Top tips for a pair of new skis?

Stevo_666

I'm looking at getting a new pair of skis to replace my old Salomons which have lasted me about 10 years. I don't want a pair of 'fat' skis, just something that is mainly for the piste but can do a decent bit of off piste when the chance comes up, rather than a pair of skinny pure piste skis. I'm not a bad skier - can do any pisted run I've come across and will happily do off piste if the conditions are right.

I've spotted a of possibilities couple rummaging around on the interweb that seem to fit the bill - the Atomic Blackeye Ti and the Salomon Enduro XT - but I'll not get the chance to try in real life and TBH I'm going on brands of ski I've had before.

Does anyone know their stuff out there?

Pudseyp

I always like the versitility of carvers...thing is for me (don't know about you) I go once a year and ski technology is like bikes always advancing...(my boots are only 6 years old and look like a 80's throwback) so to me to spunk out £600 on a pair of quality skis, £150 on a case then to pay £80 plus insurance to fly them it makes more sense to hire a quality set when I am away...do the maths your £600 skis after ten years would have cost you at least £1,600...when you can hire Gold skis for around £80 per week...plus the cost of edging and pollishing I can't be fooked...

No help really am I !

ddraver

Well, I completely agree with you Pudsey! I don't know how much you get to go a year Steve but I think that it's best to hire them as you can hire what's best for the conditions that week, and change them if you decide to have an off piste day, or if it snows etc.....

Spend the money on the boots as they re as important and don't change quite as much really!

I ski off pist mostly and am a big boy so i like something stiff ('arf) like the Dynastar, Mythic 8000's (skinnier) or Mythic Riders (longer and wider). I'm also very keen on black crow skis (basically Dynastar I reckon, although not sure what the story is there). To an extent I will put up with some pretty hardcore skis to get the best run of the day (usually suffering pretty badly picking my way down the final black run to the bar after an epic day!)

keyser__soze

Speaking as someone with five pairs of skis in the house, unless you're going twice or three times a year I'd say rent! As ddraver says you can change them depending what you're doing/conditions etc. If you are going to buy then try first.

Stevo_666

I'm not interested in renting - I'll be going twice this season for sure and the way my numbers come out it's cheaper for me to buy. I reckon a lot of these advances are marketing. Happy to get a good pair now and they should last me a decade or so like the last ones: maybe it's just me, but I like to have my own skis that I have a good feel for.

Plus I don't want to spend time in the hire shop every holiday queueing behind people who smell of garlic or sauasage to get a pair of skis that have got a lot of mileage on them, when I could be catching the first lift up

Now boots I agree with you on - but I've got a nice comfy pair already...

ddraver

A lot of people in St Anton (where I ve been for the past few years) like Stockli Stormriders for All round skis...... Something around EUR 800 with bindings iirc

keyser__soze

Head Titan if you're more piste-oriented or Dynastar Legend 85 if you want to do more off-piste. An excellent skiing-related forum if you want further opinions is http://www.snowheads.com - very much like BikeRadar but for skiing/snowboarding. Try to test some abroad before you buy - I think there's as much noticeable difference between skis as there is between bikes. A pair of Super-G skis feel as different to a reverse/reverse powder ski as a time-trial bike does to a full-sus downhill bike.

Stevo_666

Those are the sort of tips I'm after thanks

dd - I must get back to St. Anton, apres ski is second to none: I still remember (just) the utter carnage of a week there a few years ago. Would like to get back to the Moosewirt and the Krazy Kanguruh for a quiet pint or six

Keyer - coincidentally I found Snowheads a week or so ago and have been poking around there. Very good, will have register. And fair point about try before you buy, I may put off buying and test out a couple of skis on my first trip this coming season.

ddraver

Indeed. The hire shop was most aggrieved when I lost a Stormrider in the powder (on the first day!) The Moose is definitely one of the best bars I ve ever been in!!

The Picadilly in town is also one of my faves when Gunnar is playing, definitely the best "man with guitar and soundbox" I ve ever seen too!

PXR5

+1 for the snowheads thing..

Just as an aside met one of the guys involved in this site two years ago ski-ing in Val Thorens at the very end of the season (end of April) - we started chatting in a cable car as the pair of us stood out from the crowd....everyone had their nice new short fat skis apart from us, we were the only ones with about ten year old narrow 200cm skis....

However considering the damage i've done to skis in the past, even on piste i'd also go for the hiring option, some shops allow hiring in advance, so no queues, or if early or late season you can often get 30-50% discount on peak season rental prices, if it really dumps it down with snow when you're them swap for some fatty skis just for a day, it's well worth it ..

