"pre-teen/teen skis vs adult skis

[ejwebb13]

As a 5'1" and 102 pound woman, I admittedly have purchased "junior" or whatever you want to call it type skis. Always solid wood core. Annnd honestly? I love them! I have "adult skis" (nordica santa anas, length 150 w/ 98 underfoot) This season in particular has been low snow where I live so I've been forced to use my "rock skis" a lot more than usual. My rock skis happen to be these Blizzard Cochise Jr. skis (also 150 length w/ 95 underfoot). I like them both but the "adult skis" are so much harder to turn in tight situations! And they are so much heavier! I hike a lot to ski more advanced terrain and the santa ana skis really dig into my shoulder and makes the hike harder because they are heavy. I do still really like them, but I guess my point is that if you are petite, I don't think it is wrong for you to consider pre-teen/junior skis as long as they are solid wood core.

I feel like this forum is always pushing petite women to purchase adult skis even if they are longer than their height, so I just wanted to offer an alternative opinion! Obviously everyone is different and everyone should make choices based on their own ski style and local terrain, etc. But I just wanted to share an alternative opinion

 

[Chuyi]

Your priorities are different. I am too lazy to hike at 8000-9000 feet. I own the girl Santa Ana 160 cm. They are 95 underfoot. I think they have less Titanial than the women's version they ski fine for me but they are less stiff than the women's version. Since you hike up a lot you may want to consider hybrid touring setup. The boots are more comfortable to hike up & the setup is lighter. I use G3ion10 cuz the Din dial to low 4.5.
Here is an article about girl vs women ski.

Should Women Ski Kids’ or Juniors’ Skis?

Every few weeks, I get a question about kids’ skis from grown women. I get it, the sizes overlap. The costs are much cheaper. At face value, they look like the best bang for the buck. Thank god the…

femignarly.com

 

[Verve]

Always great to hear alternative takes! As you note, the Cochise Jr is a Team ski and built burlier than many other junior skis - Black Crows Jr skis are actually identical construction to their adult equivalents. Great that they work for you. And that Santa Ana 98 has a bunch of metal so is way on the other end of the spectrum especially for your weight - unlike the Santa Ana 84 which they designed sort of as bridge ski between junior and adult and comes all the way down to 151. There are other lighter, flexier adult skis that come in the low 150s and even 148 so I hope Ski Diva isn’t suggesting people ski a longer ski than they need, just one designed and tested for adult use.

 

[tinymoose]

I'm 5'1" and 95 lbs and have had a handful of junior skis/bindings/boots over the years. Currently have some junior SLs and in some junior Redster boots. On one hand the cost savings is nice, on the other hand finding gear that works for you, be it adult or junior, is a real PITA when you're tiny. lol

ETA: also, I saw this thread and was like "MY PEOPLE!!!"

 

[jthree]

ETA: also, I saw this thread and was like "MY PEOPLE!!!"