Help!! NO idea which skis to buy!!!

[Pamelalee5]

Hi everyone!
I only found this site less than a week ago, but wow, has it been helpful!! I love it. SO much great info on here!

Anyway, here's my story....
I am 38(next month), 5'7", about 140 lbs, adventurous,active (I run, bike ride, gym, etc). I ski mostly in the Northeast (in NH and Maine).
This was my 3rd season skiing. My boyfriend bought me a pair of K2 Aspires to start on 3 yrs ago, which have served me well. This year I was thinking that "my skis were holding me back". So, to see if I was right, I recently demo-ed a pair of Salomon Rush, at the suggestion of the VERY helpful "ski shop guy", after I explained how I thought I skiied. (Very tricky to answer all those questions about what how you ski, when you have nothing to compare it to, by the way).

Well, I tried those skis and HOLY COW! The difference was amazing! Every time we did a run, I kept saying "I'm skiing, I'm skiing!!", the whole way down the mountain.. Felt so good to actually see that it was my skis,& not me, & that I did kinda know what I was talking about, and also to be able to control my turns.
My BF said he could see the difference as well, that I was carving my turns(as opposed to almost stopping every time I turned), and that I was keeping my skis together, etc.
So, he told me I should demo other skis before I buy, see the differences,what feels best-- which is a great idea, but at the end of the season, there are not many demos left. :( But I must buy the skis now, on sale, so I can afford them. Now that I know the difference, I can never use my beginner skis again!

I did get to try Burnin Luv and the Vokyl Tierra. I really really wanted to try the Lotta luvs, and the Salomon Origin, but there are NONE to demo.(it IS april, what do I expect?)

more info: I ski down all the blues, most blacks..even double blacks when there is no ice-i get very daring out west-haha...just may not look as pretty.. and aside from a warm up, not the greens usually. My BF thinks I have come so far so quickly because I haven't been coddled(his words) and have been "forced" to challenge myself by keeping up(everyone else in our group is very experienced).
We ski every weekend in the winter around here, and go on an annual ski trip for at least 7 days every year (last 3 yrs have been Park City, Vail, and Lake Tahoe).

Not sure if I will get a chance to try one more type of ski this weekend, but this is my dilemma--
I have NO idea which skis to get. I am sure that whatever I get, I will be happy with them, considering they are all better than my beginner skis.

**Decided Burnin Luvs are out(even tho I liked them) since we go off-piste when it blizzards here, and also when we're out west.

**I liked the Vokyl Tierras, good ski for most conditions around here, I think.. takes alot of work, but felt like I could get used to it, as I progress...but wondering if they would do OK in that real powder we were skiing in last year in the back bowls at Vail the whole week.

I was thinking that I could just buy the Lotta Luvs, or that the Origins may be a good ski (based on what I have read), since I liked the Rush, and I could grow into them ? (I will not be able to demo these skis though).


Thanks for taking the time to read, I will probably never write anything on here that is as long as this message.

Any advice on which skis I should try?

 

[vanhoskier]

Lotta Luvs are really nice and easy to ski; have a wider waist that will help you with pow and crud.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

I have the One Luvs & Lotta Luvs.
The One Luvs are my FAVORITES, but I can really sink in the powder, so I bough the Lotta Luvs....with a thicker underboot! (or waist...whatever!) I haven't tried them, yet, but I'm excited to!

I would highly recommend either of these skis!

 

[Jilly]

Both Ski Diva and I got to demo next years skis. Salomon is making great women's skis. The Rush is back next year. I would consider it a groomer-carver ski. If you're looking more all mountain, then the Origin. The graphics are much better next year. Also for next year is the Opal. This ski is the women's X-wing. More groomer, than all mountain, but great for us in the east.
So nothing wrong with Origins as a choice. I don't think that you will need to "grow into" them either. The Rush is an advanced ski. If you were doing Ok on them, then the Origin should be OK.

 

[mtnbikegirl]

I test drove the Tierra's and the Lotta's. I too found the Tierra's to be a lot of work. They wanted to be on edge all the time. I had tried the Lotta's and just fell in love. So far they have been outstanding. We'll see how I handle the spring skiing conditions...mixed ice with corn.

 

[CMCM]

I just got the Origins and aboslutely LOVE them. It was pure accident, too....I had gone to demo other things, but only the Origins was left, and in a length I thought was way too long for me...162. (I notice your height/weight is similar to me...I was previously on a 150 with 68 waist, and these skis were really unstable in certain conditions). One run on the Origins and I was in love--the difference was that remarkable...I didn't want to get back on my old Nordicas. I haven't tried them in all conditions, but I've had them so far on some hard pack (great edges), some icy stuff, and in mush (they plow right thru without even a blip), and so far great great great. I'm totally happy with them, but if I hadn't demoed them, I never would have considered them because they had always sounded too expert in the descriptions. Maybe they perform great for experts, but I haven't found them difficult and I'm a mid level intermediate. On my first run down the hill, my husband watched and said he saw an immediate change for the better in my skiing. These skis are very very stable in my opinion. There are good prices out there now...I got mine 40% off. Granite Chief Truckee and at Squaw still have some I think (I got mine there). Some people including me weren't too excited about the graphics, but they've actually grown on me and I quite like them now. Very different looking. My husband really likes them....after waxing them last night he was commenting on how neat he thinks they look. Anyhow, not like I have a lot of things to compare to, but I can't tell you how different skiing has been on these, all for the better. And my skiing improved a LOT right away and continues to improve....I had a great day today skiing in fairly soft snow, which I used to hate. But on the Origins I was in heaven, it was wonderful all day.