Stevo_666

It's odd - I'd always associated renting with beginners; everyone I know who's an experienced skier owns their own skis and only rent occasionally say to do powder days. Maybe I'm getting old? My current skis (Salomon 'X-Screams') are 187cm and about 67mm wide at the waist so I guess I'm kinda old skool as well

I've only ever trashed one pair of skis when I ripped an edge clean off on a rocky run, but I usually go for high resorts with good snow cover to minimise the amount of rockhopping needed.

All this talk of skiing - I'm going bl00dy cold turkey!

bartimaeus

Unless you ski several weeks a year you may as well hire decent skis... they will be pretty new (new that year), they should have sharp edges, and they will be properly waxed. You can also swap them as conditions change or when you fancy trying something a bit different, and if you rip the bases on some rocks it's not your problem.

If you feel really adventurous hire demo skis. As long as you have your own boots it does not take long to sort out skis in a hire shop - just avoid the weekend rush-hour.

lostboysaint

Elan Magfire 12 or K2 Apache Outlaw.

Personally I use the Elan as that's what they sent over with the boat but I've found them very, very strong allrounders. The K2 Apache Outlaw are nearly as good but just be careful about length. They are always slightly longer than quoted.

Stevo_666

Thanks lads, time to do a bit of research I went down the local ski emporium yesterday to buy some new poles and had a good look at the skis there. Tempted, but will wait for a while before deciding....

IcarusGreen

Personally I have my own boots and rent the best skis I can when I go skiing. Unless you ski more than 3 weeks every year it just isn't worth spending the money because of the advancement in technology. The other advantage of this is that most rental shops don't mind you changing your skis mid week dependant on how you want to ski (i.e. jump park vs slalom style vs super G / downhill).

Anonymous

Hiring, in my opinion, if you go even just once a year then forget it if you've got a few years or more experience. Starting out then okay it's not going to make much difference, but the quality of the rental stuff is generally utter crap unless you're prepared to pay for essentially the new demo kit for a week or two. The standard stuff is generally shot to hell, never set up right for you, and won't give you a decent experience.

Buying a set plus boots will last you a good 5 years or so and easily pays for themselves vs rental costs per year and are better quality plus you look after them. There are often loads of good deals on skis to be had. Worth demoing some out on the slopes and might be able to get a good deal out there compared to high prices back in the UK.

Even more so with boots! Don't suffer with painful rental boots - ever! Well, maybe the first week of lessons, maybe two, but that's it.

I'd say this is even more the case with snowboards and bindings too. Boards are a very personal preference and the bindings rental shops provide are generally poor quality. Boots again are very much a personal fit and difficult to get what will work well from rentals.

Bonus too is a good size ski bag can carry all your clothes too and get you down to one bag in the hold, possibly avoiding bag charges (now airlines are charging for ski stuff ).

Stevo_666

Kenny, that's my way of thinking - apart from my boots lasting 10 years so far Must look at getting one of those double ski bags.

Anonymous

Got a double bag when out in Canada many years ago with the intention of bringing back a new set of skis, together with my existing ones I'd taken out. Back then they never weighed the bag and ski bag+boot was free as one sports item. Just posted the receipt back before I left so customs couldn't argue whether they were new

Anyway, those skis are 6 years old now I think and the rails are a bit bust up. Need something new. Likewise Piste with a bit of off-piste. I prefer off as much as I can get it, but snow conditions these days make it a rare occurrence.

Current set (Atomic Metron B5) are fat tipped carvers. Nice off-piste, not bad on but extremely heavy and chatters a bit at speed on-piste. Debating whether to take them with me out to the States and try to get new ones there, get new ones here or go without any and get some there. The latter may be the best option.

keyser__soze

PXR5 wrote:

+1 for the snowheads thing..

Just as an aside met one of the guys involved in this site two years ago ski-ing in Val Thorens at the very end of the season (end of April) - we started chatting in a cable car as the pair of us stood out from the crowd....everyone had their nice new short fat skis apart from us, we were the only ones with about ten year old narrow 200cm skis...

Involved in Snowheads or involved in Bikeradar? There's usually 100+ members of the Snowheads forum out in VT at the end of April... wondering who it may have been you were chatting to...

PXR5

Keyser__Soze wrote:

PXR5 wrote:

+1 for the snowheads thing..

Just as an aside met one of the guys involved in this site two years ago ski-ing in Val Thorens at the very end of the season (end of April) - we started chatting in a cable car as the pair of us stood out from the crowd....everyone had their nice new short fat skis apart from us, we were the only ones with about ten year old narrow 200cm skis...

Involved in Snowheads or involved in Bikeradar? There's usually 100+ members of the Snowheads forum out in VT at the end of April... wondering who it may have been you were chatting to...

Didn't get a name for the Snowheads guy, distinguishing features, married with kids (were talking about sons with almost unlimited supplies of energy) middle aged with very long hair- him not me !! , think he had some Black Diamond ??? skis ??? Gave my kids Snowheads stickers which they thought was great....