Advice for second set of skis

[Wellesy]

I’m looking to get a second set of skis, I’m an intermediate skier. I skied growing up, took a 20-ish year break and this is my second season back at it. I’m 43, 5’0”, 115 lbs. Most of my skiing is on the east coast: poconos, Catskills, Vermont. I’ve got great boots that I had fitted last year and have been skiing on Elan Ripstick 88s (154 cm). The Ripsticks have been mostly great for me but I think I want to add a shorter and skinnier ski. The Ripsticks are slightly taller than me and can be cumbersome at times, especially in the trees. I’m still getting comfortable going fast and usually find myself using a lot of energy to scrub speed. I’m not sure if that’s because the Ripsticks are less stable at speed or if I’m just not comfortable going fast. I’m also trying to teach my 4 year old and feel like shorter skis would help there too.

I’m considering black pearl 84s at 146 cm. Is there a noticeable difference in waist width between 88 and 84? I’m open to other suggestions on skis to think about. Looking for easy to turn/get on edge (especially in the trees) and stable at speed.

I’d love to demo but I’ve called around and unless I do another VT trip, finding the skis I want to try in short sizes is not easy.

 

[Skac1919]

Sounds like you need an intermediate ski that can be a little more versatile. Do you have a mix of “by yourself” skiing at faster speeds and more varied terrain, and “with kid” skiing? What have you been looking to try?

Having just exited the 4-6 yo teaching stage myself… I really really appreciated the edges of my volkls when standing on ice to pick up a kid from the worst possible spot in the trail.

 

[Wellesy]

Yes, that’s exactly it! Right now I’m the only skier in the family so I do solo skiing or with friends but also want to get my kids into it and hopefully my husband too!

I like the Ripsticks because they are not demanding but I think I would benefit from something a little stiffer but still forgiving.

 

[marzNC]

I’m considering black pearl 84s at 146 cm. Is there a noticeable difference in waist width between 88 and 84? I’m open to other suggestions on skis to think about. Looking for easy to turn/get on edge (especially in the trees) and stable at speed.

I’m 43, 5’0”, 115 lbs.

Welcome! My stats are about the same but I'm a couple decades older. I started my mid-20s daughter on skis with full-day ski school at our home hill, Massanutten, in northern VA when she was 4. You were clearly a better skier than I was when you stopped skiing for a bit. My husband of 30+ years is a non-skier for assorted reasons.

BP84s at 146cm could work well in the mid-Atlantic and northeast. The skis I bought a few years ago to use in the east (from a Diva who is also petite) are the Volkl Yumi, 84 underfoot, 147cm. Before that I had the Head Absolut Joy, 78mm, 148cm. Since my home mountain is small, with no off-piste terrain, that worked well for quite a while. After my daughter became an advanced skier, we often took trips with friends who had younger kids who were learning to ski.

 

[Verve]

I wrote a whole novel about ski construction and taking guesses about what you're feeling and not feeling about the Ripsticks. Then I realized I think I just have a recommendation for you which is the Volkl Secret 84 - formely the Yumi. SO turny, comes in nice short lengths. It's a carving/frontside oriented ski but does well off piste in bumps and trees. If you can demo them, amazing. This ski also hasn't changed for awhile, despite the re-brand, so you might be able to find, say last year's model at a big discount.

 

[tika55]

I wrote a whole novel about ski construction and taking guesses about what you're feeling and not feeling about the Ripsticks. Then I realized I think I just have a recommendation for you which is the Volkl Secret 84 - formely the Yumi. SO turny, comes in nice short lengths. It's a carving/frontside oriented ski but does well off piste in bumps and trees. If you can demo them, amazing. This ski also hasn't changed for awhile, despite the re-brand, so you might be able to find, say last year's model at a big discount.

I'm not an expert but I agree with this! I have slightly wider Volkls (Kenja 88, now Secrets I think). They are really good at doing whatever I ask them to do. They've done well this year in everything from black tree runs to icy groomers to waiting for slower people so trying to keep up with speedy friends, etc. I demoed the Yumi in the past and loved them as well.

 

[Skac1919]

I second the Secret/Yumi recommendation. That is a great idea for the mix of terrain and with/without kids, and giving you room to grow your own skills over a couple years.

 

[Wellesy]

I wrote a whole novel about ski construction and taking guesses about what you're feeling and not feeling about the Ripsticks. Then I realized I think I just have a recommendation for you which is the Volkl Secret 84 - formely the Yumi. SO turny, comes in nice short lengths. It's a carving/frontside oriented ski but does well off piste in bumps and trees. If you can demo them, amazing. This ski also hasn't changed for awhile, despite the re-brand, so you might be able to find, say last year's model at a big discount.

Thank you!!! I will check out the Volkl secrets and absolute joys.

Also, I 100% would have read and appreciated your novel as I am an over analyzer and always looking for something to over analyze especially if it’s ski related!
My daughter just found out people put stickers on their helmet and now wants stickers on her helmet. She told me I had to put a sticker on mine so the sticker I chose to put on the back of my helmet says “hang on, let me over think this.”

