 Poster: A snowHead
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I have a chance at picking up some new '02/'03 Salomon X-Scream skis... wondering whether these skis are a bit too much for someone getting back into skiing after almost 20yrs away... also considering the Rossignol Bandit X ski... will mostly be doing on-piste cruising with an occaisonal venture off-piste... any feedback on these two appreciated... thanks in advance.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well if they are in good knick go for them. They are slightly softer than the Xmax I ski, but will carve the piste and forgive off piste. Don't pay too much. I prefer the Salomon to the Bandits, but you will find those who differ
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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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tapar1,
Cannot do any comparisons and I am not a gear head but I have been skiing on a pair of X-Screams for about 5 years and they work fine for me. Good alround ski I reckon
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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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tapar1, I didn't ski for 15 years until 5 years ago - I'm now on X-Screams and love 'em - hence my handle.
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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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tapar1, Nice gentle ski, but will take you pretty much anywhere, on or off piste. Not too good if you are feeling aggressive - could have more bounce in them for that. Overall, I liked skiing on them.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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tapar1, as the posts above suggest, lots of us find the x-screams a friendly easy-going ski, but then we have been skiing all those years when you were not.
I would prefer to know a little more about yuo before making any comment. How old are you? How fit are you? How good were you before you stopped? This site describes the x-screams as "For advanced and expert skiers who like to freeride in a wide range of terrain". I think that is rather over-stating their ability level. Most of the reviews here liked them.
A lot has happened in skiing in 20 years (I bet a lot has happened to you). I would urge you to take some (private) lessons before trying to bomb round the piste as you used to do.
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| Jonpim wrote: |
| describes the x-screams as "For advanced and expert skiers who like to freeride in a wide range of terrain". I think that is rather over-stating their ability level. |
I'll bet S&R have the punters queuing round the block for skis suited to "I've skied for three weeks, but despite quite fancying myself I accept I'm basically an aspiriing beginner"  If they're not described as being for at least advanced intermediates I can't imagine they'd sell much of anything.
I've some Xscreams as it happens, not a bad ski but a bit too floppy I decided for me.
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X-screams will suit most anybody - just make sure they aren't too long. If you have been away for that long, be prepared for skis to be MUCH shorter. The 210's we all used to use are now 170's....
It may be better (depends how good the deal is), to rent for a week or so, to get used to how the new skis work. The odd lesson, once you've found your feet, with a good (did I say British ?) ski school will help too....
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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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| Quote: |
"For advanced and expert skiers who like to freeride in a wide range of terrain". I think that is rather over-stating their ability level
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I am interested in this quote and ise's response to it. As stated earlier in the thread I am not a gearhead and don't understand the technicalities of ski performance.
When the X-scream was introduced,and it's predecessor the X-Mountain it was marketed as Salomons premier ski for allround use and suitable for Advanced and Expert skiers. Has ski design moved on so much in recent years that this is no longer the case? Or have the marketing departments conspired to persuade us that we need something even more advanced to let us ski radical terrain?
I do not ski radical terrain myself but observe that much of it was superbly skied on old fashioned skis by the experts in their day. Undoubtedly the newer generation of skis has made skiing easier for us less accomplished skiers and I personally am probably slightly better on terrain and snow conditions that 6 years ago I would have found very tough.
I recognise that for any one set of snow conditions there are probably better skis than the X-scream but as an all round ski how much have the more modern skis genuinely improved on performance and how much is marketing hype?
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T Bar, an interesting, and tricky question. I'm not sure it can be answered without a time machine. I produced your quote. I do not regard myself as an expert. I find the x-sceam an easy ski to ski. I have been skiing since 1987, I am 52 yrs old, and reckon I can ski any pisted slope. I love bumps and jumps, and am not over-awed by off-piste, but certainly not very good at it. The ski club rep's person spec demands being able to do 10 linked turns off-piste. I fall over long before that. Would I be far worse on my old Fischer narrow skis? Who knows. I could check, coz they are up there in the loft still, but why bother?
I do know that when my x-screams were stolen and I was given Xmatch 10s instead I suddenly found I couldn't amble along anymore, but I had to work hard at taking charge of my skis. I now understand what the phrase "forgiving ski" means. The x-screams are. The X-match 10s are not.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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T Bar, there's been some great new kit around over the last few years and some improvements in instruction, together with a wider knowledge and appreciation of skiing. There's some people who've come to skiing fairly recently and benefited from these advances and made a quicker progress than maybe people who started 10 or 15 years ago. All this is good of course.
On the other hand there's a slight tendency to overestimate their own ability, the intermediate plateau being an awkward 15 minutes after lunch on the third day apparently. If you google around you can find people looking at the snow and rock scale and deciding after a couple of weeks they're at the top end of that.
Neither snow and rock nor the ski manufacturers are unaware of this and fully appreciate the consequence is they'll allways sell more units at the apparent top end. The genuine top end skis are more esoteric, made by boutiques or the race lines of the major manufacturers. Few people will buy a beginner or even intermediate ski, even the more realistic buyers reason they'll grow out of them and prefer to buy the expert/advanced kit and grow into it.
Much the same applies to boots, clothes and sundry accessories as will no doubt be demonstrated at the upcoming ski shows. I often feel seriously under dressed when I see other English around the slopes. It doesn't really happen here or France or Germany, the Germans like a bit of kit but we don't for example get Ski Shows or the major chains like S&R, in fact second hand sales are more common than anything else.
I'll suggest, toungue in cheek, that buying loads of kit is a substitute activity for a nation that lacks ski slopes
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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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| Quote: |
be doing on-piste cruising with an occaisonal venture off-piste
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Sounds just about perfect for an X-scream.
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You know it makes sense.
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Wanted to thank everyone for the feedback... I ended up getting a pair of new '02/'03 169cm X Scream Series for $299US... looking forward to trying them out this winter... your feedback and many good reviews finally nailed it for me... should be able to keep skiing this ski as I improve over the next few years... thanks again.
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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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tapar1,
I can see you've made up your mind and its a good choice. I used the X-scream for a couple od weeks in Tignes in 2003 and thought it was the business, both on and off-piste. I'll just add then that as you've been away for 20 years you must take lessons nyour return. You'll find that along with ski technology, so ski technique has changed significantly.
ise,
I think there's some truth in what you say. However, in defence of my compatriots  you should try being a ski and mountain addict whilst living on a flat island in the Atlantic. From April till September I can control my addiction but then comes a twitch which leads me to start stroking and pawing my boots and skis. By October I have to get myself to S&N just for a fix. It brings us flatlanders closer to the mountains!
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