OLD equipment

[ski diva]

Do any of you have any really old gear in your closet that you actually use?

The other day I spied a pair of Head 360s on the rack outside the lodge. Heck, my sister had those way back in 1970, and boy, was I jealous! I thought they were THE BOMB back then. Metal skis! All black! Wow!

I hung around for a bit to see if the owner would show up so I could talk to him/her about them, but gave up after a while.

Anyone have something like that?

 

[Jilly]

We don't as everything was made into a bench last fall. But I did spy a pair of Head Racing SR. I got my Level 2 instructors on those babies back in 1984. We did see ALOT of old stuff this past weekend. Rear entry boots like SX 70's, Rossi 7SK's, and flourescent suits. I suppose the best thing is they are out skiing and enjoying themselves.

 

[Sheena]

I have an old pair of Kastle skis from about 1989... they keep traveling with me... guess I am too sentimental to give them up.

 

[Lilgeorg]

Make them into headboards or coat racks in a mud room. They look great and keep them useful.

 

[GirlFromPA]

I have a pair of Blizzard Firebirds from about 1987 or so. I'm not sure. That's all a blur to me now. But they are hot pink and neon green so you know they were "hot" back in the day. LOL!! I haven't touched them in 15 years or so but they're still there.

My dad has a couple pairs of really old Atomics too. Lord they've got to be from the '70's. HAHA!!

 

[SnowHot]

Make them into headboards or coat racks in a mud room. They look great and keep them useful.

HeadboardS???? Exactly how much old gear do you have? Does Phil know?

 

[Pequenita]

I've been thinking about making an old pair of Rossis into a coat rack, but I don't have enough wall space for a coat rack that long!

 

[ISki]

Up until last year, I used old silver poles with a leather strap. They had a strong feel and good swing weight. I really liked the leather wrist strap too, much nicer than limp nylon. I have new poles now because one got lost.

I wish I still had my late 1970's skis. They rocked!

 

[Little Lightning]

Lately I've seen lots of old equipment around the slopes here, tourists, I guess.

I have a friend from Cincy that skis on 19 year old boots, Solomon rear entry and his skis are the same vintage. When he was out here he was looking for new skis. I pointed out that if he got new skis he would need new boots and he jumped all over me saying that his boots were fine and that I didn't understand "how he skied". I told him that ski technology has changed and boots have changed to match the new technology.

And, he was fussing because the skis he wanted had intregrated bindings and he wanted to put his own bindings on the ski. I figure he wanted to put some "old" bindings that he had stashed somewhere on his new skis.

I don't know if he got those new skis.

 

[skigirl]

OK I have to admit it we still have some old equipment in use!! My Husband still skis with his Allsop Highlight shocks poles from 1979 with the spring loaded pistol grips. Now bear in mind that they are not quite in original condition. One grip is gray, the other is black making a nice contrast on the almost white poles. The baskets have been replaced numerous times. The left pole, (yes they have left and right poles ) has a basket and a half. The full one is black and the half one is blue. The half blue is in fact the remnant of the original basket, and couldn't be removed without surgery, so the black one was added just below it giving a unique stacked basket effect. The right basket just failed a few weeks ago and was replaced with a basket recovered from a salvage dynastar pole from the rental shop orphanage. So all in all, they are back in full working condition and go out everytime he goes skiing. Now mind you, back in 1983, they almost met their demise as they were caught in a lift loading ramp at Killington and bent 90 degrees, but unlike a pole of today, he just bent them back straight and away he went. The dimpled creases are still there as evidence!! One final piece of nostalga is that these poles are one of a kind. In 2005, Picabo Street personally autographed them. Each one. But that didn't stop him from using them either. The signature is faded and scratched, but like the old poles, you can still read it. I will have to bury him with these poles as he will NEVER part with them!!

That's not all!! I still have my matching Rossignol 4S poles and ski bag from when I skied on the Rossignol 4S. I got them some where around 1986. One pole has what looks more like a racers basket now, just a bunch of 1/4 inch spokes sticking out of the hub. It will need to be replaced at some time but it is still going!! Now onto the bag. The zippers on the boot bag section of the bag failed years ago. The zippers are now held together with safety pins to keep the flap from dragging in the slush and road salt in the parking lot. The zipper on the gear part only zips on one side and the other is stuck about 1/4 of the way across making it difficult to store large objects.

I'm still going!! My husband only 2 weeks ago finally replaced his ski boots after 19 years only because the bottoms were about to fall off!! I had to drag him kicking and screaming out of them!!! These were Rossignol 900 boots. The first model made by Rossignol back in 1988 after they bought out Caber. The one thing that we have kept up to date are our skis but we still have all the old ones kicking around. He keeps threatening me that we are going to bring those old skis back out some day to see if we can still turn them.

 

[ski diva]

19 years on the same boot!? Oooo, baby! Glad you got him out of those. They couldn't have been doing his skiing any good.

And poles signed by Picabo Street? A collector's item! Put those away before the signature wears off!

BTW, you never do see white poles anymore. I forgot about those.

 

[sskier]

I work in a ski shop. I have seen quite a bit, especially rear entry boots! It fun to say " I remember these."
Very old ski are mounted on the ceiling and other we’ll keep to use as practice mounting skis. Old boots I keep for spare parts.
I did moved this passed year and got rid of a few items that I had around but didn't use.
Does anyone remember Spalding Skis and Caber boots from the 70’s? Or how about Olin Mark VI skis AND. Oh yes Moon Boots!!!!
My husband was also fond of those Allstop poles and we do have one still around.
I do have a pair of Koflach boots that were being shipped to me when the Northridge quake hit in “94” They were lost at the UPS station for a couple weeks. (My other boots were in a pile at the ski shop I worked at). I do have an old Olin tune kit. I know my mom still has some old poles and ski rack in the garage.

 

[Jilly]

Ah my history before my eyes. Koflach boots, Splading skis, Olin Mark IV's (4's) I remember. Heh I had Head Wahoo, not the Yahoo, Wahoo's. And I still have my Moon Boots. Thought about them last week when Tremblant was -20 deg C. Bought those babies at Jay Peak. Mine are furry. My Dad still has a pair of Head metal skis in the garage. Blue and silver. They were Mom's. He asked me about 3 years ago if they would go at the local swap. I had to tell him no, but the local ski shop might want them them for the museum he's building.!!

 

[Pequenita]

BTW, you never do see white poles anymore. I forgot about those.

Wait! What color are poles these days? I didn't think my poles were the vintage you were refering too! I use a pair of white K2 Performance poles. There are little, itty bitty "K2"s all over the top half of the pole that look like dots from a distance. And then "Performance" splashed down the side, Flashdance like. This past weekend, a friend looked at the poles and declared that they were from circa 1985. I can't remember when I bought them, but I know I bought them with a pair of Elan Contender RC's, before 1990. At some point, I bent one of the poles 90 degrees about 1 inch above the basket; like skigirl's hubby, I had them bent back into shape!