"Normal" or "Premium" Skis??

Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are worth the
extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of discussion but it affects
everyone. On average, the "premium" skis demand a 40 pound premium. I've read
the sales pitch from the manufacturers and hire companies but would be
interested to hear about someone's own experience.

Are the 'technological' advancements significant? If so, how do they affect our
skiing? Is there a material difference?

Do they affect different people in different ways ie. depending on their
ability or style of skiing?

I don't know what standard of skiier I am. I'm just learning how to carve.
Should I opt for the "premium" option?? (nb, I am a student - poor!!)

Has anyone tried the twin-tipped skis? I've seen a few kids use them at the
local dry slope. Do they allow freestyle skiing without any sacrifices? In
particular, do they affect the traditional 'freeride' functionality?

Thanks for any replies!

Niall

On Wed 10 Nov '04 at 21:50 (NIALLBRUCE) wrote:

Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are worth
the extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of discussion but it
affects everyone. On average, the "premium" skis demand a 40 pound
premium. I've read the sales pitch from the manufacturers and hire companies
but would be interested to hear about someone's own experience.


So I'm one of the people who still hires skis, and I do go for the "premium"
option these days, though given the total cost of the week's hire x 2, and the
reliability factor, it is making me think I may buy my own skis this year.

Are the 'technological' advancements significant? If so, how do they affect
our skiing? Is there a material difference?

Well these days I'd think that all the hire skis would be carving style, but
certainly the skis I first learnt on in 2000 were almost straight, but it
didn't really bother me in my snow plough.

I think the real difference is in the age. Premium == Newer. Plus they tend to
have complete sharp edges in my experience.

If you think about what the older skis have been through, 3 or 4 years, 6 days
a week skiing for the entire season. Most people's skis wouldn't get that
treatment in their lifetime. They must be suffering from some kind of fatigue.

Do they affect different people in different ways ie. depending on their
ability or style of skiing?

I don't know what standard of skiier I am. I'm just learning how to carve.
Should I opt for the "premium" option?? (nb, I am a student - poor!!)

Some of my friends being taught to carve by the ESF in La Plagne this year
were told by their instructor to go and dump the planks of wood they were on
for some real skis.

He then swapped skis with one of the girls for her to tell the difference,
which she could. (He was testing some of Salomon's next seasons skis to be
fair).



As for the random factor, I've found that the main hire shop in Soldeu,
Andorra has X number of standard skis and Y number of premium skis, and every
couple of years they move the premium to the standard, and buy new premium
ones.

This means you get your exact length in a ski of your choosing.

in the other hire places I've been in, they seem to have a mismash of
different types of skis, and what they have in your length you get, even if it
may not be ideally what you want (i.e. something that is horrificaly wide...,
or something that doesn't look that "premium", i.e. old).


The other thing I've noticed is that you pay your money to the tour operator
who claims to be getting a discount for you, but looking at the offer prices
on the web for other shops in resort, I'm not so sure.








Alun.

"Alun Evans" wrote in message
...


Some of my friends being taught to carve by the ESF in La Plagne this year
were told by their instructor to go and dump the planks of wood they were
on
for some real skis.

He then swapped skis with one of the girls for her to tell the difference,
which she could. (He was testing some of Salomon's next seasons skis to be
fair).


I find it odd that an instructor would be using beginners skis (unless he
was testing them for
usability for beginners).

I can't believe that anywhere really rents "planks". As far as I am aware
I've never been given anything more than a year old.

The one thing that I would look out for is the condition of the skis - I've
asked for another pair where the edges weren't sharp or the base looked like
it had been skiing gravel.

On Thu 11 Nov '04 at 09:59 "Nick Hounsome" wrote:

"Alun Evans" wrote in message
...


Some of my friends being taught to carve by the ESF in La Plagne this year
were told by their instructor to go and dump the planks of wood they were
on for some real skis.

He then swapped skis with one of the girls for her to tell the difference,
which she could. (He was testing some of Salomon's next seasons skis to be
fair).


I find it odd that an instructor would be using beginners skis (unless he
was testing them for usability for beginners).

