All skis are much the same

There are significant differences in performance between skis. Generally piste skis work better if they they are constructed with wood cores, carbon, rubber, side walls, and "full" sheets of Titanal.
The construction must blend with the shape and camber profile. Beyond the extra cost of the materials, this means more design/engineering, and manufacturing cost.

As conditions on the slope become more difficult, the differences in quality become more apparent.

Ian Wickham wrote:Ski's are very big business, I have never really listened to all the hype, it is all about price for me never paid more than a couple of hundred squid for a pair of skis.
Will these hyped skis make you a better skier I doubt it as well as an expensive pair of football boots won't make you a better footballer.
What I always find interesting is the people who spend 400/500 quid on a pair of skis are they brave enough to be open and honest on how the skis have proformed on snow and if they are worth the money. I doubt it . :wink:

Not sure i agree with you here old mate. No a good ski does not make you a better skier, but a good skier will be able to tell a bad ski or one in poor conditions that's for sure.

Also you do need to consider what you want to get out of your skis. You I know will only ski pistes and therefore you can probably find some cheap dynastars for what you want for example :wink: However as has been pointed out, once you've skied something with a much wider waist for example on powder or off piste, I think you'd perhaps want to revisit your statement.

I do think there's a lot of skis in similar brackets though, and if you buy on price alone you will always find some deals on previous years models for example.

Technology has rocketed in the last 10 years, in thanks mainly to snowboarding, and you now have many options and not just the materials used in the manufacturing process. Rocker, camber, etc

I bought my first pair of skis on price, which turned out as often happens when you're wet behind the ears to be a mistake, as they really only served me for a couple of weeks whilst I progressed beyond their ability, but you live and learn.

Since then I've owned 3 pairs of skis. 1 I used to bring me on further and then replaced with all mountain ability, the other I bought for my first fatter ski experience, found them too long for me and sold them for more than I bought them for!

Now I own a pair of ski which would normally retail around the £600 mark, but which I managed to source at half price. They do exactly what I want them to, ie take me on and off piste and float reasonably well in powder, go pretty fast, and I've been really happy with them. Thy ping me out of carving turns with the wood core if I get the turns right, and the only down side is the top sheet and laminate are getting worn and damaged now.

I think they've definitely enabled me to bring my skiing on to a high level now, over the past 4 years I've had them, having skied 10 weeks on them in that time, so in reply to your question about people who spend more money, or buy more expensive skis, I think id have to say yes they've performed well or better than I expected, and that I've developed as a skier as a result of having these better quality skis. Even though I didn't pay full price for them.

Other people may have similar experiences, or possibly even totally the opposite. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about the skis they've invested in, how they've performed, whether they'd replace them or keep them, and if they feel they've developed better as a result of having better quality equipment.

a good ski does not make you a better skier, but a good skier will be able to tell a bad ski or one in poor conditions that's for sure.

Could not agree with you more Tony. The fact is that probably about 90% of British skiers are not good enough to enable to get the best performance out of a piste ski. They would be far better off to buy much cheaper piste skis and spend the rest on lessons. Those people manufacturing and selling skis don't get care about this of course, every year they will tell you that their new skis are the best ever. The two most annoying pieces of marketing to me are when they say a ski is "an easy turner" or "playful", ha ha!
You could give me the best tennis raquet on the market endorsed by Djokovic and I would still be rubbish at tennis - nuff said?

I don't know Tony if age of skis has anything to do with it, mine might be a few years old and second hand but I for one am very happy with them, just because they are old does not mean they do not proform on and off piste.
Same as Jackets and sallos people like a label and again if the skis ain't broke why change them. 8)

Nothing wrong necessarily with older skis, mine date back to 2008 now but technology has changed since and until you try the new rocker and camber skis, I don't think you can dismiss them as being just another marketing trick.

I'm sure some people buy skis because they look nice or are the right colour to go with their outfit etc, but some people in fact a lot of people I'd wager like to look as good as they can when they ski. Labels aren't everything, but to many people looking smart is important. To some, that will possibly include the skis they end up buying, which for me is not the key reason to buy skis.

Interesting discussion and I would suggest that to say all skis are much the same is way off mark. I've owned seven or eight pairs of skis over the many years I've been skiing and each has had a major technological advance and improved performance over its predecessor. To say my current Rossis are no different from my 203cm Dynastar GS skis would not be true. That's not to say they can't be skied on well, but modern skis are so much easier, efficient and enjoyable - I would expect the next generation to be even easier, more efficient and even more enjoyable still!

Tony_H wrote:Nothing wrong necessarily with older skis, mine date back to 2008 now but technology has changed since and until you try the new rocker and camber skis, I don't think you can dismiss them as being just another marketing trick.

I'm sure some people buy skis because they look nice or are the right colour to go with their outfit etc, but some people in fact a lot of people I'd wager like to look as good as they can when they ski. Labels aren't everything, but to many people looking smart is important. To some, that will possibly include the skis they end up buying, which for me is not the key reason to buy skis.

You can look smart without labels :thumbup:

I guess there will always be differences between on off piste ski's if only due to the different widths that reflect what they are intended to be used on.

Will there be evolution of ski's - probably but I doubt that we are in an era where that is likely to be rapid and until the next revolution they are likely to get more similar.