aka self preservation
Diva in Training
Dear Ski Divas!
I've been reading these helpful gear forums for a while and finally signed up to post, hoping that someone will help me in my paralysis of decision making! A giant post below:
I am an intermediate skier (probably still lower intermediate). I've skied a few days a season for about 10 years, and got more into it in the past three years (and finally took some proper lessons to get the technique right). My instructor told me that I "have a strong sense of self-preservation" - I am the opposite of a speed junkie and like to always be in control, in any sport I do really. My ideal day is cruising down blues, enjoying the views, and working on improving my technique (as opposed to finding challenging terrain and charging down fast, which is my husband's ideal day
)
My stats are: 33, 5'7'', 140'. I live in Ontario and ski Blue Mountain, Mont Tremblant, anything else in driving distance (Whiteface, St Anne), plus do one week a year in Europe in the Alps. I can carefully go down some blacks in Ontario but in the Alps it's only blues and reds for me.
I currently ski on Head Mya 4 in 149... which, I know, is super short for me. I have really enjoyed it in the past two years and it has made me very happy and comfortable on the runs - in the first half of the day till the snow gets pushed in bumps and ice sheets appear. It handles ice better than my brain does, but bumps and piles of snow - not at all. I put almost 700km on the Mya (Ski Tracks!) and finally feel that yes, they truly are too short for me. So it's time to upgrade gear! End of season sales in Canada! Now comes the decision making...
My requirements are:
a) an easy to control ski that is slightly longer and wider than my 74mm current one, to
b) fit my size better
c) handle variable snow conditions better. I have never faced powder more that 5 inches, but everything else is pretty much a guarantee within one week of skiing here: from hard pack to sleet to some fresh snow to ice to crud to, most definitely, the dreaded pushed piles of snow and bumps in the afternoon.
Corbetts has a great sale on with a few skis within my budget of ~400$ Canadian (300 US with current exchange rate) and after browsing the forums for many hours, I narrowed it down to mostly Temptation skis. But which one?! Here are my choices:
** Rossignol Temptation 80, 2016 in 160 ** at 389$ plus tax (wider, excellent reviews, seems to fit every requirement. My main concern - would it be easy enough for me to handle for my cruising style or is it a bit too stiff and advanced for me? Some sites are adamant that it's quite an aggressive ski, while it's only 2nd up in the Rossignol Temptation line up...)
** Rossignol Temptation 78, 2014 in 158 ** at 299$ plus tax (slightly less wide, excellent reviews, may be still slightly short for me given the 30% rocker? seems a bit softer than the later 80 and may be a good compromise between 77 and 80- at unbeatable price? I don't really love the look, but probably won't matter that much! Does buying a 2 year old ski matter? Would I be missing some cool new technology of the past 2 years?)
** Rossignol Temptation 77, 2016 ** - if I stick with a beginner easy ski to fit my riding style, just increase width and length versus my current set up. I haven't been able to find as great of a sale deal on it, so if decide to go with this one, will have to hope that something comes up at Black Friday... That would take a lot of patience! Also, less reviews are available on it so I don't actually know if it handles variable snow and ice as well as 80 does).
** K2 Superific 160 2014 at 359 plus tax (76 wide) **- reviews say it's intermediate and very easy to handle, (on paper it has everything that I like to hear). Looks absolutely gorgeous to me. 30% rocker in the front would hopefully make bumps easy. Not sure about handling ice and edge grip?
** Dynastar Neva 78 2014 - 164 - at 299$ - good reviews for mixed snow conditions in Ontario, Quebec and Alps. It's the longest of the skis I see deals for, and with only 15% rocker effectively it's much longer than the available Temptation/K2 sizes. If those are deemed too short, would have to go for this one.
Runners up were:
** Atomic Infinity Pure in 160 at 359 plus tax (seems to be less stable and handles variable snow conditions less well in reviews)
** Dynastar Glory 79 in 159 or 167 at 299 (hard to beat this price! Haven't found many user reviews on it, but some that suggested that it's less stable and demoing is recommended... It's the longest of the skis on sale - if I must go longer than 160 it's about the only choice)
** Head Absolut Joy - Skifinder app recommends this one for me, but I haven't found good deals on it in 158+ size range
I am stuck in an indecision limbo now. Help!
