 Poster: A snowHead
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Reading the excellent Fall Line Gear Guide & getting more confused about which skis to buy for the forthcoming season. Probably a typical skier in that I drop the kids at 9.00 am ski school then get 2.5 hours generally bombing round the mountain on mainly reds & easier blacks with wife & friends. After lunch we ski with our kids aged 5 & 6 who are getting pretty proficient & love finding all the jumps & fun bits their instructor showed them during their lesson so end up jumping, skiing switch and generally having fun on easier slopes.
Would describe myself as a reasonable piste skier, hoping to have a few guided excursions off piste this winter for the first time. Bit of a lump at 6'2", 17 stone. Plan to ski around 30 days in Alpe D'Huez this season. Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nick, are you thinking of a list of skis to try, or just a single recommendation?
Without trying any, possibly the Rossi B3. A ski shop in Chamonix said they were well recieved by the punters last year, should be wide enough for a bit of float and be skiable on piste too.
BTW, this is wholley based on heresay as I've never had a pair on my feet.
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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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always a difficult oine without knowing what you have looked at, the ski test results in Fall line were based on results from the industry ski test in Pila, with over 180 testers from various retailers press etc etc, unlike some mags who use only their own results (20 testers) these use a big pool of testers to give an honest opinion. i would look at something like K2 apache recon, Head Monster 77 or a Rossi B3 , there are loads more and i am sure someone will come up with other suggeastions if you can get the chance to try a few then it is definately the way to go
good luck 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Nick Dawes wrote: |
Reading the excellent Fall Line Gear Guide & getting more confused about which skis to buy for the forthcoming season. Probably a typical skier in that I drop the kids at 9.00 am ski school then get 2.5 hours generally bombing round the mountain on mainly reds & easier blacks with wife & friends. After lunch we ski with our kids aged 5 & 6 who are getting pretty proficient & love finding all the jumps & fun bits their instructor showed them during their lesson so end up jumping, skiing switch and generally having fun on easier slopes.
Would describe myself as a reasonable piste skier, hoping to have a few guided excursions off piste this winter for the first time. Bit of a lump at 6'2", 17 stone. Plan to ski around 30 days in Alpe D'Huez this season. Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated! |
Wow
How nice is that. I consider myself a competent intermediate, my wife is a beginner and our first child is only 17 months old and I long for the time we can spend days like that as a family group and with friends on the mountain. 
Sorry it dosnt offer any advice but your post just made me think.
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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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Nick Dawes, Use the tests to build up a short list. Then try a few. Wnen you go on you off piste days, don't be afraid to hire some phatties.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Renry, Trust me it really won't be long! My 6 year old daughter is very very keen and I can see we'll soon be struggling to keep up with her!
Almost bought some B3's at a very good price in ADH during the Summer but in reviews they always seem to be classed more as an off-piste tool which made me (for once) keep my money in my pocket!
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Nick Dawes, demo, demo, demo.... ski tests are personal preferences and differnt skis suit different people. Very few tests are ever done with the tops of the skis covered, and we all have our prejudices. Find a shop with a lot of different skis on the list and good prices, check the owner will let you demo them for free, arrange to try at least 4-5 for a few days in different conditions and then choose based on that rather than fashion, gnarly graphics or others views...
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stoatsbrother, good call.
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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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For the size you are, you may be running out of room with a Recon. I've only seen them at 181 and I am a lot lighter than you and get the feeling you may be too heavy at that lenght. But one to track down and try tho'.
You could get hold on a Stockli XL in 184 as they are stiff enough and will take a foray OP. You will need a beefy ski so look at Volkl's, someting like an AC3, but I've not actually been on one.
The Recon and XL will give very good piste perfrormance and go off-psite although if you spent most of your time there I'd go wider. It's not so much the ski here that will be an issue but you are a big guy so matching up lenght will be the most important, IMV
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Nick Dawes, i'd say if you're looking to move off-piste, go for something off piste oriented. They take a bit of getting used to on piste and you won't be going through gates on them, but since I have bought myself some fat skis, I hardly ever use anything else. Have a look around at ADH early season and see what bargains are on offer - there's usually a few around, although ADH isn't the best place for kit geeks!
