New Skis Required - Any advice?

Hi all

I have just come back from the most fabulous ski holiday in Morzine. The whole week was unreal. I can thoroughly recommend it. However, the only downer was the cost of ski hire. I ended up paying roughly £70 for skis and poles. The poles were very old and battered (this wasn't a probelm) and the skis weren't much better (Head Xenon xi 5.0/163cm) which I have since found online for £150.

This has led me to the decision that it is time to invest in a pair of skis for my own.

My profile
Male - 26yrs
height - 180cm
weight - 90kg
ski ability - 6 weeks worth of skiing
Boots - Head Edge 9.8

I feel I am a strong intermediate skier who is developing quite quickly and I am happy on hard reds and easier blacks and "sometimes" venture off piste but prefer to stick to the piste. The skis I used last week actually felt really nice and beacuse of this I have been looking at the Xenon range, specifically Xenon Xi 10.

Can anyone advise me on any other skis to look at? They don't have to be this season or even new as I might try and pick up a bargain on ebay.

Thanks

Will

Depends how you think your skiing will develop over the next 4-5 seasons. Do you think you'll be venturing off piste more than you do now?

If you think you will, then I'd go for a all mountain ski. They used to be a bit of a compromise, but now they can handle just about anything.

Read all the reviews, Fall Line Skiing, I find very fair. Visit a few big shops (ones with all the makes) and ask them the question.

You've got two choices buy in the sales at the end of the season or wait for next years models.

See link to Snow & Rock website, buying guide for some advice.

I was speaking to one of their techies the other day and they have found that people are generally buying rather than renting this season due to the weak Pound/Euro.

http://www.snowandrock.com/buying_guide_skis.htm

HTH!

If you plan to go regularly, ie twice a season or more, then definitely get your own skis. The small cost of ski carriage easily outweighs the cost of ski hire, and in addition you wont have to worry about the quality of what you might end up with. Plus, you get used to what your own skis offer you.

My current skis are a Blizzard Cross ski, designed mainly for on piste, but they handle off piste as well, but arent quite so good in powder. I have just bought a set of all mountain skis, as they are wider in the waist, longer and have less of a sidecut so they will be a bot more grippy too, as well as floating better in the powder. I'd suggest thats the kind of route you want to go down.

If money is not an issue for you, I'd look at the Scott Neo, as all reports I read suggested these were perfect for my usage, which sounds very close to yours too. Otherwise, K2 Apache might be worth a shout.

thanks for all your help.

I will always go for at least one week a year and am trying to go again this year as the snow was so good.

i think I will generally stay on piste as I will be with my g/f and she is not so confident on the slopes.

Have you got any advice on the length as well, as I used 163cm last week but all the ski selector tools say that I should be looking at a 170cm ski.

Thanks again

Will

Hi Will,

Its a tricky subject and the fact is you will proably never have the perfect ski (weapon) as you will get better, do different things, go a different amount of times.

The best thing to do is test a lot of types of skis as much as possible. You can either do this in-resort by asking ski shops for trial skis or go to a snowdome and trial a pair there.

The 3 main aspects of skis are (in my opinion) the width, radius and length of the skis.

The width of the centre of the ski (under the binding) will usually determine how much float you get on the snow. A wide waist (more than 80mm) will allow you to go through powder easilly and a narrow waist (65 - 75mm) will allow easier edge-to-edge transition. If you are going to be on-piste most of the time then I would say dont go above 75mm.


The radius of the ski is how tight the ski will turn under pressure. If you want to do lots of smaller turns then a radius between 12 and 16 metres is good and if you want to do fewer, faster, longer turns, then a larger radius would better. With the info you have provided, I would say a medium radius would be best so you can have the best of both worlds; something around 15 maybe.

The length of the ski is a very talked about topic and I think it comes down to personal preference and experience. In general, longer skis are more stable at high speed (they dont chatter so much) and allow you to float more in soft snow, whereas short skis are more agile, can turn sharper, are easier to control and cut into the piste better. Maybe a 165cm would be a good compromise.

Overall it sounds like you need an 'all mountain' ski but more for the piste than the pow. Go to a ski shop an ask them for their opinions as they are all trained. Something that is maybe 165cm long, between 70mm and 78mm with a radius of between 14 and 16.

I am forever buying new skis and then realising that actually I wanted/needed something else so it is worth trying before you buy.

Tom

Sorry to jump on the thread but with the last piece of info in mind if you where going to hire what level would you recommend?
I was told by my instructor last year to get twin tips as I had been trying off-piste and really enjoyed it but I did more than my fair share of piste runs.

roltster wrote:thanks for all your help.

I will always go for at least one week a year and am trying to go again this year as the snow was so good.

i think I will generally stay on piste as I will be with my g/f and she is not so confident on the slopes.

Have you got any advice on the length as well, as I used 163cm last week but all the ski selector tools say that I should be looking at a 170cm ski.

Thanks again

Will

I'm similar hight to you and using 167 Apache Recons which i love.

Dave