Use old straight or buy shaped

Mike wrote:

My wife and I are interested in making a skiing trip to Colorado this
winter. She is a newbie and only been out once (and struggled). I can
ski quite well for Wisconsin standards, but am not keyed in on equipment.

My impression is that renting skiis in Colorado for several days would be
quite expensive (comments?), so I'm interested in fixing her up with an
entry-level outfit.

My brother gave me some older Elan skiis (15 years old or so) that should
be about the right size for her (they are either 170cm or 175cm, she is
5'7"). Obviously we'd have to buy boots and I would need to get new
bindings for these as well.

But it seems that most skiis sold nowadays are of the "shaped"
variety. I'm told that turning is much much easier and it generally makes
learning to ski easier. I'm wondering if anybody can comment on whether
it makes sense to forget about these old Elan skiis and just get new
entry-level shaped skiis since we'd have to buy boots/bindings anyways.

p.s. All of my skiing has been done with older Rossignols that are not
shaped


You heard right. Turning is much easier and it generally makes learning
to ski easier.

If you're happy on your old Rossis, so be it. But do your wife a favor
and get her on some modern gear. Don't bother with the old Elans, or
maybe mount them over the fireplace.

Renting skis in the mountains is not that expensive, especially in
comparrison to the price you'l be paying for airfare, lodging, meals
etc. If you want to save money, look for deals off-resort, and rent by
the week.

Another option is to pick up a pair of recent vintage used skis from a
place like Play It Again Sports. You should be able to get beginner
skis and bindings for $150 to $200. Look for short (150 to 165cm) soft
skis with lots of sidecut. Plan or replacing them in a season or so
once she actually learns how to ski.

And don't forget lessons. If she struggled in Wisconsin, Colorado may
be quite intimidating without some professional help. Do *not* under
any circumstances attempt to teach her yourself.


--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Volkl Conspiracy

Walt wrote:
Mike wrote:

My wife and I are interested in making a skiing trip to Colorado this

winter. She is a newbie and only been out once (and struggled). I can
ski quite well for Wisconsin standards, but am not keyed in on equipment.

My impression is that renting skiis in Colorado for several days would be
quite expensive (comments?), so I'm interested in fixing her up with an
entry-level outfit.
My brother gave me some older Elan skiis (15 years old or so) that should
be about the right size for her (they are either 170cm or 175cm, she is
5'7"). Obviously we'd have to buy boots and I would need to get new
bindings for these as well.
But it seems that most skiis sold nowadays are of the "shaped"
variety. I'm told that turning is much much easier and it generally
makes
learning to ski easier. I'm wondering if anybody can comment on whether
it makes sense to forget about these old Elan skiis and just get new
entry-level shaped skiis since we'd have to buy boots/bindings anyways.


p.s. All of my skiing has been done with older Rossignols that are not
shaped



You heard right. Turning is much easier and it generally makes learning
to ski easier.

If you're happy on your old Rossis, so be it. But do your wife a favor
and get her on some modern gear. Don't bother with the old Elans, or
maybe mount them over the fireplace.

Renting skis in the mountains is not that expensive, especially in
comparrison to the price you'l be paying for airfare, lodging, meals
etc. If you want to save money, look for deals off-resort, and rent by
the week.

Another option is to pick up a pair of recent vintage used skis from a
place like Play It Again Sports. You should be able to get beginner
skis and bindings for $150 to $200. Look for short (150 to 165cm) soft
skis with lots of sidecut. Plan or replacing them in a season or so
once she actually learns how to ski.

And don't forget lessons. If she struggled in Wisconsin, Colorado may
be quite intimidating without some professional help. Do *not* under
any circumstances attempt to teach her yourself.

Ah Walt - you forgot:
Rent unless you consistently ski MORE THAN 10 days a year - you will
SAVE money and be on better maintained, better performing skis. Ski
towns are riddled with rental shops - renting gear where you ski lets
you take it back if there's a problem, or even if you just want to try a
different pair.