No no, he was on some poncy racing skis, but they were having difficulty with
carving due to a lack of side cut and the bluntness of their planks.

He swapped for a short run so that she could tell the difference.

I can't believe that anywhere really rents "planks". As far as I am aware
I've never been given anything more than a year old.

Well I'm in the (un)fortunate position of having gone to the same rental place
in Soldeu for 4 years, and they had some skis that went (new) premium,
standard, standard. I'm assuming they'll be gone this year.

The one thing that I would look out for is the condition of the skis - I've
asked for another pair where the edges weren't sharp or the base looked like
it had been skiing gravel.

Yep, if they've got a good choice in your length, it's worth checking to see
if they've got a pair in better condition. When it's busy though, they just
want to get you out of the shop.

And if they don't have another pair, getting them to service your pair is
fairly unlikely.


Alun.

"Alun Evans" wrote in message
...


On Wed 10 Nov '04 at 21:50 (NIALLBRUCE) wrote:

Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are
worth
the extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of discussion but
it
affects everyone. On average, the "premium" skis demand a 40 pound
premium. I've read the sales pitch from the manufacturers and hire
companies
but would be interested to hear about someone's own experience.


So I'm one of the people who still hires skis, and I do go for the
"premium"
option these days, though given the total cost of the week's hire x 2, and
the
reliability factor, it is making me think I may buy my own skis this year.

Unless you ski a minimum of 2-3 weeks a year I can't see the economics in
this - you'd have to keep them for 3 or 4 years at least to make it
worthwhile. I bought a pair some years ago but only used them for 3 years
and frankly it was a waste of money. Nowadays I just rent good skis - you
get the latest models every time and if you don't like them you just go back
& get another pair. You don't have to carry them round airports (or pay
excess baggage charges) and you don't have to pay the annual servicing -
when you add that up over 3 or 4 years it can come to half as much again on
the cost of the skis. You also need a sensible place to store them. Many
people put them in the loft which is a really bad idea - they get much too
hot during the summer, dry out & suffer accordingly.

Skiing on "Planks" won't help you progress - but then again skiing on race
skiis won't help you much either if you arn't good enough to use them. There
are usually 3 or 4 different levels of ski in most hire shops in Europe &
you need to try & find the best level for your ability.

There is just no point in renting poor quality skis - having paid so much to
get to the snow in the first place it seems a false economy. As above,
neither is there much point in renting the highest spec skis if you don't
have the technique. Look at it this way, you are unlikely to be able to
throw a Ferrari into a four wheel drift at 100mph if you only passed your
driving test yesterday!

On a related but different not it is absolutely worth buying your own
boots - even if you ski only once a year.

On Thu 11 Nov '04 at 15:06 "Iain Miller" wrote:

Alun Evans wrote:

On Wed 10 Nov '04 at 21:50 (NIALLBRUCE) wrote:

Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are
worth the extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of
discussion but it affects everyone. On average, the "premium" skis
demand a 40 pound premium. I've read the sales pitch from the
manufacturers and hire companies but would be interested to hear about
someone's own experience.

So I'm one of the people who still hires skis, and I do go for the
"premium" option these days, though given the total cost of the week's
hire x 2, and the reliability factor, it is making me think I may buy my
own skis this year.

Unless you ski a minimum of 2-3 weeks a year I can't see the economics in
this

hence the "x 2" in my posting.

Yeah, I've done the maths; it's not worthwhile.

However, as you mention, if you factor in having a poor pair of skis, not
enjoying the skiing as much, and wasting the money you spent on the holiday,
then it becomes a bit worthwhile.

Even if you pay to upgrade, the rental shop you've been tied to by your tour
company may not have a decent pair of skis for you in your length.

Ah, the random factor.



Alun.

My understanding was that "Premium" skis were standard models that you
could buy in the shops and that "Normal" skis were built for the
"fleet" hire market to a basic price and weren't a retail product.

Certainly a lot of the models of normal I've seen, even brand new,
didn't feature in any manufacturers list.

