Skis........how good will I need to get before I own my own pair....?

A snowHead

Yes, you knew the question would come sooner or later. Now I may be suffering from a large dose of 'all the gear, no idea', but I've started to have little tremblings of 'one day I shall have my own skis'.

I got the boots - I like the boots.....Lots and lots - they are sitting in my room at present - I haven't consigned them to the wardrobe yet so I can still look at them Embarassed

I've got a snazzy new ski suit (well I think its snazzy - I like bright colours - £69 for both bits TX-Maxx yesterday - Trespass Radium outfit - not a brilliant make, but OK for me I think)

http://www.snowmediazone.com/the_zone/showphoto.php/photo/6759/ppuser/647

I've got a helmet and goggles, also great gloves

Definitely missing something aren't I?

I guess I will continue to think about it and probably need to be better than I am, but I keep thinking 'mmm...if see a nice secondhand pair of those Volkl G3 slalom skis about 154cm (I'm 174cm) I might be tempted.

Would it be false economy? Are they difficult to look after, should I wait until I'm better, then what to get.....Oooo...so many questions - is this how the slippery slope starts. What would folks see me using/trying assuming I took the plunge one day?

A snowHead

I've been skiing a long time and I don't own a pair... so don't be fazed by the assumption that anyone who has their own skis must be good. Plenty of people own more than one pair and that means..er, they have to transport more than one pair, thats all.

But you should be familiar with what you like and so you have to start taking notice of the skis you use. If you rent the more basic models it might be hard to track them down if manufacturers don't adhere to their model names.

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

Unless you ski four or five weeks a year, I don't think that it's worth having your own skis, unless you really want to own your own.

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Megamum, whilst you are keen, you are (from the video I have seen) still at the early stages in skiing. As you are determined (also apparent from the video!) you'll progress quickly, and out perform skis that are suitable for you now. I'd say don't buy yet.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Wait untill you're happy that you can ski consistantly well. Otherwise hire the best thing you can in resort each year. It take a few days to get back into the swing each holiday. I think you really need three weeks a year to take advantage of buying your own skis.

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I've always thought it really simple and like most things these days.

If you want your own skis, go ahead and buy a pair but do so armed with as much knowledge as possible and try before you buy.

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

kiwi1, I prefer your answer, i'm nicking it.

After all it is free

Megamum, in the rapid improvement stage do it only for economy reasons. Even then, take into account the cost of servicing them if you have a shop do it.

I hope Megamum doesn't mind me extending her question slightly. Many places/TOs offer "superior" skis/boots as well as than the "standard". I'm wondering how good one needs to be before one considers renting the "superior" ones.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

VIP and superior should this years skis.... but then the shop might not want to trash this years stock on bad conditions or dare, I say it, a bad skier, who might trash their skis.

Talk to them, if you don't know, don't kid them, but tell them what YOU want or are looking for, etc. And if you don't know the shop but want to use them for the week, don't take back skis after day 1 because you have skied too far down the road. Treat them like your own and maybe they will give you a good pair.
I have never had a problem with this approach.

There is likely to be a cartel type arrangement regarding prices...what the market will bare...so you don't have to get locked in to using the one shop. If they don't have what you want, you can go elsewhere. I always ask if I can look at their rack.... If you want to pick their brains, do it at a quiet time, ie, not at peak change-over times.

You can help yourself by knowing a bit about what you want and what is comparable as most shops offer just a few brands

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I bought my first pair after one week's skiing. I paid £180 in the S&R sale and flogged them on eBay after 6 weeks of skiing for £90.

Servicing costs were negligible as I did it myself and I never paid any ski carriage either so they worked out at £15/week, which is a lot cheaper than hiring and no queueing at the hire shop on arrival.

snow reports

I'm sort of with NickB, though I didn't have my own pair for several years.

The biggest advantage of having my own is no wait at the hire shop. But...

Drawbacks are numerous:

1) You may out grow your "learner" ski in a few weeks. The opposite is buying too much ski thinking you'll progress fast, but actually the too stiff or too long/too short ski slows your progress down.
2) Conditions: if you hire in the resort, you can change them back and forth if the condition changes from icy to slushy within a week. With your own ski, you got one and only one.
3) Having to carry it around. And maybe even getting charged for the carriage.

The economics only works out if you got the right balance of the correct ski in the first place and ski lots in one year. You still have to deal with the hassle of selling it on eBay. If you only ski one or two weeks a year, you won't get much for it when you try to sell your 3 year old model down the line.

I have my own ski and cart it around whereever I go. So far I didn't have to pay extra for the carrige. But, for several years now, in all the trip I went, I still ended up hiring skis more suited for the condition for part of the holiday, be it powder or spring snow.

There's actually a happy conandrum for those of us who continue to learn and progress, we keep out-growing our own skis! Smile

I was perfectly happy with my all-mountain stick for quite some years. But as I venture more into (or that's actually "out" to?) off-piste terrain, I ended up having to hire fattys. And as I develope an infactuation with bumps, I'm trading my stiff cruiser for a softer one as well.

