A bit of advice, please

Can anyone recommend a pair of 185cm recreational skis which have a groove in the base, that are not "carving" skis as I think that the problem of low speed stability is not having a centre base groove. On the pistes, I am constantly on the edges and having been a very competent technical skier preferring mogul fields to powder (and don't get me wrong, I love deep powder) with my feet locked together. And this is almost impossible with the shovel headed skis nowadays.

Bindings as far as I am concerned these days are superb, so I just crank them up and leave them alone.

About me? 5'6" tall in my mid 50's weigh in at 11st 8lb (75 kg / 165lbs) - for 20 years enjoyed thrashing moguls on my 200cm Maxel GS skis with Caber bindings but feel it time to take things a little easier. I loved my Firebirds but tore an edge off hitting a big rock and not a fan of my Head carvers (fine on pistes but useless on the flat).

Sounds like you want an mogul specific ski.

Nearly all other modern skis are shaped to turn, on the basis that why would you want a ski that is good on the flat? Being on a slight edge is always more comfortable and much safer than having flat skis, especially if going fast.

erogenous jones wrote:feel it time to take things a little easier.

Ok, so how about adapting your style - just a little - to suit more modern kit?

Book yourself in with a decent ski school / instructor and give them a chance to bring you on. You'd almost certainly find, with the right instruction, that you only need a couple of hours of directed practice to start having fun (and working less hard) on current skis.

You don't have to go "full shovel" on the tips as there are a bunch of all mountain skis that are shaped, but not to extremes.

Then your problem won't be lack of choice in new kit... 8)

There are a few of us on here of similar "vintage" to yourself, who started out on "straight" skis but wouldn't go back.

Reading what Admin Man said, I have to say "here here" !

Modern skis are much easier to ski than vintage ones! Also, If you are 5'6", 165lbs, 185cm skis, in modern skis are too big for you. You might consider skis that big in full powder profile... but I suspect that's not what you are looking for. I'm about your age, but 5'9" and closer to 200lbs. my carving skis are 165cms, (120-78-106), my powder skis are a 184cm three stage rocker (151 121 151). The take away here is in a modern context , 185 is really big. What you also have to consider is skis are now matched to you by your weight, not your height (as was the case 20 years ago).

Center groves are out, don't even ask. When you take your lesson, you will change your stance to shoulder width apart (from feet close together). But your instructor will cover that.

Hire different types of skis to find what suits you. The options are staggering compared to 20 years ago.

And HAVE FUN!!!

Cheers!