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Early season on hill ski demo day list?

abc

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I never used to ski early season, because I didn't want to spend the money to travel and buy pass to ski WROD. But...

By shear luck, my Epic Pass is now allowing me access to a whole long list of mountains nearby! ("nearby" for me is Hunter, Mt Snow, Okemo).

AND, I'm in the market for a east coast all-mountain skis (if such a term exist ;) ). So the WROD is actually perfect for demo'ing!

My recollection is most of the demo-days are early December. But I'd appreciate if anyone know the dates!
 
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So Inclined

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My recollection is most of the demo-days are early December. But I'd appreciate if anyone know the dates!

Can't recall exactly when Hunter's demo day is, but I'm pretty sure past ones being well into January at the earliest (I'm looking for chances to demo early on too, so that's no good.)
 

cdskier

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Can't recall exactly when Hunter's demo day is, but I'm pretty sure past ones being well into January at the earliest (I'm looking for chances to demo early on too, so that's no good.)

Granted this was a number of years ago, but last time I was at Hunter was for a demo day and it was definitely in December. I remember having to rush home to get ready for a Christmas party my parents were throwing (and my parents always do their big Christmas party a couple weeks before Christmas).
 
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Go to a place that has a demo-ing ski shop on the hill. I have recently done them at Killington and Snowbird. Sorry, both are Ikon, not Epic, but I am sure other mountains have them too. Cost about $50 for a whole day of testing, swapping out, and talking about, as many skis as you can handle. Do it on a weekday and avoid the crowds. Much easier than trying to find a demo day, IMHO.
 

abc

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Go to a place that has a demo-ing ski shop on the hill. I have recently done them at Killington and Snowbird. Sorry, both are Ikon, not Epic, but I am sure other mountains have them too. Cost about $50 for a whole day of testing, swapping out, and talking about, as many skis as you can handle. Do it on a weekday and avoid the crowds. Much easier than trying to find a demo day, IMHO.
But why pay when I don’t need to?

I work. And my vacation days are precious. So a midweek day cost me way more than the lift ticket + the demo fee. If I’m taking any extra no pay leave days off, it better be a fantastic powder day! Not demo’ing skis on the groomer. Early season demo days are much better as there shouldn’t be much lift line anyway.
 
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JimG.

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But why pay when I don’t need to?

Because if you pay the $50 you can demo whenever it suits you and you won't have to wait for scheduled demo days. If you like the skis you demo the shop will usually put the $50 towards the purchase price of the skis. Plus you can demo all day as opposed to getting yelled at by the ski reps that you took more than 2 runs or that you took too much time.
 

machski

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Go to a place that has a demo-ing ski shop on the hill. I have recently done them at Killington and Snowbird. Sorry, both are Ikon, not Epic, but I am sure other mountains have them too. Cost about $50 for a whole day of testing, swapping out, and talking about, as many skis as you can handle. Do it on a weekday and avoid the crowds. Much easier than trying to find a demo day, IMHO.
Have done this too, the drawback here is the shops often don't have as many varieties of skis as you find at Demo days when the brand reps bring many of the years current lineup. Both can be hit and miss, especially Demo days. I know at SR, if you are not first in line, the chances of getting the boards you want to demo in the size you want are slim to none. Then you've wasted the demo fee.

Sent from my SM-T830 using AlpineZone mobile app
 
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But why pay when I don’t need to?

I work. And my vacation days are precious. So a midweek day cost me way more than the lift ticket + the demo fee. If I’m taking any extra no pay leave days off, it better be a fantastic powder day! Not demo’ing skis on the groomer. Early season demo days are much better as there shouldn’t be much lift line anyway.
If you are only “demo’ing skis on the groomer” then you are not really demo’ing the skis at all. I can make almost anything work on a groomer. I want to know how the skis are going to work when the going gets tough.
 

abc

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If you are only “demo’ing skis on the groomer” then you are not really demo’ing the skis at all. I can make almost anything work on a groomer. I want to know how the skis are going to work when the going gets tough.
I already have skis for “when the going gets tough”.

I’m looking for a ski that “does well”, not just “make to work”, on groomers.

Different objective demands different approach.
 
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abc

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Really, I've done all three (demo day, on mountain shop demo, demo from off-mountain shop). Each has its pros and cons. But it all boils down to skis available to demo.

Demo days have the most VARIETY, but not necessarily sizes due to competition. So you only got your hands (feet?) on half of the models you set out to try. And you fill the time by taking runs on a few skis you don't think will work. Mostly it's waste of time, but sometimes that's the beginning of an unexpected love affair. :) (I found my "when the going gets tough" ski that way, "filling my time" by trying out a ski NOT in my demo list)

Demo from shops "on mountain" are the most convenient. But often, they may not carry the brand you want to demo, or the model at the length you need. Plus, even though technically the demo fee is applied to the purchase price, in this day of internet shopping, that $50 credit doesn't come close to matching the online prices!

Off mountain demo is useful if one is after a ski the on mountain shops don't carry. And a shop not own by the mountain is much more likely to negotiate to match online prices. So demo fee credit or not, you have a better chance of driving home with the ski you just demo'ed and fall in love with.

At the moment, I'm casting a rather wide net in my search. That's a situation best served on demo days.

If and when I end up with a couple of specific skis "in focus", I may move to paying to demo them on a mountain with wide variety of terrain, on a day of condition I want to fully push the ski.

Until then, I'll be keeping my eyes open for demo days in the southern mountains I can day trip to.
 
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Dickc

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Narrow your search on a demo day. Find what seems to ski OK on groomers. You can always ski the edges as part of testing. Once narrowed down, try a ski shop demo so you can go into woods, etc. My daughter-in-law was demoing skis at a major area through the ski shop. One pair she wanted to try was new, not mounted, so they mounted them for her. Those were the ones she decided she wanted. It was mid February at the time, and when she asked to buy a pair, those were the last ones in stock in her size. They sold them to her as USED demo's even though she was the only one to ski them AND they gave her the $50 fee off that price. It can pay off.
 

JimG.

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Narrow your search on a demo day. Find what seems to ski OK on groomers. You can always ski the edges as part of testing. Once narrowed down, try a ski shop demo so you can go into woods, etc. My daughter-in-law was demoing skis at a major area through the ski shop. One pair she wanted to try was new, not mounted, so they mounted them for her. Those were the ones she decided she wanted. It was mid February at the time, and when she asked to buy a pair, those were the last ones in stock in her size. They sold them to her as USED demo's even though she was the only one to ski them AND they gave her the $50 fee off that price. It can pay off.

There you go; this year I got my skis from my usual shop and got a better deal than the online prices too. And they're mounted up with bindings and ready to go.
 

KustyTheKlown

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yea and she bought demo bindings, which is why they could be considered used after 1 ride. demo bindings are awful.
 
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