Old Duderino
Member
Hi,
I've lurked for awhile here and now that I'm looking to get back into skiing again I wanted to ask for ski buying advice since I'm a few generations behind the technology curve. My background is as follows:
I skied often growing up and after college spent the three best years of my skiing life in Park City. This was circa mid-80's and the last pair of skis I bought were a pair of 205 cm Fisher RC4s which still reside somewhere in my garage. I was never a multi-ski quiver guy and tended to favor a quick turning GS ski, even in bumps. I left Utah and settled down to raise a family in the DC area and would be lucky to get two weeks per year of skiing in CO or UT on vacations. The family commitments and lack of anything worth skiing in this area kept me from hitting the local hills for years. Around the end of the 90's a guy I worked with introduced me to snowboarding and that got me back to the local hills more often. Eventually, my kids got older and they quickly turned to snowboarding over skiing and between the family CO trips and local riding days we got closer to about three weeks per year. I'm not planning to give up snowboarding entirely but now that we're hitting the mountains more I want to get back on skis, particularly for the trips west.
I've got the boots part figured out but the skis and ski lengths have me somewhat baffled. I know the lengths are a lot shorter but I also understand there is a range that varies depending on the skis you chose. I want a ski that holds an edge well, won't chatter on groomers which I'll probably spend the majority of my time on with my snowboarding kids, but can turn quickly and handle a steep and tight chute or trees. I used to like a stiff ski even in bumps so I would ski bumps with them but it wouldn't need to be a bump ski per-se. It also doesn't have to be a true powder ski but I don't want it to be a pig in the pow either. Although I'd mostly ski out west with them I'd probably split my time evenly between snowboarding and skiing in the east. I'm 51 years old, 6' 1" 175 lbs. and stay in good shape.
I'm going with new boots, Salomon Quest 110's, but looking for used skis somewhere in the $250-$450 range. I may not buy skis at all this year and demo them until I figure out what I really want but I don't like dealing with shops when I get to the mountain and with ski-swaps coming up I wanted to get an idea of what I might snag if it comes along. So if you have an idea of what ski might suit me, please also suggest a length. Thanks in advance.
I've lurked for awhile here and now that I'm looking to get back into skiing again I wanted to ask for ski buying advice since I'm a few generations behind the technology curve. My background is as follows:
I skied often growing up and after college spent the three best years of my skiing life in Park City. This was circa mid-80's and the last pair of skis I bought were a pair of 205 cm Fisher RC4s which still reside somewhere in my garage. I was never a multi-ski quiver guy and tended to favor a quick turning GS ski, even in bumps. I left Utah and settled down to raise a family in the DC area and would be lucky to get two weeks per year of skiing in CO or UT on vacations. The family commitments and lack of anything worth skiing in this area kept me from hitting the local hills for years. Around the end of the 90's a guy I worked with introduced me to snowboarding and that got me back to the local hills more often. Eventually, my kids got older and they quickly turned to snowboarding over skiing and between the family CO trips and local riding days we got closer to about three weeks per year. I'm not planning to give up snowboarding entirely but now that we're hitting the mountains more I want to get back on skis, particularly for the trips west.
I've got the boots part figured out but the skis and ski lengths have me somewhat baffled. I know the lengths are a lot shorter but I also understand there is a range that varies depending on the skis you chose. I want a ski that holds an edge well, won't chatter on groomers which I'll probably spend the majority of my time on with my snowboarding kids, but can turn quickly and handle a steep and tight chute or trees. I used to like a stiff ski even in bumps so I would ski bumps with them but it wouldn't need to be a bump ski per-se. It also doesn't have to be a true powder ski but I don't want it to be a pig in the pow either. Although I'd mostly ski out west with them I'd probably split my time evenly between snowboarding and skiing in the east. I'm 51 years old, 6' 1" 175 lbs. and stay in good shape.
I'm going with new boots, Salomon Quest 110's, but looking for used skis somewhere in the $250-$450 range. I may not buy skis at all this year and demo them until I figure out what I really want but I don't like dealing with shops when I get to the mountain and with ski-swaps coming up I wanted to get an idea of what I might snag if it comes along. So if you have an idea of what ski might suit me, please also suggest a length. Thanks in advance.