So, to answer your question of when it's time to buy: any time or never! wink

Just know what you're in for and what to expect.

We have our own skis. For me, that was because first of all, I had difficulty finding anything other than beginner skis in a resort in my length. This is changing now, but a couple of years ago you could only get Head Big Easy and one or two others in my length. Also, we have crammed in a lot of skiing, and as well as going to the mountains for 3 to 4 weeks a year, we've also got the Snowdome nearby and I prefer using my own to their rather variable and blunt offerings.

Picking the right time to buy isn't easy. Once I could ski parallel confidently down blues and was trying reds, mainly parallel, then I bought skis (Volkl Attiva 4*). These have lasted me another 5 mountain weeks, plus sessions at the Snowdome, during which I have progressed a lot. Although I am not out-skiing them, it was evident that I needed to move onto something else to take things to the next level. In particular I was keen to try slightly longer skis to get extra stability at higher speeds in my attempt to try and keep up with Mr DS!. I tried them (Volkl Racetiger SL Racing) out by hiring, and then liked them so much I bought them at a very good price on our recent trip to Austria. Again, it is difficult to be sure you are going to get these in my length in resort, and there were none available in 155 (they aren't 155, they measure 153, my height is 158) in Courchevel.

So I would say if you are skiing regularly, even if you are improving, it is still possible to get skis that will do the job well. The Attiva 4* are great little skis and I've found them easy to take from early intermediate through to doing a GS race course and tackling harder stuff. I'm sure other manufacturers make similarly good skis on which to progress.

Even though we have our own skis, we still take the opportunity to rent other skis while in resort, so we can try things out, particularly if we hear they are good, or if the conditions change and we want powder skis for a day. I don't think it is particularly economic to have your own skis, but you know that they have been properly looked-after, waxed and edged, and therefore I prefer to do this.

You know it makes sense.

I've had my own skis for years. Present pair about 6 years old, were all-mountain when I bought them. Just come back from an off-piste course, struggled with them a bit on the first day so hired some - also all-mountain but design has obviously moved on in six years. Was much happier on the rented ones, and they cost me about £10 per day. I've always preferred my own skis due to not having to go to the ski shop on transfer day, but it started me thinking:
- if you only ski two weeks a year and a set of skis/bindings costs about £400, by the time you get your money back ski design will probably have moved on yet again;
- now we are having to shell out to transport skis by air (£30 Easyjet to Geneva and back) this also should be factored in to the cost;
- also have to pay to have them serviced;
- would definitely prefer to brave the hell that is Easyjet checkin at Geneva with one bag rather than two;
- more environmentally friendly not to transport heavy items round the globe?
- if you want different types of skis in resort due to the conditions then presumably you can change rented ones.

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

A snowHead

On a more serious note, I really think that a lot of people would struggle to justify ski ownership.

I would consider myself pretty competent on most terrain, but (and here's the issue) only manage a week a year - maybe with the odd long weekend as well. I think that's a fair reflection for a large % of recreational skiers - Of course you bunch of snowHead

are very different with your weeks on end on the slopes (jealous, moi, maybe a bit...)

Would I like some? - Yeah probably, but as PamG said, the costs can easily outweigh the benefits. Hire current season stuff and not have the worries.

A snowHead

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

abc,

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Megamum, I've taken the plunge this year (& yes it feels goooood). There's an argument to say I'm not ready for ownership but I believe my issues are more mental than lack of ability so if a decent bit of kit gives me that extra boost why not? Go for it I say - just make sure you buy some to match your ski suit (only kidding!!) snowHead

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

petemillis, last week, I had my own ski with me but there were 1/2 metre of fresh snow on the piste. It promptly hire a pair of fatty to take advantage of it. I only used my own ski one day.

Owning is a double edge sword. You never quite have the right ski for the condition because no one ski is good for all conditions. You can make do. But I only paid <£60 for the 5 day hire. If I've never owned ski, I would have travel light and have the right ski for the condition everywhere every time.

When you (and I) can ski near home, buying ski makes a lot more sense. It's a significant hassle to have to go to the hire shop wasting precious snow time on a one day trip. But for many here, they're staying at a resort for a week. One visit to the hire shop isn't nearly as much a hassle as for day trips.

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I've been through stages of hiring and buying over the years and there are pros and cons of both. Financially I think it makes sense to buy if you ski more than 2 weeks per year. They actually end up being pretty cheap if you take advantage of end of season sales etc. My strategy is to buy new at sale price (say 40% discount), use them for a couple of seasons and then sell them on. It can work out ridiculously cheap this way.

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

Yeah, as someone else who's thought about buying, the sale prices at Ellis Brigham/S&R are looking pretty tempting at the moment I have to say...

Owning skis would help me justify a late second trip, too rolling eyes

After all it is free

jonm, they were even more tempting in the end of season sales in Austria, hence our coming back with four pairs of skis instead of just the two we left the UK with Happy

docsquid, excellent Toofy Grin

Help!!

Skis........how good will I need to get before I own my own pair....?

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