Old skis

Anyone have thoughts about what makes a ski wear out. The obvious would be
that the edges get round, the bases get scratched and are no longer flat.
I have a ancient pair of Fischer air core klister skis, the white with red
lines, that no new pair of klister skis that I have purchased over the last
15 years seems to compare. In klister conditions, wet or ice, they seems to
kick better and are still fast.
Jeff

In our household, and on a variety of skis:

De-lamination; breakage, base bubbling; replacement bindings not
holding because nowhere to drill new holes; and all the things you
said too. Scratching seems the least of the problems. I suppose at
some stage, it must be possible to wear through a base. but I have not
had that happen.

I too have a pair of RCS air core classics, the powder version,
(circa 1985 with a clear base) that no amount of my poor waxing seemed
to slow in cold conditions. Nothing would make them quick in warm
condtions though. Unfortunately, I had to change the bindings
(old-style Salomon) as I could not get replacement boots to fit.
Sadly, I think that has finished them, as I cannot make the new
bindings stay on.

Alex

On 23 Mar 2006 05:12:22 -0800, "Alex" wrote:

In our household, and on a variety of skis:

De-lamination; breakage, base bubbling; replacement bindings not
holding because nowhere to drill new holes; and all the things you
said too. Scratching seems the least of the problems. I suppose at
some stage, it must be possible to wear through a base. but I have not
had that happen.

I too have a pair of RCS air core classics, the powder version,
(circa 1985 with a clear base) that no amount of my poor waxing seemed
to slow in cold conditions. Nothing would make them quick in warm
condtions though. Unfortunately, I had to change the bindings
(old-style Salomon) as I could not get replacement boots to fit.
Sadly, I think that has finished them, as I cannot make the new
bindings stay on.

Alex


What have you tried so far?

g.c.

Plugs and epoxy.

The biggest things I've seen that makes old equipment seem worn out is
marketing hype by ski manufacturers and subsequent "new ski envy." The
new graphics look cool, the marketing hype sound good so you just got to
have new skis and therefore the old ones must be worn out.
Ralph Thornton

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Ralph wrote:
The biggest things I've seen that makes old equipment seem worn out is
marketing hype by ski manufacturers and subsequent "new ski envy." The
new graphics look cool, the marketing hype sound good so you just got to
have new skis and therefore the old ones must be worn out.
Ralph Thornton

I agree that this is nearly all of it. I sometimes wonder how the
weight factor applies? In the sense that you buy a great pair of skis
and then 5 years later you're 10 pounds heavier and they seem like dogs
- maybe I've just gotten too heavy for the skis?

Have you thought about helicoils?

Chris

Dear Jeff
I feel for you.

I'm a long time skier and have retired more than my fair share of skis
And this is one of the hardest things to do.

Generally after about 4 years racing skis start to go, downhills are less
stable, and they don't hold an edge as well etc.......
Now I ski about 1500-1700km per year
The problem is that after about 4 years skis really get fast, you can't beat
an old pair of skis for pure speed. So I keep them and use them for another
year or two.

At this point I have I have no choice but to buy a new pair, MY LIFE IS MY
SKIS and so my old skis become my early season and spring skis. Next comes
the hardest part of all.

The best way to do this is to buy yourself a good bottle of wine and bring
it home. When the timing is right usually during the summer when sking is
farther from the mind open the bottle and make a toast to your beloved
skis, please remember the great times you had with them and all the km you
skied together, then take out your saw and cut your old skis into small 12"
pieces. Warning it is a good idea to do this with a good close ski friend as
retiring an old pair of skis is tough to do buy yourself. The hardest part
of all is putting the pieces into the garbage and take the bin down to the
street.

Best pair of skis I had to retire was a pair of 1986 Madshus skate CR55
black bases I skied and raced on them for about 8 years about 2500-3000 km
per year and kept them for another 8 years (not sking on them) but just
because I could not bring myself to throw them out, they were the fastest
and best skis I ever had almost to this day.
I will tell no lies, I did cry when I cut up these skis.