A good ski hire outlet regularly replaces their entire stock as the
business model calls for the capital investment in hire skis and boots
to be paid off within the first four weeks.

Stan




On 10 Nov 2004 21:50:42 GMT, (NIALLBRUCE) wrote:

Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are worth the
extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of discussion but it affects
everyone. On average, the "premium" skis demand a 40 pound premium. I've read
the sales pitch from the manufacturers and hire companies but would be
interested to hear about someone's own experience.

Are the 'technological' advancements significant? If so, how do they affect our
skiing? Is there a material difference?

Do they affect different people in different ways ie. depending on their
ability or style of skiing?

I don't know what standard of skiier I am. I'm just learning how to carve.
Should I opt for the "premium" option?? (nb, I am a student - poor!!)

Has anyone tried the twin-tipped skis? I've seen a few kids use them at the
local dry slope. Do they allow freestyle skiing without any sacrifices? In
particular, do they affect the traditional 'freeride' functionality?

Thanks for any replies!

Niall

"NIALLBRUCE" wrote in message
...
Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are
worth the
extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of discussion but it
affects
everyone. On average, the "premium" skis demand a 40 pound premium. I've
read
the sales pitch from the manufacturers and hire companies but would be
interested to hear about someone's own experience.

I wouldn't claim to be a great skier and I've never done a side by side
comparison but I went 3 times last season - once with some planks that I was
given for free, once with standard rental and once with premium rental.

Both rentals were better than the planks because they were at least carvers
but I couldn't honestly say I could tell the difference between the rentals.

P.S. I stuck with the planks when my friends hired carvers just to
stubbornly show that I could. I like to think that it improved my technique
:-)

Are the 'technological' advancements significant? If so, how do they
affect our
skiing? Is there a material difference?

The standard will be at most one year older.

Do they affect different people in different ways ie. depending on their
ability or style of skiing? I don't know what standard of skiier I am.
I'm just learning how to carve.
Should I opt for the "premium" option?? (nb, I am a student - poor!!)

Looking in the ellisbrigham catalogue at just the K2 range I see that the
skis rated as easiest to use are also the cheapest so why pay extra for
something you are not going to do as well on?

Has anyone tried the twin-tipped skis? I've seen a few kids use them at
the
local dry slope. Do they allow freestyle skiing without any sacrifices? In
particular, do they affect the traditional 'freeride' functionality?

Since twin tips are for skiing backwards and you haven't yet mastered a
forwards carve I don't see why you would want them.

Thanks for any replies!

Niall

P.S. Rental shops are happy to swap skis - you could always try switching
part way through the week and seeing if it makes any difference.

"Nick Hounsome" wrote in message
P.S. Rental shops are happy to swap skis - you could always try switching
part way through the week and seeing if it makes any difference.

And if you do do this, the rental shop will often give you premium skis
instead for no extra cost, probably to save themselves the hassle of you
coming back again.

--
kitemap

(NIALLBRUCE) wrote in message ...
Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are worth the
extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of discussion but it affects
everyone. On average, the "premium" skis demand a 40 pound premium. I've read
the sales pitch from the manufacturers and hire companies but would be
interested to hear about someone's own experience.

Are the 'technological' advancements significant? If so, how do they affect our
skiing? Is there a material difference?

Do they affect different people in different ways ie. depending on their
ability or style of skiing?

I don't know what standard of skiier I am. I'm just learning how to carve.
Should I opt for the "premium" option?? (nb, I am a student - poor!!)

Has anyone tried the twin-tipped skis? I've seen a few kids use them at the
local dry slope. Do they allow freestyle skiing without any sacrifices? In
particular, do they affect the traditional 'freeride' functionality?

Thanks for any replies!

Niall

Hi Niall

Considering it's a 'skiing' holiday, the skis are really the most
important thing as they facilitate the purpose of the holiday.

I can't see the point in spending all that money on travel, food,
accommodation, lift pass etc only to save a few quid on skis that have
seen better days.

I always go for the premium skis not only for the reason above but
also because they are the best, therefore easier (or more rewarding)
to ski on and are thus less effort!