It has been 5 or 6 years since i last skiied. I was reasonably decent but not outstanding.

This year i’m wanting to get back on the slopes so i have been reading a lot of reviews etc looking for ideas on a pair but from what a few mates have told me ski’s have changed dramatically since i last used them.

Now i’m looking for a pair that will take the bumps and knocks as i get back on my feet but will still be decent as i progress, without breaking the bank.

Am i looking for too much. If not please advise me.

Ta

just take your boots out and hire some, they often let you try a few pairs out if you rent premium skis. Then buys some at the end of the season.

Probably better off renting for starters. You can try a few sets and change every day if you like. There really is a massive of variety of different styles for different skiers and terrain.

What they said^^^^

Even hire skis these days tend to be decent. Also look out for demo days in your local/nearest snow dome type place.

Last year I went to the chillfactore (Manchester)and tried quite a few pairs out, some were awful and I only got one run in using them, others were fantastic and I would buy them.

try it on one ski

I also recommend you rent if you are not sure what to get, you’ll get to try lots and see which style, model and brand you prefer.

Also bear in mind cost of ownership – servicing, waxing – and cost to fly them (£30 each way) can close the gap, so it’s not necessarily the cost saving it seems compared to renting.

If you are going to buy, both Snow and Rock and Ellis Brigham websites are pretty well set up to browse skis by style and ability to pick some that will suit but a test is recommended as I’ve skied models that look great on paper and really didn’t suit me.

There is now so much choice of great quality hire skis that, if you’re only doing 1 week per year, there seems very little point in owning your own.

Snowboards, on the other hand… 🙄

Just buy a snowboard dude….

haha been there done that, cheers for the info all 😛

Just buy a snowboard dude….

This. Though you will find the newer type of skis a big improvement – it’s still nowhere near as much fun as snowboarding (unless you plan to get into touring/ski mountaineering).

I bought because the quality of rental is so variable.

One Intersport shop (near Salbach) I rented from one December took the plastic wrapping off the board, fitted my flow bindings and handed it to me with the words “Just try not to **** it up too much” and a smile. Like all brand new boards had more pop than Simon Cowell – it was brilliant (Atomic).

At another shop in Andermatt, he asked me what style I ride and I said piste and pow, and I was given this bamboo board called a Salomon Sick Stick, which I now think is a freestyle board. It was absolutely rotten on piste – was so flexy it would not hold an edge so you had to be really delicate with it. It was narrow and short so it wouldn’t not float either.

Another board I rented in Pila was starting to delaminate, and I managed to snap the nose off by the front binding just riding through a river bed (how sick is that!?). The shop were going make me pay for a new one – but I went mental in the busy shop so got away with it.

Maybe go and rent a few VIP level skis for a few days – if you get on with them then just buy them (minus the rental charge).

try it on one ski

That’s a bit 80s Euro

Though you will find the newer type of skis a big improvement – it’s still nowhere near as much fun as snowboarding

I think you’re glossing over a few things here.
The endless sitting around on your arse in the snow, & let’s not forget the spastic shuffle off the chairlift. 😉

– servicing, waxing – and cost to fly them (£30 each way) can close the gap, so it’s not necessarily the cost saving it seems compared to renting.

£30 each way? Not to Europe! £15 each way is more like it, but until recently BA carried skis for free. Virgin still did free carriage in March when we flew to San Francisco.

I service my own skis. I bought Toco wax and scraper, P-Tex, Scotchbrite pads and an edging tool. I use a 20 yr old travel iron that never got used until I got my skis. Takes 20 mins to do both skis and is very easy. The total for these ski materials/tools cost less than £30 and i’ve done a good 10 wax and edges so far. Still got tons of wax left and this will last me forever. A shop in the Alps will charge 30 Euros for this and they won’t take as much care.

The only thing i’d pay for is a proper base grind, but this hasn’t been neccesary with my current skis so far and i’m not competing, so this is no issue.

Rental skis usually have no edges left on them except when they are new. Shops often don’t even wax then between hires.

Try some out at a snowdome if you can find a slope which has a decent shop and demo skis. I wouldn’t get your hopes up though. You might be lucky, but seeing as everyone is different heights etc, the shop would need to have a lot of pairs of different lengths for each type of ski.

The idea of trying lots of different skis out whilst on holiday sounds like a good idea, but in practice, all you want to do is ski, not trudge through to shops in your boots in the middle of the day, piss your mates off causing them to wait, or end up on your own for the restoof the day. If you have a shop right by your apartment, that’s fine, but this rarely seems to be the case in my experience.

Arriving in a resort, you’ll always end up in a queue for hire skis and not get much advice as they want to get you out the door ASAP. This takes time (a lot on arrival days) and you have the same problem dropping your skis off at the end of the holiday. There’s the potential hassle of the shop claiming you damaged the skis and then there’s the rental cost, over a £100 for 6 days for a decent pair of skis – RIPOFF!

I bought my Rossignol B2 Bandits five years ago for £385 from a British run shop in Andorra. The price was including shipping to the UK.

I’ve been skiing twice most seasons and as we often drive or get independant flights, use 7,8 or 9 day lift passes. We have done two resorts on a trip, stopping off en-route to our main destination for a day and not returned there, so having your own skis solves the complication, time and expense of two separate hires on one trip. In Tahoe we did the last day in a resort away from where we stayed, en-route to San Francisco. You really need your own skis for this.

I’m massively quids in so far (£400+) and I broke even after about three years. I’ll get several more years out of these i’m sure, but the temptation is to upgrade to newer ones. I’m sure I could get £100 for mine, all day long!

I think skis have gone up a lot since I bought mine and this is probably due to the weakness of Sterling. I’d still buy new skis, but go to a Decathlon, or other out of town ski shop on the way to the Alps. You always see good deals on skis especially towards the end of the season. Early in the season you will find last year’s models. It can be difficult finding the right length though, so you might have to phone ahead. Not easy!

Do you homework and find out what were the top rated skis last season and then keep an eye out online and in shops.

Skiing is one of the best holidays going by a country mile and having your own kit is the only way to go if you are a frequent skier and like to create bespoke trips to get the maximum time on the slopes!