girlyoutalkto
Diva in Training
Hello to everyone. 
I've been reading a lot of the previous threads here but nothing quite addresses the questions I have so I was hoping for some of your advice. Sorry for the length of this, but my situation is sort of complicated, lol.
For some background information... I'm 21 years old and learned to ski when I was young, starting around 11, on straight skis. I learned "old" technique, I suppose, from my mom - keep your skis very close and parallel. I skied this way for about 5 years until I was relatively comfortable going slow on black diamond terrain (I ski exclusively in the east as well, so I'm no stranger to icey conditions). I was never very fast and never took professional lessons, but I did pretty well.
Around 16, my rebel self decided to give snowboarding a try and much to the chagrin of my skier mom, I loved it. I've been boarding for 6 years now and have enjoyed almost all of it. I'm better on a board than I used to be on skis, pretty comfortable with blacks and double blacks, just so long as I go at a slower pace. I've never mastered moguls or glades with the board, though... mostly a confidence issue.
My long-term boyfriend, a VERY avid skier and telemarker, has been encouraging me to try skiing again and I decided to give it a go at Stowe a few weekends ago. Unfortunately I had to rent because my old skis are barely shaped at all, and the boots didn't fit me too well. The skis were also VERY heavy, heavier than my boyfriend's and he's a lot taller than me, with longer skis.
Surprisingly... I loved it! I had SO much fun... I was really worried I would be horrible but it was a lot like riding a bike. I also found a lot of the technique I use on my board - bent knees, etc - translated to skiing. After warming up on a few greens and blues, I ventured to black territory and felt fine. It felt strange but also familiar. My boyfriend is a very good skier and, luckily for me, a great teacher. He coached me on keeping my elbows bent and my hands in front of me, warned me not to sink to far back on my skis, keep my CoG right over them, bend my knees, keep my shins towards the front of my boots, use my poles to help initiate turns... with his help I was, by the end of the day, trying moguls for the first time and not doing half bad. We ended the day with three long black diamond moguls runs and while I was sort of frustrated at how hard it was, my boyfriend admitted he was really impressed at how quickly I picked up on things.
Phew! Soooo... here is my dilemma. I want to keep skiing, for now at least - it's a new challenge, I have things to learn, and I'm psyched to ski bumps and glades. I surprised myself with my skill level, being comfortable on blacks and double blacks, but I don't want to mislead you - I went SLOW, using wide turns. I do, however, feel comfortable skiing blues at high speeds and I think with some practice I could feel similarly comfortable on blacks. I'm not there yet, though... I've only been skiing once!
After using rental skis for one day and being used to the custom fit of my old skis and board, I have no desire to rent again. The boots were horrible, my foot was sliding around in them, and the skis were heavy. I'm willing to spend around $700 on skis, bindings and boots. I've been looking at the One Luvs by K2 and have found the 2007 version, new, with marker bindings for $460 dollars, which is the least expensive I've come across. I've also found the Volkl Attiva AC2s with bindings for $400. Both are 153cm, which I'm assuming is appropriate (I'm 5'2 and 130 pounds). I've read good reviews of both but am now wondering if I should opt for the Burning Luvs instead. I know they are an expert ski but I think that with practice, I could get there by the end of this season. I'm terrified of spending hundreds of dollars on skis that I'm going to outgrow and outpace, but I also don't want to buy skis that are for the pros and feel like I can't control my speed on them. I'm also looking for something that's definitely all-mountain. I'll probably mostly be on groomed trails, but I want something that can take me to the glades and DEFINITELY in the moguls with confidence. I am no speed demon, but I've read the thread on speed limits and I don't want something that's going to chatter if I start getting confident enough to go faster on blacks.
Sorry to throw all this information at you, but I'd love a lot of feedback on what skis you all think I should gravitate towards. I don't really have an opportunity to demo so I want to be confident in what I'm buying, and after reading a lot of threads it seems like you girls know what you're talking about, lol.
