Most obscure ski/board brands you've owned

deadheadskier · Dec 8, 2015

Skis

Kazama's with the five "bullet holes" through the tips. 4th grade Xmas present. I thought the holes in the tips would make them more aerodynamic and faster. :lol:

High Society "Free Ride" skis. Got these for short money about five years ago. I've read of some people liking them, but for me they were kind of worthless. 92 underfoot with twin tips offered little flotation in the 179. At the same time, they were the slowest edge to edge ski I've ever ridden. Apparently the brand has improved, but those skis were awful IMO.

Snowboard - original Burton Elite 150 with split tail and metal fin on the base. Circa 1986. Only snowboard I've ever owned.

drjeff · Dec 8, 2015

Anyone remember Nishizawa?

Never owned them personally, but I kid I knew at Mount Hood Summer Ski Camp back in the late 80's, whom we nicknamed "Rambo" for some reason I can't recall at the moment, had them!

In my household, as obscure as we get is my wife's circa 1995 Volant Thunderbolts! Furthest left on our basement "waiting to become part of a ski chair" wall!

Hawkshot99 · Dec 8, 2015

Alpina snowblades....

deadheadskier · Dec 8, 2015

I had some Alpina ski boots back in the 80s. My dad and brother as well. They were a preferred brand at Strands in Worcester where we shopped at the time.

Quietman · Dec 8, 2015

I had a pair of Yamaha skis in the 70's. I thought they were great until both skis delaminated on the same day at what was then Doe Mtn in PA. Also skied on a pair of Quechua(Sports Authority house brand) for a while years ago, they sucked.

Cannonball · Dec 9, 2015

Quietman said:
I had a pair of Yamaha skis in the 70's. I thought they were great until both skis delaminated on the same day at what was then Doe Mtn in PA. Also skied on a pair of Quechua(Sports Authority house brand) for a while years ago, they sucked.

My first skis were Yamaha. That was in the 80s, but the skis were from the 70s. Were they an obscure brand then? They seemed to be pretty popular but I'm not sure.

Snowboard: Inca. Small company that was the first to make a dual camber board. This seemed like such a gimmick at the time that nobody bought them. I got mine cheap from a rep in NH who was selling them off because the Ski Schools wouldn't allow instructors to use them on the hill since they weren't "standard". Eventually Burton copied the design, patented it, then sued Inca for continuing to use the design. Put Inca out of business. F*** Burton! Now everyone makes dual camber boards.

jimk · Dec 9, 2015

LOL about all the old Yamaha skiers here. I guess they were pretty mainstream for 10 or 15 years. I skied a pair of Yamaha Hi Flex (blue&white striped, 195cms) from about 1972-78, when I handed them down to a brother.
Photo of moi with skis at Killington around 1976:

I got them when I was still in high school by going with my Mom to a preseason sale at a local ski shop in Virginia. They had a drawing to giveaway several items and Spider Sabich was there and picked out my Mom’s name to win the skis. She gave the prize to me when we went up to get them from Spider. Sadly, the skis outlived Spider. He was the US Ski Teamer and pro skier who was shot and killed by his movie star lover, Claudine Longet in 1976.

da pimp · Dec 9, 2015

Had a pair each of Nishizawa SL and GS skis, they were pretty good boards and on the stiffer side. The early models suffered from delamination on the first or second run, then they got their act together. I could never find anyone to buy them from me used, so they ended up in a bone pile of old straight skis. I skied them somewhere in the late 80's. A friend was the brand rep and got a bunch of us on them, they compared to the top skis at the time.

SIKSKIER · Dec 9, 2015

Anybody had these ?Persenico.I've never seen them anywhere but on my friends and my feet.This pic is a Spaulding Persenico so I assume Persenico made them for Spaulding.Mine were all white with just the words Persenico on the top and 205 on the bottom.Looked like a test run/generic batch.We bought them for $50 brand new.

jaytrem · Dec 9, 2015

I own a pair of Graves, never actually skied them though. My father somehow found a pair back in the early 90s. At the time I was breaking A LOT of skis, so picked those up as a bit of a gag gift. Bit of info on them...

http://retro-skiing.com/2012/02/hexcel-skis-and-graves-skis/

Maybe I'll mount them up one of these days and give them a try.

Rushski · Dec 9, 2015

Started right around 1980... So have seen quite a few and been on a few less obscure or long-gone brands. First skis were yellow Hummers. Caber boots. Kastinger boots.

Almost pulled the trigger on Nishizawa race skis, early 90s...

trackbiker · Dec 9, 2015

SIKSKIER said:
Anybody had these ?Persenico.I've never seen them anywhere but on my friends and my feet.This pic is a Spaulding Persenico so I assume Persenico made them for Spaulding.Mine were all white with just the words Persenico on the top and 205 on the bottom.Looked like a test run/generic batch.We bought them for $50 brand new.

The brand is Spaulding. Model is Persenico. I had a pair of Spaulding Formula Uno's. They were GS skis and the shop should have never sold them to me for the type of skiing I was doing. Way too stiff.

Puck it · Dec 9, 2015

Americana plate bindings and skis in the late 70's

keyser soze · Dec 9, 2015

I had a pair of Fritzmeirs in the 70s and my wife had Tua, which I believe were known for their cross country skis.

flakeydog · Dec 9, 2015

Had a pair of neon orange Spaulding GS skis way back when, also a pair of 208 PREs with Japanese characters on them (must of been from the Japan market and ended up back here).

As far as more unique stuff- I have a pair of yellow Molnar skis as well as an Erbacher FunCat snowboard. You dont see many of those around.

also, the Tua skis may be tele skis. I demoed some of htese in the early/mid 90s, great tele ski.

1Kathleen · Dec 9, 2015

keyser soze said:
I had a pair of Fritzmeirs in the 70s and my wife had Tua, which I believe were known for their cross country skis.

I had Fritzmeire's also, at 15 or so. They were my first new ski's. My parents won them at the annual ski snow at Prospect Hill. My mom didn't need new skis and I was the tallest kid in the family so I got them. At the time they were marketed as the first manufacture to design a ski specifically for women. Have never seen another pair. Supposedly big in Europe. It was late 70's.

SIKSKIER · Dec 10, 2015

trackbiker said:
The brand is Spaulding. Model is Persenico. I had a pair of Spaulding Formula Uno's. They were GS skis and the shop should have never sold them to me for the type of skiing I was doing. Way too stiff.

Persenico was a manufacturer in Italy.
In fact referring to what mentioned above, it is Chiavenna the first place where the skis on home scale were made:in 1906 the first Italian Factory of skis ( Persenico ) was born. http://www.blossomski.com/en/public/history

Newpylong · Dec 10, 2015

Spaulding skis haha classic.

How about Hexcel? Or Pre?

Raichli boots.

deadheadskier · Dec 10, 2015

My roommate in Stowe had some Hexcels. Still does actually, though they're now part of the fencing for his vegetable garden

andrec10 · Dec 10, 2015

deadheadskier said:
My roommate in Stowe had some Hexcels. Still does actually, though they're now part of the fencing for his vegetable garden

I had a pair of Hexcels! Scott boots that flew apart mid turn!

Most obscure ski/board brands you've owned

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