• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Ski Recommendations

wbgirl

Diva in Training
I am a long-time skier, mostly Whistler Blackcomb and have skied in many conditions. In 2001/2 I had a pair of Rossi B2 Bandits which I loved for their responsiveness, quick turning, great on bumps, ok on groomed (a bit chattery), not so good off-piste.

I have a pair of K2 Missbehaved all mountain ski which perform well off-piste, not so good on groomed, which goes without saying.

I am looking for a ski to replace my Rossi Bandits and thought of Black Pearl 88 or Salomon Luxe. I am 5'6" 115 pounds and "mature". I used to ski pretty much anything as an advanced skier but have become more conservative as time goes on due to my age 61 and still fit (but not as fit as my ultra trail running days...it's all relative, LOL!). I want something that performs well on groomed, bumps and those days when off-piste is ugly for those wet west coast days.

Recommendations/comments inclusive of those 2 skis, please as I will be demo-ing this winter and want to check them out before I buy!
Thanks everyone!
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
You're looking for more of groomer ski?
Brahma 82 (I rented a pair for a day at LL and wanted to take them home)
Salomon Stance 84 (the Lux is 92, too wide I think for groomers)
Rossi Experience 82 or 86
Atomic - Maven 86 - new ski, don't know much about it.
I'll have to think about some others.

Take the BP's for a try. You'll either hate them or love them.
 

DebbieSue

Angel Diva
I too am 61, 5'5", formerly 125 and sadly up to140. I ski mostly East, meaning frozen and on piste, but like bumps, trees, and even crud just for variety. I bought BP88 20/21 after demoing those and Santa Ana 88 and 93, nd Volkl Secret 92 in the East at xmas last year. All in the high 150s/low 160s. BP88 had the right combo of playfulness on bumps and stability in scratchy conditions and were fine in the one day of slightly slushy snow I had later in the season. I'm on 159, having skied previously on Wild Belle 2013, 84/154. The BPs were very stable at Sugarloaf in Jan "firm" conditions (I never say "ice") and then in more varied conditions off piste at Alta/Snowbird in March. I had a couple tip dives in some tracked up day old powder ungroomed terrain, but I think that was my tendency to hesitate due to unfamiliarity with the terrain rather than the skis. I did NOT like BP when I demo'd years earlier, but the ski has evolved I echo Jilly. Try the BPs, maybe next length if you like to ski fast (I don't) , although you are lighter than I am, so maybe won't need it. I do wonder if you might like Sheeva 9, which might be a better ski for me out west and might be good at WB since I think it does not get so frozen there.
 

santacruz skier

Angel Diva
In 2001/2 I had a pair of Rossi B2 Bandits which I loved for their responsiveness, quick turning, great on bumps, ok on groomed (a bit chattery), not so good off-piste.
I had those, actually two different pairs (in the 90's)...
BTW I have the Sheeva 9's (92 underfoot) and Black Crows Camox Birdie (96 underfoot) and quite happy with both of them ! Ski mostly Tahoe but have skied WB at least a half dozen different trips !
 

newboots

Angel Diva
You're looking for more of groomer ski?
Brahma 82 (I rented a pair for a day at LL and wanted to take them home)
Salomon Stance 84 (the Lux is 92, too wide I think for groomers)
Rossi Experience 82 or 86
Atomic - Maven 86 - new ski, don't know much about it.
I'll have to think about some others.

Take the BP's for a try. You'll either hate them or love them.

Jilly, did you mean Brahma 82? Or Black Pearl 82?

I ski the BP 82s and like them a lot. To me, they were a wide ski (they were the second skis I’ve owned). They are easy to ski, stable at speed - no chatter or being tossed around in the bumps. I can set them on edge but I’m just really getting the hang of that.

The turn radius is around 13. I find narrower skis slightly easier to turn than the BPs, but no complaints from me skiing them!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
26,237
Messages
497,631
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top