I've been reading a lot of the previous threads here but nothing quite addresses the questions I have so I was hoping for some of your advice. Sorry for the length of this, but my situation is sort of complicated, lol.For some background information... I'm 21 years old and learned to ski when I was young, starting around 11, on straight skis. I learned "old" technique, I suppose, from my mom - keep your skis very close and parallel. I skied this way for about 5 years until I was relatively comfortable going slow on black diamond terrain (I ski exclusively in the east as well, so I'm no stranger to icey conditions). I was never very fast and never took professional lessons, but I did pretty well.
Around 16, my rebel self decided to give snowboarding a try and much to the chagrin of my skier mom, I loved it. I've been boarding for 6 years now and have enjoyed almost all of it. I'm better on a board than I used to be on skis, pretty comfortable with blacks and double blacks, just so long as I go at a slower pace. I've never mastered moguls or glades with the board, though... mostly a confidence issue.
My long-term boyfriend, a VERY avid skier and telemarker, has been encouraging me to try skiing again and I decided to give it a go at Stowe a few weekends ago. Unfortunately I had to rent because my old skis are barely shaped at all, and the boots didn't fit me too well. The skis were also VERY heavy, heavier than my boyfriend's and he's a lot taller than me, with longer skis.
Surprisingly... I loved it! I had SO much fun... I was really worried I would be horrible but it was a lot like riding a bike. I also found a lot of the technique I use on my board - bent knees, etc - translated to skiing. After warming up on a few greens and blues, I ventured to black territory and felt fine. It felt strange but also familiar. My boyfriend is a very good skier and, luckily for me, a great teacher. He coached me on keeping my elbows bent and my hands in front of me, warned me not to sink to far back on my skis, keep my CoG right over them, bend my knees, keep my shins towards the front of my boots, use my poles to help initiate turns... with his help I was, by the end of the day, trying moguls for the first time and not doing half bad. We ended the day with three long black diamond moguls runs and while I was sort of frustrated at how hard it was, my boyfriend admitted he was really impressed at how quickly I picked up on things.
Phew! Soooo... here is my dilemma. I want to keep skiing, for now at least - it's a new challenge, I have things to learn, and I'm psyched to ski bumps and glades. I surprised myself with my skill level, being comfortable on blacks and double blacks, but I don't want to mislead you - I went SLOW, using wide turns. I do, however, feel comfortable skiing blues at high speeds and I think with some practice I could feel similarly comfortable on blacks. I'm not there yet, though... I've only been skiing once!
After using rental skis for one day and being used to the custom fit of my old skis and board, I have no desire to rent again. The boots were horrible, my foot was sliding around in them, and the skis were heavy. I'm willing to spend around $700 on skis, bindings and boots. I've been looking at the One Luvs by K2 and have found the 2007 version, new, with marker bindings for $460 dollars, which is the least expensive I've come across. I've also found the Volkl Attiva AC2s with bindings for $400. Both are 153cm, which I'm assuming is appropriate (I'm 5'2 and 130 pounds). I've read good reviews of both but am now wondering if I should opt for the Burning Luvs instead. I know they are an expert ski but I think that with practice, I could get there by the end of this season. I'm terrified of spending hundreds of dollars on skis that I'm going to outgrow and outpace, but I also don't want to buy skis that are for the pros and feel like I can't control my speed on them. I'm also looking for something that's definitely all-mountain. I'll probably mostly be on groomed trails, but I want something that can take me to the glades and DEFINITELY in the moguls with confidence. I am no speed demon, but I've read the thread on speed limits and I don't want something that's going to chatter if I start getting confident enough to go faster on blacks.
Sorry to throw all this information at you, but I'd love a lot of feedback on what skis you all think I should gravitate towards. I don't really have an opportunity to demo so I want to be confident in what I'm buying, and after reading a lot of threads it seems like you girls know what you're talking about, lol.