I've been reading these helpful gear forums for a while and finally signed up to post, hoping that someone will help me in my paralysis of decision making! A giant post below:
I am an intermediate skier (probably still lower intermediate). I've skied a few days a season for about 10 years, and got more into it in the past three years (and finally took some proper lessons to get the technique right). My instructor told me that I "have a strong sense of self-preservation" - I am the opposite of a speed junkie and like to always be in control, in any sport I do really. My ideal day is cruising down blues, enjoying the views, and working on improving my technique (as opposed to finding challenging terrain and charging down fast, which is my husband's ideal day
) My stats are: 33, 5'7'', 140'. I live in Ontario and ski Blue Mountain, Mont Tremblant, anything else in driving distance (Whiteface, St Anne), plus do one week a year in Europe in the Alps. I can carefully go down some blacks in Ontario but in the Alps it's only blues and reds for me.
I currently ski on Head Mya 4 in 149... which, I know, is super short for me. I have really enjoyed it in the past two years and it has made me very happy and comfortable on the runs - in the first half of the day till the snow gets pushed in bumps and ice sheets appear. It handles ice better than my brain does, but bumps and piles of snow - not at all. I put almost 700km on the Mya (Ski Tracks!) and finally feel that yes, they truly are too short for me. So it's time to upgrade gear! End of season sales in Canada! Now comes the decision making...
My requirements are:
a) an easy to control ski that is slightly longer and wider than my 74mm current one, to
b) fit my size better
c) handle variable snow conditions better. I have never faced powder more that 5 inches, but everything else is pretty much a guarantee within one week of skiing here: from hard pack to sleet to some fresh snow to ice to crud to, most definitely, the dreaded pushed piles of snow and bumps in the afternoon.
Corbetts has a great sale on with a few skis within my budget of ~400$ Canadian (300 US with current exchange rate) and after browsing the forums for many hours, I narrowed it down to mostly Temptation skis. But which one?! Here are my choices:
** Rossignol Temptation 80, 2016 in 160 ** at 389$ plus tax (wider, excellent reviews, seems to fit every requirement. My main concern - would it be easy enough for me to handle for my cruising style or is it a bit too stiff and advanced for me? Some sites are adamant that it's quite an aggressive ski, while it's only 2nd up in the Rossignol Temptation line up...)
** Rossignol Temptation 78, 2014 in 158 ** at 299$ plus tax (slightly less wide, excellent reviews, may be still slightly short for me given the 30% rocker? seems a bit softer than the later 80 and may be a good compromise between 77 and 80- at unbeatable price? I don't really love the look, but probably won't matter that much! Does buying a 2 year old ski matter? Would I be missing some cool new technology of the past 2 years?)
** Rossignol Temptation 77, 2016 ** - if I stick with a beginner easy ski to fit my riding style, just increase width and length versus my current set up. I haven't been able to find as great of a sale deal on it, so if decide to go with this one, will have to hope that something comes up at Black Friday... That would take a lot of patience! Also, less reviews are available on it so I don't actually know if it handles variable snow and ice as well as 80 does).
** K2 Superific 160 2014 at 359 plus tax (76 wide) **- reviews say it's intermediate and very easy to handle, (on paper it has everything that I like to hear). Looks absolutely gorgeous to me. 30% rocker in the front would hopefully make bumps easy. Not sure about handling ice and edge grip?
** Dynastar Neva 78 2014 - 164 - at 299$ - good reviews for mixed snow conditions in Ontario, Quebec and Alps. It's the longest of the skis I see deals for, and with only 15% rocker effectively it's much longer than the available Temptation/K2 sizes. If those are deemed too short, would have to go for this one.
Runners up were:
** Atomic Infinity Pure in 160 at 359 plus tax (seems to be less stable and handles variable snow conditions less well in reviews)
** Dynastar Glory 79 in 159 or 167 at 299 (hard to beat this price! Haven't found many user reviews on it, but some that suggested that it's less stable and demoing is recommended... It's the longest of the skis on sale - if I must go longer than 160 it's about the only choice)
** Head Absolut Joy - Skifinder app recommends this one for me, but I haven't found good deals on it in 158+ size range
I am stuck in an indecision limbo now. Help!
