Originally Posted by
Petdog
Not having to transport, maintain, or store (don't forget that one) skis and poles is just so nice. As is being able to switch skis depending on conditions and being able to try out different models.
evergrn, while having the same equipment may very well help improve your skiing, I think a much bigger factor is how many days a year you ski. Eight days just isn't enough, IMHO, to make much progress.
Crap, I didn't even think about needing to store skis. Our house is tiny, and the last thing we need is more stuff to have lying around!
Originally Posted by
jay526
Where do you typically go? I'm surprised you can't find a shop on the hill that you can work with. You can sometimes demo from the same chain (Christy Sports, Vail Sports, etc.) and pick up/return from any of them. No doubt in my mind you'll fare better with consistent & familiar equipment.
Compared to boots, skis are less about brand but more profile - length, sidecut, rocker/camber, width, etc. If you go to a reputable shop and talk to someone, he/she can direct you to the right profile to try out. Just like your bootfitting, you can find solid people at those shops who can really help you. If you recall specific models that you liked in the past, you can mention those as a starting point. Considering what you've said so far, my guess is that you'd do well in an all-mountain ski with a width ranging between 80 and 95mm - wider if you like to ski deep powder. For what it's worth, I picked up Stoeckli Stormrider 95 after my last demo run and love them (they have flown roughly 10 times since purchase, with demo bindings rather than the fixed ones, with zero issues). Once you zero in on what profile you like, you'll be able to try some similar models and go from there. It might take a few days or a full season to find what you really like. Take your time.
Thanks for the very good advice about at least noting the rental model I like, so that I can relay that to the ski shop guy when it comes time to buying. I will definitely go with all-mountain ski. I go to Whistler couple times a season where all the good skiing is mid-mountain or higher (mostly stay on Blackcomb), and I'd imagine having to go swap out skis in the Village (we stay at Hilton and rent from their shop) would take up almost an hour. I may just need to do that, though. Going to Park City next month for the first time, where I'm staying in town and renting from a place near the hotel. Heading back to Rusutsu in Jpn, where it again takes a good 15min from the slopes to get back to the rental shop inside Westin. Was at Kiroro last year, and that would be the perfect place to try different demos because the rental shop is right by the slopes.
TuxTom
Your post is full of so many nuggets, and I really need to read it over and over to digest it all. I will stay away from ski racks. Also, next time I rent, I will definitely ask for all-mountain skis and I'll also measure myself to see where my chin/nose works out to be. I'll have to read more about what an early tip rise is. No instructor ever told me this stuff. So thank you!
Everything that you say about boots seems familiar to me. Few years ago, I went through having to try many boots, getting one molded, then remolded and adjusted, returning it, going to another boot guy and finally settling on what worked. I decided I had to finally buy boots after getting nerve compression injury at the ankle from a boot that was too tight. The first bootfitter was sensitive to this and also saw that my foot was a smidge wider than average. So we recommended Solomon X-Pro and molded it with space at the ankle to prevent further injury. But while that gave me more space at the ankle, the boot never felt right and I had to constantly adjust it throughout the day to prevent pain from building up in other parts of the foot. Ultimately I decide to ditch those boots and went to another store where the bootfitter was a young kid but he actually knew his stuff. He convinced me that what I needed was a LV boot (in spite of my foot width) that could be molded out and that the boot needed to be snug around the ankle (in spite of my nerve injury history there). He said that the stability at the ankle would prevent a similar nerve injury and increase overall comfort. Turns out he was right.
As far as turning goes, I've been told different things by different instructors. But what I've settled on is as follows. Sorry if I don't have the terminology correct, as a lot of my lessons have been in Jpn. To initiate turn, you shift weight onto and drive down the inside edge of the outer ski. This gets the outer ski turning, and simultaneously you take weight off the inner ski (without lifting it) and then turn the inner knee towards the direction of the turn to facilitate the inner ski following the outer ski and keeping them parallel. As you complete the turn, you then distribute weight evenly onto the outside (outside=uphill, inside=downhill) half of both skis which will keep the skis parallel while keeping acceleration in check, before you initiate the next turn. I'm right foot dominant, but I feel pretty comfortable maneuvering the outer ski on either turn, because it involves simply tilting down the inside edge. I do that, and the outer ski will reliably start the turn. On the other hand, I struggle to maintain coordination with my inner ski/leg, esp when the inner ski is my non-dominant leg. I actually do okay with this on gentler slopes, even on my 'right footers.' But it falls apart when it gets to be slightly steep. Do I have the turning concepts right, or am I off-base? If I have the concepts down, and maybe it's just a matter of putting in more time and practice as you say. It's just that I've been at this plateau for a while now, and I must say it is boring to stick to gentler slopes for practice.