I am a selfish giant...

[Vano]

...when it comes to my skis.

I think asking a friend to borrow his skis for the weekend should be one of the biggest social no-nos. Maybe even tought in middle school.

When a friend asks me to borrow one of my 4 pairs of skis I freak out. It makes no sense, but they are my babys and only I can ski on them... me, me, me!!! At the end of the day I still let him borrow them of course but i have this completely unreasonable, selfish jolt go through my body before I give in.

Am I the only one?

 

[BeanoNYC]

Well it's not like they are asking to borrow your Jock-Strap. With that said, you may want to make them aware that they need to buy you a brand new pair if they break em.

 

[SkiDog]

...when it comes to my skis.

I think asking a friend to borrow his skis for the weekend should be one of the biggest social no-nos. Maybe even tought in middle school.

When a friend asks me to borrow one of my 4 pairs of skis I freak out. It makes no sense, but they are my babys and only I can ski on them... me, me, me!!! At the end of the day I still let him borrow them of course but i have this completely unreasonable, selfish jolt go through my body before I give in.

Am I the only one?

NOONE and I mean NOONE but me skis ANY of my skis...I dont care if I have 4 pairs and I can only use one at a time..I dont want you doing something to them...or worse yet..skiing them better than I can...I cant have that for sure

But no really I hear you..I dont let mine get "borrowed"

M

 

[freeheelwilly]

you're whacked! Anybody can borrow any of my skis any time. They're just skis! WTF am I missing? I never understood how people can be so possessive about material things like that. Of course, the Pottery Barn Rule is in effect: You break 'em, you bought 'em. So long as that's understood, have at it. Why should I care? BTW, I feel the same way about all of my stuff, even my car. (and no, it's not a piece of junk. It's a $60G sweet ride!) Hell, I've loaned people my sailboat before. It's just stuff.

 

[SkiDog]

you're whacked! Anybody can borrow any of my skis any time. They're just skis! WTF am I missing? I never understood how people can be so possessive about material things like that. Of course, the Pottery Barn Rule is in effect: You break 'em, you bought 'em. So long as that's understood, have at it. Why should I care? BTW, I feel the same way about all of my stuff, even my car. (and no, it's not a piece of junk. It's a $60G sweet ride!) Hell, I've loaned people my sailboat before. It's just stuff.

Im kinda tounge in cheek on that one..the only pair they CANT borrow is my everyday pair..thats all..


M

 

[riverc0il]

who asks to use other people's ski equipment? really? does this happen to you often? besides the fact that finding a similar sole size might prove hard (assuming your binding doesn't automatically adjust), the other person would likely be skiing on the wrong DIN to boot. just tell them to buy their own skis but seriously, if someone wanted to switch skis for a run and we were similar specs and compatible, i would have no problem for a run or two. but to just borrow skis for a day? who asks to do that?

 

[Bosefius]

I let a friend borrow some of my stuff so he could try skiing for a day without the cost of rentals. Wasn't an exact fit, and the skis were a bit long for him, but it worked good enough for a first timer.

As long as you trust the person to take care of your gear, why wouldn't you help out a friend?

 

[ctenidae]

My thoughts, exactly, riverc0il.

 

[Lostone]

I kinda agree with riverc0il, in that nobody has ever asked me if they could take my skis for a weekend.

I have had friends take a few runs on them. Usually it was when I was saying something about them, and they wanted to try it out for themselves.

That said, I have 4 pair of skis and 3 of them were demos, so it really isn't a problem with me.

If they were tuned, the borrower should return them tuned. If there is Ptex needed, it shoudl be fixed. If they are ruined, they should be replaced.

If the borrower is a friend these things should be obvious.

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

My skis and I have "open" relationships. I am somewhat selective, however. A friend of mine and I often enjoy "ski swapping", although it seems to be frowned on by more up tight types. There's one friend of mine with Size 14 Lange Comps (you know, the black ones). You know what they say about guys with big ski boots, right? I don't want my babies to come back all stretched out or anything.

 

[RIDEr]

Just to give a snowboarding perspective... I have two snowboards and never really have an issue letting a buddy of mine borrow it since I am usually running down the same trail as them and know that they respect my gear as much as I respect theirs.

On the stretching of the bindings and readjusting bindings, that is never an issue with snowboarders... as anyone would know.

 

[Bosefius]

Also had a friend break his binding midway through a great day, I had an extra set of sticks in the car I let him use. After a quick binding adjustment in the parking lot we were off again. Kept him from missing half a day, and kept me from skiing alone or feeling guilty. Win Win.

 

[bill9009]

my best friend and his little bro are comin up here for a ski trip to gore @ the end of dec, one skis one snowboards so I am just gonna let them use my old snowboard & skis & boots. Now i dont think i would let them use my new skis or snowboard, but I have no prob with the old stuff, besides I trust them and it saves them a bunch of money, I guess i am just protective of my new equip since even I havent used the new skis or board yet, although it was tempting halloween weekend at K, but i stuck with the old skis then

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

Of course, the Pottery Barn Rule is in effect:

How come you know so much about the Pottery Barn? :roll:

BTW, I feel the same way about all of my stuff, even my car. (and no, it's not a piece of junk. It's a $60G sweet ride!) Hell, I've loaned people my sailboat before. It's just stuff.

