lal_truckee wrote:

Lisa Horton wrote:
I probably won't be getting them for $200

You'll get them for much less if you listen to me (and maybe The Real Bev.)

One, learn all you can about ski design through reading, questions, and
PRIMARILY "Engineering Thinking" - what might this sort of sidecut do,
how does it behave, what's gained/lost by increasing it or decreasing
it; same for width and length and stiffness. Think about how the
different variables fit together to make the ski perform the way it
will. Do alot of Gedanken Demo skiing - you can think your way through
discarding maybe 85% of the skis out there.

Two, learn what to look for to determine if a ski has life left -
condition of the edges, bases, mounting points, etc. (i.e. re edges -
it's not nicks or roughness; if a ski has been stone ground too many
times, the visible sidewall edge will be noticably thin relative to new
skis - forget them, go to the next pair - that pair has no life left in
them.)

Three, learn which model bindings are still good, and how to check them
on the spot.

Four, go to swaps, consignment shops, and garage sales (page Bev!) with
your information (particularly your "don't want" this ski list) and buy
your next excellent pair of skis for $25, with a sound binding already
mounted. Get several pairs of different style skis and try them out for
the experience - you'll likely end up skiing only one of them by
preference, and you'll KNOW WHY it's the right ski for you - a radical
difference from letting a manufacturer and shop take you to the cleaners.

Interesting. Sounds like a (relatively) cheap education in skis at the
expense of, as you say, the errors of others.

Just to be clear, we're talking about modern shaped skis at that kind of
price?


Warning: Curmudgeon rant coming: You have been warned!

Skiing is actually not expensive compared to just about anything else
active you can do - much cheaper than a Gym membership, for example.
What you need to do is learn to live off the ignorant errors made by
others in their equipment purchases. Also get and use a pass to
somewhere - anywhere, actually - you can quadruple your skiing for less
money than you spend now - after you've learned to really ski it starts
to pay to go explore other areas. Join a ski lease so you can spend
every weekend skiing. Buy your ski clothes at mountain thrift shops -
it'll actually be more appropriate than anything you can find in the
flatlands. Basically opt out of the bizarre world of ski commerce!

I like your logic. I picked up my skiwear for a song, much of it over
the summer. Interestingly, I figured that at my very beginning level, a
modest ski area would be more than adequate for the learning ahead, so I
got a pass at a modestly priced resort. A great investment, I agree.
Since I didn't progress as much as I thought, I got another pass for
next year.

I think my equipment path may lie somewhere in between yours and the
ones who make those ignorant errors. It takes time to develop sound
judgment about a type of gear. And I'm really good at finding excellent
bargains

I'm going to look into your suggestion of picking up a variety of used
skis. The idea of knowing, rather than hoping, that I know exactly what
I want is very appealing to me.

Lisa