Old School

[gmcunni]

speaking of old school, came across a pair of these on ebay for $20. i used to ski these back when i was young.

 

[Geoff]

speaking of old school, came across a pair of these on ebay for $20. i used to ski these back when i was young.

I skied the K2 710 off pro form when I was in college. You got the skis, marker bindings, and some K2 aluminum poles for next to nothing on the shop discount. At this point, it's hard to believe I used to ski on 207 SL boards.

 

[Geoff]

Without doubt, the group of skiers in this forum would never buy buy skis near msrp, however that doesn't mean these people do not exist. I would argue that those who do buy near msrp (say even 70% to 80% ) affects the market value for the rest of the ski. The whole industry (like many others) work off of tier pricing.

Ski manufacturers and ski shops wouldn't exist if most people didn't buy their equipment between Thanksgiving and Christmas at close to full price. I've paid close to retail a few times when I did a spring demo of a next year's ski that was a huge improvement over what I could get as a leftover. I remember doing that with the first Salomon cap ski. I tried the test skis that were shipped over here from France for ski shop evaluation. I did the same with the Salomon Xtra Hot. My housing cost dwarfs all my other ski expenses and automobile is a definite #2. Historically, my bar tab has been roughly the same as my automobile expense. It's not going to kill me to pay close to retail once in a blue moon when I really like something.

I always pay dearly for ski boots. I might be on leftover shells at 40% off (that's what I'm on now) but I'm paying for footbeds and custom injected liners.

 

[jack97]

Ski manufacturers and ski shops wouldn't exist if most people didn't buy their equipment between Thanksgiving and Christmas at close to full price. I've paid close to retail a few times when I did a spring demo of a next year's ski that was a huge improvement over what I could get as a leftover. I remember doing that with the first Salomon cap ski. I tried the test skis that were shipped over here from France for ski shop evaluation. I did the same with the Salomon Xtra Hot. My housing cost dwarfs all my other ski expenses and automobile is a definite #2. Historically, my bar tab has been roughly the same as my automobile expense. It's not going to kill me to pay close to retail once in a blue moon when I really like something.

I always pay dearly for ski boots. I might be on leftover shells at 40% off (that's what I'm on now) but I'm paying for footbeds and custom injected liners.

lol.... imo, in terms of improving (or influence to) your overall skiing, getting the right ski is overvalued while getting the right boot is undervalued.

 

[Highway Star]

..........I ski the Dynastar twister, 98-66-85.......

That's more sidecut than most of my skis......lol.

 

[drjeff]

I skied the K2 710 off pro form when I was in college. You got the skis, marker bindings, and some K2 aluminum poles for next to nothing on the shop discount. At this point, it's hard to believe I used to ski on 207 SL boards.

+1 :lol: I still get a kick whenever I head into the "secret corner" of my basement where my old gear lives and see the evolution of my gear over the past 20 years or so that I still have(or atleast the gear I still have that hasn't been cut up to make a ski chair )

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

+1 :lol: I still get a kick whenever I head into the "secret corner" of my basement where my old gear lives and see the evolution of my gear over the past 20 years or so that I still have(or atleast the gear I still have that hasn't been cut up to make a ski chair )

It was especially cool yesterday at Blue on my 110mm underfoot Nordica Blowers with a 140mm shovel..next to some straight skis..I even see Hexcals with safety straps from time to time at Blue mountain..with this winters favorable weather..everybody has been coming out of the woodwork..

 

[jarrodski]

x2. Great post.

to add...

Twin tip skiing and Snowboarding have created an intrest in the winter sports world for younger kids and Teens... This means growth. Any participation is good and these kids will eventually find other trails around hills that intrest them. What you'll notice is how a "park rat" skis a "normal" trail is anything but... they're bonking, buttering, flying over and utlizing as much of the trail as they're able to... instead of focusing on turn radius and hand postion (things that used to define good skiing style) key words... used to.

if you want to get into it... they're better skiers than most... even at younger ages...Due to the fact that what is fun to them is very demanding on the equipment and skier. sliding a rail requires one to be in the perfect athletic position (balance) then perform a manuver to off load (edge control) and then set up for the next feature ( mental prowness - hazy at times sure... but there non-theless)

I find it difficult to agree with people don't see the talent involved.... and as far as making perfect turns down a trial with no features and ice... who wants to do that anyways?

 

[mondeo]

to add...

