Such a novice and desperately need Divas help!!!

[atlantiqueen]

So, I've been skiing regularly (almost every weekend) since Jan '07 - off and on since Feb '05

I bought a pair of Rossignol Saphir Snow 2 at 153cm in March '05 and I've been skiing on those.

The original boots I had were Lange 80 and as I am prone to shinsplints they were just too stiff for me. Last Feb I bought Salomon Irony 6 (the gel tongue makes my shins happy!) but I don't have great control with them.

My questions are these....

1. I am 5'3" and 150lbs mostly ski blue with some black on good days ... are my skis right for me? Should I be looking at something different? I am comfortable in most conditions (don't love ice but what can you do in the North East?) and have seen steady and rapid progression in my skills.


2. I have a low-volume foot and pronate substantially - the Irony 6 is too high volume for me - yes, it is comfy at the shin but I have tremendous heel slippage and often feel in less than perfect control. I just had custom foot beds made and that will get me through for a little while with these boots....any recommendations for me?

Hubby dearest although and excellent skier of 35+ years is of the "get what's on sale" school of thought and does not really "buy into" there being differences between men's and women's gear!

HELP!

 

[Robyn]

For the boots, get thee to a fitter. None of us can tell you what is going to work for you since we can't see your foot etc. I will tell you to make sure you are buckling tight enough. I found (in rental boots) that when I tried to loosen for my shins to feel better it actually caused far more problems in the form of shin bang and was very painful. Once you get boots that work for you then look at skis.

 

[Jilly]

Boots must fit, so look for a good boot-fitter. You say Maine and Canada, but just where and MSL any idea for boot-fitter up your way.
Saphir snow's are a soft ski, and I think you've out grown them. If you want to stay with Rossi look at the Attraxion 5. Or just go a demo some. If its a demo day at the hill, it'll be free with a credit card to make you bring them back. If you demo through a shop, the price of demo'ing is usually deducted from the price of the skis you purchase.
If you can get a copy of SkiPress's fall ski test show it to Hubby. Or look at the on-line version. Also all the Ski mags this year tested the women's skis. Its a huge market and growing. There will always be women's who don't need or don't like women's skis, but for most of us - the best thing that's come along in a long time!!

 

[mollmeister]

Saphir snow's are a soft ski, and I think you've out grown them. If you want to stay with Rossi look at the Attraxion 5. Or just go a demo some. If its a demo day at the hill, it'll be free with a credit card to make you bring them back. If you demo through a shop, the price of demo'ing is usually deducted from the price of the skis you purchase.

I second all of that!

And yes, you need to see a bootfitter. A good one, with a solid reputation. I have very hard to fit, narrow, extremely low volume feet, and it's made a world of difference working with a good bootfitter for initial recommendations and tweaks and custom this and that. It may seem expensive to your husband initially, but if you can get a well fitting boot that you love, you'll wear them for a long time and stay happy on ski days!

 

[atlantiqueen]

I guess I should have been clearer...

I'm not worried about hubby's opinion of the cost...I will buy what works for me - what I was getting at is he's the only person I ski with (and his brothers and their pals) so I look to him for advice and his gear advice generally stinks!

Great technique tips but not so much with the gear.

I have found a decent bootfitter (I think) at Jack Frost in Sunday River. He spent 3 hours with me over 2 days just to get my custom footbeds made and my heels fixed more solidly in my current boots. I'm a runner/climber and therefore familiar with my particular foot needs and what an "expert" should be looking at and Jim hit all the k,ey points - my knees, rotations, hip flexors, pronation, stance etc...

I will probably go back to him when I'm ready for new boots...

I'm just hoping that women skiers will have some good advice for me.

 

[mollmeister]

I would really just take the bootfitter's advice when you see him, if you trust him and he's thorough, which it sounds like he is. It's pretty hard to know what to suggest, boot-wise, without seeing your feet (or knowing much about bootfitting, lol.)

I wish I could give you more female-centric ski advice, but I don't think I've got much knowledge for you! I am a western, soft-snow skier, looking for powder boards for the steep and deep, so that's what I have read up on!

 

[Jilly]

Since we have the boot fitter issue looked after, let's talk skis. The Saphir snow's would be minimum 3 years old. As I said soft skis and you have probably out grown them technique wise. So if you are looking for a similar type of ski, yet stiffer lets make a list:
Rossi - Attraxion 5
Atomic - Foxy Mama, Hot Minx, Royal Minx
Salomon- Topaz, Rush, Origin
Fischer - Breeze, Vapor
Nordica - Victory, Drive
Elan - Speed Magic, Wave Magic, Black Magic
I haven't tried any K2's or Volkl's as they don't seem to demo around here.

 

[haylmom]

There is a demo day for ladies at Crabbe on Feb 17 (Sunday I believe, you can PM me for more details anyway) and I think we also have a Rossi demo day coming up after that.

 

[atlantiqueen]

Saphir snow's are a soft ski, and I think you've out grown them. If you want to stay with Rossi look at the Attraxion 5. Or just go a demo some. If its a demo day at the hill, it'll be free with a credit card to make you bring them back. QUOTE]

So maybe I'm a real dope...I have never demo'd a ski before and I'm not sure I even know what to look for - I figure I'm a solid level 4 / maybe 5 ...hubby says I'm more like level 6 but what the heck does he know?

Having 2 or 3 pairs of skis isn't an option right now so I need something that will work in northeast conditions on mostly groomed trails or the sloppy "powder" that has been described in other posts. I ski mostly blue with a few blacks - not that I can't ski the black but hubby hates waiting for me on them so I just go off and ski blue by myself...

I have no idea what to look for in "waist" "side-cut" or even length. I'm pretty comfortable with 153cm but I'm open to changing lengths...

No clue what soft or hard feels like - or ...chattery?

There is a Rosso demo day coming up in a couple weeks and I'd like to be able confidently try some out - as well, the shop where I've had my boot work carries a fair-ish selection women's skis...so I think I'll try them out too - but what should I look for? What should I ask for??

PLEASE, please help me to figure this all out!

 

[Jilly]

Just take a pair - like the Attaxion V and ski it. Try a similar length to what you are on now, or go a little longer. I tried the Salomon Origin last winter in too different lengths. Didn't like the shorter one, found it too soft. Longer was stiffer. So start close to where you are now in length and if you don't like the stiffness, so longer. Check through some of the gear reviews that I've done, Volklgirl, SnowHot, Elangirl, Ski Diva, etc.

In the Rossi line, I think you should try - Attraxion V (five), the Z3, and Z5. I love my Z5's for exactly the conditions you describe. The Z9 with the metal in the top sheet is too stiff.

Check the sticky at the top of the gear review forum. Everything you need should be there.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

AQ, we've got a TON to talk about when we get together at the River. I also have highly pronated low volume feet, and my problems have been solved for about the last 6 years - custom footbeds were the first step, the right boot (of which I've been in 3 similar updated models for 6 years) was the next step. Also, I will be bringing along some skis of mine for you to try, just for the fun of it, just for the sake of comparison (although you may have already gotten something by then). PM for more details. I think I can help! These skis sound like they might work for you. See you later this month!