 Poster: A snowHead
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A long story but I'll try to keep it brief.......
I've been skiing about 15 weeks, give or take a couple of long weekends......on my 2nd ski holiday I was hit by a boarder and suffered concussion and a back/hip injury that resulted in a femoral nerve lesion. This took me 9 months to recover from and has left me with permanent but not severe nerve damage to my left leg.
Just as I thought I was getting to grips with the sport I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had surgery, chemo, radiotherapy and then reconstruction. It's been a bit of a long haul but now I'm fitter than ever and last season, to ease me back into skiing, I bought some short skis, salomon axess 120's. They've been great, I've got my confidence back and actually am skiing better than ever. I've just bought some new boots, atomic M80's and now, having realised the shortcomings of the 120's, want to try some new skis. I'd like a ski that does everything, copes with all conditions, that is fine for me now but also has room for me to improve. As far as my ability goes I'm happy skiing reds in good conditions but still struggle if the conditions aren't great, I'll never want to do a black. Any ideas?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| skimum wrote: |
| I'd like a ski that does everything, copes with all conditions, that is fine for me now but also has room for me to improve. |
Put Movement Spicys on your shortlist. My wife loves hers and they seem to perform very well in all conditions (she has a similar level of experience as you)
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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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K2 luv and Head one series worth a look aswell
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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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skimum, what they said, and *please* find a good instructor to spend 2-3 days per holiday with.
They will save you so much energy and effort every trip that it will eclipse any ski choice you make now.
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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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| Quote: |
They will save you so much energy and effort every trip that it will eclipse any ski choice you make now.
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hear hear. With a good, effective, laboursaving technique (which most of us can only learn from instructors, not on our own) you'll be able to ski fine on all sorts of skis.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I can't tell you how many lessons I've had. I started out with group lessons with New Gen (very good), then decided the way forward was private lessons and I've had A LOT. My husband and brother (both good skiers) say I need miles now and to try to give the instructors up (I did get addicted), having said that I've got a couple of private lessons booked for next weekend with the gorgeous Adrien (Zigzag ski Morillon) so I'm looking forward to that.
I loved the 120's and they certainly did a lot for my confidence but now I think I really need to get back on longer skis, I've realised that short skis have quite a lot of shortcomings and aren't great in lots of conditions. So, as I said I'm keen on finding something that will go anywhere in all sorts of conditions but it's rather a mine field and I don't want to make a mistake so any suggestions would be gratefully received and researched 
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skimum, not a specific model, more of a criterion: 13-16m published radius, 72-76 mm waist.
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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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Sorry also meant to say:-
uktrailmonster, had a look at Movement Spicy's, they look great but I'm wondering if they're perhaps a ski too much for me??????
papasmurf, I've tried one of the K2 Luvs in the past and not sure that they're for me but I like the look of the Head Great One.
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flowa, just looked at a review and they certainly read very well. I'm 5ft 7 and used to ski on 154's (still short for my height I know) so 152's would be ok - not really looking to go much longer, I'm sure it'll feel like having a pair of clown shoes on to start with  I think dynastar is widely available to hire in France so hopefully I'll be able to find some.
comprex, I'm not very up on this so forgive me but does radius depend on length?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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skimum, it does more often than not,
but I didn't make any length assumptions. What do you weigh, if you'd excuse so crude a question?
The parameters I did select were for different reasons entirely
(an all-mountain feel without being much, much slower to edge than your 120s, easy to control at ski school speeds, smoother engagement than technical or slalom derived skis)
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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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skimum, in fact very many skis would fit that.
Not to be a pest, but what do you mean when you say that you liked the access 120s "for not going too fast"? Not really asking for a speed here, rather, are you still not comfortable at speed? Have you outgrown the 120s' stability envelope? Did you mean that they would carve nicely without asking for a lot of starting speed to do so?
Also, I would have expected them to be pretty good at snowploughing down narrow tracks. I wonder why you didn't find them so. I would have expected them to be terrible at coping with ice.
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You know it makes sense.
