Help me buy my first skis please

A snowHead

Hi Everyone

Having looked at the price of skis compared to rentals and also having the belief, wrongly or rightly!, that I am now at a level that warrants having my own pair - I am now looking at buying my first pair of skis.

Despite oodles of internet research I am rather lost, I am therefore hoping that you kind folk my share with my some of your knowledge and suggest what might be suitable.

Experience
5 weeks at the major European resorts: 3V, PDS etc (plus some fridge time)

Ability
Intermediate (like everyone!) I am able to ski piste groomed runs (inc blacks), but technique starts to fall apart on choppy stuff and is worse on moguls. I know that when The Fear hits me, my trailing (uphill) arms goes behind me, I sit back and I lean in to the mountain and more on to the uphill ski.

I am ambitious though, that's the reason I know my faults and am on SH Very Happy

, and I want to correct the issues and progress. So I want a ski that will last a number of years for that reason as well as the fact I am tight!

Vital Stats

Age
31

Weight
89kg

Height
175cm

If it helps:
- this season I was on: K2 Konic 80TI. These seemed fine, but with so much time (1yr) between trying one ski and then the next, I just have little knowledge of what feels "good".

Nearest place to test would be Hemel. Unsure what the Test system is there and if it is any good.

Hope you can help!

Thanks
R

A snowHead

The ski you go for, may well depend on how much Off-Piste you intend to ski.

If you are going to stay predominately On Piste, then get a piste ski (68-74mm waist).

If you are going to try and improve your Off Piste, but still want decent performance on marked runs, then an All Mountain ski around 90mm under foot, would be the way to go.

Once you have chosen the category of ski, the next thing to decide on, is the character of the ski ie. Something damp, stable and hard-charging (requiring more technical input); or playful and more forgiving.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks

I ski on piste.
But I wonder if a wider waist would help on the chopped up pistes and not-groomed pistes.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

If Hemel is accessible to you, Admin normally organises a ski test there in the autumn.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

It's not just the extra width that greatly helps, but All Mountain skis are specifically designed to make things easier in the deeper stuff, by having a specialized Rocker at the front, if not at the back.

As there is no such thing as the perfect ski, everything is a compromise....dedicated Piste skis like the Head Magnums, will be noticeably superior for carving on pisted runs, but will require decent technique to take them away from the marked runs.

Something like Scott the ski, will be quite happy On Piste, as well as having enough width to make your first forays into the deeper stuff more manageable.

If you would like a harder charging, more technically challenging ski, with better piste credentials than the Scott, then The Blizzard Brahma should be on your radar.

If possible try for yourself, as it's impossible to pick a ski for someone else.

Another great All Mountain ski to consider, would be the Atomic Vantage 90 CTi.

You'll need to Register first of course.

I'm probably not quite as far progressed as you @rossyl but have just recently bought my first pair of skis after a few times hiring. Ended up going for an all mountain ski as didn't want to limit myself to groomers once my ability progresses. I am also of a view that I'd rather start on a ski that might feel a bit challenging but I grow in to than getting something which flatters my ability now but I grow out of quickly.

I got a deal on a pair of Volkl 90Eights which from my limited experience on them so far feel superb, certainly better than the hire skis I've been on so far.

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

I'd opt for the Rossignol Experience 80 or Rossignol Experience 84. Skis that go with you as your technique improves.

After all it is free

I am of a similar experience to you. Although i bought my first pair of skis a few years ago (K2's) which are a great ski i now fancy something different. Plus technology moves on & so has my ability. i tested a few ski's at MK snozone (Hemel will have a similar set up with Snow & Rock); so its worth testing a few ski's. As someone here has pointed out decide whether its a piste ski or an all-mountain ski you are after. In the end I have decided to rent skis this year. If you choose a decent rental firm you can rent the latest ski's & even change them during your trip that way you get to properly test a couple of pairs of skis. In the end I just found going up & down the small slope at MK did not convince me to part with £550 for ski's. However, if I fall in love with a pair of skis I rent I could be tempted to buy.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

My first skis were 89mm (Whitedot Ones), and were great (lasted 7 years until I snapped them in half last year in the park!).

