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Its not that difficult - really. They're all good. Really.
Actually I guess that makes it harder, in a way. A few
years ago there were some real dogs on the ski market
that you learnt pretty quickly to stay away from, but
with the continued raising of standards it's got to
a point where across the board it is pretty hard to
find a real bad one.
Saying that, each brand of ski does have a unique feel
to them on the snow, due to the differences in materials
and construction techniques employed, and there can
be, especially in the mid to upper performance market,
way too many model variations that exist purely to make
it easier for the salesman (or woman) to find a ski
they think will suit you, the buyer, better. And confuse
you in the process...
When choosing a ski the first thing to do is to sit
down and ask yourself a few questions - about how you
ski now, and how you want to ski in the future. Yeah
twin tips are all the rage but are you really gonna
use them? If not, then forget about them. Similarly
it's no use going out and buying the top of the range
fat ski if you're just learning how to go off-piste
because it will probably be uncontrollable for you,
and will slow down your progression rather than speed
it up. This also works the other way round as well.
A lot of people buy mid-range skis and ski out of them
quite quickly when they could be buying a higher performance
ski which would take them a little while to get used
to, but progress with them further.
Read up as much as you can before you go into a store,
so you'll have a chance to understand what the salespersons
talking about - sites like www.techsupportforskiers.com;
www.epicski.com, www.skireview.com and the forum on
www.powdermag.com are great resources. Sales catalogues
from Snow and Rock or Ellis Brighams can be a little
thin on the ground when it comes to useful descriptions
of gear - but do have nice pictures!
Then, when you do go into a store - have a chat to
the salesperson and find out their perspective. Don't
buy a thing. Walk straight out and into the next store
and do the same. Slowly you'll get an idea of what's
around at what prices, and be able to narrow down your
options. Also, if you get a chance to go to one of the
ski shows around the country, have a chat to some of
the reps from the brands themselves - it will all help
you to build up a good general knowledge before you
part with your hard-earned cash.
Shorter is not better! One of the common fallacies these
days is that you can be cutting twenty centimetres off
the length of your old skis and they'll be fantastic
- but its simply not true. Yeah if you're a slalom racer
you might want a pair of 169's when you used to be on
195's because you want to be able to go from edge to
edge rapidly and have a lower swing weight, but take
them into any type of difficult snow and watch them.
Then laugh. Sure if you want to learn how to do helis
and tricks in the park then drop a lot of length - but
don't expect to be able to ski with confidence down
that tight couloir you've been eyeing off - and don't
expect to float in that powder field. A shorter ski
loses edge length, and less edge length means less stability
and control.
My advice is to go for just under head height if you're
looking for a short twin, and 5 - 10 cm above for an
all-mountain or powder ski. If you're 5'10" and weigh
around 75kg and are an ok all round skier, if you're
thinking of buying something like a pair of X-screams
go for the 186's rather than the 179's. Yes it will
take you a little longer to get used to them, but in
the long run they'll last you much longer than the shorter
179's.
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