Skis purchased in charity shop today!

In this case 'really cheap' would be free i.e. you would already have a suitable pair of bindings that came off a pair of skis that had come to the end of their useful lives and you would also have all the bits and pieces needed to mount them. A suitable drill bit (£13) glue, plugs for the existing holes and a tap if they have an Titanal layer (£26). If you took them to shop mounting would cost £25 - £45. A new pair would probably set you back at least £125.

I wasn't really being serious, my post was just a long winded way of saying what Brucie said.

These days skis are really cheap, the market is massively over supplied and discounting is rampant. Decathlon does a ski / binding package that looks like it will be adequate for lots of holiday skiers for £105. So second hand skis are not really worth the bother unless they are in really good nick and are fitted with rental or system bindings.

I would put the telemark bindings on Ebay during the winter, preferably with worldwide shipping. The 7tm is the only telemark binding with a TUV certified safety release system. If you can get 2 or 3 bidders you should do alright.

Billip2, this would be true if you can find a 'pro', most people who work in ski shops have very little idea about what they are doing, loads of mistakes are made. A few years ago an Austrian safety organisation carried out some on slope tests, which revealed that 40% of the bindings people were using were wrongly adjusted and 5% were in some way defective. I have my bindings tested at the beginning of every season, a few years ago the shop mixed up my wife's settings with mine, in spite of the relevant information being written on a form stuck to the skis! Luckily I checked the settings before we went skiing.

SwingBeep wrote:I would put the telemark bindings on Ebay during the winter, preferably with worldwide shipping. The 7tm is the only telemark binding with a TUV certified safety release system. If you can get 2 or 3 bidders you should do alright.

Afternoon Swingbeep...I did precisely what you said there and last week sold the 7tms for £100 on eBay!! By way of a thank you for your advice (i'd never have known the value of them without it!) do you have a particular favourite charity? If so shout up as I would like to donate £20 to them from my festive profits!

Just about to book a week in 3valleys for early Jan with some friends too, things are looking good this Christmas!

Cheers
Ben

TheSkiingGolfer wrote:I would like to donate £20 to them from my festive profits!

Nice one, Ben! Merry Xmas to you! 8)

I love a happy ending. Merry Xmas everybody!

Hi Ben, really pleased you managed to sell the bindings for a decent price. As I don't live in the UK I don't have a favourite UK charity. Please feel free to make a donation to the charity of your choice, but I would prefer that you used some of the profit to buy your friends a drink or two when you're in the 3 valleys.

I'll do just that, the first round on me...usually there's some Disability Snowsport guys in resort most places too so i'll make a donation in their direction.

have a happy new year everyone!

Following the post, my early thoughts were adverse to most, in that although I have 12 pairs of skis, none of them are "in date". I have 6 pairs in a celler in Austria, 160s to 200s, and every year I manage to ski them all, plus 6 pairs in Scotland, one pair is only 5 years old, bought at a triple discount from a shop in Worgl!

I have never really cared much about the skis I am on. My logic is that if you are a reasonable skier, you can ski on anything. I bought my first pair of skis from Ellis Brigham for £3.00, or to be more date accurate, £3-0s-0d. I still call him a robbing B. Painted wooden bases, and screw in edges.

The Niederau Day run record dates back from 1948, initially set by Austrian race international, Toni Seelos. As lifts and standards improve, so does the record. Without coughing too loudly, only one name appears on the record history twice, and both of my records were achieved on fairly ancient, and cheap skis. One of the most recent record holders is the head of the ski school, albeit on new skis! I can't argue with that, and I am no longer unable to re-challenge.

Main problem with old skis is that they typically have no shape and hence force you to ski in a certain way. If your of a reasonable standard then a shaped ski onpiste with little rocker for early initiation is a revelation. 100% more dynamic than the old straight beasts we all used to ski on.