Good, used, cheap beginner ski

My son, who I will be teaching to ski first, is ~150cm at the chin. I want to get him used skis instead of renting. He won't need the 150s for long, he will probably outgrow them and/or advance out of them fairly fast so I don't want to spend much. I was looking at used skis on ebay. There are a lot of "ROSSIGNOL CUT 10.4" going really cheap and they have good reviews but they are about 8 years old now. Is that too old? If so how old is to old? Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Brad

By "to old" I mean are they an "older" style that wouldn't be good to learn on (like skis from the 80's) or are they close enough to new skis for a beginner. From what I can find on them they should be a good 1st time skier ski.

Thanks,
Brad

Brad, yes they are an old ski. IIRC the CUT stands for Carving Utility Tool, and many hire shops handed them out. A pair on ebay could be one of them. As you point out, he will outgrow skis quickly as he is growing in both size and skill, so why not rent him some for the 1st few trips, then buy him a pair suitable for an intermediate.
I don't believe that he will thank you for getting some old kit from a past era, and it may slow his progress.
Read some ski magazines, and talk to your local ski dealership and see what they suggest.

Last year I learnt on 8-year-old skis. Same length as me (180cm). It was a struggle. So what, everybody did that 8 years ago!

But it did bug me knowing that there were easier skis around and feeling I could not afford them.

I don't regret learning on old skis now I have got past the early struggles. I assume that my skills will make a leap when I get newer skis, and in the long term progress will be the same. Is that right?

Anyway, I feel good on my old skis now I am used to them, I don't see why carving is such a big deal if you are not a speed junkie. Maybe the higher speeds which the newer skis encourage have contributed to the greatly increased accident rate which was on the news every week in Austria.

Perhaps I am missing something in not caring about being up-to-date?

Probably for a beginner not to get discouraged, it is just as important to have boots which do not chaff or cause blisters.

Innsbrucker, well done for sticking with the old kit. You may find that when you switch to new equipment you will need some formal tuition to make the switch without wasting skiing time.

Only 1 segment of the ski industry is focused on so called "carving skis". It's worth remembering that every ski ever made is a carving ski. If you want to stick with skinny skis, you will soon need to go quite a bit longer. I'm 5'4" (164) and used to ski 190cm as an intermediate. I now ski between 159 and 172 depending on what I fancy using on the day :D

Make the switch to the new kit this winter, life is tough enough, why make it harder )

Spot on with the boots advice :thumbup:

Bandit wrote:

It's worth remembering that every ski ever made is a carving ski.

Well said Bandit. I have been trying to say this to a carve-mad colleague, he who bores us to death with radius and side cut queries. Well carve-mad went on a learn to carve week. I should say that he is a very capable skier. Next season, we are all skiing together, but he always arrives last, where he previously was quick. Our fastest skier pointed out to him, how much additional ground he was covering, by carving.

Having said that, skiing on 215 Kneissl white stars did hold me back for a season!

The issue of being up to date is really that ski radii have modulated a bit, but it is helpful to start with a shorter ski length.

Going back to the original submission, I respectfully submit that you are starting off on the wrong path in two ways.

Firstly, unless you are a qualified instructor, which I recall from your previous posts, is not the case, you will be better to put your son into ski school. I did this with both of my sons, although I had several years experience working for an Austrian ski school. If you try to teach him yourself, you are almost certainly holding him back, and wasting some of yoor own skiing time.

Secondly, You will almost certainly get better quality skis if you hire, than if you buy secondhand. Your hire skis should be only one or two seasons old, will be in better condition, set up properly. If you have any problems, you can take them back. If your on starts on short skis, but progresses quickly, he can take a size longer. Finally, if you add the cost of purchase, together with the cost of air shipment, I doubt that over two years you would be significantly cheaper. Also, by then, your son's skis would be ten years old.

I apologise for being so blunt, it would take to long to say this in a gentle way :-)

Innsbrucker wrote:Last year I learnt on 8-year-old skis. Same length as me (180cm). It was a struggle. So what, everybody did that 8 years ago!

But it did bug me knowing that there were easier skis around and feeling I could not afford them.

I don't regret learning on old skis now I have got past the early struggles. I assume that my skills will make a leap when I get newer skis, and in the long term progress will be the same. Is that right?

You could attempt to learn to mountain bike on your grandmother's 3 speeder, but you you'd be wasting a lot of time, just as you did on straighter skis. You proberbly picked up a bunch of bad habits that will make using modern skis that much harder. Did you have fun ?, I'm sure you did, and you will find the new skis easier to use. However you will only be doing on the new skis, what you did on the old skis. It is wrong to think of the modern all mountain carving ski as just being easier to use. These new skis open up a different and more fluid technique. The more you ingrain the old skiing style, the harder it is to use the new skis to thier full potential. That's why so many older skiers belittle the advantages of modern skis - they are simply not using them the way they should be used.


Trencher

Dave Mac wrote:
Well said Bandit. I have been trying to say this to a carve-mad colleague, he who bores us to death with radius and side cut queries. Well carve-mad went on a learn to carve week. I should say that he is a very capable skier. Next season, we are all skiing together, but he always arrives last, where he previously was quick. Our fastest skier pointed out to him, how much additional ground he was covering, by carving.

Follow in his tracks Dave and see who is really going fast :wink:

Which is better, to be first to the bottom or pull some Gs through some fast turns ?

Trencher