returning to skis after 20 years boarding, questions

[schwaaa31]

Hi, Im new to this forum. I've decided to take up skiing again after snowboarding for 20 years. I grew up skiing until I was in my late teens. The last pair of skis I owned were Rossi Quantams at 210 cm's, so as you can see, I've been out of the game for a while. I was hoping someone here could point me in the right directon gear wise. I was an advanvced skier when I switched to boarding. What I'm looking to do is carve, go fast, hopefully hit the occasional powder day, ski the woods, and hit some natural jumps. I'm not looking to be hitting any parks, save for the occasional jump. What type of ski am I looking for? All mountain? What size? I know sizes have gone down considerably since I've been on skis. I'm 6'2" and weigh 185. Also reccomendations on bindings and boots would be great. I literally have no idea what I'm looking for now a days. Thanks,Seth

 

[millerm277]

Boots haven't changed. New ones are a bit lighter, a bit warmer, a bit more comfortable etc. But they're still the same thing. I'd buy new ones because 20 year old plastic is prone to failure, especially if you stored it somewhere that isn't temp controlled, but otherwise it's not much different. Still need a good bootfitter as well.

I'd start with just going to a ski shop and doing some rentals/performance rentals for a couple days to get used to the new type of skis. Do some demo's to find out what kinds of skis you like.

 

[ScottySkis]

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2

You could always do season rentals on the skis to see what you like, and take advantage of demo days at your hill, its usually free or cheap. There is a demo thread with all shops and dates on the fourms.

 

[Smellytele]

Why are you coming back from the darkside?

 

[riverc0il]

Go to a shop and try boots on. Not worth shopping online if you don't know what boot you want. Tell them the same you as you wrote and they'll get you a bunch to try.

Bindings... eh. If you aren't looking for something particular, any 12 DIN alpine binding is fine for an advanced skier looking to ski everything.

Skis... ya, look for an all mountain ski, maybe 180ish +/- 4 cm or so. Early tip rise or twin tip, go longer. If you buy an older pre-early tip rise ski, maybe shorter.

Check out a demo day if you want to dial something in to your preferences. Otherwise, get any all mountain ski that you can find the cheapest.

 

[dmc]

Why are you coming back from the darkside?

Comments aside...

Sounds like you need an all mountain deck... I like a 160 - 168 length..
Never Summer and Arbor make GREAT snowboards right here in the USA. Both are great at speed!

Bindings... I ride Burton Missions - they hold up really well. Also use Ride bindings..

Boots... I like Burtons not sure what they have to offer this year. But they make some stiff boots that are great for carving..

 

[Cheese]

Comments aside...

Sounds like you need an all mountain deck... I like a 160 - 168 length..
Never Summer and Arbor make GREAT snowboards right here in the USA. Both are great at speed!

Bindings... I ride Burton Missions - they hold up really well. Also use Ride bindings..

Boots... I like Burtons not sure what they have to offer this year. But they make some stiff boots that are great for carving..

... whiskey tango foxtrot? Obviously skiers burn less than borders.

Rossignol Experience 88 with Axium 120 bindings in a length between 170-180. Visit a shop for boots.

 

[schwaaa31]

Thanks for the tips. As far as coming back from the dark side, I still plan on boarding. Just got the itch to two plank again. I've been riding with my buddy who skis, and skied with me years ago, and he raves about how much more fun the new skis are.

 

[Cheese]

I think he may have missed out on a much more important point. It's much more fun skiing since boarders changed the sport. Gear aside, skiing was crippled with rules and restrictions 20 years ago.

 

[Skimaine]

Think about taking a lesson to get your technique adjusted to the new gear.

 

[hrstrat57]

Kinda depends on what you want to do with your return to skiing....if you want to carve look for an eastern carver....Head I supershape 170 is what I ride, effortless to ski in big or small arcs yet run straight if I want....I would recco 2 pair of used skis in good nick a carving ski and an all mountain (twin tip?)..thoughts on carving skis might be Volkl Allstar, Tiger shark 168 or Racetiger 165, Fischer Progressor 8 or RX8 170 would be good choices used at your size. K2 Public Enemy, Volkl Karma 177, Dynastar Legend 8000 might come to mind for all mountain skis that you could hunt for cheap in good shape.

Boots? Buy new from a trusted shop.....and have the shop become your friend...and set your new slipper to your 2 pair of used skis...

