 Poster: A snowHead
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Ok Going to one of the Abruzzo resorts for the day on Thursday and will need to hire skis and boots due to my own kit being in Switzeland.
My own skis are about 8 years old and I have no real knowledge of todays kit so would like some suggestions of what to try and get hold of. I am hopeing to get a few day trips in this season before our week away and would also like to use this as a testing process to replace my skis. My current skis are early carvers 187cm in lenth which I guess is a bit long by todays standards.
The big worry for me is that I will need hire boots as well and I am haveing horrible flashbacks to lots of pain.
So here are my Vital Stats
Male
Weight =FB=100Kgs
Height 180cm
Age Close to the big 40
Confident on Reds all conditions, Pisted blacks. Will attempt moguls but not with any grace, can just about hold it together on ice and turn into Mr unco-ordinated in powder depths of 5MM or more
Would like a ski that suits my abilities now but will also grow with me. My goals for the next 18 months is to improve my mogul confidence and indoctrinate my self into the Black Art that is off piste. I know these are 2 completely different skills and no ski will be a catch all
As usual thanks in advance guys
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Gilberts Fridge,
Very difficult ...as no one knows what they will likely sell/hire.
So... take a pick from these if you get lucky.
K2 Recon.
Dynastar 8000
Anything Stockli ..
Movement Sparks
Missions..any vintage if good nick
Head Monsters..pref M82, but M77 will be ok
Not sure about Nordicas
RX8 might be ok.
Salomon... some of the X-wave are ok... last years Fury was wide-ish at 88, and went all over... I don't know about this year.
I'd have a look at ALL the ski shops..ask what they do..talk to the tech..tell him what YOU want and don't knock back his suggestion straight away... they likely know more about their stock than we do...so as long as you like the sound of his pitch, and you don't get the impression that you are just another punter to get on skis, then he might surprise you and turn you onto a little jem... This has happened to me quite a few times and I've discovered Stocklis, Movements, Elans and Volkl's this way.... and I went in with a completely different brief...
If the shop has a load of rubbish behind the counter and you can't see anything you like...go elsewhere.
If the conditions are very good, you should be on this years ski...if not, don't expect them to waste them on trashy snow .... If all else fails, and the conditions are piste oriented, get a SL/GS standard...at least they should be in good nick....
Do you know what sort of stockists they have up the mountain and how the choice is...
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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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Gilberts Fridge,
oh, and if you are in Grimentz and want to try a ski...get down to the ski shop across the road from the lift station bus stop and get some Movements...
The guy there has good skis and he will hire you some Sparks which are a cracking 82mm ski, everywhere..even the ice track 4 o'clock run...
They weren't my first choice by any means but he said I would be alright with them.............. they were my ski find of the year last year..!!
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JT, Thanks for the quick reply. Afraid I have no idea on what is available on the hill. This is the first time in the area for me. Your list is along the lines I wanted to arm me as I went in. I may not get it right first time but I now have a starting point, and if I can slip enough cheaky day trips in start to make a comparison of what I like and also suss out a ski school to do a few one on one lessons.
I am hoping that as I am going midweek it will be resonably quiet and I can get a bit of time in the shop with the tech.
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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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JT, Will be in Les Collons for the week in Feb, should have managed 4 weeks there this season but the Kids school hols for Easter are now the last 2 weeks in April and we have just had to cancel our new year week. Still getting a few turns in on Thursday will help to feed the addiction.
Will have a look at those movements
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Gilberts Fridge, I took out a number of skis to demo last week before buying my new skis, and my thoughts are here.
I tried them out in all of the conditions you mentioned, as we were lucky enough to have a few dumps of snow whilst I was out  . I usually ski on-piste, loving to carve really quickly down decent pitches if given the space (the icier the better  , well, withing reason)... I also enjoy, with only moderate success, moguls and have been trying off-piste stuff a bit more this last couple of years.
I bought a pair of 168cm Volkl Tigersharks (10FT, no 'power-switch'). All I can say about them is believe every single bit of hype you hear about them (and as I say, I haven't even got to top-of-the-range power-switch model). They are definitely a piste-orientated ski, but it is noticeable how much my off-piste has improved already, partly I suspect due to fairly large heads and tails. They will grip onto anything (even rock I reckon) and are ultra-stable.
I also tried some Rossignol Z9s which were really good too. However, if you want a bit more off-piste-i-ness, the pair of Salomon X-Wing Furies I tried were quite handy as they were a bit wider - not quite as good on the piste though... Also tried some Salomon X-Wing Tornadoes, but they were right in the firing line of the Volkls and Rossignols, so don't even bother... 
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So just to come back to this thread after a grand day out in Ovindoli yesterday.
The 5/6 Hire shops on the hill were pretty dissapointing and tended to stock one brand each. So I decided that getting a test ski would be pretty impossible and just waste precious time on the hill.
After a bit of arm waving it became apparent that the shop owner had very little English and me even less Italian we reverted to French and I ended up with a pair of Head 800 somethings at 170CM. He couldnt tell me what exactly they were and a google search has come up with Head 800 XRC. Nothing on the ski to appart from an 800 to say they were this though.
It took me a couple of runs to get used to the ski though, the legnth wasnt a problem but it did tend to turn and grip a lot quicker than my own skis. It did a lot more with a lot less efort on the groomed pistes but did tend to flutter in the ice that I found. This could be down to my technique though.
Short Radius turns on the groomed reds were fun with this ski. Unfortunately there were no bumps to have a go in.
Overall I had fun on the ski but It didnt do enough for me to say I would rush out and buy it what ever it was. The search will continue but hey thats not exactly a hardship though.
skisimon, JT, Thanks for your help, as I said I now have a starting point for my search. Ill try and come back again to this thread if when get a chance to test some more.
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