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Help Needed: Looking to buy first pair of skis this season, tried a demo day but not sure I found the right ski for me

jmfd84

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@jmfd84 it just also occurred to me to mention the Ladies Day at Sunapee next Tuesday, they are going to have demos available (though I'm not sure which brands) as well as the option to do a clinic, and lots of other activities. I am attending and so is @diymom. Not sure if there are others who may as well.

Also, they are doing demo days with the following brands: Rossignol, Head, Volkl, Nordica, Dynastar, Blizzard, and Fischer from next Wednesday 3/13-Sunday 3/17. Might be worth checking it out if you are so inclined.

Info on each here: https://www.mountsunapee.com/mountain/calendar/?v=list&c=2&p=1

Oh man! Looks like I scheduled the wrong week off work for vacation! Have fun.
 

lisamamot

Angel Diva
I'm actually planning on taking days off the week of March 18-22 and hoping to demo some more skis then.

After Tremblant a handful of us will be at Sugarbush skiing Thurs/Fri March 21st and 22nd. If you would be able to be there you could call ahead and see what they have to offer for demos as well! Would love to meet and ski!
 

Serafina

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yep, too short. At your size, and skiing in NE, you'll want to go for the unisex skis. Conditions lately have been such that I've been enjoying riding the lifts and watching everyone else's tips flapping like mad. Mine don't because they've got major vibration-damping technology built into them, but it sounds to me like what you have is chatter, not flap, and chatter is from riding skis that are too soft or too short on ice.

You'll know when you have the right skis, because you won't want to give them back to the demo shop. Keep trying different skis (or different lengths) until that happens. At your size, you shouldn't be on anything shorter than a 164, 168 (depending on the ski technology and your personal ski style). If you've got something with a lot of rocker in the tips and tails, maybe go even longer.

My experience is that you're either a Volkl Girl, or you are NOT. Nothing wrong with either, but people tend to be pretty polarized about that whole line.

Don't worry about the experience ratings. Try the ski on some friendly terrain, and if it talks to you nicely, take it down some more interesting stuff. If you start on easy terrain, you won't be in too much trouble if the ski doesn't suit you at all. Those experience ratings do have some information value, but what matters more is being able to explain to the shop what kind of skiing you're doing now, where you want to go, and when you bring back a pair of skis you don't like, being able to articulate to them what you didn't like about them (too squirrelly, too damp, not enough energy, too much energy, difficult to get on edge, etc.) (and vice-versa for skis that you do like, of course). A good ski salesperson should be able to start zeroing in on your preferences pretty quickly. And if they're pushing you toward women-specific skis, you're not talking to the right person, not at your size and experience level.
 

MaineSkiLady

Angel Diva
Agree with those above who recommend a longer ski with your stats. The 168 SuperJoy and Total Joy are very nice skis - very compliant and versatile. Don't be thrown by the moniker of the Super being advanced only. It will do quite a bit more. I have the 163 Super and have coveted the Total....but have too much quiver overlap.
 

jmfd84

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Well, some progress has been made!

First, I went up to Wachusett to buy boots on Friday when it was supposed to rain. Perfect day to spend 2.5 hours in the ski shop since the mountain was empty. I tried on 5 pairs and one was clearly the best fit. I have a pretty significant bunion on one foot and have never thought of myself as having narrow ankles or feet but I clearly needed a narrower last boot. I've been swimming in rental boots all season. My new boots feel awesome around the heel/ankle/shin and I finally get how people can "drive" their skis with their boots. After skiing in the new boots for a day, I do need to go back for some adjustments. We heat-molded both feet but the bigger bunion needs more room. Luckily the boots I bought can be heat-molded multiple times. The other area of discomfort is the bottom of the boots. I don't currently have the footbeds in (bootfitter said I didn't need them...?), but by halfway through my day of skiing, the bottom front-half of my feet were killing me. It felt like I was standing on cement, and I have never experienced that before in a pair of boots. I hope we can address it.

