Ski choice help - please

Many thanks for all your replies.

In answer to some of the points, I have to provide some ancilliary info. Firstly, I work for an charter airline in the UK so get some quite good deals on brochured holidays. This means I travel with my own airline and would have ski carriage waived.

Secondly, as I said in the original post, I don't know about the differences in skis (stiff / soft etc) so, in Dave Mac's analogy, if I had a stiff ski on freshly dumped snow and found it "harder" to ski, I'd probably blame it on the beer the night before rather than the equipment ! Also, as stated, I only get to go skiing for one week every year (it's an allowance from my wife who doesn't ski and doesn't see the point of skiing :() and the last thing I want to do is lose time on the slopes having to return daily to the rental shop and swap to a different pair.

Next, the advancement of ski technology. As I mentioned, I have skied for approx 20 years and, each year there are new and improved models announced. The rental skis were different every year......until I went to Kitzbuhel this year. For the first time ever, we managed to rent the same type of ski that we had had the year before which tended to suggest that said advancement may be slowing somewhat.

Now, as for the price of the three options, I know 150 GBP is quite cheap for skis but these all appear to have been reduced from around 400GBP so, to me, they look quite expensive.

I suppose I should have asked my original question a different way - something along the lines of what type of skier do the three options suit ?

Still, thanks again for all the comments and I'll have a look at swisstimsskis.
Cheers
Tim

I think TonyH has summed it up pretty well - it is good to have your own as you will learn to ski better as you get used to them, rather than handing back a pair each week and starting again. The quality and condition of them is also assured as both are down to you!

Also, I have been led to believe in the past that the cheaper hire shops are exactly that due to them maybe not having the best insurance in place (or any at all.) TonyH will confirm a particular shop (which will remain nameless) hiring out gear in a shocking state and setting up bindings in a way that can be described as negligent at best. I spent half an hour with Tony's daughter and a techician I know getting them sorted out the next morning and the techie was angry and disbeleiving in equal measures.

So, to be properly taken care of you could easily end up laying out about £75 for a week on a pair of skis maybe not ideally suited to you.

Do the maths, as the saying goes.

Tim

Those are all skis that might work, each slightly different.

What I would go for, based on your stated requirements is an "all mountain carver" (the Head and the Atomic would fit this description). The specs I would look at are the "waist", 72mm minimum, ideally 74/5mm. This allows you to use a shorter ski, but will give you float in soft snow for your occasional off piste excursions. Next would be "side cut radius". Something in the 12 to 14 metre range. This will make turns easy and be perfect for carving (the most fun thing to do on groomed slopes) if you learn to do that. Lastly "length". 160 to 170 cm is an average length now for this type of ski. Don't buy a 190 length in this type of ski as there's a reason they are left over and on sale. You won't find any super stiff skis in the lower price ranges, but I would go for as stiff as you can get. unless you are very light.

Trencher

160-170 is ok as long as you are not a midget or 6 foot 5.

I am 5 foot 7 and mine are 157s so I get as sharp a turn as possible, and my X Cross 10's have a 13m radius. Mind you, they are only 68 in the waist, so off piste is a little more challenging!

You are right Tony. 157 is not too short at all for average people.

Trencher