Twin tip skiing and Snowboarding have created an intrest in the winter sports world for younger kids and Teens... This means growth. Any participation is good and these kids will eventually find other trails around hills that intrest them. What you'll notice is how a "park rat" skis a "normal" trail is anything but... they're bonking, buttering, flying over and utlizing as much of the trail as they're able to... instead of focusing on turn radius and hand postion (things that used to define good skiing style) key words... used to.

if you want to get into it... they're better skiers than most... even at younger ages...Due to the fact that what is fun to them is very demanding on the equipment and skier. sliding a rail requires one to be in the perfect athletic position (balance) then perform a manuver to off load (edge control) and then set up for the next feature ( mental prowness - hazy at times sure... but there non-theless)

I find it difficult to agree with people don't see the talent involved.... and as far as making perfect turns down a trial with no features and ice... who wants to do that anyways?

I see the difficulty and agree that there is some talent there, and some of them actually can ski. But in a lot of cases, the talent is purely reserved for the rails and jumps. 90% of the park rats coming down Stinger are completely back seat, and their only form of speed control is sideslipping. It's ridiculous how quickly that trail gets scraped off after a storm.

Part of being a good skier, to me, is being able to ski everything. I think a lot of us are deficient in the park, but a lot of the park rats I see at Sundown are deficient at everything else. If they even did a run an hour down another trail their skiing would be improved immensely.

But, to your point, every time I see them scraping immense amounts of snow off Stinger, I just remind myself that they bring in money that pays for snowmaking and groomers that get used to seed bumps.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Part of being a good skier, to me, is being able to ski everything. .

i agree..being about to grind rails and get mad steezy in bonk yards does not make a good skier...a good jibber..yes..

 

[hardline]

to add...

Twin tip skiing and Snowboarding have created an intrest in the winter sports world for younger kids and Teens... This means growth. Any participation is good and these kids will eventually find other trails around hills that intrest them. What you'll notice is how a "park rat" skis a "normal" trail is anything but... they're bonking, buttering, flying over and utlizing as much of the trail as they're able to... instead of focusing on turn radius and hand postion (things that used to define good skiing style) key words... used to.

if you want to get into it... they're better skiers than most... even at younger ages...Due to the fact that what is fun to them is very demanding on the equipment and skier. sliding a rail requires one to be in the perfect athletic position (balance) then perform a manuver to off load (edge control) and then set up for the next feature ( mental prowness - hazy at times sure... but there non-theless)

I find it difficult to agree with people don't see the talent involved.... and as far as making perfect turns down a trial with no features and ice... who wants to do that anyways?

i absolutly disagree. the kids now can hardly ride outside of a park. the boards are way to soft to hold an edge at speed. also the way 90% parks are built they are not designed to be taken at speed. the kickers and landings are way to close toghter. every rail and box has a cheater jump. there may be one or two hits in a park that can be hit with speed but it is not the norm. i am tired of landing in the flat because the park crews have no idea how to ride at speed. it is self perpetuating. the bottom line is that majority of the younger kids are one trick ponyies. as for style i rarely see the kids ride with any. its mostly speed checks before hits the they get all wound up so they can try to land a 540 only to just make a 360. when was the last time you saw someone throw a 360 or even a 180 that had smooth late landing. the kids today are way to concernd with spining the having any sort of style.

 

[Geoff]

i absolutly disagree. the kids now can hardly ride outside of a park. the boards are way to soft to hold an edge at speed. also the way 90% parks are built they are not designed to be taken at speed. the kickers and landings are way to close toghter. every rail and box has a cheater jump. there may be one or two hits in a park that can be hit with speed but it is not the norm. i am tired of landing in the flat because the park crews have no idea how to ride at speed. it is self perpetuating. the bottom line is that majority of the younger kids are one trick ponyies. as for style i rarely see the kids ride with any. its mostly speed checks before hits the they get all wound up so they can try to land a 540 only to just make a 360. when was the last time you saw someone throw a 360 or even a 180 that had smooth late landing. the kids today are way to concernd with spining the having any sort of style.

Before there were parks, twin tips, and snowboards, the same was true. Most "kids" sucked. In the back seat. Skid turns. Scrubbing speed with gorilla turns. As drjeff points out with respect to Mount Sneaux, parks are great because it keeps those fine young barbarians segregated instead of invoking their reign of terror on the rest of the hill. At Kmart, I'll happily give up the boring Bear Mountain cruisers on weekends to keep 'em off the natural snow terrain. I can still ride the OL quad and ski OL, an ungroomed Wildfire, Fiddle, and the trees on either side of OL. I only have to deal with that new lift disaster when I'm leaving Bear and don't feel like riding the South Fridge triple.

 

[deadheadskier]

New lift disaster? explain as I have not been to Killington to experience it.