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skimum, can't give you any equipment advice but from one cancer survivor to another I'd just like to say hello and well done...
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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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comprex, not a pest at all, I'm grateful for your interest.
I'll give you a for instance.......narrow(ish) track, chopped up conditions, LOADS of people, drop offs (which is my worst fear) so out comes my snowplough but it doesn't cut through the moundy, heavy snow (if you get my drift) and I don't seem to be able to control my speed very well with it i.e I feel out of control.........maybe it was me but I was always very good at snowploughing!
I liked the 120's for not going too fast when I first got back on skis, now I find I'm playing catch-up all the time. I'm far more comfortable with speed than I used to be, and yes at faster speeds the 120's don't feel hugely stable. I feel they've served their purpose i.e got me skiing with confidence again but I've used them for 4 weeks now and I want to start stretching myself again...... to do that I think I need different skis.
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Poster: A snowHead
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queen bodecia, thanks for that
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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skimum, gotcha, the 120s got deflected by the sheer mass of loose snow, flexed away and wouldn't give you much purchase.
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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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| skimum wrote: |
uktrailmonster, had a look at Movement Spicy's, they look great but I'm wondering if they're perhaps a ski too much for me??????
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I doubt they'd be too much for you. They're very light for their size and my wife got used to them within a day. They wouldn't be any harder to keep on top of than say Head Great Ones. The Great Ones were high up on my wife's shortlist too, but she decided they were a bit too stiff and heavy for her liking (she's 55 kg and used to very light skis). The Movements have been something of a revelation for her. She wanted a ski to improve off piste in variable conditions and these have done the job really well, while also working very well on piste. They're not too stiff, but they carve nicely on groomed and can cope well with both short and long radius turns. They seem good in moguls too, which I found surprising.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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comprex, absolutely right, and very well put!
uktrailmonster, I like the fact that they're light and I must admit they read well in the reviews I've looked at. I'm not very interested in off piste but sometimes (in fact quite often) conditions on piste are so variable that having a purely on piste carver doesn't cut it. I'd never heard of Movement skis, do you think they'll have these to try in resort in France? I'm quite keen to try before I buy but french ski hire shops (especially in the less glitzy resorts) tend to carry the same makes e.g salomon, rossignol, dynastar etc.
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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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Movement are a Swiss manufacturer, so I would have thought they are readily available in France. As off piste is not important, you might prefer the Movement Chicka to the Spicy. They're a little narrower at 77 mm.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skimum, last question, I promise! Have you skied the M80 boots yet?
Anyhow, some other ideas:
Dynastar Exlusive Active/Contact 4x4 (unisex), older Contact 11, older Exclusive 11
Salomon Origin series, older Siam Origin, Xwing tornado & Xwing Blast
Atomic Heaven's Gate
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skimum, ah, I suspected as much, which is the primary reason I didn't recommend anything over 76mm waist.
New boots + new fattish skis -> high chance of not so happy skimum, at least for the first few tries.
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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: |
I'm sure it'll feel like having a pair of clown shoes on to start with
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I don't think it will. I used short (120cm) Wedze skis for several days last week because visitors were borrowing both pairs of my normal skis. I quite enjoyed them for that time but getting back onto my normal skis (162 Rossignol Attraxion V) felt quite natural. In the days when I used to swap back and forth between skis and snowblades, that transition was VERY different. You might find some of the Rossi Attraxions worth a look, too.
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comprex, do you think I'll notice a big difference with new boots?
pam w, I did hire some Attraxions a couple of years ago and liked them but don't know if they'd be right for me, I find so much choice quite confusing really. Do you mind me asking what level skier you are?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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skimum, either you'll be very happy or you'll bring them into the fitters' for work.
I'm just saying that wider skis amplify errors in boot fit (if there are any, of course), and require a bit more active leg control, so better know and trust the boot before going shopping in the 78mm-85mm waist aisles.
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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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If you live near xscape you can test skis there via Ellis Brigham. I found this really helpful. I think what matters is that they feel right for you.
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FAQ