Re: skis, I made it to Sunapee yesterday for the final demo day. I think they had next season's skis - all the topsheets were different than this year's models.

I was able to try 6 pairs, though most were still too short:

1. Rossignol Nova 10 - 167cm
2. Head Total Joy - 163cm
3. Head Absolut Joy - 163cm
4. Blizzard Black Pearl (88s, I *think*) - 166cm
5. Head V-Shape Lyt V6 - 163cm
6. Head Super Joy - 163cm (I had tried these at my earlier demo day and liked them the best)

Sunapee_demos_03-17-19.JPG

Conditions were mashed potatoes for most of the day, and I was struggling. Skiing through piles of snow was so exhausting. I couldn't really get a fair read on most of the skis, but the only skis I was smiling on for most of the run were the Head Absolut Joys. I'd think "turn" and the ski would turn. My second place skis were the Total Joys. I know they are a bit wider - they were better in the crud but harder to turn overall. Realistically, I will mostly be skiing packed groomed trails in winter conditions. I only did one run when I was totally spent on the Super Joys, so I don't feel I can assess my second go on them.

I'm leaning towards waiting til next year to try things again. I've searched online for a pair of Absolut Joys in 168cm and haven't seen any available, so I'm thinking I might as well just wait.
 
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contesstant

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Those look like the Black Pearl 82s.
I find it rather odd that your fitter did not put footbeds in, even just Superfeet! I'd get those in ASAP, as I'm guessing it will help that pain on the bottoms a lot.
 

jmfd84

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Those look like the Black Pearl 82s.
I find it rather odd that your fitter did not put footbeds in, even just Superfeet! I'd get those in ASAP, as I'm guessing it will help that pain on the bottoms a lot.

Just looked up the BP 82s - I think you're right.

I have a couple pairs of new Superfeet liners in my closet right now; I use them in all my sneakers. The boots came with footbeds in the box, too. Hope the boots still fit once I put them in!
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Awesome news on the boots! I’d also recommend going back for some sort of footbeds. I have that same pain in the balls of my feet without arch support. My feet are quite flat.

Also, just to check, they didn’t also put in heel lifts did they? Even with my footbeds I had burning pain under the balls if my feet when I had heel lifts in, I think because most of my weight was concentrated there the whole time I was in them. I get the same pain in certain high heels when I’m in them too long, feels like I’m walking directly on the bones under there and boy does it hurt!
 

jmfd84

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Awesome news on the boots! I’d also recommend going back for some sort of footbeds. I have that same pain in the balls of my feet without arch support. My feet are quite flat.

Also, just to check, they didn’t also put in heel lifts did they? Even with my footbeds I had burning pain under the balls if my feet when I had heel lifts in, I think because most of my weight was concentrated there the whole time I was in them. I get the same pain in certain high heels when I’m in them too long, feels like I’m walking directly in the bone sunder there and boy does it hurt!

Sorry to hear you've experienced the same pain but at the same time, very helpful! It was exactly like the pain you'd get from wearing high heels.

Nope, no heel lifts in my boots right now - nothing except the overall boot liner. Seemed odd to me not to have footbeds in there, but oh well, I only spent 1 day skiing like that. This entire winter has been one learning experience after another as I start skiing again.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Sorry to hear you've experienced the same pain but at the same time, very helpful! It was exactly like the pain you'd get from wearing high heels.

Nope, no heel lifts in my boots right now - nothing except the overall boot liner. Seemed odd to me not to have footbeds in there, but oh well, I only spent 1 day skiing like that. This entire winter has been one learning experience after another as I start skiing again.

There is a lot of trial and error to these things, but eventually you’ll have a nice set of tricks to deal with this stuff when it comes up in future boot purchases etc. Definitely sounds like you are heading in the right direction overall!
 

diymom

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
One thing to keep in mind when looking for the Absolute Joy is that they changed them between this year and next year. So if it is the 2020 model you tried, you might need to wait a smidge to find it in stock.
 

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