 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All,
I'm off to the 3Vs next week.
I currently have a pair of Scott Punishers but would like to buy some Slalom type Skis.
Are there any SnowHead friendly places/people in the 3Vs that rent top end skis or somewhere that would let me try some skis.
I probably won't buy anything whilst I'm out there but want to at least decide what it is I want.
Current thoughts are:
Salomon Tornados or Fury. or possibly even the 3Vs.
I'm going to keep the Scotts so the new skis need not be all mountain skis. I rather have some really really good piste skis.
Anyway - your thoughts would be appreciated.
Pete
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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wingman, There is fairly SH friendly chap in the Ski Shop in the Mecure Hotel in VT, I put all their details in this posting
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=57605#1382039
He sells new skis as well as hiring them to punters and seems to me to be the sort of chap that might be able to help
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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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Thanks Megamum, I'll take a look!
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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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He's easy to get to from and onto the piste as well - there is ski in/out access from the green accessed by the ROC Poma or Furnitel Peclet cable
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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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| wingman wrote: |
Current thoughts are:
Salomon Tornados or Fury. or possibly even the 3Vs.
I'm going to keep the Scotts so the new skis need not be all mountain skis. I rather have some really really good piste skis.
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Surely the Tornados and Furies are still essentially all-rounders. If you want a "really really good piste ski" got for a proper SL, or GS if you want to go a bit faster. Go for the 3V at least, or maybe the Head SL (I had a great day on them in 170cm last year), or Supershapes if you want something a little less full-on. I also tried some Atomic GS12s a few weeks ago, and while they're not proper full-on GS skis (rather too short radius at 19m) they were superb for well-committed GS turns and did fine for me in a course. Just be aware that, if you're not going to buy, individual day rentals are IME very expensive.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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wingman, slalom skis are around 65mm wide and 11-13m radius. To me "slalom-type" even when interpreted as loosely as possible still means no wider than 70 mm or so and <14m radius. If you want "really really good piste skis" (ie piste performance skis as opposed to skis that are still "good" even on piste) I'd suggest you don't look at skis more than 70-ish mm or so wide. Anything significantly wider is all mountain and will be a compromise to some extent.
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GrahamN, You're right - The first two I mentioned are all rounders. I like the idea of the GS12s. Is a radius of ~19m ok for general piste use? You're right about the price of day rentals - How else can I try properly before I buy? Or should I bite the bullet and just buy something? Thanks
slikedges, Thanks for the info - I think most things I say need to be loosely interpreted - I'm no expert!!
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Has anyone has any experience of the Atomic GS10. (2009)
I've found them at a good price but they only have length of 174. (They are new and would need bindings)
Sounds like a fun piste ski.
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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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wingman, unless you can find a free-ish test centre - I'm afraid I know nothing about the 3Vallees, but there is a Black Diamond one in La Grave, and some kind of Dynastar test centre in Chamonix - you are essentially renting skis on a day-by-day basis, so will be paying normal rental charges. If you think there is a serious prospect of you buying, you should check for a place that has the skis you may buy on rental and sale, and then you will normally get the rental charges knocked off the final purchase price - but do check this before you start testing. Otherwise testing can end up an expensive proposition. I bought skis last week in Verbier, and the purchase candidates were at different shops, each of which were charging CHF50/day. So I had two days from the place I bought the skis from, and one day at the other shop, so only had to pay CHF50 over the purchase price, but if I'd not bought in the end I would have paid CHF150.
Without knowing what type/level of skier you are it's difficult to recommend a specific ski. One type though I shoujld have mentioned is a Skier-X ski, something like the Atomic SX12. (Forgive me if the next para is teaching grandmothers the fine art of egg-sucking) The issue with SL skis is that, as slikedges says, they are of 11-13m radius. This is great for making very tight turns on piste, but does make them very twitchy (and so a bit dangerous) if you fancy some high-speed hooning around. The more recreational "slalom-ish" skis like the Supershapes I mentioned above, have a slightly longer radius, and are wider underfoot to allow a bit more use off-piste - several instructors I know use these as their main teaching ski. GS skis are longer and straighter and "proper" GS are now 27m, but this is too much for recreational use, so most retail skis will be more like 20m. These are great for higher speed skiing and so really need emptyish well-groomed pistes, but need very good technique to get tight turns out of, but will sustain very high edge angles if you can hack it. A high performance ski like this is pretty challenging off-piste though. I skied some Elan GSX skis (r=18.6m) last season and really liked them on piste, although they weren't as high performance as the GS12s, but still awkward off-piste. Skier-Cross are between these two, with more like a 16-17m radius, and is probably a good compromise for a good non-competition skier. (Atomic have changed their range a lot this year, so the specific model I mention above may not be available for sale now). Stockli Lasers are extremely good skis, generally with fantastic edge hold, but I've not seen them widely available in France.
The GS10s are a softer, more general purpose of the GS12s (although I've not skier them myself). Unless you are fairly short 174 may be heading towards the short side.
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GrahamN, That's brilliant! I'm actually 173 in height so fairly short.
I've just been looking at the Elans on the web, quite hard to find.
I give come across some of these ELAN RACE GS 178 CM
and these SKI ELAN RACER GS 170 CM
For £155 but they are used. Not sure how they compare.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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FAQ
I've just checked their web site and they don't list 'em any more 