First time buying skis, help and recommendations needed

A snowHead

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum. Looks like a great source of info so signed and hoping someone can help me. As title says, looking to buy my first pair of skis but could do with some advice and any recommendations. Hoping to buy some of last seasons skis that are in clearance. I've been renting skis too long and ready to take the plunge. I bought my own boots quite a few years ago but for some reason still haven't got any skis.

A bit about me. I'm 25, have skied about 12 times in Europe (normally a week at a time). I mainly ski on piste but occasionally do like to venture off piste, nothing big though. Haven't been to the park since I had an accident and although I keep thinking I'll give some jumps ago again, its not a big part of my skiing. Have quite an aggressive skiing style, mix of small and long turns. Height it 175cm and weight around 72kg.

I've been looking at All Mountain skis thinking they'll give me the right flexibility. Looking to get a pair with bindings included. Trying to narrow down the skis to look at in a bit more detail but so many could do with some help. I've seen a couple of pairs which look like they could do the job.

- Atomic Blackeye TI
- Blizzard Magnum 8.0 CA
- Head Rev 80 Pro
- Scott the Ski
- Rossignol Experience 88

Are any of these any good for me or am I looking at the wrong things? Has anyone got any recommendations for these or any others? Any tips for choosing skis, specs or general advice are all welcome.

Thanks

A snowHead

Can, worms, open . . . It's so difficult to recommend any ski without trying it, add to that is that many 'all mountain' skis are supplied 'flat' for your personal bondage preferences be they alpine, AT or telemark.
I have skied the Movement Jams which were sublime in pretty much all conditions. A close second for me are the Volkl Mantras (bought and broken a leg on), not far behind are the Blizzard SideCountry Hell & Backs . . . bit soft in the tails for my weight but probably very sweet for yours. I've only skied the Blackeye's in their early and much heavier form; loved the grip but the weight was never going to make them anything but a liability when the broon stuff flies from the fan. It's much easier to recover from a mistake if you don't have a lead plank nailed to your feet. And in that vein, you may want to have a look at the WhiteDot Carbonlite range. Lots of orgasmic prose on here from those that have tried and bought them and I'm looking forward to trying them myself.

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I know, never an easy question. Wedding and house buying meant I didn't get chance to go out last season and try any but next season I' m hoping to get a few weekends in December as I'll be in France with work and didn't want to mess about renting each weekend.

Had a look at the skis you recommended. The jams sound pretty awesome. Lot of love for those on the internet and sound like they're the kind of ski I'm looking for so will be adding those to the list. Hell and Backs sound alright too.

Thanks for the tips buddy.

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Any further thoughts on this...?

Is around £300 a reasonable/realistic amount to pay for most of these listed?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Rossi EXP 88

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Had some Hell n Backs this last season, removal of the Titanal made them feel pretty dead, chopped them in Surprisingly for a Pair of Rossi Soul 7's in a super short 178cm, best fun all mountain ski i've ever been on nice kick to, the longer 188 seems so soft by comparison. although we're pushing you up a couple of cm's in width.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Seen some deals for new Rossi EXP 88s around £300 incl. bindings. Seem like pretty good skis for the money. Good deal?
What are the soul 7s like on piste?

After all it is free

awesome, but i'm used to skiing big skis, so that maybe subjective, personally try to get my customers to buy a ski no more than 6mm wider than outside of forefoot of ski boots any less and we're going to lose floatation off piste. If however you only ski on the piste, I have no idea why you ski. A bit like going to the Seaside and staying in the pool.

I ask about piste performance because I do more piste than off piste skiing but that's not to say I don't do any off piste, I do and that's why I want a decent all mountain but probably one that leans a bit more to piste. It's just my personal preference that's all.

Thanks for that advice, I'll measure my boots later and have another look

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CH2O, the Hell&backs are a bit wooly for a heavier or hard charging skier but they're nice and stable, very predictable and can rock along very nicely for an intermediate and don't bury themselves in the soft stuff. I found I could spend a day on them without constantly concentrating on getting everything right. They drive well into carving but as we both know they don't inspire pushing to the limit.

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snow reports

So I'm down to the following:

Atomic Blackeye Ti Skis with XTO 12 Bindings (174cm) £367
HEAD REV 80 PRO + Head PRD 12 Bindings (170cm) £310
Blizzard MAGNUM 8.0 CA SUSP with Power 11 Bindings (172cm) £310
Rossignol Exp 88 Open no bindings (170cm) £250 or with Attacchi AXM Bindings but 178cm £350

Thoughts...

Check out glisshop.com i always find great deals and delivery is fab from france to uk

You know it makes sense.

So had a look on glisshop and none of the skis I've shortlisted are available. Thanks for the recommendation though, will remember it for future

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

If spending most time on piste I suggest staying at the narrower end of the options and vice versa if you anticipate spending more time off piste

A snowHead

Cool, I'd leaning towards the narrower options to be honest. I spend most of my time on piste than off although would like to do a bit more off piste but guessed for my needs a narrower ski would be better. The Rossi 88 looks a cracking ski but would you say the atomic or head are likely to better choices for me?

