Old school guy looking for ski suggestions

Old Duderino, there should be some chat on www.DCSki.com in the next month or so about free or nearly free demo days at some of the local ski areas near DC. Usually Timberline, WV offers one in early Jan, but it's on a weekday. Ski Chalet/Sun&Ski may sponsor one at Wisp, not sure?

neonleonbst said:

Hey Duderino, you might be able to find the Nordica Steadfast (90mm underfoot) or Hell and Backs (98mm so slightly wider more pow hungry, stable but slower edge to edge) on the cheap. These skis rock, they're light and responsive and even though they are all-wood they rail on edge and are quite stable. Great ski but they've just finished their cycle making way for the new NRGY line that will replace them. You should go longer actually because of rocker technology in almost every ski these days. The tips stay off the snow when in powder or not fully engaged in a turn. This helps at the end of the day and in tight situations the ski is more manageable. Because it "shortens up" you size larger than the old parabolic skis but shorter than the older straight skis. Again it's all in your ski style go longer if you're on groomers most of the time shorter if you want to swing through the bumps and trees easier.

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http://starthaus.com/outlet/nordica-blemish-ski-sale.html

I picked up a pair of the Hell and Backs with bindings for under $400 shipped with a 10% discount for doing a review.

Joe

I thought I would come back to this thread I started to share my impressions of my first year on modern ski gear so the next person who comes along next summer looking to get back into skiing after a long hiatus has an idea of how it may turn out. I'll probably get one or two more days in this year ending up between 12-15 days, which is a pretty decent year for me at this stage of my life with two kids still in the house.

I wasn't totally stoked the first time I put on my new ski boots on after a decade of wearing snowboard boots but I soon realized they were far superior to any ski boots I had previously owned. I didn't lose any big toenails to toe bang this year as I've done with the last two pair of boots I've bought and they have softened up considerably since. My skis took a few days to adjust to, I thought they held an edge very well and were quick turning but early on I was getting pitched into the back seat on just about every turn. I thought maybe it was the conditions on those days (the usual mid-atlantic 1" manmade over boilerplate) or maybe it was my lack of understanding of the new technology.

The a-ha moment came to me sometime around my last tuneup day before our early March trip to Aspen. From what I remember about the old skinny skis, you would initiate a turn and start your carve near the tip where the camber bites the snow and hold that edge until about the tip of the front binding before gliding and initiating the next turn. My recollection of the parabolic skis was that the sidecut just made that process easier. With my new skis I had to learn to carve through the full length of the ski past the boot before initiating the next turn. It was something about that realization that made all the difference and kept me on top of my skis in just about every condition.

I don't remember seeing any Sin 7s on my local hills but they were easily the most common ski I saw out west although most of them looked to be 180 or shorter. We were lucky to time our Aspen trip to get 3 powder days (two of them deep) followed by bluebird days. No regrets about any of the gear purchases although if funds were no factor I would have liked to try a pair of Brahmas or Bones first.

Take a lesson as a refresher course. You're never too old to learn new tricks.

Newer skis don't take as much work to enjoy them but they do ski differently than old straight skis.

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