Who bought gear they haven't tried yet?

[num]

I snagged a pair of Fischer Vision 70s without demoing (!) after my season had ended. I'm a firm believer in demoing, but the combination of great post season deals and amazing reviews made me go for it. I can't wait to get them on the snow and see if they're a good fit for me.

Oh, the suspense!

Who else bought gear at end of season or off season clearance events, and hasn't gotten a chance to try them out yet? Skis? Boots? What have ye?

 

[ski diva]

Me, me, me!

Bought a pair of Volkl Queen Attivas without demoing -- which is something I never do. But the season was over and the price was too good to pass up. Hey, if they don't work out, you'll see 'em in the Gear Swap & Sale section.

 

[ski now work later]

I bought a pair of Salomon Scarlet twin tip powder skis and a pair of Volkl Attiva AC2s, both at great prices, neither demo-d (I relied on reviews, including what I read on theskidiva.com). I expect the AC2s to be a super easy pair to get used to since I have AC3s which are the same ski but stiffer, and I'm dying to try to the Scarlets as I've never skied such a fat (92 waist) ski. I plan to use the AC2s on early season days, for bumps, for working on my carving skills, for days out with my kids when I'm not skiing super fast, and to take to Big Sky for more bumps and softer, more plentiful snow. The powder skis are also for Big Sky (and to use in the park out there) and if we get any powder days here that I can take advantage of.... I'm really happy with my 4 ski quiver now and have new boots so I hope I'm set with equipment for at least 3 seasons!

 

[Lilgeorg]

I bought Queen Attiva's and new boots. I am so ready to give them a try. Last night we had a very heavy frost here in beautiful Vermont. I picked up my season pass, so..... Where is the snow???

 

[abc]

Yep. Dynastar Trouble Maker. And a pair of back country (x-c) skis too. Less than 50% off. Who can resist?

Demo-ing skis is actually a lot harder than it sounds. The condition has to be "typical" of what I intend to use them, which is never easy. Someone must carry the ski at the right length... Then, I have to be there!

Never mind I'm actually not fussy about skis!

But I would never buy boots without trying them on. Though never "demo" on snow, on the other hand.

I'm a little aprehensive about that though. The one time I bought a bike without riding it first, it didn't fit well. After countless change of stems and bars and such, I ended up having to replace the frame with a different one. Though the replacement frame, also bought without trying out first, fit well. So the experience isnt' entirely negative. On the other hand, the "saving" didn't really save much at the end. Just a free demo, with a lot of extra work.

 

[RachelV]

Yep. Dynastar Trouble Maker.

My friend got some troublemakers last season and he's quite happy with them.

I got these:

2007 rossignol scratch bc's, women's version. Only $199! REI kept lowering the price little by little and I finally cracked when they dropped below $200. Now I have a powder ski and something a little wider that will hopefully help me nail some rails this season. (Please ignore my avatar, which shows me edging and putting all my weight on my back foot and otherwise doing everything wrong that would allow me to get a rail. ;) )

Yay new skis!

 

[abc]

My friend got some troublemakers last season and he's quite happy with them.

Exactly, lots of people rave about the Trouble Maker. So I'm reasonably comfident I at least won't hate them!

I'm less sure about the length. I went short (same length as my regular carver). My aim is for soft snow/powder/trees. Everybody say go long for powder. But for trees, long is un-yielding. So I'll have to wait and see if I got the balance right.

 

[ski now work later]

Rachel, that Rossi w sure is a pretty ski. You should have a lot of fun with it!

I'm less sure about the length. I went short (same length as my regular carver). My aim is for soft snow/powder/trees. Everybody say go long for powder. But for trees, long is un-yielding. So I'll have to wait and see if I got the balance right.

abc, I also went short for my Scarlets. They were offered in a 154 and 164 (nothing in between) and my ideal size right now is 158. I decided to go short because I thought the weight, width (94 as opposed to 92) and burliness of the skis in a 164 would be too much for me. I'm sure that once I get more powder experience, I'll want longer skis, but I'm hoping that they are the right ski for me now, and I also wanted them for skiing powder on tree runs where a shorter length (and a shorter turning radius) would serve me well. With two daughters who ski, I figure they'll have a useful life even if I "outgrow" them with time.