Willy old pal, any chance I could borrow your car, girlfriend and a couple of credit cards for a weekend this season. Thanks in advance.
HPD

 

[BeanoNYC]

Of course, the Pottery Barn Rule is in effect:

How come you know so much about the Pottery Barn? :roll:

Prehaps he learned the hard way. It's not prudent to walk aroung pottery barn in your Tele-Gear.

 

[riverc0il]

a tele skier in a pottery shop? is that kinda like a bull in a china shop?

 

[BeanoNYC]

a tele skier in a pottery shop? is that kinda like a bull in a china shop?

Now a tele skiier in a head shop ..... that makes sense. DMC?

 

[Vano]

I kinda agree with riverc0il, in that nobody has ever asked me if they could take my skis for a weekend.

I have had friends take a few runs on them. Usually it was when I was saying something about them, and they wanted to try it out for themselves.

That said, I have 4 pair of skis and 3 of them were demos, so it really isn't a problem with me.

If they were tuned, the borrower should return them tuned. If there is Ptex needed, it shoudl be fixed. If they are ruined, they should be replaced.

If the borrower is a friend these things should be obvious.

Maybe you and rivercoil should make more friends (as I type this at 6:30 Saturday evening)

I always let my friends borrow the skis. I just have that "damnit! get your own! i love these things!" feelging go through me for a second. As a matter of fact I will be bringing 2 pairs of skis with me on a 4 day trip this winter with a few friends. One of them, wears the same exact boot i have with the same exact size, but is a bum and never updates his skis even though he skis frequently and has the money to spend.

When I do lend the skis, I don't expec them to be returned in the same shape as damage to the skis (as long as its not intentional or blatant) is part of the game.

I had another pair of skis with Demo bindings on them and everyone wanted to try them... they were the village bicycle for a while.

 

[Vano]

you're whacked! Anybody can borrow any of my skis any time. They're just skis! WTF am I missing? I never understood how people can be so possessive about material things like that. Of course, the Pottery Barn Rule is in effect: You break 'em, you bought 'em. So long as that's understood, have at it. Why should I care? BTW, I feel the same way about all of my stuff, even my car. (and no, it's not a piece of junk. It's a $60G sweet ride!) Hell, I've loaned people my sailboat before. It's just stuff.

No my friend, YOU'RE wacked.

You see, there are some differences between me and you: you have a 60G sweet car, I have a 16G sweet car that i was finally able to afford after 10 years of driving cheap, crappy old cars. You have a sailbaot. I was trippin on acid a month ago and for about an hour THOUGHT i had a sailboat.

I race my car that I worked hard for on a regular basis and let my friends as well as people I meet at the race events take the car out for a drive and beat the living sh.t out of it. I have watched a guy put my car into a 360 spin going 50mph and thought it was "cool".

The point with skis is completely different. My skis are much more to me than just an object. Maybe this will explain what im trying to say:

I have a pair of skis that in the lastfew years have served me well in:

Portillo, Chile
Las Lenas, Argentina
Silverton, CO
Vail, CO
Breck, CO
Alta, UT
Snowbird, UT
Solitude, UT

I have at least 15 of my most memorable runs on these babies. Many of them were in a No Fall zone in Chile where one misstep would have killed me (i was participating in a backcountry ski camp). They have a cute sticker than my wife affixed and signed to "keep me safe" that i looked at as I made those turns down the no-fall chute. They have a huge core shot from a rock in Chilean backcountry, a fall that resulted in a 100 foot long tomahawk tumble that stopped just a few feet from a big cliff.

If i were to sell these skis on ebay today, I could probably get 200 dollars for them, mostly because of a nice pair of like new bindings on them. But I love them so much that you would have to pay me thousands of dollars to give them away. The point is, some skis hold so much intangible, emotional value, bring so many happy, sad, intense and unforgettable memories back every time you look at their beat up top skin and their chewed up bases that they are PRICELESS. Every time I strap these puppies on I give them a pat and say "here we go again!". They make me feel like I am in good hands. When my friends ask to borrow them, they borrow a part of me, not just a pair of sticks that glide down the moutain.

In a year or so, these skis will be retired and hanging on the wall safely in my room. They won't be tuned or anything - they will have all the battle wounds proudly showing, including the rust on the steel edges.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

I not quite sure how much of this you were trying to be funny, but this is one of the funniest posts I've ever read

No my friend, YOU'RE wacked.

You have a sailbaot. I was trippin on acid a month ago and for about an hour THOUGHT i had a sailboat.

That was my favorite.

When my friends ask to borrow them, they borrow a part of me, not just a pair of sticks that glide down the mountain

This was good too. Your my kinda guy Vano, keep them coming. I can't wait to read Willy's reply.

Sounds like you're quite the ripper, that's cool too.