Thoroughly recommend the off-piste there. There's lots of stuff between and close to pistes (eg trees near Montfrais, under the chair up from Villard Reculas, between the Balme and Campanules runs) where you can practice pretty safely. Then, once you're reasonably proficient either go for a private lesson from Vaujany ski school (about EUR50 for 2 hours - gets you about 3 runs off the Dome des Rousses which has fantastic terrain and really easily accessed) or a full day with a guide.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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What about a dynastar legend 8000, k2 seth, Rossi Scratch bc, k2 outlaw. Make sure you get something long enough though.
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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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Arno, Cheers, have played between the trees at Montfrais which was fun, have our place in Oz now and the ESF guys there are great too. Did you sort out a place for this winter over there? Any feedback on the B3 on piste? they were knocking them out at one of the Bergers shops cheap in August. Edmundh009, Thanks, will add them to the list!
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Nick Dawes, I tried the B3s out for a few days in the 3Vs last March and was pleasently surprised at the on-piste performance. The conditions were good so can't comment on their ability to grip on boiler plate ice but for anything else I encountered they were pretty good. Off the sides of the piste they made everything very easy even when dealing with bumps.
My own skis are AC3s and have enjoyed the limited time I've been on them. Being a lot narrower under foot (74mm) they are the better ski on the groomed stuff with high levels of grip but on the flip side, I suspect (not yet had a chance to try in the soft stuff) they will not be a patch on the B3s off piste, not only due to width but also stiffness.
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You know it makes sense.
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Nick Dawes, no - decided I had other things to spend my cash on unfortunately! will be visiting the area during the season though
i tried B4s last season and wasn't really very excited by them. try a few out. the other thing to bear in mind if you're out there a lot is that Grenoble has some huge shops with pretty much everything you can think of, so a trip down there in the early evening or on a bad weather day may be worth thinking about
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Arno, Pleased to report the Allemont tiger was alive if not looking particularly happy when we were over in August!.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Nick Dawes, Buy a copy of Snow and Board if you're not an SCGB member there's a ski test section this issue
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nick Dawes, the plan isn't to confuse, but I know what you mean. I ain't saying nuttin in case of getting nailed for being in someone's pocket. But much sense is being spoken here... (The Ski of the Year is announced in the next issue if you want to know what we 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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Nick Dawes, of the skis that have been mentioned here, I ski myself on the 8000s, and skied on AC4s (the AC3s bigger brother) and skied with a guide on Outlaws. I think at your weight you'lll need something fatter than the 8000s for off piste. I'm about 2-2.5 stone lighter than you and I got the 184s (the longest they come in) as the 178s didn't give me enough flotation in soft powder. I'd reckon you'd need something at least 85mm wide underfoot in 184cm+, so the 8800s may be worth looking at (but they have a huge 29m radius and aren't at their best on piste so you may want to look elsewhere). The AC4s were pretty good all-rounders but felt verrrry heavy - probably not an issue though if you're a powerful guy (I think the AC3s would be too narrow for you).
So what you look at really depends on how serious you are at getting off-piste. Do you have your own skis at the moment. If so why do you want to change them? If you have something servicable for the present I'd suggest sticking with them for the moment, and check out how you want to go with the off-piste stuff by renting something for your adventurous days. Then if you take to it (and it would be criminal not to  ), look for something fat enough to make that doable but with enough piste performance for the rest of your skiing. The AC4s may well be a good thing to look at there - and I see the Atomic Snoop Daddy's are getting a good write up too. Have to check those out myself at the PSB. If you really need some skis from the off, try looking for some ex-premium-rental as a stop gap until you work out what you really want them to do.
If you want to keep up with your kids around the park, looking at a freestyle ski may well also be an idea - they generally work pretty well as off-piste skis too (e.g. the old Solly 1080 is a pretty good backcountry ski).
Of course, what you'll really do is (like the rest of us) look at the ski-porn mags, fall in love with something and then spend the next two years working out why they don't ski as well as you do  .
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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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You mentioned you like having mess about skiing switch and stuff, as well as wanting to try some off-piste. In that case it might be worth trying a twin-tip which also works well as an all-mountain. I think the K2 Public Enemy would fit the bill.
I've not tried it, but from reviews it looks like a good one to add to a demo list.
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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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Head iM 88?
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