Finally, buying used/demo/etc skis is an excellent way to save money, IF
you know what you are doing. It sounds as if you are NOT an expert, so
if you go the used route, get an expert friend to advise you; if you go
to a "ski" shop (probably a sporting goods store with a ski corner) for
gear, once again get an expert friend to advise you!

Mike wrote:
First let me say that I've read much of the FAQ at
http://www.darryl.com/skiing/, but I didn't find anything on shaped
skiis
and I've found that the new Google Groups interface royally sucks.

My wife and I are interested in making a skiing trip to Colorado this
winter. She is a newbie and only been out once (and struggled). I
can
ski quite well for Wisconsin standards, but am not keyed in on
equipment.

My impression is that renting skiis in Colorado for several days
would be
quite expensive (comments?),

Multi-days rental usually comes with discounts, some ski resorts have
"rental pass," so bargain may still be found; and if you folks don't do
that much skiing (say, one vacation a year), why lumber the equipments
around? Rent sounds a good option. When you do rent, make sure to find
the "right" size and "all" the equipments work properly at the rental
shop. The upshot on rental is you can try out different skis.

so I'm interested in fixing her up with an
entry-level outfit.

If you do go to fix her an outfit, enjoy your vacation, and to get her
into the sport, get her the best outfit that you can offer and make
sure that is a well-balanced set and is suited for her abilities.

A well-balanced set can be quite expensive, compare to rental.


My brother gave me some older Elan skiis (15 years old or so) that
should
be about the right size for her (they are either 170cm or 175cm, she
is
5'7"). Obviously we'd have to buy boots and I would need to get new
bindings for these as well.

Old skis are for old timers, leave them along.


But it seems that most skiis sold nowadays are of the "shaped"
variety. I'm told that turning is much much easier and it generally
makes
learning to ski easier. I'm wondering if anybody can comment on
whether
it makes sense to forget about these old Elan skiis and just get new
entry-level shaped skiis since we'd have to buy boots/bindings
anyways.

Yes, shaped skis is a lot easier to learn skiing on, nevertheless, keep
it short.


Thanks,
Mike

p.s. All of my skiing has been done with older Rossignols that are
not
shaped

When you switch to shaped ski take 20cm out of that length, and better
demo it before you buy.

Have fun,
IS

Mike wrote:

And don't forget lessons. If she struggled in Wisconsin, Colorado may
be quite intimidating without some professional help. Do *not* under
any circumstances attempt to teach her yourself.


I think you are right. I learned to ski without any lessons or help...my
friends took me to the top of the hill, laughed and said "good luck". I
picked it up quite quickly. But when I took my wife out, she just didn't
grasp it as easily as I did.

Breckenridge offers a single-day $200 "Learn to Ski" thing. If she did
that the first day, I wonder if that would be good enough to enjoy the
next couple days without additional lessons?

Depends. A reasonably athletic person who already knows how to ice
skate or rollerblade can probably pick it up in a day. A klutz may take
5 or 6 lessons to get the basics down.*

I think you'd be better off with a daily one hour lesson each morning
than trying to cram it all in in one long day. For one thing, you're
going to to be jet lagged and gasping for air the first day out (Breck
is 9500' at the base). Your wife may be completely exhausted after an
hour - I know I was pretty wiped after my first lesson and it was at
500'. Plus the learning curve is iterative: it goes lesson - practice
- lesson - practice - repeat.


One more thing, am I crazy to even consider the week of December 27-Jan
2nd?

Yeah. It'll be mobbed. With out of control people who only ski once a
year. If you can finagle it, go the following week when it'll be empty.
Or consider going to a more obscure resort like Ski Cooper or Winter Park.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Volkl Conspiracy

*Yes, it took me 5 or 6 lessons to get the basics down. YMMV.

Mike wrote:
Mike, I think you should take a good long look at the freaks who dominate
this sewer. Do you really want advice from people who associate with Harry
Weiner, or who never object to jokes about ****ing kids?
You could be next. I'd run if I were you.