 

[Wellesy]

I'm not an expert but I agree with this! I have slightly wider Volkls (Kenja 88, now Secrets I think). They are really good at doing whatever I ask them to do. They've done well this year in everything from black tree runs to icy groomers to waiting for slower people so trying to keep up with speedy friends, etc. I demoed the Yumi in the past and loved them as well.

Thank you!! I have a friend that has the Kenja 88s and got the Flairs (76 I think) for skiing with her young kids so I hadn’t considered them thinking it would be too much ski for me. I will check them out. Hopefully I can figure out where I can demo them.

 

[Wellesy]

I second the Secret/Yumi recommendation. That is a great idea for the mix of terrain and with/without kids, and giving you room to grow your own skills over a couple years.

Thank you!!

 

[Wellesy]

Welcome! My stats are about the same but I'm a couple decades older. I started my mid-20s daughter on skis with full-day ski school at our home hill, Massanutten, in northern VA when she was 4. You were clearly a better skier than I was when you stopped skiing for a bit. My husband of 30+ years is a non-skier for assorted reasons.

BP84s at 146cm could work well in the mid-Atlantic and northeast. The skis I bought a few years ago to use in the east (from a Diva who is also petite) are the Volkl Yumi, 84 underfoot, 147cm. Before that I had the Head Absolut Joy, 78mm, 148cm. Since my home mountain is small, with no off-piste terrain, that worked well for quite a while. After my daughter became an advanced skier, we often took trips with friends who had younger kids who were learning to ski.

Thank you!! I’ll have to try to find some demos. I’m in NJ and with my husband not being a skier, it’s hard to take off to VT 4 hours away to demo skis. My son will be 3 at the end of March, I was hoping if there’s still some snow on the ground we could do a family trip and I could put everyone in ski school while I demo!

 

[marzNC]

Thank you!! I’ll have to try to find some demos. I’m in NJ and with my husband not being a skier, it’s hard to take off to VT 4 hours away to demo skis. My son will be 3 at the end of March, I was hoping if there’s still some snow on the ground we could do a family trip and I could put everyone in ski school while I demo!

As I remember, the Windham demo selection was pretty good, even for a petite woman. Perhaps something to keep in mind for future reference.

A bonus for being a Ski Diva is that if you buy skis that don't turn out to be the best fit, usually not too hard to find another Diva interested in buying them. Three of the pairs of skis I've bought in the last decade were used for a year or three by another petite Diva. Only one had to be shipped.

 

[Wellesy]

As I remember, the Windham demo selection was pretty good, even for a petite woman. Perhaps something to keep in mind for future reference.

A bonus for being a Ski Diva is that if you buy skis that don't turn out to be the best fit, usually not too hard to find another Diva interested in buying them. Three of the pairs of skis I've bought in the last decade were used for a year or three by another petite Diva. Only one had to be shipped.

I’ll have to check out the demos at windham. I grew up skiing there and have a lot of nostalgia for that mountain.

 

[Wellesy]

I wrote a whole novel about ski construction and taking guesses about what you're feeling and not feeling about the Ripsticks. Then I realized I think I just have a recommendation for you which is the Volkl Secret 84 - formely the Yumi. SO turny, comes in nice short lengths. It's a carving/frontside oriented ski but does well off piste in bumps and trees. If you can demo them, amazing. This ski also hasn't changed for awhile, despite the re-brand, so you might be able to find, say last year's model at a big discount.

Can I please pick your brain about ski construction?

I stopped in to my local ski shop and explained what I was looking for without mentioning any of the skis you ladies recommended as I wanted to see what the salesman would recommend. He went straight to the secrets! Actually, he was trying to convince me to get rid of my Ripsticks and replace them with the Secret 88s.

He was really excited about the side cut and how the secrets have 3 separate turn radius at the top, middle, and bottom of the ski. He was explaining that the radius at the back won’t punish you if you get in the back seat. Do you know what this means? I have a bad habit of getting in the back seat when I am fatigued or when it’s very steep or if it is really icy. It’s something that I am very aware of and working really hard to correct (but of course old habits die hard!). I guess my question is if you ski these in the back seat, will you burn out your quads like on any other skis or what is it that makes them forgiving? My guess is that the ski does not skid out and still turns?

My biggest worry is that my technique would suffer from having a ski that is forgiving when my weight is in the back. Is that possible? Could I ski these for a few years and get on other skis that are not as forgiving and now I can’t get forward because I got used to riding the secrets that never demanded that I do? Most likely I’m over thinking this and if the skis also have a turn radius for when you are charging hard up front, perhaps that would be reward enough to keep good form? I’m rambling now, but appreciate any insight you may have as I really have no concept of how the construction of my skis affects my experience on them.

