 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello, am new to the forum - have read lots of useful things during doing a bit of lurking and am looking some advice, if you would be so kind.
I am off skiing to PSV next week and am wondering what to do about equipment. I have a pair of boots and skis that a friend sold me pretty cheaply about 4 years ago. I haven't used them a great deal, probably about 8 days in total as haven't done much skiing in recent years due to being encumbered by young children. Children are now a bit bigger and we are off on our first family skiing holiday. We live in France so will be driving to PSV and we all have our own equipment as we have started this year doing days out with the children and have been able to pick up stuff for them cheaply/from family/etc. The idea is to avoid wasting time and money in ski rental shops as we will ski more and more.
I am happy with my boots - they are a good fit, very comfortable and I can wear them all day in comfort. I am also happy enough with the skis - they are in good condition and have been looked after. The only thing is I wonder if they are a bit hard for me. I am 5ft2 and weigh 56kg. I'm a beginner/improver, skied a bit as a child on a dry ski slope and have done the 8 days over the last two years on snow in France. I'm ok on lifts, can come down greens and blues that are in good nick (not too keen on steeper blues if they have got a bit icy). I can do stem turns and am starting to pick up parallel turns on slopes that aren't too hard for me.
We will be going away for a week and I really want to have made that move away from beginner to being able to do reasonably presentable parallel turns (will be having lessons).
My skis are Dynastar 'mega power' 160 in length (they are about the same height as me, probably a couple of cms less). They aren't those fat skis that you see everywhere now - they are a few years old and were described by the man in the ski shop as 'semi-parabolique' when he last set the bindings for me.
So, after that essay (sorry to be so long, want to be clear!) are they fine for what I want to do or are they a bit tricky and I would find things much easier with shorter wider skis that I could rent next week and look to buying some second hand afterwards?
Thank you!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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greenqueen, welcome to Snowheads.  Don't know about fatter (not in the middle, anyway), but you would probably find it easier with shorter skis - chin height would be plenty and a pair of suitable skis shouldn't cost more than about €60 to hire for the week. I don't know those particular skis - they sound a bit on the old side though.
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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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greenqueen, welcome to snowHeads
It is a difficult question to answer in specific terms, even with the detailed outline.
The perceived "wisdom" for recreational piste skis is for the ski length to be somewhere between chin and eye-level. The rigidity or flex of the ski will also have an impact in the amount of effort required to get the ski performing to its and your potential.
My advice would be to ask your instructor when he/she has had the opportunity of seeing how you manage on your current skis. If he/she feels that they may be impeding your progress and that a "softer" and/or shorter ski might be more appropriate, then pop into the hire shop.
With technique improvement and confidence, one should be able to ski most skis (piste certainly) with some degree of control and, importantly, enjoyment. If your skis are hard to manoeuvre and are tiring you out, then that may hold back your development/enjoyment.
I'm not an expert, by any means, but I'm sure someone who perhaps is familiar with your skis and their "characteristics" will be along shortly.
Good luck, in any event 
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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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Thank you for welcomes and replies!
Good idea about asking the instructor. I don't feel like I can't manage the skis or that they are all over the place but wonder if I might be making things harder for myself than they need be. I am definitely at the stage where you need it all to be enjoyable and not too frustrating...
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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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As your driving, not flying there's no real cost in taking your skis AND hiring a pair for a day when you get there.
You can then ski on both back-to-back and see how they make you feel. If you prefer the hire skis you can just extend the hire for the rest of the week, if not just hand them back.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Mjit wrote: |
As your driving, not flying there's no real cost in taking your skis AND hiring a pair for a day when you get there.
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+1 given the overall cost of your trip, a days hire would be a really good investment.
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greenqueen, i think you could go in a ski hire place and speak to someone who could maybe point you in the right direction for want you want and then maybe try a couple of newer skis and see if they are better suited for you than the ones you have say mid week or towards the end of your trip then make a decision on wether you want to up grade to a new pair.hope you have a good trip
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greenqueen, This ^^ . . . I tried to google your skis and found nothing, that and the oblique reference to "semi-parabolique" implies to me that the skis are fairly ancient (10+ yrs). Ski technology/design has moved on a lot in recent years. You may well find that standard rental skis (which will be shorter and probably easier to turn) from a sympathetic shop will improve your skiing far more than clinging to these museum pieces.
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