gawdzira Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 For those of you who share time on the snow with skiis, I need some advice on ski length and type. The last pair of skis I owned were 200cm Atomic ARCs. I tossed them out about 15 years ago and been on snowboards since. Now I have a 4 year old son and will start him skiing this year. I will ski with him and so I am starting to search for a used pair of skiis. My stats: 5'9", 175#, 45 yrs old, I taught skiiing for 2 seasons when I was 17 and 18 yrs old and raced in high school. My current snowboards are 161? Nidecker SL (pity me as I did not ride once last year so I barely remember the board) and an ancient Burton Alps. I like to ride medium fast but prefer a shorter radius turn so I can ride varied terrain and varied crowds. I am not looking for race skiis because if I run gates I will do it on a board. First and foremost I want these skiis to make it really easy to jump around and get my son started but also would like to be able to ride them for a few years as he progresses (and then his sister behind next year, for those parents out there you know exactly why I did not ride at all last year). Thanks for any help, alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Do yourself a favour - midfat all-mountain hyper-carvers, 157 to 164 length, 11-13m scr. They are nothing but fattened up SL ski with slightly upturned tail. Good in pow and crud, solid in moguls, great in short and medium turns, easy to ride bacwards... Some ideas: Elan Magfire 10 (avoid 12 - much longer radius), Atomic Metron, 9, 10, B5 (I ride M10s in 164 at 6' 180lbs) Atomic Nomad (I think this is replacement for Metronseries, they might have lengthened the scr, though) Rosi Z 7, 9, 11 Volkl AC series (somwhat longer scr then the rest) Head Supershapes Head Monster (longer scr then the rest) Boris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobD Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Exactly what he said (BlueB). I have Metron M9s, but I'm a little lighter and in 157. Which is OK for smaller hills, but the 164 would be great anywhere. The design of these skis is amazing. You can carve tight little turns or relax and make longer turns at speed with no instability. I have all kinds of race skis now, but I love the metrons the best. BobD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinecure Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Personally I like supporting the local companies. PM Gear (www.pmgear.com), Moment (www.momentskis.com) and Praxis (www.praxisskis.com) all make great skis for our local conditions. I have a big pair of Bro Models from PM Gear and they're great. Check out the 174 model. Moment Tahoes are a similar sized ski and lots of fun too. Praxis mostly makes powder skis, but they are awesome. Don't buy used Demo skis. They're beat up and the demo bindings weigh a ton. If you buy used skis, don't be worried if they've been drilled already. Skis will stand up to being drilled 2-3 times for various bindings. You can find good deals on ebay, but probably better luck on tetongravity.com/forums or even craigslist for local (if you know what you are looking for). TGR will have good deals and people will chime in and give the poster a hard time if they're trying to charge too much for a used ski (sort of like on Bomber, only TGR folks are way less reserved and less polite). Sierraskis.com is running huge discounts on last year's gear. Depending on where in Central CA you are, you could probably take a trip there (Sac, just off 80). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powdahbonz Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Echo several points-TGR is a good place to score deals but TGR "maggots" can be picky if you don't have higher post counts-since you're buying, shouldn't be an issue. If you want something that you can teach on w/ your child and still play on yourself, I'd pick up something like a pre-drilled pair of fatter than SL boards. I still love the snap of SL sticks but a pair of Volkl Mantras, K2 Seth's will fit the one ski quiver nicely and who cares if they've been well plundered by some 17yr old ripper in the Wasatch. This is of course if you plan enjoying some time for yourself. If not and only for teaching purposes, Tramdock and SteepnCheap have some great deals on new and older stock. You could find something easy on TGR and not rental schwag that is likely beyond beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skatha Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I also love my Atomic skis and my husband loves his.... Don't get used demos.... My husband got his C8s at Bobwards.com I got my Balanze 5:3 at untracked.com. They were a never used year old model but, heck, I got bindings and skis for $250.... I checked untracked.com...they've got men's Metrons.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 levelninesports.com is worth a look too. Given where you are coming from, honestly, ANY halfway modern ski (even some lame-o rec skier model) is going to leave you very pleasantly surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Powdah, Sinecure, come on, guys?! Poweder skis, that normaly have long scr, that are taller then he is and are unnecesserilly fat, for teaching purposes and ripping short radius arcs on groomed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex1230 Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 the ski I started back on (mainly to teach my son) was K2 Public enemy - carves decently...true twin tip, and I got it from Steep & cheap for $195 you don't want to buy used public enemies without seeing them, though - topsheets are made of butter or something like it - they get torn up fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbeck Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 I bought some cheapie shaped skis (Rossie Axis) two years ago as a day extender and to ski with my wife. I am an old guy 200lbs 58yo. If you havent been on skis in 15 years you will find that all the newish gear terrific. All of it is very accesssible. I'd spend your dough on comfy boots. All the new skis are great, the bottom of the line is fine. IMO. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powdahbonz Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 You can find those in 169's/179's and coming from the ice coast, mantras and seths are not powder speciality only and are pretty useful in wide array of conditions. Sure they're bigger, wider but also more forgiving then you'd expect. However, it didn't register that he hasn't done a lot of skiing recently so..I here you but if I were going to pick up used or even new, use it for a couple of years while working w/ my kids(which I am doing too)I'd look for something like that based on his reported dims. and background-can see it either way-just my opine.:) Powdah, Sinecure, come on, guys?! Poweder skis, that normaly have long scr, that are taller then he is and are unnecesserilly fat, for teaching purposes and ripping short radius arcs on groomed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 i think you might like Armada's El Rey 188. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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