All skis are much the same

Topic was never about practicalities of carrying 2 x pair of skis, my point on renting is therefore very valid. Just like an average family guy has a family car, does not mean a 2 seat sports car and a Range Rover would not be better. Otherwise you end up with something not good offroad and a bit soft and boring onroad. Practical but a little pointless given you are on holiday trying to rip it up.

My advice if you want to be practical get 1 x pair of piste skis and then rent something fat for powder days. I have a pair of skis for touring 100mm under foot, narrow enough not to be too heavy and or flappy for kick turns, pretty medium onpiste, not enough width for really big powder days. Good compromise but still a compromise. On piste you will have much more fun with narrow skis and offpiste much more fun with something 105-110mm and some decent rocker in it.

Ranchero_1979 wrote:Well I always buy skis on a certain shape I want. After that don't care what the brand is. Have said before, everyone should have min 2 pairs of skis (beauty of renting), piste skis should be <75mm and offspiste should be 100-110mm. Everything in-between fits into bracket of average because manufacturers are just making a compromise ski for mass market. Basically bit boring onpiste and bit narrow offpiste.

Well thats me average then :thumbup:

I have had .for the last couple of years , a pair of Rossi GS race skis and this year bought a pair of wider (101) softer skis for different conditions...the difference is marked...I am so much more confident on the wider skis on this years heavy crud and the do give me the confidence to ski in powder ....but ...on the few more icy days they were naff and I used the GS ones ..the difference....but I must say I have done 4 weeks this year and have driven out so it wasn't any hardship to take them and through careful buying I am in front on the cost of hiring

Innsbrucker,
Yes those older skis take you everywhere.
Yes they are great skis.

Consider this!

Do you want your skiing experience to be better?
Do you want to use less muscle and get same effect?
Do you want to go to higher levels of "pleasure" ?

Modern skis do make skiing easier and more enjoyable.

Yes the marketing is too much, however modern skis are in a class by themselves.
Do you still drive your old Austin,,,,
Do you still use the old crank phone ?
Do you still listen on your 78 records?

Give yourself a chance o have greater pleasure.

Just a view of an old dinosaur who has no cell phone, drives a 911 and still has his Dynamic VR17s.

Many valid and varied points made here. Call me a victim of marketing, but I feel the joy of researching, choosing and ultimately buying a set of skis(guitar, mountain bike etc) vastly outweighs the practicalities.

Its just nice to have a new set of skis!!! :D

I hired until I found a pair I really liked and then went and bought some the same (in the sale of course, J2Skiers are thrifty I have noted).

The thing that worried me most was that being brand new, they would get stolen first time out. Now that they are several years old, I am more relaxed about it and hope they will not be of interest to anyone else because I am rather attached to them.

I always browse the new ones because that is half the fun, looking at what is the latest fad but I don't feel the urge to invest £500!

I missed out on a pair of skis in the sales, they sold out three days before I got my bonus.
So I will be paying £400-500 on some new planks and bindings. I will be only too pleased to tell you what they are like.
I'm hoping to get over to Milton Keynes to test some Atomic Theorys, can't decide between them and the alibis.
My Rossinol B2s which I purchased back in 2006 have been skied into the ground and are, to use a technical term 'knackered'. I have at no point regretted buying them, a fabulous pair of skis, which at the time had won several awards and rightly so in my opinion. They replaced Salomon XScreams which again had been highly rated when I bought them.
I've taken part in a couple of ski tests in the past, one on the dry slope and one on snow. Different skis feel different to ski on, even ones with a similar shape. Different skis take different amounts of force to get the most of them, so your physicality, ability and technique will change which ski suits.
So I disagree all skis are much the same, they are not if you ski them hard enough. Whether ski technology moves on as quick as they'd like to suggest is debatable.

No they are not.
Skis have a "personality", a special feel, a performance range, however it takes a good skier to allow the ski to express itself.
Most skiers "force" the ski to turn, thus not allowing the ski to "do its thing"!
I train neophyte ski testers by making them ski with unbuckled boots for at least 3 hours. To learn to feel the ski. To learn to be "soft" with the ski.
Skis do have differences.
Problem is the marketing jargon does not help the average skier with such phrases as;
"the one quiver, all terrain ski"
"the ski will improve your skiing" ( you will improve your skiing)
"the rocker XXXX will carve better on hard packed slopes"
"the special unique XYZ material will,,,,,,,,,,," ( you fill in the blank)

My advice.
First do your homework rather than ask "experts" on net what is the best ski.
Learn what those figures mean,,,, R= 13 ( racing SL ski ) 123- 110- 15
Try all sorts of skis on easy terrain.
Learn to rate a ski with specific parameters that you think are important to you.

* Did those smart skiers pick up that mistake?

Just my opinion.
Pav