Somebody gave me some free skis - can I make them work for me?

On Mar 6, 4:51 pm, Walt wrote:
VtSkier wrote:
Walt wrote:
VtSkier wrote:
for the casual skier, used skis are a viable option.

I'd agree fully if he was skiing at his local hill most of the
time, but if he's traveling to ski, I'd stick with renting.
Did I miss something in his original request?

Hmmmm. He said that he took them out for a test ride, presumably at his
local hill, and that he's got a 3-day weekend coming up at Whistler.

Sounds like a bit of both. If he had his own gear he might get out to
the local hill more often.
I'd say take them with you to Whistler. If you're having fun on them
there, keep 'em. If you have problems, go rent a pair of "new" skis
and see if you have more fun. For a three day trip it's not worth
buying different skis unless you're sure of what to get. The only
hassle is carrying the skis on the flight. And if you decide the skis
suck, leave 'em in Whistler. And yes, the skis are "obsolete", but
I'm sure people used to be able to have fun on them...

Walt wrote:

The
local Play It Again Sports has decent intermediate boards w/bindings
starting at around $150/pr. At that price, it only takes three or four
days to break even.

You're lucky; our PIAS stopped carrying ski equipment years ago -- only
boardstuff now.

--
Cheers,
Bev
---------------------------------------------------------
"I don't think they could put him in a mental hospital.
On the other hand, if he were already in, I don't think
they'd let him out." -- Greek Geek

On Mar 6, 5:37 pm, "TexasSkiNut" wrote:
I'd say take them with you to Whistler. If you're having fun on them
there, keep 'em. If you have problems, go rent a pair of "new" skis
and see if you have more fun. For a three day trip it's not worth
buying different skis unless you're sure of what to get. The only
hassle is carrying the skis on the flight. And if you decide the skis
suck, leave 'em in Whistler. And yes, the skis are "obsolete", but
I'm sure people used to be able to have fun on them...
One other thought: although the Salomon 797 binding is still on the
Indemnified Bindings list (according to http://www.skiernet.com/indemnified.html),
they are pretty old. As I recall, those were sold around 1992, give
or take a few years. You'll definitely want to get them checked out
by a shop you trust.

Thank you for all who have replied. Excellent comments!

My feet feel well planted in these boots with no heel lift, although I
feel I can shift my toes to either side of the inner boot If I try
hard enough. I don't know if this qualifies as wiggle room or too much
room. It feels like a thicker sock would even make a difference, or
certainly clipping the clips tighter. I've definitely rented boots
that fit much worse.

I have an update to this thread: I now have a couple of more ski
options to work with:

First Pair: Salomon 9e 2s equipe 9000... date of manufacture and
length unsure... I see no definitive markings to clue me in. It's a
couple of inches little taller than me (I'm 6'0"). Bindings are
Salomon Driver 977s.

Second Pair: Salomon 9e 3s equipe 9100... date of manufacture and
length unsure... I see no definitive markings to clue me in. It's
shorter than the other one... About my height. Bindings are Salomon
Driver 897s.

Is anyone familiar with this line of skis? Do these skis carve easily?

I would have to have the aforementioned boots refitted to these skis
unlike the Dynastar which was fitted to the boots previously.

I would also like to throw into the mix that Whistler is expecting
snow every day this week, so you can take into account the snow
conditions.

I appreciate everyone's feedback.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you for all who have replied. Excellent comments!

My feet feel well planted in these boots with no heel lift, although I
feel I can shift my toes to either side of the inner boot If I try
hard enough. I don't know if this qualifies as wiggle room or too much
room. It feels like a thicker sock would even make a difference, or
certainly clipping the clips tighter. I've definitely rented boots
that fit much worse.

I would consider wiggle room the ability to wiggle up and down, not side to
side. You may have a narrow foot in a wide boot. Some boots fit wider than
others. For example Salomon tend to fit good if you have a wide foot, Lange
tend to fit better if you have a narrow foot. Don't take this as gospel,
there are exceptions and there are others which are just as good. If you
find them comfortable and they feel secure, not sloppy, you are probably not
going too wrong with them.





I have an update to this thread: I now have a couple of more ski
options to work with:

First Pair: Salomon 9e 2s equipe 9000... date of manufacture and
length unsure... I see no definitive markings to clue me in. It's a
couple of inches little taller than me (I'm 6'0"). Bindings are
Salomon Driver 977s.