 

[abc]

With two daughters who ski, I figure they'll have a useful life even if I "outgrow" them with time.

You have a build-in advantage there!

Mine is actually the opposite. It's probably easier to un-load a 165 on eBay than the 155, which only fits juniors and women. More over, it's easier to figure out if it's too long than to figure out that it's too short.

So why did I go short? It's easier to "put up" with a short ski than try to manhandle a too long one! Another factor that tip the scale for me is I got the 155 at under $200!!! The 165 would have cost a bit more extra, probably exactly due to the higher demand.

More over, I have aspiration to start learning tele to go into the backcountry. So in the worst case, if the 155 doesn't work out on the slope, all I have to do is mount a tele binding on it! The short and soft TM would be a pretty good beginer tele ski.

 

[Gloria]

I've never demoed before

I bought my first pair of skiis that I actually skied on before I bought
I have always just bought what I felt like spending and telling myself, I'll make it work for that price. Mind over matter. I've also never heard of a boot fitter before here either. Of course I've never owned 2 pairs of skis before here either!

 

[sibhusky]

I went and bought the K2 Apache Outlaws based on my experience with the K2 XP's and their successor the Apache Recon. I demo'd the XP's before I bought them, bought their replacement, the Recon, on faith and liked it even better. I'd wanted a wider ski, but not really a "different" ski and this was the next widest ski in the line. But it LOOKS HUGE!

 

[Kimmyt]

I bought my first pair of skiis that I actually skied on before I bought
I have always just bought what I felt like spending and telling myself, I'll make it work for that price. Mind over matter. I've also never heard of a boot fitter before here either. Of course I've never owned 2 pairs of skis before here either!

The Boy and i recently got into a big argument about this (demoing vs. buying sight unseen). Well, not exactly argument, more like 'heated debate'.

He is a snowboarder traditionally, so he came from the idea of pretty much all boards being the same. I have noticed that demoing seems to be a primarily skiier shtick. Most boarders will buy their boards and just ride them. He did concede that there would be obvious differences between the flexibility of a freestyle board vs. a freeride or the very obvious difference of an alpine board vs. the others. However, he didn't see what the big deal is with demoing.

I, having never demoed, still understand the concept. Of course if you're going to spend $500 or more on skis, you want to make sure that they are the ones that make you grin. I explained that skis seem (from my limited knowwledge of snowboards and skis both) to have a greated variability in dimensions and makeup than boards. This translates into skis having different variety of 'feels' under the foot.

His point was pretty much that, yeah, if you demo'd you find a ski that you like better. But, if you don't demo, and buy something, then you will get used to it. I remember recently there was a post on a demo thread on epic, and one guy said that by being able to ski anything (any ski, that is) you became a stronger skieir. If the ski needed more muscle, you adapted.

The Boy's opinion was that demoing is a good idea, if you have the resources available. However, if you don't have the time or resources ready to you to demo, then there is nothing wrong with buying without trying, especially if you keep your eye on whether it will be a low cost investment, i.e. if you can unload the ski at a reasonable rate if it doesn't work out for you.

It was a pretty interesting conversation, I have to say.

K.

 

[RachelV]

Experience also matters a lot when it comes to demo'ing. 3 seasons ago I could have tried every ski in the shop and not really been able to tell the difference (unless you put me on 185's or something). The better I get at skiing, the more I can appreciate sublte differences between different models, and it's *really fun*! It was kind of a nice confirmation of the progess I've made, that I could really feel the difference between a lot of the different skis I tried.

 

[Little Lightning]

I'm not sure I'd agree. One Christmas at Steamboat I demoed every day I was there. Mostly women's skis but one unisex ski, a Salomon. I took the skis on the same route every day. There was no new snow so conditions were the same.

