Ten year old skis or rent more modern pair

A snowHead

Haven’t skied in six years. I have a pair of ten year old K2 Apache Recons. They are in great nick. Having only done three and a half weeks on them. Question is are they worth taking or should I rent a more up to date pair in the resort. Cheers for any advice.

A snowHead

@RONSTER, Mr HL has apache recons which hardly get skied as They are in the UK and we ski mostly in Austria where we have other skis. He still loves them. Take them or flog them

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

Apache Recons were/are good skis. If you like them, use them.imo

I still use Atomic SL11 and Beta Ride 11:20, which are older again...in fact, on piste, I like not having an early rise tip. When out there, you could hire for a day to see what you are missing.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

It works out about the same money to rent or take you're own, although if you don't take you're skis you've got the boots to consider which are usually in with the ski carraige.
Mine are 8 years old and pretty battered but I wouldn't consider leaving them behind...yet. If I was thinking of getting some new one's I'd probably get a rental package that allows me to try a few over the length of the trip.

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Good idea! Thanks

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

apart from the cost implication of taking them vs renting, ............ they wont be worn out, they wont be todays colour but who cares, the next pair you try you might not like, rockers of all percentages, extra wide skis, all mountain, piste, gs, sl, turn radius, soft, stiff, torsional rigidity, progressive flex, forgiving, shovel tail tapers, asymmetrical, cambers, stringers, plates, lightweight, adjustable binding setting, frame bindings, whats your weight, whats your height, whats your ability, what do you ski, what do you want to ski, how do you ski, dynamically variable conditions and an inordinate amount of diverse recommendations, blah blah blah blah blah .....
if you liked your skis and they worked for you then, they will work for you now ... take them
if you didnt like them ... dont

After all it is free

Take them with you, get your "ski legs" back, if they don't come back as quickly as you would expect then at least you will know that it's you not the skis. Then if you feel the need to try new then rent for a day or two and decide which feel better.

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Genuine question but should the bindings be looked at before use?

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Personally I'd use them. Maybe do some home release tests on the binding e.g. empty boot in then, other boot on your foot and kick static boot out at toe and heel with heel on boot you are wearing. Obviously shop with a binding torque tester better.

Reason to use the Recons would be benchmark to something you enjoyed skiing before. If you struggle after a 6 year absrnce temptation may otherwise to blame new skis etc so you eliminate variables this way.

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@RONSTER, i’ve skied Recons and IMO with a 6 year gap, you will have a dramatically better (and easier) skiing experience on a modern rockered ski than on the Recons

Unless cost is an issue I'd say take them with you, ski on them for a few days, then hire a pair of skis for a single day.

The intial few days on your K2s will get your ski legs back and get you used to how they ski. You then have a day on current skis to get a feel for how amazingly better they are...or aren't.

If in your opinion the hire skis were much better, hire them for the rest of the week so you get the best out of the week and sell the K2s when you get home.
If you can't really feel any difference or even prefer the K2s, hand the hire skis back at the end of the day and spend the rest of the week back on your K2s.

You know it makes sense.

It's hard to give definitive advice to someone else.

I spent 25 years on on straight skis, so the big improvement for me, was the move to carving skis (especially when I learned to adapt my technique).

When it comes to On Piste, I am every bit as happy on my SL11s, as I was on the Head Magnums that I hired one year. I would also prefer my Beta Ride 11.20s On Piste, to my Scott The Skis. I like a full camber, and the narrower tail makes them a little more versatile; and the narrower waist makes them much quicker edge to edge on Short turns.

Off Piste, or cruddy, tricky conditions, where there has been a lot of snow.....the situation is totally different and the Scotts are dramatically better/easier.

I think modern skis are certainly better and easier....but (On Piste) I think the difference isn't that dramatic, which is why I think it important to compare for yourself....for me, the dramatic difference came with the adaption of technique, which taps into what carving skis are capable of doing.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Sell the K2s on ebay and put the cash towards hiring a modern pair.

A snowHead

Take them with you ski on them for a few days then try a pair of modern rockered skis. Make your own decision.

IMHO for piste skiing making GS turns the early carving skis are actually better than the latest skis I am on 15 year old Atomic Beta Carv 10 22s at 195 cm and just love them. Rock solid at speed and can carve beautifully when I can be bothered to angulate properly.

Now if I can on only find some undrilled Atomic Beta Carv 10 20s at 200cm I would be a happy man. I keep watching fleabay and Cl.

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Ten year old skis or rent more modern pair

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