Soon I will be facing the same heart break again. As I will be sending my
1996 Madshus Skate to that big ski trail in the sky
and my 2001 Madshus Skate hardpacks will become my spring skis. This will be
hard as it is with these hardpacked skis that met the love of my life and it
is with these skis that I have just completed the longest day of sking
(skate) I have ever done in my life. 131 km in 7hr :14min (last week-end)
you can't just throw out this these types of memories, I hope that my new
skis will bing me as much pleasure as all my other skis have.

I wish you courage during this hard time but remember that if you take care
of you new skis they will take care of you.

Best regards and good luck
Sean





"Camilo" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ralph wrote:
The biggest things I've seen that makes old equipment seem worn out is
marketing hype by ski manufacturers and subsequent "new ski envy." The
new graphics look cool, the marketing hype sound good so you just got to
have new skis and therefore the old ones must be worn out.
Ralph Thornton

I agree that this is nearly all of it. I sometimes wonder how the
weight factor applies? In the sense that you buy a great pair of skis
and then 5 years later you're 10 pounds heavier and they seem like dogs
- maybe I've just gotten too heavy for the skis?

Cut them up ? Are you nuts??
Save them and make and entire wall of them - like cool paneling !!

JK



"Sean" wrote in message
.. .
Dear Jeff
I feel for you.

I'm a long time skier and have retired more than my fair share of skis
And this is one of the hardest things to do.

Generally after about 4 years racing skis start to go, downhills are less
stable, and they don't hold an edge as well etc.......
Now I ski about 1500-1700km per year
The problem is that after about 4 years skis really get fast, you can't
beat
an old pair of skis for pure speed. So I keep them and use them for
another
year or two.

At this point I have I have no choice but to buy a new pair, MY LIFE IS MY
SKIS and so my old skis become my early season and spring skis. Next comes
the hardest part of all.

The best way to do this is to buy yourself a good bottle of wine and bring
it home. When the timing is right usually during the summer when sking is
farther from the mind open the bottle and make a toast to your beloved
skis, please remember the great times you had with them and all the km you
skied together, then take out your saw and cut your old skis into small
12"
pieces. Warning it is a good idea to do this with a good close ski friend
as
retiring an old pair of skis is tough to do buy yourself. The hardest part
of all is putting the pieces into the garbage and take the bin down to the
street.

Best pair of skis I had to retire was a pair of 1986 Madshus skate CR55
black bases I skied and raced on them for about 8 years about 2500-3000
km
per year and kept them for another 8 years (not sking on them) but just
because I could not bring myself to throw them out, they were the fastest
and best skis I ever had almost to this day.
I will tell no lies, I did cry when I cut up these skis.

Soon I will be facing the same heart break again. As I will be sending my
1996 Madshus Skate to that big ski trail in the sky
and my 2001 Madshus Skate hardpacks will become my spring skis. This will
be
hard as it is with these hardpacked skis that met the love of my life and
it
is with these skis that I have just completed the longest day of sking
(skate) I have ever done in my life. 131 km in 7hr :14min (last
week-end)
you can't just throw out this these types of memories, I hope that my new
skis will bing me as much pleasure as all my other skis have.

I wish you courage during this hard time but remember that if you take
care
of you new skis they will take care of you.

Best regards and good luck
Sean





"Camilo" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ralph wrote:
The biggest things I've seen that makes old equipment seem worn out is
marketing hype by ski manufacturers and subsequent "new ski envy." The
new graphics look cool, the marketing hype sound good so you just got
to
have new skis and therefore the old ones must be worn out.
Ralph Thornton

I agree that this is nearly all of it. I sometimes wonder how the
weight factor applies? In the sense that you buy a great pair of skis
and then 5 years later you're 10 pounds heavier and they seem like dogs
- maybe I've just gotten too heavy for the skis?

I've seen really cool chairs that were made from old skis. They sawed the
skis off at about the binding, then they used the top half as the slats for
the back of the chair with the tips pointing up.
Instead of bonding with your beloved skis using only your feet, you can rub
your whole back against your old skis every time you sit down in your ski
chair to watch that video of the Lillehammer Olympic 4x10 relay.

The other option is to donate functional old skis to your local ski club. We
have a local club called CANSKI that teaches kids how to ski. You don't need
a brand new pair of skis starting out.

--
Paul Haltvick
Bay Design and Build - LLC
Engineering, Construction and Information Technology Services
FSx - Fischer / Swix Racing