The women's skis were doable, some were better than others. But the Salomon I disliked from the very beginning. It was the only ski I took back to the shop asap, the others I spent the entire day on.

The Salomon ski got rave reviews that year that's why the guys recommended it, they loved it.

Maybe it was the way I was skiing it but I remember it being the worst ski I was ever on.

BTW, my ski instructor skis everything, powder, bumps, crud, on 1 pair of skis, the Nordica Olympia Victory.

 

[altagirl]

I don't think I did enough demoing as a beginner/intermediate to remember if it would have done me any good before making a purchase. It can't hurt to try though.


I do agree with having a pattern and evaluating for the same sorts of things. I have a route that I use to demo skis that involves traversing, bumps, crud and groomed, where I make a few large radius high speed turns, short turns, and then have a steep open groomed area that I practice a skidding drill and throw them sideways, changing directions a few times, and then set them on edge again to get a feel for how easily they break loose and hook up back into a carve on demand.

And then I go in and grab a different ski every two runs (unless it's something I can tell I hate after a single run), and write down my notes on what I liked and didn't like about each ski in each situation.

And sure, you can just grab demo skis and go and do whatever and buy based on how you happen to feel about them overall, but I know I end up with preconceived notions about some that look nice, or have a great reputation, and breaking it down to give them a rating in the different areas I look at lets me get rid of that and make a more objective choice. I mean - my I.M.88's aren't sexy looking. They were probably my least favorite topsheet, but damn did they feel good, so that's what I bought.


OTOH - I bought a pair of Praxis skis that I haven't demoed. I demoed Spatulas a few years ago and they were super fun, and then the Praxis came out with their cheap pre-order deal, and I figure they should be similar but much lighter in weight so I went for it. It's a quiver ski - if I somehow hate it - I'll sell them. No big deal.

And I do generally feel that powder skis are a problem to demo. First of all, conditions are constantly changing - unless you had a storm day where it's free refills all day, a bluebird powder day is tough. You have a couple runs where it's fluffy, but the sun starts to change the consistency, not to mention how you're skiing more tracked out snow as time goes on. It wouldn't be fair to the skis later in the day to judge them in different snow. Not to mention the biggest problem - how to tear yourself away to go get new skis... or risk skiing something less than ideal in great snow! ;) So honestly, what I end up looking at with powder skis is that assuming they have decent characteristics for a powder ski (width, flex), I still need them to be manageable on groomed and in crud, so I demo them just like regular skis to make sure they work for that stuff too.

 

[Pequenita]

BTW, my ski instructor skis everything, powder, bumps, crud, on 1 pair of skis, the Nordica Olympia Victory.

Woohoo! So....if I just get your ski instructor's mad skillz (which really is a phrase too infrequently used), I am all set with these skis.

 

[RachelV]

I definitely agree that everyone should demo before they buy if possible. I guess my point was just that I can understand why an upper intermediate/advanced skier would be more into demo'ing than a beginner/intermediate skier.

 

[ski now work later]

BTW, it's almost impossible to find twin tips to demo because the kids who demod them would trash them on rails (at least that's what I've been told by ski shops when I've asked about twin tip demos).

 

[altagirl]

BTW, it's almost impossible to find twin tips to demo because the kids who demod them would trash them on rails (at least that's what I've been told by ski shops when I've asked about twin tip demos).

That's funny - there are plenty of twin tips you can demo at Alta. Of course, there are also no rails to ski on, so maybe that's why...

 

[volklgirl]

I went and bought the K2 Apache Outlaws based on my experience with the K2 XP's and their successor the Apache Recon. I'd wanted a wider ski, but not really a "different" ski and this was the next widest ski in the line. But it LOOKS HUGE!

I think you'll really like it. I demoed it last year....I typically hate K2s, but I loved this ski in the soft and hard glob I could find. It's like driving a Mack truck, so don't plan on making any short (or even medium) turns with it!