 Poster: A snowHead
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.... ok, I know i said in another thread that I don't want to buy skis at the moment because of the faff of carrying them around europe, but it got me thinking.
We've got an apartment in Stockholm and we go back three or four times a year and we usually head up to Are or Salen once a year with friends (either drive or by train) and hire gear... so maybe if I bought a pair of skis here in the UK (they are cheaper here both second hand and last season), then i would only need to fly with them once and leave them in our apartment storage area.
Which sounds great - but given that I am only an intermediate and I basically get what I am given when I turn up to hire, I am lost when I look at all the jargon around skis in general, so can someone give me a brief explanation about the different categories of ski and what can be used where please?
I'm just looking for a piste ski at the moment - but most skis seem to be ok on a piste so I just want to check what skis are not very good for piste work - or are they all good on a piste?
As I said, I'm an intermediate and I only did my first proper black run in Zermatt this year, so I'm not looking for flat out speed, just looking for something that will work well on a piste and that I can use to develop my technique and maybe take off piste now and then.
So if its really an off-piste only ski and a bit squeaky on-piste then its probably not what I want, although if it will work well on-piste as well as off-piste that would be great.
So using ellis brighams ski categories can you confirm my understanding:
all mountain - on or off piste - good all-rounder
all mountain carve - as above but with a narrower waist for improved carving on piste?
freeride - off-piste anywhere not really on-piste?
freestyle - for tricks and stuff - but can it also be used on-piste?
backcountry - offpiste (is this also a touring ski or is that something else?)
park skis - more tricks... only in a park rather than off-piste?
God, this is making my head spin - should I just go for an all mountain ski?
But if buying second hand (on ebay) how can i tell whether its an all mountain or a park ski? Aaaarrrrggghh!!!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Waist is where you need to start. Start with the width you need at the waist, and the number of skis available comes right down. For a piste oriented ski, you want 85mm or less (personally for what you describe I would just get a piste ski, and the off day you might want to stray you can rent)
All the other jargon really comes second to what you need - a piste oriented ski, which might have "all mountain" in the marketing bumf. Phrases like freeride, freestyle, backcountry and park don't really cover what you need.
If you go for a massively wide ski, it will be a compromise on piste if it gets hard underfoot, and particularly if it gets icy. You don't need 100mm 2m long powder hunters, you seem to need a reliable piste ski.
For starters, I'd try out some of these, and see where it takes you. http://k2skis.com/skis/all-mountain/rictor-1213
At this point various people will come along and try and convince you that you can use 120mm waist skis on piste and it is easy, these people do not have much in common with you at this point - believe me I've tried it and spent quite some days struggling with inappropriate skis for the conditions. I have also watched quite a few people on trips skiing entirely inappropriate skis for them holding them back and hitting their confidence pretty hard too.
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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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I agree with Monium, go for a ski which isn't crazy wide unless your planning on having more than one pair of skis....then you can have a set for those rarer powder days. Any all mountain ski aimed at your level of skiing would probably do, although a piste orientated ski may be better if you don't bother doing anything other than pisted runs. But before thinking about skis, find a good pair of boots if you don't already have a pair. They make all the difference!!! As for telling what category of ski it is from ebay, a simple google search should suffice... you sure as heck don't want a floppy pair of park skis if you're wanting to tank it on the piste.
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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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Cheers guys, ive had a look around and seen a few to follow up on
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