Need ski buying advice for my dad

He's 62 and he skis green runs, pretty much exclusively. He's about 5'10, 175
pounds. He's been skiing for ten years now but he only goes a couple times a
year and has never gotten lessons.. He's not very good at turning which means
he turns mostly out of necessity and therefore is lacking in the control dept.
Right now he's skiing on 200cm 10 year old skis, obviously not parabolics.

I got him wearing a helmet, I want him to get more modern skis, a LOT shorter,
skis suited to him, skis that will allow him to turn more easily, that will
give him more control and make his days on the hill more enjoyable. I'm going
to try and get him to get a couple of lessons but I don't know if thats going
to happen.

He's probably going to keep these skis for the rest of his ski-life.. he'll
never ski blacks and he'll never ski aggressively. When I go to the store what
are some models I should look out for? What about last years models (sometimes
they're on sale)?

thanks!

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 15:40:44 GMT, (steve)
wrote:

He's 62 and he skis green runs, pretty much exclusively. He's about 5'10, 175
pounds. He's been skiing for ten years now but he only goes a couple times a
year and has never gotten lessons.. He's not very good at turning which means
he turns mostly out of necessity and therefore is lacking in the control dept.
Right now he's skiing on 200cm 10 year old skis, obviously not parabolics.

I got him wearing a helmet, I want him to get more modern skis, a LOT shorter,
skis suited to him, skis that will allow him to turn more easily, that will
give him more control and make his days on the hill more enjoyable. I'm going
to try and get him to get a couple of lessons but I don't know if thats going
to happen.

He's probably going to keep these skis for the rest of his ski-life.. he'll
never ski blacks and he'll never ski aggressively. When I go to the store what
are some models I should look out for? What about last years models (sometimes
they're on sale)?

thanks!





If he only skis a few times per year, I wouldn't purchase
skis, renting is smarter. I would though buy good boots
(spend a lot of time on this) a helmet, goggles and quality
clothing (I am a Spyder fan).
In addition, spring for the lessons! It will make his
experience much more enjoyable, and makes the hills safer.




"I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." -Arnold Schwarzenegger, during the California recall campaign

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 11:40:29 -0500, Dick Gozinya
wrote:

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 15:40:44 GMT, (steve)
wrote:

He's 62 and he skis green runs, pretty much exclusively. He's about 5'10, 175
pounds. He's been skiing for ten years now but he only goes a couple times a
year and has never gotten lessons.. He's not very good at turning which means
he turns mostly out of necessity and therefore is lacking in the control dept.
Right now he's skiing on 200cm 10 year old skis, obviously not parabolics.

I got him wearing a helmet, I want him to get more modern skis, a LOT shorter,
skis suited to him, skis that will allow him to turn more easily, that will
give him more control and make his days on the hill more enjoyable. I'm going
to try and get him to get a couple of lessons but I don't know if thats going
to happen.

He's probably going to keep these skis for the rest of his ski-life.. he'll
never ski blacks and he'll never ski aggressively. When I go to the store what
are some models I should look out for? What about last years models (sometimes
they're on sale)?

thanks!





If he only skis a few times per year, I wouldn't purchase
skis, renting is smarter. I would though buy good boots
(spend a lot of time on this) a helmet, goggles and quality
clothing (I am a Spyder fan).
In addition, spring for the lessons! It will make his
experience much more enjoyable, and makes the hills safer.

True; for the occasional skier, good boots are the key, and for
somebody who only gets out a couple of times a year, renting the skis
is probably more cost-effective.

HOWEVER.....pretty much anything in the intermediate-skier range
(including last-year models, for sure) ought to meet your criteria
(turn more easily, give him more control, and make his days on the
hill more enjoyable), and such skis should not be expensive at all.
New skis and a lesson or two would also make his days on the hill
longer - the newer skis don't take as much work to turn, so he'll have
more energy available later in the day. This could prompt him to get
out more often, maybe a LOTmore often. Should that happen, you'll
have been as good a son as a father could ask for.

bw

If he only skis a few times per year, I wouldn't purchase
skis, renting is smarter.

hardly, he doesn't need some super high end ski, at most he needs like a
$300 (CDN) pair of skis, if he went seven times a year renting would cost
$175 and he'd have nothing to show for it. he'd pay for his skis in less
than two years, plus he'd be saving himself the hassle of renting and
having a different pair of skis every time he goes out.

