Another looking for guidance on what ski

A snowHead

Off to France for 5 months this season - in 3 weeks time

and it seems sensible to consider buying my first pair of skis

I know from the benefit of having mainly lurked around snowheads for years that 'try before you buy' is the maxim - the question is what skis should I be thinking about trying? I know precious little about the beasts save that you click in and slide and while I must have used a wide variety over the last few years can't say I remember either what they were or their relative merits - though did quite like the 'pingy' Volkl Attiva thingies I rented in Wengen

The about me bit - I'm 46 (aaaargh that was painful!) 5'6" and weigh the lower end of 12 stone (aaargh even more painful, but hoping that will drop substantially on a diet of fresh air and exercise - where's the flying pig smiley?) and female if the username doesn't make that fairly obvious.

On the snow, I ski like a godess!!......or as I'm looking for sensible advice,

I suppose I'm a safe 'mummy' type (read prone to moments of extreme cautiousness) - happy on blues and reds and have 'scraped' down some of the easier blacks if I didn't know they were until it was too late, at the moment almost exclusively piste based. I want to come back from France competent/confident on all pistes and at least having tried off piste beyond dabbling outside the markers and between pistes but don't harbour any delusions that I'll be hiking off into uncharted territory on a daily basis. I'll undoubtedly be taking some lessons both locally and probably with Easiski to help achieve this.

So, on that basis, oh wise ones, would you be so kind as to throw some ideas into the pot as to the kind of things I might want to try?

Oh yes, and I sport an entirely black ensemble so any colour will do wink

A snowHead

Hi Annie and welcome to Snowheads! Can't offer a huge amount of advice, but I bought some Salomon X-wing Tornados last year and loved them... Amazing for on piste carving and cope with anything I could throw at them... Not the floatiest in powder, but they can cope. They may be a little stiff for your ability though, I'm sure someone else will provide way better advice, I just wanted to say how jealous I (and im sure everyone else) is that you get to go away for the season! ENJOY!!!

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

Annie, Congratulations on having the ability to go for 5 months!

Out of all 'what ski' topics, you must be one of the more difficult to advise ones as you'll be a totally different skier by the end of your 5 month trip.

But considering the level you aim to achieve.... And considering you'll likely want 1 pair Wink

Movement Spicy. A reasonably wide (as long as the zookeeper doesn't see this thread) ski that will do very well on piste indeed.

The tornado's mentioned by jonpim are not bad at all, but I find the Spark (male model of spicy) more responsive then the tornado.

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

Annie, I suspect you want some form of "Piste Performance" range. Get a copy of Skieur magazine from this month - it has extensive reviews. Remember that reviews won't necessarily reflect what you feel on the skis. But they'll give you ideas. Or check out http://www.skieur.com/

If you buy something piste oriented as you'll mostly be on piste. You can always rent fatter things for off piste and powder days.

It's difficult to buy a bad ski these days. Wedze (Decathlon/Quechua) might be an idea - Dynastar "2nds" I believe at preposterously cheap prices. E.g. http://www.wedze.com/EN/srx-800-s-kz10-package-47590999/ - £299 incl bindings.

Also, no shame in using last (or previous) years skis. Rental shops often sell off last years models. Easiski will advise.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks gents - some pointers to start with gratefully received.

David Murdoch Definitely no problem with last year or even older graphics etc (let's face it, any performance enhancements where they exist at all will be way too subtle for me to appreciate!) In my book, cheap is good, with skis for the flying bogee and robthenav who are both far more discerning than I, to come out of the fast dwindling money pot as well. A trip to Decathlon in Sallanches and a trawl round the various bargain basements of the rental guys may well be on the list along with a bit of easiski brain picking which was a given anyway.

Ronald I certainly hope you are right! A transformation from squawking chicken to something more useful on the snow would be very welcome indeed. - Like the look of the spicy.......in a complete U turn to my comment to David above, they're very pretty!!!!

jonboy21 Thanks for the welcome - I'm not exactly new, but it's nice anyway!

You'll need to Register first of course.

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

Elan skis seem to go quite cheaply on Ebay, why don't you buy a cheap pair (~£100) to take with you, then experiment with hiring others when you're there and a bit more confident.
A quick look on ebay shows these http://tinyurl.com/6k94x4 which seem to have been going for around £80!

After all it is free

I am against 'holiday' skiers buying skis, and I have decided to make a short 'generic' post about it. I will paste it in here.
I must point out, I am in the ski rental business.... in a way....
anyway

This season, lets say you ski for 21 days, then you can rent in Whistler for around $500 including taxes etc... so if you did that for 3 years, then you would have spent $1500, which is about the same as buying (high performance skis/bindings/boots/ski poles) yes you can buy cheaper for second hand / last years model but thats half my point.

In 3 years time you have broken even, and in the meantime you have to worry about maintenance / transporting your skis. you are also now skiing 3 year old skis.

By renting, you get to ski current season models every year, you get to change skis depending on snow conditions (free to change in whistler, maybe not other resorts), you don't have to worry about waxing/edging/base repair. You don't have the hassle of getting skis on and off planes or cars....

Thats if you hire 21 days each season, it takes even longer to break even if you ski less (obviously less time if you ski more... duh)

so I suggest people reconsider if its worth actually buying skis....

I do think it is best for people to buy their own boots, good (fitting) boots are important.

and unlike lynseyf there, I am open about my business, and don't stuff ebay cookies on peoples computers trying to get them to buy stuff they don't need.

wbsr,

fair points.and I hired for years to take out this hassle.

But..... that assumes you can find the ski you want or close to it...some shops are good at this others aren't or just don't have the stock. Whistler may be an exception here but you'll be surprised at some large resorts stock in Europe.

If I could find what I wanted all the time, then I would still hire... even at around 100eu per 6 days.. but some resorts have 2 shops and others loads.. some have older stock and bad condition..

If you aren't that picky about what you ski on.. and you knew the resort then you can hire..but if you want what you want, it will likely be a compromise

And don't get me started trying to find a touring ski....

For 5 months, I say to the OP, get your owm....maybe buy locally and maybe not brand new...juts get a good ski for what you want from a shop you have befriended.
A lot of euro resorts have 3 tariffs.....punter, seasonairre and local...so look out for that as well.

Help!!

Another looking for guidance on what ski

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