speed in check, or good turning technique for sure.
Helmet, wear one. Extra crash gear a good idea. A full face is highly, highly reccomended. I survived a horrific crash and had a full face on, earlier on that day others laughed at the idea that I looked overdressed with a helmet.........
I fell from a singletrack cut into a hill side above the main run---dull flat light and deep woops and suddenly caught an edge and I was flying through the air without the bike, upside down, fell well over 10 feet down onto hard hard packed snow/ice. People with me said I bounced back up a good foot+ from initial impact. Head slammed and bounced up. I was out cold, very sore bruised ribs, could not breathe good for a few days, hard to move freely for 3 weeks. But, nothing broken, nothing internal hurt either......As with anything you do, it has its risks.
No need for super shape or long skiis if your into carving. If you want to go into the park and pipe etc, you can run anything from a piece of snowboard up front, and ski in back, or any combination really. The skiis in the kit are small, and for carving are perfect. Hard to believe but the skiis in the kit will do anything you really want to.
They all work. If you use a suspension bike, the rear suspension will have to be very firm, a shock with platform damping is a good idea. I ran the VT in short travel mode (5") and a coil sprung Vanilla RC with a spring rated at 700, 200 pounds over what I would run on that bike in the dirt.
Air shocks do good too, lots of range to pump a lot of air into.
Like in skiing and boarding, it takes technique to become good at turns etc., if you barely turn the ski bike skiis on edge you can either lean forward a little and slide the rear end for speed checking, or in the same slight turn, stay in the middle to rear and it will instantly carve. It will carve a deep rut charging at speed. Run flat and it is scetchy at best. Always use your edges.
I would not use ski blade set up boots at first, or maybe ever. If you want to get some air once in awhile, without pegs to get your boots onto you will have a new respect for the term "nut cracker".
Thats all I have to say for now.......any questions????