Second Pair: Salomon 9e 3s equipe 9100... date of manufacture and
length unsure... I see no definitive markings to clue me in. It's
shorter than the other one... About my height. Bindings are Salomon
Driver 897s.

Is anyone familiar with this line of skis? Do these skis carve easily?

Not as easily as something/anything newer would. If I remember correctly the
s in that model line meant Slalom and the equipe meant a higher performance
ski. Salomon did not place a length marking on those models, they did some
sort of "Power" rating (P1/P2/P3) which was related to length, but also a
few other factors, or so they said.
They might be a bit stiff for your liking. I would still seriously consider
renting for this trip. Check ski shops now for end of season deals on shaped
skis. Check ski swaps in the fall if that is still more than what you had in
mind. Plenty of good shaped skis showing up in ski swaps now.




I would have to have the aforementioned boots refitted to these skis
unlike the Dynastar which was fitted to the boots previously.

I would also like to throw into the mix that Whistler is expecting
snow every day this week, so you can take into account the snow
conditions.

Whistler is a big place. Like most bigger mtns they base their published
forecast on what they expect to happen at mid mtn. Depends how high on the
mtn you intend to ski. It will almost certainly rain near the bottom. It has
been warm in BC this week. Possible cooling by weekend, but not a lot.




I appreciate everyone's feedback.

wrote:

My feet feel well planted in these boots with no heel lift, although I
feel I can shift my toes to either side of the inner boot If I try
hard enough. I don't know if this qualifies as wiggle room or too much
room. It feels like a thicker sock would even make a difference, or
certainly clipping the clips tighter. I've definitely rented boots
that fit much worse.

Ok. I'll accept that as "good enough" for now. You should probably
re-evaluate this as your skiing career progresses, but for now I'll
abide by the old adage "the perfect is the enemy of the good."


I have an update to this thread: I now have a couple of more ski
options to work with:

First Pair: Salomon 9e 2s equipe 9000... date of manufacture and
length unsure... I see no definitive markings to clue me in. It's a
couple of inches little taller than me (I'm 6'0"). Bindings are
Salomon Driver 977s.

Second Pair: Salomon 9e 3s equipe 9100... date of manufacture and
length unsure... I see no definitive markings to clue me in. It's
shorter than the other one... About my height. Bindings are Salomon
Driver 897s.

Is anyone familiar with this line of skis? Do these skis carve easily?

I'm not all that familiar with Salomon's line of skis, but if these skis
are anything like these: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2f3ltz then they're
just more obsolete junk. IMHO, of course.

Look at the side cut: 88-62-78 (i.e. width of the ski at tip, waist,
tail in mm) that's from the early days of shaped skis. An improvement
over what came before, but still obsolete. You want to look for
something that's at about 100mm in the tips and no longer than nose
height. (rough guideline - don't take it as gospel)


I would have to have the aforementioned boots refitted to these skis
unlike the Dynastar which was fitted to the boots previously.

Fitting the boot to the ski is usually about a ten minute job and only
costs 15 to 20 bucks. Don't let that put you off.

I would also like to throw into the mix that Whistler is expecting
snow every day this week, so you can take into account the snow
conditions.

I'd say find a place that rents demo skis and use this weekend to try
several flavors of ski and sort out what you like and dislike. There
are several shops in the base village at Whistler that will rent demo
skis and let you change them out several times over the day.

//Walt

"The Real Bev" wrote in message
...
Walt wrote:

The
local Play It Again Sports has decent intermediate boards w/bindings
starting at around $150/pr. At that price, it only takes three or four
days to break even.

You're lucky; our PIAS stopped carrying ski equipment years ago -- only
boardstuff now.

That is probably related to the owner's expertise.

Bob

Bob F wrote:

"The Real Bev" wrote:
Walt wrote:

The
local Play It Again Sports has decent intermediate boards w/bindings
starting at around $150/pr. At that price, it only takes three or four
days to break even.

You're lucky; our PIAS stopped carrying ski equipment years ago -- only
boardstuff now.

That is probably related to the owner's expertise.

Possibly, but the guy said they just couldn't sell it. Not surprising,
given the selection of yard-sale skis -- I'm lucky to see two pair of modern
skis per year.

A question that just occurred to me: Does board technology change as
rapidly as ski technology *seems* to?

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ================
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