But it's more the design, I think. Some skis, like the Experience, seem designed to do everything well but not amazingly: and also disguise their width with surprisingly nice piste manners. I found soft flex: great in Moguls, lovely turn initiation, yet good edge grip whilst being very forgiving if you roll on/off too quickly/slowly. I found them a little woolly in short carved turns and to be a little wayward at high speeds - but that won't worry someone learning. And apart from this they were just lovely, forgiving, friendly things.

In my experience, the fatboys (late nineties and above) are a bit more specialist, a bit less friendly. And same for piste skis. An intermediate friend rented a pair of Rossi Hero STs as that's what the massively unhelpful shop in Ishgl gave him, and had a horrible two days. I took him back there and put him on a pair of Head Era 3.0s that got his confidence back and he loved. Up until that point he had been soldiering on stating that "it's not the ski, it's the skier". Not always, when you are an early intermediate, and learning. We experienced skiers have little excuse when on something unfamiliar, but we forget how tough it is when you're learning, and how much your equipment can both help and harm you.

For example, my Whitedot Preachers are touted by many skiers as "the ultimate all-mountain ski": I have seen some (presumably experienced) skiers on here recommend them as a great all-mountain ski. They aren't. Ski something like an experience 80 on piste back to back with the Preacher, and you realise how limited it really is on piste. And unsuitable for an early intermediate. Similarly I have seen people post "I use an FIS race ski as my daily" on this forum. Equally unhelpful.

I guess the width is less important than fitness for purpose. Buy a ski designed for intermediates, learn with it, upgrade when you feel you need to. Avoid macho posturing about skiing a tough/expert ski.

snow reports

@rossyl i was in your boots couple of seasons ago. my wife persuaded me to try skiing and here i am -snowhead!
i bought online atomic vantage alibi, £350 off season with bindings from snowtrax (great service BTW) all mountain- not best to learn (according to my ski instructors) how to carve but don't care i wanted to have fun. I am still having fun and still learning to ski. alibis are forgiving compared to true carving skis +you can play offpiste. Oh i also have scott reverse twin tip a little more flex but also great skis.good luck.

If you're only skiing a week at a time I wouldn't bother buying. By the time you've paid for ski carriage - and carried the **** things - and serviced them you won't save money. And you'll want a new pair in three years, thus negating any saving. And you'll miss out on the opportunity to change skis during the week from the hire shop according to the changes in the snow.

You know it makes sense.

Totally agree with @Harry Flashman on how skis can impact progress. Also - skis are a personal choice so hard to recommend.

However, picking up on your description of yourself as 'ambitious' to get better (as a somewhat ambitious intermediate myself), some small words of wisdom to consider:

1) Do you want skis that are going to make you feel great now and are easy to learn on at your current level, or ones which will challenge you to get better but which are a bit of a handful until you do? I don't think there is a right answer to this, but make sure you avoid getting something that will frustrate you as you learn.

2) Given the above, seriously consider sticking to renting so that you can tweak your choices as you improve. If you are going to mega resorts (as I tend to do too) getting good skis is not hard, and the skis I was lusting after four years ago are totally different to things I like now. Doing this also allows me to flirt with skis that will put me in my place when I ski badly, knowing I can switch during the week if I want a lazy day or conditions change... The Nordica Spitfire Doberman Pro Evo is a very strict teacher in how to do things correctly and is my personal benchmark for 'doing it right' vs. 'phoning it in'.

3) If you are definitely keen to buy, test a range of skis anyway so you get a sense of what the extremes are like and the nebulous phrases in ski reviews start to make sense. If you are ambitious about technique improvement, try to spend an afternoon renting / testing something piste specific followed by an all mountain offering to get a sense of what you'll be giving up with each.

People end up with personal preferences over time, but not all skis are equal at all. Some skis give you masses of confidence, some are total noodles and some are the equivalent of skiing on an iron girder. As an intermediate its often hard to know which is which, but your technique will suffer if you end up on something you can't handle (or really don't like for other reasons), so try a few extremes out so you can see which you think will help you get better.

Help!!

Help me buy my first skis please

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