Ski hire help and advise please

I was hoping someone would explain the difference is between beginner,
intermediate and advanced skis?

Are the skis actually suited to the level of the skiing or are they just
trying to flog the naff, cheap skis off to the beginners. Classing myself as
a beginner (confident on blues, occasional reds), would it be detrimental to
hire myself a pair of advanced skis? (working on the priciple, more
expensive = better equiptment)

Thanks

Kyle

Kyle wrote:

I was hoping someone would explain the difference is between beginner,
intermediate and advanced skis?

It's primarily marketing, but there are some differences.

Are the skis actually suited to the level of the skiing or are they just
trying to flog the naff, cheap skis off to the beginners. Classing myself as
a beginner (confident on blues, occasional reds), would it be detrimental to
hire myself a pair of advanced skis? (working on the priciple, more
expensive = better equiptment)

Beginner skis are generally made with simpler construction and less
expensive materials. Partly by design, they're "more forgiving", which
means easier to bend and turn. They don't respond as quickly or as
cleanly if you put them in a high-pressure situation, which is where
higher-performing skis come in. But they may be all the ski that a
given skier will ever need, in which case they make perfect sense --
more sense than spending $900 on some monster World Cup planks.

If you go for an advanced ski when you're not an advanced skier, two
things can happen. One is that it will truly be too much ski for you --
some skis don't take kindly to certain skier flaws and foibles. The
other is that it will be more ski than you need right now -- think of
driving a Corvette at 20 MPH through an empty parking lot -- but not too
much ski for you to ski on. In the latter case, a more advanced ski can
even facilitate your progress. The only way to know is to try 'em and
see.

--
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.

Kyle wrote:

I was hoping someone would explain the difference is between beginner,
intermediate and advanced skis?

Are the skis actually suited to the level of the skiing or are they just
trying to flog the naff, cheap skis off to the beginners. Classing myself as
a beginner (confident on blues, occasional reds), would it be detrimental to
hire myself a pair of advanced skis? (working on the priciple, more
expensive = better equiptment)

Just to be clear: The classification system - Type I, Type II, Type III
- is for setting the binding release, not for determining which model
skis you get. Unless you ask for high-performance/demo skis, you'll get
the same rental stock ski regardless of which box you check on the form.
The only difference is that the binding setting will be different.

My own two cents is that until you get a decent pair of well fitting
boots, advanced skis won't do much for you. If you've got the good
boots, go for the higher performance demo skis. If not, you might as
well stick with the rental noodles.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

Kyle wrote:
I was hoping someone would explain the difference is between beginner,
intermediate and advanced skis?

Are the skis actually suited to the level of the skiing or are they just
trying to flog the naff, cheap skis off to the beginners. Classing myself as
a beginner (confident on blues, occasional reds), would it be detrimental to
hire myself a pair of advanced skis? (working on the priciple, more
expensive = better equiptment)

As others have pointed out, entry level skis are often softer, easier to
bend into an arc. What they missed is the entry level skis are also
softer in torsion. That means when you put an entry level ski on edge
and pressure it, the shovel and tail wash out and release the edge, so
the beginner has little edge pressure to work with. This is deliberate
in an entry level ski - it makes the ski easier for beginners. In the
advertisements you will see words like "forgiving" and "easy turning."
An expert ski is stiff in torsion but can be stiff to soft in
longitudinal flex - this causes the edge to engage from shovel to tail
equally and consistently. This seemingly sudden turning power is often
alarming and uncontrollable to a beginner. In the advertisements you
will see words like "powerful" and "stable." Hence the categories -
beginner and expert skis. And all the levels in between.

If you are just getting the feel for edges you might profit from
beginner skis. If you are trying to work your edges and get a carve, you
might profit from the torsion stiffness of a higher end ski.

Nothing is sadder than to see a beginner-intermediate who really gets it
and is working his ass off trying to carve but is skiing on beginner
skis incapable of holding the edge in a carve. It got to be incredibly
frustrating. So if you feel you are moving up and working on carving or
dynamically linking your turns, I'd suggest moving to a better ski.

BTW, the difference in cost isn't just because of marketing. It does
cost more to make a ski that is soft in flex and stiff in torsion. It
used to be that they went together, which is why skis were so stiff.
About 15 years ago materials and methods and technologies combined to
make a soft flexing torsionally stiff ski possible, and a revolution
occured. Many falsely believe the revolution was in ski shapes - new
freedom to experiment with shapes and lenths were a result of the
revolution but not the revolution.

Also Sprach lal_truckee :

BTW, the difference in cost isn't just because of marketing. It does
cost more to make a ski that is soft in flex and stiff in torsion. It
used to be that they went together, which is why skis were so stiff.
About 15 years ago materials and methods and technologies combined to
make a soft flexing torsionally stiff ski possible, and a revolution
occured. Many falsely believe the revolution was in ski shapes - new
freedom to experiment with shapes and lenths were a result of the
revolution but not the revolution.

Someday I'm going to build my idea for a bending-twist coupled
asymmetric-layup ski. With composites, it's not too difficult to design a
layup so that when a ski flexes, the tip and tail rotate torsionally. The
more you flex the ski, the better the carving angle gets. The
disadvantage is that this would only help the downhill/outside ski... the
uphill/inside ski would have an increased tendancy to wash out. Also, you
end up with skis that have a definite left and right side. Put them on
the wrong feet, and you're going to be nearly uncontrolable.

Dan


--
Anyone who complains that they're getting laid too often for it to
be cost-efficient really needs to have their head examined.

-- Cameron Perkins

Thanks for your contributions, very enlightening, while I am still not
entirely sure what I will go for, Im leaning toward an intermediate, I feel
a bit more knowledgable and I will likely discuss it with the vendor.

Kyle

Kyle,

Just make sure the "vendor" is not a high school freshman who's only
reason for working in the store is to get a discount on golf supplies
in the summer...

Boris