Click on the link below for some good visuals of modern skiing.....if you are a visual learner might help you save thousands chasing lessons....I can hunt down lots more free vids if you ask....

 

[loafasaur]

Your 2-plank buddy sounds like your best resource. Pick his brain.

I think you should demo and/or rent a few times before you buy. You're probably going to end up on an all-mtn ski, but that still leaves room for a lot of variety. Skis have changed a LOT since you got those Rossi's. Go ahead and try some around 170 cm; you'll be surprised how stable they are. You'll probably end up on +/- 180 cm, but going too long will be a mistake. Twin tips are good if you'll ever get in a park and they're also handy for getting out of tight spots in back/side country.

If your buddy is decent at describing technique and if you have decent body awareness, you won't need lessons unless you just can't get the hang of shaped skis. Some things never change; weight on balls of feet, weight on inside edge of downhill ski. The biggest difference is you don't unweight to initiate a turn. You just roll your knees into the turn and the skis do the rest. Good body position is improtant, hips in, shoulders out and squared down the hill. As you get more comfortable with what shaped skis do you can experiment with carving with more weight on your inside ski--it takes more crouch with the knees to make it work.

You've noticed that feet locked together is passe--except for moguls. If the shaped planks get squirrely at speed spread em out a little farther and ride the inside edge of both skis.

A lot of shops will let you apply rental fees toward the purchase of a pair. See if they will let you rent during the season and then buy your favorites in the spring when they knock down prices. Good deals can be found online, especially over the summer if you don't mind a few dings on last year's rental/demo's.

 

[goldsbar]

I'm a fan of realskiers.com. You need to pay a small annual fee but they group and test skis. Forum advice on skis is like forum advice on anything else. Good news is nearly everything is much shorter and more versatile than what you owned 20 years ago. Since there's no way you can totally know what you want, renting a couple of times isn't a bad idea. Your typical POS rental will carve far better than your old skis at everything under 50mph. Lesson wouldn't hurt.

 

[vdk03]

Just out of curiosity what made you decide to go back to skiing? Was it the new advanced equipment out there these days or where you just looking to change it up? I just switched back to skiing (the telemarking part is new though) after snowboarding for 15 years and have been having a blast. I am about the same build and went with a regular camber ski that is 182cm long and about 101 underfoot (Libery Morphic ski with the NTN binding setup and Scarpa TX Pro boots). I was able to demo that setup and few others several times last year, and then I bought the exact setup from the shop in the spring. I'd also recommond demoing a few times before buying, maybe you could borrow your friends setup.

 

[bdfreetuna]

loafasaur that is some first rate advice! Good tips even for those who ski regularly who might want something to keep in mind. And actually, I read your post last night and think I may have remembered a couple pointers there today.

 

[Smellytele]

Just out of curiosity what made you decide to go back to skiing? Was it the new advanced equipment out there these days or where you just looking to change it up? I just switched back to skiing (the telemarking part is new though) after snowboarding for 15 years and have been having a blast. I am about the same build and went with a regular camber ski that is 182cm long and about 101 underfoot (Libery Morphic ski with the NTN binding setup and Scarpa TX Pro boots). I was able to demo that setup and few others several times last year, and then I bought the exact setup from the shop in the spring. I'd also recommond demoing a few times before buying, maybe you could borrow your friends setup.

Something that wide under foot in the East is way too much for 95% of the days

 

[deadheadskier]

Something that wide under foot in the East is way too much for 95% of the days

warning

thread about to go epic

 

[Cheese]

 

[vdk03]

Something that wide under foot in the East is way too much for 95% of the days

Turns out I was a little off on my ski dimensions it is 181 long and only 94 underfoot. I guess I got mixed up with some of the others that I demoed. Sure something that is 101 underfoot may be to wide for your everyday ski back east, but I dont think these liberty morphics that are only 94 underfoot would be to much.

 

[loafasaur]

You're too kind, bdft. I'm a greybeard 5-11, 195, with 177 cm Salomon Sentinels with a 95 waist as my "bad boys" and a pair of 172 Dynastar X-Cross (light as a feather and 16 radius--fun!) as my quivver. I swore by 208 cm's back in the Jurassic, and now I stand on the trail edge in awe as the Carrabasset Academy kids go ripping down Narrow Guage at the end of the day. Moral: These days there's no macho in length--in skis, anyway.