J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Innsbrucker

Interesting. Some advanced skiers share that view that there is not a lot of difference. I just had this conversation with an Austrian friend, experienced on 40 years of 'skiing history' (starting by playing on homemade wooden skis in the woods as a tot) and by my standards is a superb skier. She said 'for me there is not a lot of difference. Some people prefer short light skis which they find easier to turn.'

I may have been influenced by starting on long, hard skis which were unsuitable for a beginner and hard to turn. I won't say they made me better, probably the opposite, but after that I regard a ski which is hard to turn for slow skiing as a bit tiring but no big deal. I guess all shaped skis turn easily if you tilt them on the edges. Sure, hard skis grip better at speed, soft skis grip better going slow, so matching flex to your weight and speed makes sense. Narrow skis are tricky to keep afloat in soft powder. That seems to be about it.

OK, an exaggeration but in 7 years of skiing I have concluded that the reviews in magazines, comparisons with Honda Accord or Porsche 911 and so on are way overblown. Placebo effect.

I started on very early, stiff, long Elan carvers (30 quid including boots, poles and bag). Moved to shorter and more shaped Salomon Crossmax, 25 quid off the small ads. Today tried a pair of 2013 K2 Aftershocks I just bought from small ads from someone who said he found them too fast. Maybe they were a bit long for him.

Why fast? They are a bit heavy and fat, so a little hard to skid round. In other words it is not that they are fast, but that they are a bit of hard work to ski slow. Maybe turning circle a little large for a carved turn. Pretty stable at speed. Probably a little less likely to sink in deep powder than my narrow skis.

So they are harder to pivot than the Crossmax (so are my old Elan skis). They are a bit more stable at speed and in yucky spring snow. They are stiffer than the Crossmax, so hold better at speed (so did my 30 quid Elans).

My touring skis are the worst of the lot for catching an edge if you don't keep weight forwards, but at least are light to carry to the car park! They too basically work the same.

But that major enlightenment or pushing the owner to a new level, fastest man down the mountain, etc. strikes me as placebo. There are differences at the margins in turnability, stiffness (good for going fast, bad for going slow), holding the edge, weight (most expensive are worst), fatness (slightly less maneoverable, but no big deal). The differences are only at the margins.

I have concluded it is like the Stradavarrius: repeated tests have proved audiences can not tell one from a good modern instrument worth 1% of the value, but people still kid themselves the Strad is worth it.

I actually want to be wrong about this, especially as I have just spend the price of an excellent diiner for two on skis some reviewers rave about. If I had a reason to want to get to the bottom super-fast I would probably pick the new skis as a bit more stable at speed. But I am just not getting what all the fuss is about. Bottom line is that I am happy witth my ancient well used 25 quid old Crossmax, which are perfectly capable of taking me through the woods, or in deep powder, of wedeln or of carving.

Am I missing something? Or is it really just marketing hype?

Sorry to hear about injury. Is hurting the head a +1 for helmets?

Plenty of fresh snow in the Alps still. Season is not over. I am of for a nifty weekend of two days skiing tomorrow, to keep the season going. I am lucky to have a place to stay and my own skis and season pass so it is only flight cost, but still a somewhat expensive indulgence when you book flights late. I just bought skis from a guy who told me he is doing a coach trip to Meribel next week. When it is snowing in London (as today) it is too early to call the end of season! But sadly it is not always possible to find time and /or money to make the most of it.

OP asks for other places like that in Austria. No where quite like that among the resorts I know. Stubai glacier is nice when it is not windy and cold. Kuhtai is a high resort and not too small but not as good. Obergurgl is the rare combination (based on what I have seen in Austria) of a pretty big resort with well prepared pistes. Limited? Acres of powder between the pistes. If you like deep powder you can ski all day in a big range of steepness without repeating yourself. Above the tree line though so no skiing in woods. In terms of very difficult pistes it is a bit limited as I recall, and in sheer number of pistes there are bigger resorts. By my standards Obergurgl is big because I like small resorts: whilst it is nice to have a lot of pistes, the very big resorts get too much traffic for my taste. But yes, there is more variety and more to do at Ischgl (a fantastic, large, posh resort surprisingly little known among Brits), or even at St Anton (where the combination of poorly prepared pistes and incompetent drivers give about the same chance of survival as major highway in Calcutta, a healthy 99% chance of coming out alive).

A friend of mine was charge Euro9 at Courcheval for a capuccino.... I never saw anything above half that in Austria, though they do try it on a bit. I find the smaller huts more reasonable. But in some resorts they are all the same outfit, so no competition.

I spend a lot of time in the Austrian Alps and this feels different because it is sunny place and spring in the mountains makes people feel, 'great winter, the skiing mood melts away with the snow, now time for climbing (for the daring), use the lifts for downhill mountain biking (scary), regular mountainbiking for the fit, motorbiking for the mid-life crisis, dinghy sailing and windsurfing on lakes (and from July, some lovely high-altitude lakeside beaches), rollerblading among keen skiiers, and walking in the mountains (sometimes using ski lifts part way), often using nordic poles, for almost everyone. You can visit a mountain hut on a sunny day, miles from any public road, and it is packed with families, pensioners, fit young cyclists, everyone really. Lots of locals, lots of Germans, a handful of Brits too. The one thing you don"t get in the Alps is real sea beaches and yacht sailing. Also sun is not quite as guaranteed as in the Costas, but is often sunny, and always the amazing feeling of the mountains.

My top tip > if you love skiing give your favourite mountain resort a chance in summer.

Thanks for the heads up. I fly to Innsbruck every month, so it saved me a fair bit to get in early. So far they are only showing flights up to around end February.

There are a couple of people here for whom Seefeld is favourite resort. I have written a lot about it here, so maybe search. No idea about Crystal. The ski school with an office at the valley station, with a bit of yellow in their outfit, seem good. Well prepared and mainly relatively easy pistes. Being smaller than the likes of St Anton the pistes are generally a bit quieter, but the town has produced its share of skiing legends.

The main piste area is Rosshuette with a few routes down and two peaks, other side of town (free bus, same pass) is Gshwandkopf and another smaller one. It is a low resort which means fantastic scenery, and woodland, not tiring for alititude but soft snow at end of season. It offers an easy introduction to skiing in woods at both Roshuette and Gshwandkopf. (You might want to take an instructor who will advise whether the snow is fresh enough, depending on your level, at my level I would only ski the woods in fresh snow.)

Nice town, a bit upmarket, not full of young rowdy part-goers, most hotels a short in the town a free bus ride from piste (though it is walkable). There is a hotel near the piste but less near the town. Also in case your hotel is not one of those with a spa, the public baths (Olympiabad) has a fairly swish spa. Also an ice skating rink.

It is a big centre for cross country too.

And with the woodland beside the pistes, a great place to try a little tour (again depending on your experience, but if you are new to touring a good chance to take a ruck sack and rent touring skis one day and spend an hour walking up through the woods to the half-way hut on the way to Rosshuette, before you start the main day's skiing, just to get a taste of why those guys are walking up the side of the piste, it looks daft but once you try is addictive and a base skill for more advanced off piste: but for all I know you may be expert backwoods skiiers already, in which case you know all about that!).

I could go on, I love it there though it is not a big resort. But if you search the site you will find more.