Well I've never visited this "sewer" before today, but going by first
impressions, I'd say that you are the rat.

I'm quite happy with the advice I've received.






If you want my advice, just killfile Scott. Or move over to
rec.skiing.alpine.moderated where we can discuss skiing freely without
his threats and tirades.

--
To reply by email remove "_nospam"

Mike wrote:

I'm quite happy with the advice I've received.

You are quite welcome.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Volkl Conspiracy

Mike wrote:
going by first impressions, I'd say that you are the rat.

If things eventually become too uncomfortable for you, try
..rec.skiing.alpine.moderated, created as a sanctuary from rats and for
usenet ski conversation.

If your server doesn't carry it, the free server you can access at
http://news.individual.net carries .rec.skiing.alpine.moderated. It's
quite reliable and a number of us use it. Been around for years.



I was out to Breckenridge last year - you'll probably like it - plenty
of beginner stuff for your wife + shopping (hide the credit cards!)

I have to argue with Walt's opinion re lessons - I suggest intensive
lessons rather than a series of 1 hours over days. The kicker is the
altitude. Only you know how the two of you might react to altitude.
Maybe you should wait a day after arrival to get partially acclimated?
If you're in good shape, exercise regularly, and don't have an adverse
reaction to the first day, she'd probably be OK in the all day lesson.
But all else equal, you get much more from a well organized, long,
intensive lesson than a series of equivalent shorter lessons - seen it
happen repeatedly.

lal_truckee wrote:

I was out to Breckenridge last year - you'll probably like it - plenty
of beginner stuff for your wife + shopping (hide the credit cards!)

Be aware that what Lal considers beginner terrain might be considered a
cliff in Wisconsin. Or stated another way, Colorado Greens are more
like midwestern Blues. Sometimes they're like midwestern Blacks. But
he's dead right about the shopping.


I have to argue with Walt's opinion re lessons - I suggest intensive
lessons rather than a series of 1 hours over days. The kicker is the
altitude. Only you know how the two of you might react to altitude.
Maybe you should wait a day after arrival to get partially acclimated?
If you're in good shape, exercise regularly, and don't have an adverse
reaction to the first day, she'd probably be OK in the all day lesson.
But all else equal, you get much more from a well organized, long,
intensive lesson than a series of equivalent shorter lessons - seen it
happen repeatedly.

You may be right, but I think alot depends on the personality of the
student. Intense highly motivated people do well with intensive
lessons. Someone who may not be sure if she really wants to ski at all
may be put off by too much in too little time. Especially if exhaustion
and altitude are doing their thing.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Volkl Conspiracy

Mike wrote:
First let me say that I've read much of the FAQ at
http://www.darryl.com/skiing/, but I didn't find anything on shaped
skiis and I've found that the new Google Groups interface royally
sucks.

My wife and I are interested in making a skiing trip to Colorado this
winter. She is a newbie and only been out once (and struggled). I
can ski quite well for Wisconsin standards, but am not keyed in on
equipment.

My impression is that renting skiis in Colorado for several days
would be quite expensive (comments?), so I'm interested in fixing her
up with an entry-level outfit.

My brother gave me some older Elan skiis (15 years old or so) that
should be about the right size for her (they are either 170cm or
175cm, she is 5'7"). Obviously we'd have to buy boots and I would
need to get new bindings for these as well.

But it seems that most skiis sold nowadays are of the "shaped"
variety. I'm told that turning is much much easier and it generally
makes learning to ski easier. I'm wondering if anybody can comment
on whether it makes sense to forget about these old Elan skiis and
just get new entry-level shaped skiis since we'd have to buy
boots/bindings anyways.

Mike, if you're interested, my wife has an old pair of Salomon rear entry
boots that are in pretty good shape. If they're your wife's size and you'll
cover shipping expenses you welcome to them. Post the size if interested and
I'll check.

--
I'm Gumby dammit!

What a lie, I've seen the moderators condem your vileness on several
occasions.