I would though buy good boots
(spend a lot of time on this) a helmet, goggles and quality
clothing (I am a Spyder fan).
In addition, spring for the lessons! It will make his
experience much more enjoyable, and makes the hills safer.

he has everything he needs, he just needs to change his skis.

steve wrote:
He's 62 and he skis green runs, pretty much exclusively. He's about 5'10, 175
pounds. He's been skiing for ten years now but he only goes a couple times a
year and has never gotten lessons.. He's not very good at turning which means
he turns mostly out of necessity and therefore is lacking in the control dept.
Right now he's skiing on 200cm 10 year old skis, obviously not parabolics.

I got him wearing a helmet, I want him to get more modern skis, a LOT shorter,
skis suited to him, skis that will allow him to turn more easily, that will
give him more control and make his days on the hill more enjoyable. I'm going
to try and get him to get a couple of lessons but I don't know if thats going
to happen.

He's probably going to keep these skis for the rest of his ski-life.. he'll
never ski blacks and he'll never ski aggressively. When I go to the store what
are some models I should look out for? What about last years models (sometimes
they're on sale)?

thanks!


Ok, I'll take this one...

Pulled directly from advice given by LALTruckee. It's so good I won't
even rewrite it.

I will ask why you wish to own your own skis? The break even point for
owning skis is more than 10 days skiing a year consistently. In many
situations you'd have to lug them on an airplane, so you don't even get
convenience as a positive factor. I'd forget buying skis and rent
demo/performance skis when you arrive at your destination.

I actually do this when I travel. I rented from a downtown South Lake
Tahoe discount rental shop, their plain vanilla Rossignol CUT skis and
had a blast in western (relatively) soft snow.

Now BOOTS are another matter. I'd schedule your first day on this years
trip for buying good boots near your destination resort; I'd return to
the shop (daily, if need be) until the boots fit perfectly. Feet change
slowly if at all, and boots are your most important item for
performance, comfort, and learning - you'd be set for a decade or more.

VtSkier mostly quoting LAL

steve wrote:
If he only skis a few times per year, I wouldn't purchase
skis, renting is smarter.


hardly, he doesn't need some super high end ski, at most he needs like a
$300 (CDN) pair of skis, if he went seven times a year renting would cost
$175 and he'd have nothing to show for it. he'd pay for his skis in less
than two years, plus he'd be saving himself the hassle of renting and
having a different pair of skis every time he goes out.

I would though buy good boots

(spend a lot of time on this) a helmet, goggles and quality
clothing (I am a Spyder fan).
In addition, spring for the lessons! It will make his
experience much more enjoyable, and makes the hills safer.


he has everything he needs, he just needs to change his skis.

Well, have him rent for a while and see what he likes.
VtSkier

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 18:10:13 GMT, (steve)
wrote:

If he only skis a few times per year, I wouldn't purchase
skis, renting is smarter.

hardly, he doesn't need some super high end ski, at most he needs like a
$300 (CDN) pair of skis, if he went seven times a year renting would cost
$175 and he'd have nothing to show for it. he'd pay for his skis in less
than two years, plus he'd be saving himself the hassle of renting and
having a different pair of skis every time he goes out.

I would though buy good boots
(spend a lot of time on this) a helmet, goggles and quality
clothing (I am a Spyder fan).
In addition, spring for the lessons! It will make his
experience much more enjoyable, and makes the hills safer.

he has everything he needs, he just needs to change his skis.
I dont disagree with either of your points, but, it seems a
waste to purchase skiis when you are only out there a few
times per year.




"I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." -Arnold Schwarzenegger, during the California recall campaign

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:45:25 -0500, Dick Gozinya
wrote:


I dont disagree with either of your points, but, it seems a
waste to purchase skiis when you are only out there a few
times per year.


It's not allways about money.

Another nobody wrote:
On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:45:25 -0500, Dick Gozinya
wrote:



I dont disagree with either of your points, but, it seems a
waste to purchase skiis when you are only out there a few
times per year.



It's not allways about money.



Absolutely. It's a PITA to rent every time you go skiing. If the
couple of bucks you might save by renting instead of buying matter that
much to you, you probably can't afford the lift tickets to begin with.

Saving yourself the trouble of renting, fitting, and returning skis to a
shop whenever you want to ski is more than worth the extra money to most
people.