Advice on new skis for next season.

ok, so really want to get some new skis for next season. I'd describe myself as an intermediate as will get down most reds without difficulty. Avoid moguls, but don't mind the soft stuff.
Thing is they need to be polly pocket size skis as I'm only 5ft and weigh around 52kgs.
Grateful for any advice.

Hi Eljay - hope you don't mind me joining your thread - I am also looking to buy skis for next season. I am going for my fourth ever ski trip on 22nd and will be hiring skis for, probably, the last time, so would like an idea of the sort of skis I should be buying so that I can maybe hire/test next week. I am of a similar standard to Eljay, but 61, 5' 9" and 80 kgs. Aitch

May I interject? I am no expert, but have owned 3 pairs of skis now; the first an intermediate pair of carvers which helped me progress but which I grew out of fast, the second an advanced pair of cross ski much the same as carvers which took me on to another level, and the latest a pair of wider all mountain skis.
Given the chance to buy another pair again now, I would most definitely go for the wider all mountain model, as the difference I felt when using these last week was immense. I was able to fly down pistes with more confidence and speed, crash through crud and soft snow, and float better through the offpiste. The skis I bought are probably longer that I would have chosen, but they were a massive bargain so it was a caseof have them or not at all.
I am 5 foot 7 and they are 178 long. My cross skis are 157, which are a little shorter than normal for my height, so I would probably buy around 168/170 if I was buying again, as I found that slightly longer skis gave me better straightline stability and speed, but that they were also a little harder to swing round off piste and on the moguls.
I have come to the impression that any golden rule about how long your skis need to be changes according to where you go, who you talk to, and whats en vogue at the time. For example, when I started out skiing 7 years ago, I was told tips up to my chin. More recently I was told up to my eyes. Onviously longer and shorter skis do different things: a shorter ski will generally turn quicker, whereas a longer ski may be faster and hold straight lines better. You only need to look at the pro skiers and see the difference in length between the slalom and downhill skis.

Personally, I think you have to go with whatever you feel comfortable with. The first thing is to decide what you want your skis to do, and if you want to do a range of skiing on your holidays, I really think an all mountain ski (and they dont HAVE to be twin tips) is the way to go. My new Scotts are 78mm in the waist, which is hardly fat, but it is 10mm wider than my cross skis, and that extra width underfoot made a huge difference for me.

Reading reports on many skis, I have personally found that according to the consensus of opinion, my perfect ski (for 60% on piste 40% off it) is allegedly the Scott Neo 168.
Reading the Ellis Brigham or Snow & Rock catalogue isnt a bad place to start, and then google the skis that jump out at you and read other reviews. Go with something slightly higher than the level you think you are as it is likely you will only get better and you dont want to be selling them or binning them off too soon!

Good luck.

That post is probably more useful than anything I have ever posted ^^^

A better point of reference would be your weight in comparison to ski length. A ski doesn't 'know' how tall you are but it definitely 'feels' how heavy you are.

Sorry I have nothing to add in terms of beginner-->intermediate skis but you can't go far wrong with any of the major manufacturers TBH, pick a ski that is aimed at you and what you want to be skiing.

A little bit fatter and it will be a better ski all round so I would recommend something in the mid 70mm range, it will cope better with the runs when they get cut up towards the end of the day too and you probably won't notice any real difference on piste.

Fischer make quite soft flexible skis which would be better suited to lighter skiers. This means they are more forgiving and easier to use, but may not give the outright performance that a stiffer ski (Atomic) might.

Best advice I can give is go and talk to a professional at a ski shop and try and demo as many pairs as you can in a snowdome or at a resort. If you find one you like, try and look for last years model on ebay as the only major differences will usually be a graphics and you can save yourself a packet of cash.

Pablo Escobar wrote:

A little bit fatter and it will be a better ski all round so I would recommend something in the mid 70mm range, it will cope better with the runs when they get cut up towards the end of the day too and you probably won't notice any real difference on piste.

Interestingly, I noticed a difference on piste. A more positive one. I felt I was able to get a better easier edge and felt much more confident cutting through anything, especially the stuff at the end of the day when I was getting tired and found it easy to bomb back down to the resort.

Tony_H wrote:

Pablo Escobar wrote:

A little bit fatter and it will be a better ski all round so I would recommend something in the mid 70mm range, it will cope better with the runs when they get cut up towards the end of the day too and you probably won't notice any real difference on piste.

Interestingly, I noticed a difference on piste. A more positive one. I felt I was able to get a better easier edge and felt much more confident cutting through anything, especially the stuff at the end of the day when I was getting tired and found it easy to bomb back down to the resort.

Thanks for that guys. I have read about different skis, but, just get more confused the more I read. I guess, as you all say, it's not until you try them out you know what's best for you. I did hire a set of wider skis for a day on holiday, but didn't find them much better than my old ones and it was so expensive to hire, I only tried the one pair. However, I've never been to a snowdome and never even knew you would be able to try out skis at those. There is one is Glasgow, so will make a trip through there and see what's on offer.
I always struggle on those last few runs of the day when I'm tired and the snow is soft and the runs busier. Thanks again, will let you know how I get on :D

Thanks Tony/Pablo - very comprehensive and useful advice. Next week will be my last hire before buying my first set of skis for next season, so I aim to try out a variety of widths and lengths from the hire shop.
Aitch