The more I look into them, the more the secrets appeal to me. More so the 84s than the 88s (which I think are the Kenjas). I’m going to try to find where I can demo them and the black pearl 84.

Thank you!!

 

[Verve]

Happy to try to translate but I’ll say a lot of what that salesperson is saying gets into the realm of marketing jargon about that ski - your actual mileage may vary. Likewise take my ramblings with a grain of salt

Having different turn radii (?) down the length of the ski isn’t unique to Volkl but what is unusual is that the turn shape gets longer at the tip of their skis. Some report that this make them feel less hooky but others don’t like that they can’t just angle over their ski tips and initiate a tight turn. Some skiers won’t notice any difference. I find Volkl skis accross the board to be smooth, responsive and very connected to the snow. Sort of like a Cadillac feel. The wider they get, the more important it is to stay on them and drive them from a powerful athletic stance. I never heard anyone call the Mantra M6/7 forgiving of backseatsers and that has the same 3D (now 4D) tech we get in the Secret line.

It’s true that some skis won’t punish you as much for being back seated but to my mind this has a lot less to do with the radius at the back of the ski than with the length and construction of the tails. When you’re in the backseat, chances are you’re not really engaging that edge as intended anyway. Also *everyone* backseats sometimes, and I’d say the quad burn comes from the body position more than anything the ski affects. No ski will fix it for you but more experience and time skiing in different conditions will help! So my thought is, get the ski that gets you out there and take it from there - don’t worry about not being punished for bad habits

The reason the Secret 84 stood out to me for you is its great combination of maneuverability and edge hold. And you wanted something narrower to focus on your turns. The 88 is a bit wider (obv) but also beefier with a thin titanal frame where the 84 has glass, making it lighter. So say you do burn your quads with some back seating, you’ll still be able to throw these around when chasing kiddos through those woods whoop-de-whoops ;). Both are extremely popular skis (as you’ve seen on this forum ). I think you’d learn to like either but the 84 seemed like the ticket.

 

[Wellesy]

Happy to try to translate but I’ll say a lot of what that salesperson is saying gets into the realm of marketing jargon about that ski - your actual mileage may vary. Likewise take my ramblings with a grain of salt

Having different turn radii (?) down the length of the ski isn’t unique to Volkl but what is unusual is that the turn shape gets longer at the tip of their skis. Some report that this make them feel less hooky but others don’t like that they can’t just angle over their ski tips and initiate a tight turn. Some skiers won’t notice any difference. I find Volkl skis accross the board to be smooth, responsive and very connected to the snow. Sort of like a Cadillac feel. The wider they get, the more important it is to stay on them and drive them from a powerful athletic stance. I never heard anyone call the Mantra M6/7 forgiving of backseatsers and that has the same 3D (now 4D) tech we get in the Secret line.

It’s true that some skis won’t punish you as much for being back seated but to my mind this has a lot less to do with the radius at the back of the ski than with the length and construction of the tails. When you’re in the backseat, chances are you’re not really engaging that edge as intended anyway. Also *everyone* backseats sometimes, and I’d say the quad burn comes from the body position more than anything the ski affects. No ski will fix it for you but more experience and time skiing in different conditions will help! So my thought is, get the ski that gets you out there and take it from there - don’t worry about not being punished for bad habits

The reason the Secret 84 stood out to me for you is its great combination of maneuverability and edge hold. And you wanted something narrower to focus on your turns. The 88 is a bit wider (obv) but also beefier with a thin titanal frame where the 84 has glass, making it lighter. So say you do burn your quads with some back seating, you’ll still be able to throw these around when chasing kiddos through those woods whoop-de-whoops ;). Both are extremely popular skis (as you’ve seen on this forum ). I think you’d learn to like either but the 84 seemed like the ticket.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!! So much information out there it’s hard to know what matters, but you’re right, my issues stem from years of skiing with a poor stance and not understanding how to get forward properly. Now that I’m aware of the problem and what I have to do to fix it, more time on snow and varied terrain is what I need. I’ll be back on the snow on Tuesday and going to try to track down the secret 84 to take with me.

thanks again!!

 

[Verve]

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!! So much information out there it’s hard to know what matters, but you’re right, my issues stem from years of skiing with a poor stance and not understanding how to get forward properly. Now that I’m aware of the problem and what I have to do to fix it, more time on snow and varied terrain is what I need. I’ll be back on the snow on Tuesday and going to try to track down the secret 84 to take with me.

thanks again!!

Happy to help! Hope you can try them!

 

[Abbi]

Thank you!!! I will check out the Volkl secrets and absolute joys.

Also, I 100% would have read and appreciated your novel as I am an over analyzer and always looking for something to over analyze especially if it’s ski related!
My daughter just found out people put stickers on their helmet and now wants stickers on her helmet. She told me I had to put a sticker on mine so the sticker I chose to put on the back of my helmet says “hang on, let me over think this.”

I need that sticker!

 

[Wellesy]

I need that sticker!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CTXRXYJY?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title