UPDATE: DEMO DAY!
I feel like I’ve told this story a lot at Diva West but I said I would give an update so buckle in for a story. My first 2 days at Diva West were gorgeous Blue Bird Days with Sunday being my first ski day. I had the privilege to ski with
@skibum4ever that Sunday and she gave me a great tour of the mountain. We spent the whole day on blue trails of varying difficulty, some made me nervous and some were just plain fun! At the end of the day she said I am better skier than I let on
! Monday
@socalgal was patient enough to ski with me when I decided to try the Cheyennes again which I update
here. Long story short, the length (170cm) surprisingly didn’t bother me but I felt afraid of them and took them off quickly. And since I’m giving shoot outs, thanks to
@Quiver Queen,
@mustski, and
@Jenny for skiing with me that afternoon! Skiing with better skiers pushed me to becoming a blue trail skier during Diva West
!
Tuesday was Demo Day! I left my rental skis (160cm) at home to prevent myself from jumping back on something safe and comforting. It was snowing off and on all day that Tuesday so the conditions kept changing. Since the 170 cm Cheyennes didn’t bother me the day before, I decided to just try skis from 165-170cm. Went to the demo shop and asked for the Head Absolute Joy but the longest they had was in 153cm. Asked for the Yumi, the longest they had was 161cm. They had the Atomic Vantage 85 in 165cm so I took those out first. I made sure to take all of the skis on a green trail first, then a blue if I liked it. While the tech was preparing the next ski I would jot down notes on the previous ski on my phone’s notepad app.
1. Atomic Vantage 85 165 cm: Notes-
“planky, heavy, stable, felt like it wanted to go fast, felt like work, took in after 1 run” - I wanted these off my feet immediately! I felt like the ski was so heavy that I couldn’t lighten the uphill leg and every turn was a fight. Wasn’t a good start to a demo day.
2. Nordica Astral 84 165 cm: Notes-
“fun, confidence inducing, compliant, quad burn? Did well in uneven terrain. Winner so far. 3 runs- 2 greens, 1 blue” - This ski was a relief after the Vantage. I had felt like this demo day might’ve been a mistake and that advance skis were just beyond me. The ski was fun but the quad burn worried me. I never felt that on a ski before and wondered why it was happening.
3. Armada Victa 83 167cm: Notes-
“fun, fun, fun! Confidence inducing, complaint, good on uneven terrain. It said “ I’ll worry about the terrain you worry about the technique, I gotchu girl!!” Got vertigo at one point it was still there for me. 3 runs- 1 green, 2 blues” - Loved this ski! Complaint like the Astral (as in it obeyed my wishes good or bad) but no quad burn. I did things on this ski that I’ve never done before. I felt like it spoke to me. “Hey, you know what would be fun? Short zippy turns!” “Hey, you know what would be fun?” Wide sweeping turns!” It’s like that friend that talks you into something you may regret (like going to the local Biker’s Night) but by the end of the night you had a good time and an even better story.
Went to lunch
4. K2 Ooolaluv 85ti 170cm: Notes -
“Uh oh! I don’t want to like another ski! I’ve made my choice! Easier to ski than the Victa. Easiest. Stable but kind of boring? 2 runs.” - Technically this was the ski tech’s choice because I had a different K2 in mind. I thought about this ski a lot once I got off it. I remembered my stomach dropping skiing it because I liked it immediately but didn’t want to
. I felt it was better than the Victa in some ways but there was something about it. I eventually figured it out. It was the Victa’s opposite. Just as compliant to my wishes but where the Victa was the friend that talked me into taking risks, the Ooolaluv was the sympathetic friend that had your back no matter what. No matter what my decision. You want to cruise? Cool. You want to go faster? Cool, let’s go. You want to make wide turns? Cool, let’s do that. It didn’t push me, but it let me make the choice and was right there.
5. Salomon Myriad 85 169cm: Notes- “
work for your turns. It is the reason I start on green runs! Feels a lot like the Vantage 85. 1 run only.” - This was another dealer's choice. I asked the shop if they had any suggestions and he handed me this. Uhhh. no.
6. Santa Ana 93 169 cm: Notes-
“Eh. Not good or bad. 1 run. Just no fun factor.” - This was the widest ski I ever been on to this point. It just felt like a ski. I could turn it and get down fine but it wasn’t “fun”.
7. Armada Tracer 98 164cm: Notes-
“Fun for tree skiing. Didn’t make the kind of turns I liked, felt sluggish but busted over gross stuff with ease.”- I wonder if I should’ve got this in one length up but the tech handed me this and I just shrugged. I had no intention of buying this but Mr.
@ski diva recommended it at lunch when he heard I was demoing. Even at its width, it was easier to turn than the Atomic Vantage or the Salomon Myriad. Against my better judgement (because I was alone), I took it into the trees right on the side of the trail to get a taste of the soft stuff that I knew it craved. It handled that like a pro. If I was in the market for a fat ski it would be on the list. 2 runs.
8. Black Pearl 88 166cm: Notes-
“Last ski of the day. Honestly it would be unfair to judge this ski. By this time I was tired, and the conditions had changed drastically. The snow was soft and chopped up but the ski took it all in stride. I wasn’t in love but I liked it.” By the time I got to this ski it had been snowing for a while and the groomers weren’t groomed. I just wanted to see what sensation they would give. There was no spark but no hate.
So that was my demo day. It was fun but tiring. You can probably tell which was my favorite... The Armada Victa 83. I feel like it’s the ski that would push me out of my comfort zone safely. The K2 Ooolaluv 85ti is in second place. There is metal in it but I don’t know if it made it feel any different than any other ski I tried. Maybe it made it more stable. Any ski I tried after those 2 were just gravy and fun to try.
So thanks to all the ladies who gave good advice here because I ended up having a really productive demo day.