 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Everyone,
Me and my brother have been thinking about buying skis since we have got back from our last trip. We are both intermediate skiers happy on most terrain and have done a bit of off piste and powder skiing. Both of us would like to start touring with our Dad and we have started to look at hiring the kit; it seems very expensive so we are also looking at buying it. Just for skis it looks to be about £140 for a week with skins- pretty expensive and it also looks like a nightmare to get hold of. So unless we went to Alagna or Chamonix I think it would be pretty hard to do.
Our Dad has a couple pairs of Diamir Fritschi bindings on some Stockli skis he no longer uses- sadly they are about 10 cm to long for us. It looks like we could pick up a decent ski and skins (without bindings) on ebay for about £250? Do you think this would be more economically worthwhile than hiring? What kind of ski would we be looking at? I assumed a small adult all mountain ski would be good for us. We are both quite light with me about 57kg and 169cm tall and him about 45kg and 158cm- would something about 85mm wide provide ample float for us at this weight? I think they're is probably a width limit for us where if we went over we would not gain much float and would just find it harder to ski on hard pack and pistes? Or could we go wider and still be okay? I am probably looking at a widish alpine ski as I don't think we would need a specialised touring ski yet and we would lose quite a bit of performance on piste days.
We would not need anything too light as I think we would probably only be doing lift assisted day tours and we are reasonably fit.
Neither of us own our own boots, as our feet are still growing- I did look at buying touring boots however getting a decent pair fitted from a bootfitter seems to be about £250 and if we grew out of them in a year then it is pretty hard to offload them on ebay for any decent money- with skis I doubt we would lose too much of the initial investment- maybe £50 after a couple of years? You can use hired downhill boots in touring bindings cant you? This would probably be okay for the first few trips- I think we would probably due one week of mostly off piste and touring and hopefully a few days of piste skiing next year.
Is the best time to buy in the summer? will it be cheaper then?
Thanks in advance for your help- sorry it sounds very rambly! But we are saving up ourselves and want to make the right decisions!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ideas anyone?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'm not an expert but that sounds ok to me. I had Fritschis and didn't get on with them but if you are getting the bindings for free they are worth a try as loads of other people like them. Ski wise I would just get whatever you can get the best deal on and is still reasonably modern, 85mm sounds good as well as a decent compromise. The good thing about buying used skis is if you don't like them or want to upgrade in a few years you should still get some money back on them if you got a good deal to begin with. Alpine boots are going to be heavy but again I have done 1 whole day tour (which was knackering) and a few half day tours in mine so it is doable, you are much younger and therefore should be a lot fitter than me as well so this should be fine.
One thing i would say, i am sure your dad is knowledgeable about off piste safety but you should also start learning this as well, loads of resorts run avalanche info talks or it might eb worth while joining an off piste day with a ski school and quizing the instructor. There are also loads of books available, have a look on Amazon. If you are in Scotland Glenmore Lodge do really good off piste courses and some of the other outdoor centres in the UK may do similar.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Does anyone have any experience of the BBR 8.9s- they get very mixed reveiws with some saying they are brilliant and some shocking. They look like a interesting concept- good float in powder but decent in hardpack. My only worry would be the weight of them for touring as I can't find they're weights anywhere. They are also pretty cheap- but that could be because they haven't taken off because they are rubbish I guess 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Or would we be better off on a more conventional ski like the Rossignol Experience 88s?
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JackSkier, those Kästles would likely work very well. Well built too, so they shouldn't be too messed up - check how much of the base has been ground away on services though.
Get soothing you enjoy skiing on. There's no point getting a too short soft floppy ski, because even though it'll make the up easier, at the end of the day you're lugging skis up a mountain to ski down it. If you don't enjoy the descents you're motivation won't be running too high on the ups.
I don't think it matters too much about skins. If you buy them separately then you'll have to cut them to shape, but that's pretty easy.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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JackSkier, can't help with ski recommendations but Ekosport are very good I have used them recently and also Glisshop.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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DB, absolute bargain for a top-flight touring ski!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Wow those deals are amazing- thanks a lot for that site
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JackSkier, the Kästles are also something like 700 euro new.
A LOT of people really like those Backups too though...
As to length, what would you ski normally? It really depends on your skiing style and ability, and where/what you'll be touring. I'm 178cm and my main touring skis are 192cm. TBH I should probably have got the 186s as mine can be a bit of a bitch to kick turn on steep exposed terrain, but they're soooo fast when you get a nice open slope to ski down...
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FAQ
