• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Help me find a new ~150cm all-mountain midwest ski!

shadoj

Angel Diva
Hi, shorter ladies! I'm hoping to get some first-hand feedback on demo skis to try and/or models to look for at any upcoming swaps/sales. I'm on some very old Elan M-Pro Flame (Jr?) twin tips, 145cm, no real rocker, super soft/narrow, super chattery on crud/hardpack. I demoed the 2019-20 152cm Moment Hot Mess (~87 waist, big rocker) at Lutsen and loved them -- stiff enough but playful, easy to flip from edge to edge, gave me power back when I pushed them, ate the crud -- I had confidence I hadn't had in a long time. Could have used a couple fewer cm length, just for the ease of stepping over my own tails (tiny 265 BSL). Wouldn't want anything much softer. I like to switch between charging hard and doing finesse drills on gentler slopes, and want at least a partial twin tip. Ski mostly on-piste, but I'm game for any conditions. Lightweight a plus. 4'10", ~110lbs.

Anyone skied the Hot Messes & know how they compare to the 2020 Santa Ana 88s or this year's Black Pearls? I like stability at speed, medium-small radius turns, good edge hold on ice. Thanks all!
 

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hi Welcome.. I haven't skied the hot messes. I have demo'd the Santa Ana they were fun. The new Black pearl seemed to planky to me- I have 2016 version-it's much softer and my spring bump ski.
Have you tried any of Atomic Vantage series? They are very nice performing ski.

Skis have come so far, so many choices! And what one person loves another hates, demoing is best and since the Hot Messes wow'd you why not get them?
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
Thanks for the feedback! The Vantages look fun, but pretty flat in the tail? I am not good at switch, but do enjoy messing around on the greens to change things up. The older Santa Anas sure are tempting; I'm curious about the Liberty Genesis, too.

Hopefully, I'll be able to demo more next season (not as easy here as out west); the Hot Messes are the only thing I've tried since my '05 Elans. Because I'm overpowering my current skis, just about anything modern would probably feel amazing. Also, the Hot Messes are all sold out for the year in my size, which is probably a good thing for the budget ;)
 

Knitjenious

Angel Diva
I ski on a 2019 Atomic Vantage x77 CTi. But I am probably not nearly experienced enough to be able to help you make comparisons. I like them, though, and am told they are good for the conditions we get here in Western NY (which are probably similar to Midwest.) I got them near the end of the 2019 season.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
Try the Blizzard Sheeva 9. I am 5’1 and 105 and have them in a 157. Rocker tip/tail 92 underfoot. Super fun ski - just got back from 6 days Tahoe and skied Sheevas exclusively!
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I saw your thread and wish I could be of more help since I'm small too (5'1", 100 lbs), but I haven't tried a lot of skis in recent years due to quitting my job and being a broke college student (again). lol I have the Volkl Yumis and really like them, but I don't think they'd meet your requirement of a partial twin twip. They have a bit of rocker at the tail and tip, but not a ton. I think they'd fit the other things you liked in the Hot Mess skis... they have a titanal band under the bindings so they've very stable in crud and chop, and the tail is stiffer so you can get some energy/rebound out of them, while the small amount of rocker in the tail and tip keeps them more forgiving. I've demoed the Black Pearl in years past and it's a much turnier, soft snow oriented ski imo than the Yumi, although that was a few years ago so the skis may have changed since then. The Black Pearl usually has more rocker to it.
 

Ermit

Certified Ski Diva
Oh! The Hot Messes were the very first ski that I bought. This is only my second year skiing, so I’m not an expert at all with respect to skis. But I will say that I LOVE the Hot Messes. Since you demoed them you know that they have a lot of tail rocker, which I love. I’m 5’9”, 130ish and just turned 39; I’m not very strong or heavy and I am able to easily control the skis. I think the rocker is a big contributing factor and some like it/some don’t. I’m now remembering that I raced in our beer league on these skis three weeks this year and they are ok to carve once you get the feel. Much easier to get on a good edge than my Line Pandora 85s with similar specs but less rocker. I had them at Killington yesterday on Vagabond and on an easy tree run and they were great.

The only skis that I love more are my Moment Sierras :smile: but they are 95mm under foot and a bit less nimble. But boy are they stable and fun. So try those, too, if you can.

