good-luck
Diva in Training
Warning: Big newbie to the ski purchasing world, so some of my questions are probably very basic... For reference, I ski all over New England on the east coast, 5' 7", 165 lbs, and am just getting comfortable with speed and more confidence overall. I'd consider myself solidly intermediate at this point, and really looking for a ski that I can grow on, but won't throw me around. Figured I might as well get a pair now with some of the end of season deals to make my first ski purchase slightly nicer on the wallet.
With that out of the way: I'm becoming slightly overwhelmed looking through all of the multitude of ski brands and models out there, how do you all pick a pair to purchase if you don't have time to demo? Honestly, I'm not sure if I would be able to tell a difference even if I had the option to try multiple pairs back to back... What sort of characteristics makes a particular ski seem 'playful', or 'forgiving', etc? At this point, are online reviews or general word-of-mouth the way to go (such as asking you ladies)?
All I've been able to narrow down in that something in the 80s-90s mm width is probably good for an an all mountain ski, and that most online ski length calculators seem to be saying that something between 157-165 cm would be a good length. Does that seem accurate or slightly short? I've seen a bunch of different lists or models recommended here, but how do you pick between them? Models that I've seen mentioned in various places:
* Blizzard Black Pearl 88s
* Volkl Yumis
* Armada Victus (83? 87 Ti?)
* Elan Ripstick 86W
* Rossi Experience 88
With that out of the way: I'm becoming slightly overwhelmed looking through all of the multitude of ski brands and models out there, how do you all pick a pair to purchase if you don't have time to demo? Honestly, I'm not sure if I would be able to tell a difference even if I had the option to try multiple pairs back to back... What sort of characteristics makes a particular ski seem 'playful', or 'forgiving', etc? At this point, are online reviews or general word-of-mouth the way to go (such as asking you ladies)?
All I've been able to narrow down in that something in the 80s-90s mm width is probably good for an an all mountain ski, and that most online ski length calculators seem to be saying that something between 157-165 cm would be a good length. Does that seem accurate or slightly short? I've seen a bunch of different lists or models recommended here, but how do you pick between them? Models that I've seen mentioned in various places:
* Blizzard Black Pearl 88s
* Volkl Yumis
* Armada Victus (83? 87 Ti?)
* Elan Ripstick 86W
* Rossi Experience 88