 Poster: A snowHead
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Afternoon All,
Wondering if the forum could help me spec a second ski? I only started a few years ago so I'm still on my first pair, 2010 172cm Salomon Aeromax Ti's bought second hand. I'm probably not experienced enough to tell subtle differences between skis, but to me the Aeromaxes feel good on piste and I'm confident they can go much faster than I can. Certainly on anything from groomed snow to well used end-of the day piste I have no complaints.
Where I'm starting to wonder whether expanding to a quiver of two would be beneficial is conditions outside that range e.g. deeper fresh, churned up snow with football sized chunks, choppy sastrugi, side and backslipping through rock gaps, hitting the odd small jump or drop. I was skiing in stuff like that yesterday and struggled where my skis were cutting in and hitting obstacles instead of floating and flexing. My mate started skiing the same time as me and we are roughly comparable in skill, but he has got himself a pair of fairly fat twin tips, apparently 110 under foot. He was having an easier time of it and attributed it to his skis (he also has a pair of piste/all mountain skis so knows how they perform).
It's got me thinking if I would have more fun on something less piste oriented on some occasions. Hence, I'm wondering what type/length/width ski I should be looking at? Happy to check out specific recommendations, but as I'm more than likely to buy second hand, some criteria would be more useful that make and model. Quick bit of profile for reference: Male, 176cm tall, 70 kg nekkid, skiing for three years in Scotland but looking at Alps next year too, if the conditions are good skiing up to the steep end of red/pick my way down an easy black/low end side-of-piste, aiming to get comfortable on black and get off piste in the next couple of seasons all going well.
Cheers for any advice!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You don't really need 2 pairs of skis for what you describe. These days a pair of good all mountain skis (waist 85 to 95) will give you what you're looking for. I went for Atomic Vantage 90s, but we're all different so demo a few pairs and see what you think.
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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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@telford_mike, +1
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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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Something like this? http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=125031&highlight=&sid=5d20a25ee2706decde88eeb00009fab8
Worth checking out what comes up in the classifieds here, quite a lot of all mountain good skis pop up for very reasonable prices.
My 169 Icelantic Pilgrims are available for £100 if you wanted to try something a bit wider and softer for the kind of conditions you describe, at that price worth a try and if they don't work out ebay will save you losing any money.
I believed for a long time that a 90mm+ waist ski was never going to be any use on piste or in firmer conditions, but have been surprised by a few skis recently with a reasonably tight turn radius. It does make a one ski quiver possible, but they are never going to handle like a seriously narrow proper piste ski when it gets icy or really firm. Personally I think two skis should be able to cover most of what you need, but have ended up with 4-5 pairs of skis in the loft at various points in the past.
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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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K2 Rictor... DONE!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| telford_mike wrote: |
| You don't really need 2 pairs of skis for what you describe. These days a pair of good all mountain skis (waist 85 to 95) will give you what you're looking for. I went for Atomic Vantage 90s, but we're all different so demo a few pairs and see what you think. |
I can see your logic, I think when I say a second ski it's more a function of having one pair already as opposed to needing something for vastly different terrain, deep powder or whatever. If I had my time again I'd probably go for what you mention, my Salomons have a 70mm waist, but they've served me well and as mentioned are great on piste.
I'm torn now between a set of all mountains with a reasonable amount of overlap with my current skis, effectively making them redundant, or going a bit further to the fat and soft end? I'm probably overthinking it and would find 90-odd all mountains perfect!
What are peoples thoughts on length for all mountain skis? Shorter, longer or no change from your piste skis?
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I changed my old Atomic GS skis (74mm waist) at 174 for the Vantages at 176. Most all mountain skis have some rocker (turned-up tips and tails) so it's good to go a tad longer, but not too much.
You'll be surprised how easy the all-mountains are to ski after a traditional carving ski.
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