For reference, my ‘race’ skis are Stocli Laser MCs so I’m a ski lightweight. I’m not afraid to go fast and push the skis, though.
 

teppaz

Angel Diva
I wish Line still made the Soulmate because it would have been right up your alley: both stable and fun, with great rocker in tip and tail. I had the unisex version, the Prophet, and absolutely loved it. Nothing in the Line catalogue has really replaced them (the Pandora and Sick Day don't have the same stability at speed on groomers).
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I would say maybe try a length longer than 150 and skinnier than the Hot Mess, which I recognize is not the answer you’re looking for. I think the combo will be better for Midwest conditions. Your Elans sound really short!
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
Yeah, they're pretty short. The more modern skis seem to have a lot more aggressive rockering, so do ski quite a bit shorter. I don't really like anything >155cm based on older rentals, know I could handle longer than low-150's, but still worry about the tail clearance when skating / climbing those stupid hills at the lift lines. Plus, trees/moguls/spins. I have some hip issues, so I try to avoid too much wider rotary motion. I feel it's going to be hard to know how much length is too much without demoing. Bwahhhh... I just want new skis!
 

racetiger

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
152 length 87 width And rockered? wow that sounds sooo short.
Last year and the season prior I was skiing a heavily rockered ski 161 and 88 width and i knew it was way too short and soft for me . It was holding me back. (I'm slightly bigger at 5ft 3 and 125lbs) This year I have a 176 with a 90 width which on "normal" skis would be like GS length skis on me but the tip and tail have so much rocker they ski more like a 160 something. I can handle them just fine. I have the confidence to charge on them but they dont like ice....at all... Oh and I totally step on my tails too. Not so much this year. Im getting better as my awareness improves.
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
Update: I have new skis for this season!

After some serious thought into where I'd be skiing & typical conditions, plus what I want to work on these next couple winters... I decided to forego twin-tips and look for something closer to 80mm underfoot. I'm ok with being mostly forward-facing these days! Unfortunately, with the ever-evolving COVID situation, I wasn't going to get a chance to demo anything before "needing" skis (friends wanted to ski the day after Christmas, so... anything suitable that crossed my path was now on the radar). Girlfriend needed ski boots, so off to the shop we went...

With too much time to kill, and a nice (but down to 0-2 pairs in most sizes) selection of flat skis, I unleashed the bootfitters upon my girlfriend and started poking at things -- hand-bending, looking at ski profiles flat on the floor, and all the good stuff. I had done plenty of research this summer, so had a vague shortlist of potential models. My roommate picked up the phone and did some quick googling and price-checking, and I decided to bite the bullet...

2022 Blizzard Black Pearl 82's, 152cm.

Can't lie, the simple topsheet & glowing bottoms are lovely! Sure beats my old 145cm cap skis (now in well-earned retirement), plus there's actually less ski behind my heels now (old ski center mount vs. new ski traditional mount). Makes kick-turns much easier with my hips; much more ski for the same/less weight, plus a longer effective edge and more stability. There's a return in energy my old skis never gave me, too.

I've had them out 5 times so far, including some nice, icy days. They hold a great edge, I can bend them into nice railroad tracks, yet I can just relax and goof around if I wish. Haven't hit an upper performance limit yet, as I have no race background :smile: The day I do, I've earned new skis!
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
Try the Blizzard Sheeva 9. I am 5’1 and 105 and have them in a 157. Rocker tip/tail 92 underfoot. Super fun ski - just got back from 6 days Tahoe and skied Sheevas exclusively!
I'm 5'0 and I got the Sheeva at 148 cm - they feel perfect at that length.
 

newboots

Angel Diva
I love my BP82s. Sadly, I bought them when their color was this brownish-mauve; I'm jealous of everybody who has the pretty blue ones! Happy to have others joining the club!
 

shadoj

Angel Diva
My good friend (who has yet to be dragged onto this forum and initiated into ski-divaness) picked up a gently-used demo pair of 19/20 BP82's @159cm at the end of last season; got a steal of a deal. Color definitely suits her! I don't think I'd enjoy the older version quite as much, as there have been construction changes in the 21/22 model that make it a better fit for how I ski.

I think these are going to be *great* for the bumps and between the tight midwest trees!
Both of us are taking our new skis to Big Powderhorn (UP Michigan) next month for more fun :smile:
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
I love my BP82s. Sadly, I bought them when their color was this brownish-mauve; I'm jealous of everybody who has the pretty blue ones! Happy to have others joining the club!

While I LOVE how my Sheevas ski, I also don't like the color they are. I DO like the glowing orange base parts though, Blizzard definitely got that part right haha. Sometimes we get lucky and sometimes not on topsheets I guess.
 
Top