Gear for a beginner ski diva :)

[snowgirl]

Hi everyone! Great forum here I totally love it I'm just getting started skiing and was wondering if anyone has any good suggestions for a good pair of skis & boots for a beginner. I've tried on a TON of boots at different stores to get the feel for ones that fit comfortably and think I'm going to buy Salomon Irony 6's or Atomic Balanze 90's. As for skis, the advice I heard for a beginner is to buy shorter skis since they are easier to learn on. Other than that I'm pretty clueless, although I'm leaning towards something a little above my level something I won't grow out of too fast. Any ski tips would be awesome thanks everyone

 

[ski now work later]

I bought my daughter some shorter K-2 Sweet Luvs, which seems like a good entry level ski to last a couple of seasons. Yes, go shorter. I made the mistake of moving to longer and more advanced skis too soon, and then had to go back to shorter skis.

 

[num]

Good call on looking to boots first. They're the most important thing, since they're the link between you and your skis, letting your skis know what you want them to do, and you want the best fitting boots you can get to make sure nothing gets lost in translation Have you seen a bootfitter? To make sure your boots fit right, they should shell fit you (take the liner out of the boot, have you put your foot into the shell, and check the amount of space). We've got threads on how a visit to the bootfitter should go, I'll dig up a link if you wanna take a look.

As far as skis go, my advice is that you demo as much as you can. Do you know how demoing works? Let us know if you need anything explained.

If you could give a little more information about how and what exactly you're skiing so far, it'd help to fine tune ski suggestions, and if you let us know your height and weight, that'd help us give size suggestions.

From what I'm guessing your level to be, the Sweet Luvs are a good ski to look into, and I'd also add the Dynastar Exclusive 8 to the list. I'm sure more people will chime in with advice on what to demo, try out as much as you can and you'll know when you've got the right pair.

Good luck and let us know what you end up with. We love gear reviews :D

 

[volklgirl]

Ask around to see who the very best boot fitter is in your area then make an appointment with him/her. Take shorts and plan on a couple of hours. Buy whatever they think would be best for you, but be very honest about your current ability, weight, speed and terrain preferences and aspirations. Boots really shouldn't be 'comfortable' in the store....a properly fitted boot should be almost uncomfortably snug but not painful anywhere. The liner will 'pack out' making the boot up to 1 full size larger after skiing for some time (buying a 'comfortable' boot means they will usually be too big once they pack out). Fit around the heel, ankle and calf areas is nore important than around the toes - they can do many things to make the toe area bigger if it's too snug, but very little to make a too big boot smaller.

When you're happy with your boots, rent or demo lots of different makes, models, and sizes of skis until you find the ski that makes you grin, giggle, and laugh from the top of the mountain to the bottom, then buy it!

 

[smpayne]

What Volklgirl said!!!!!!:D
I just want to expand on the "not comfortable" but "NOT PAINFUL ANYWHERE". The not painful part is very important, also pay close attention to preasure points. What may feel like a slight preasure point in the store, will be painful on the hill. The "not comfortable" is more, there is almost no wiggle room, your big toe should be pressing against the front of the liner. It should be really, really, tight/snug in the heels. Your foot should feel almost closterphobic with the buckles on the widest notch. More than likely you will discover preasure points once you start skiing in them. This is normal and multiple trips to the bootfitter to correct the preasure points is also normal (your feet will thank you for it). Buy from a real bootfitter, not a chain store, I speak from experience.

When I first got my (propperly fitted & sized) boots, I could ski the easy runs with the top buckles popped, now that the liners have packed out, there is too much wiggle room to do that, I have to buckle up and am gradully tightening things up.

Skis: Weight, ability (I know you said you were a beginner), and physical strength will play a big part into what size to get. When you get your boots, rent some higher end "performance" or demo skis. If you can rent them at the resort, this is ideal, then you can switch them out all day long for different models and sizes and find the ones that feel the best for you. This is a real treat for many of us, I did it earlier this year and had a blast.

I would aim for a solid intermediate ski and stay away from the beginner skis, unless you plan to relpace them within a year.

 

[SkiMonster]

I feel compelled to 4th, 5th or whatever the bootfitting advice. I DIDN'T do that when I bought my first pair of boots; and although my husband tried to explain how they should be 'tight' I just didn't really grasp the concept. I ended up with boots that were so big (they ended up fitting him, he's 6'1'' :/ and used them for a couple days because we had simultaneous boot problems!) and we had to itnerrupt our one real ski trip last year to go buy me new boots. When someone who knew what they were doing got ahold of me, and got me into a boot that (with some heel wrapping, a brace, and buckle moving on a JR's boot no less!) fit me; it was like a lightbuld went off "OH, you mean TIGHT!!"

The difference was amazing; I could suddenly control my skiis again, for one thing!

It sounds like a pain or a lot of trouble for when you are 'just beginning' (i wrongly assumed that because I was just starting it 'didn't matter' - WRONG!); but it's really important; too big boots nearly ruined skiing for me, just because I didn't know any better; and without boots I can trust, I'd never be where I am now.

So; from a recent first time gear buyer who thought all that special attention was just for the experienced or those with $$ to spend... These ladies KNOW what they are talking about and I learned my lesson - and would hate anyone else to have to learn it the same way I did!