A snowHead

If you go for the narrower skis in the list, always an option to later buy some secondhand skis for offpiste.

I am sure many on here could recommend models 3yrs old or more to keep an eye out for, maybe after recommendations put a post in the buy/sell section.

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I am guessing that you already have a well fitting pair of ski boots. If not, I would advise purchasing boots from a shop known for having a skilled bootfitter. Though less glamorous than skis, good, well fitting boots will have a much greater impact on your skiing ability and enjoyment than any pair of skis. Boots are the item that a skier most certainly does not want to buy online or from a "big-box" store.

Any ski is only as good as its tune on harder snow conditions. The caveat to hiring skis is that when shops get busy they are often not able to maintain their skis well and can greatly affect how they ski and your evaluation of them. You may find shops that have higher end demos and these tend to receive more attention. Similarly, if you buy your own skis you will need to be willing to maintain them to realize their potential. Depending on the size or number of dings or burrs and their location on a ski's edges (burrs and dings near the tips will usually have a more marked effect), performance can be compromised dramatically or degrade over time. If your skiing is done exclusively in soft snow conditions the tune generally has little effect on performance although waxing can, depending on how "wet" or "dry" the snow is.

As a broad generalization, among the major ski manufacturers, brands can still be said to have "flavors". German, Austrian and Swiss skis on the whole tend to feel damp and smooth while French brands tend more toward a light and lively feel. Fischer is the most notable exception among Austrian brands in that their skis tend to lean more toward the the light and lively end of the "feel" spectrum and Blizzard is somewhat similar to Fischer in this regard.

Whether you hire or purchase, the type of ski should fit the conditions you most expect to actually ski. You can buy a powder ski but it will not perform very well on hard groomers despite what marketing hype may wish you to believe. As a matter of physics, the further the edge is from the center of your foot the slower the skis will be from edge to edge and the further you will have to incline to produce the same angles as a narrower waisted carving ski. The flex of a powder ski is also seldom well suited to carving in hard snow conditions. Skiers can manage these obstacles but it requires a developed skill set to do so proficiently.

The attributes of a good carving ski will make for a lot more work in deep powder conditions. Yes, it can be done, but narrower waisted, stiffer skis are much more inclined to dive than to float in deep snow. I know racers that will ski powder on slalom race skis on race day when not waiting to race. However, they already have good technical skills and using race skis in such conditions still involves a lot more effort than a wider, softer flexing ski.

There are "all-mountain" skis that work reasonably well in a broader range of conditions but cannot be said to truly excel either on ice or in deep powder. Still, they can represent a decently acceptable compromise. If your mixed condition skiing will still mainly be on-piste I would not exceed a mid-80mms s waisted ski without being prepared to give up a fair amount of performance. If you will be skiing most often in soft snow conditions, then 95mms-105mms waisted "all-mountain" skis may be a better choice. Waist width, although only one factor in ski design, is still useful "shorthand" for describing a ski's expected general character.

In a word, I would not buy skis that are "aspirational" based on what you would like to ski. Rather, select skis based on the conditions you expect to ski most often. You can always hire skis better suited to those conditions that represent the exception. If you plan to travel by air to your ski destinations, I would recommend a good travel bag. The wheeled ones are easier to deal with.

Finally, a new pair of skis still needs to be checked for edge bevel consistency and to ensure that the bases are are appropriately flat and not inappropriately convex or concave and properly waxed before use. All the major manufacturers design and produce quality products but there is still variation in production notably among brands using older machinery or allowing less stringent variation tolerances in the production process.

Personally, I buy skis and maintain them myself knowing that they will then consistently perform their best and that skiing error is solely attributable to the "pilot". Good luck with whatever you decide works best in your situation.

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Speaking more directly to the question you posed the specific Atomic, Blizzard, and Head models you mentioned all have good reputations as "all-mountain" skis for more on piste oriented conditions. The Rossignol model will likely give something up on piste but may prove somewhat easier to ski in off piste conditions. It is also a well regarded ski. I am not familiar enough with Scott skis to assess them.

The Atomic and Head skis will likely feel more damp and the Rossignol and Blizzard skis more lively. This is purely a matter of preference. Since, I'm mainly a Fischer skis guy I would probably choose a Motive 80 or Motiv 86 ski but that's just me. As a matter of personal preference, if I were skiing 80%+ on piste and not more than 20% off-piste I would choose a true carving ski for better on-piste performance but I would have to accept expending more energy in skiing off the groomed with them.

There are no "do it all" skis that excel in all conditions, marketing claims aside. However, if you are going choose among your list of "all-mountain" skis posted above you will have made a pretty good choice regardless of which one you may purchase.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks Lostboy for those last two responses, really really helpful. I think your post and Speed098 have helped me to eliminate the Rossi's. They are going to be too wide for what I do the more I think about. So then its either the Atomic, Blizzard or Head ski, all around the 80mm mark, which I think is probably the max width I'd want for my skiing it seems. Tempted for the Blizzards after reading a few more reviews and what you said about them being lively. May even take the plunge any buy this evening...

Thanks for all your help everyone

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First time buying skis, help and recommendations needed

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