Poster: A snowHead
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Off to La Rosiere in a couple of weeks and was interested to hear your views/advice on skis to hire.
I'm looking for some 180's (skied on 180 Crossmax's earlier this year and thought they were OK) and want a pair of this season's skis preferably.
As a large chap, 180's seem to suit best, and I reckon at least 80% of ski=ing will be on piste. Am not too bad at carving, although this is recently learned. Don't mind paying more for quality skis.
Any tips? Thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I don't know the answer. But those who do will want to know your weight, whether you will be venturing off piste and what type of crossmax you skiied before.
I reckon they'll say demo in resort.
dont forget this seasons skis will be last seasons in a few months.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'm over 6ft and weigh about 90 kilos, and ski about 80% on piste, with little adventures now and again. I have Salomon Scream 8s, legth 180cms from last season. Unless your skiing at warp speed, they're better than anything else I've tried - well, they suit my taste, but no doubt others will disagree. Others criticise them for not being stable at speed, but I've never noticed a problem within my limits. I suppose a bit of weight might help edge hold!
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Mark -you'll love La Rosiere-very friendly, and not too rowdy.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I rented scream eights last year, I liked them. My mate had scream 10's and he's not as proficient as me but managed them well, they looked like they could get through the crud and slushy bits better. Mine were 185, I'm 6'2" and about 100kg. I've trawled snow and rock and ellis brigham sites recently, there's some fine skis for groomers about and some that show good edge hold on ice /early morning spring snow like the atomic sx9's I personally will be trying to demo some of those. I would also be happy to try crossmax 9's and 8's if I'm lucky. still dont think I'll buy tho I like the choice of renting.
snowrental website has reveiws of a lot of skis too.
oh yeah Im confused about your split pesonality peter or is it mark
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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ignore my confusion above sorry peter.
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I demoed Crossmax 9s last year.
A very predicatable ski with a sweet spot longer than some skis.
Very forgiving.
Will make any skier feel like an expert.
What I mean is, I found them bland, uninspiring and dull. You can be too far forward, or back, and they'll forgive you. You can forget their birthday, and they won't go all stroppy on you, and they won't give you the silent treatment. But I like a little excitement in my life!
Now, a few friends have Crossmax 10s, and they handle like a completely different ski.
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Ian, I'm a shade under 6ft and about 90 kilos (current diet not withstanding )
Have also recently tried some 174 K2s (can't recall exact model), but found them really unstable - even at moderate speed.
I think the Crossmax's were Pilot 9 (Spaceframe). Not sure if this is right, but rings a bell.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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WTFH - interesting! The skis probably were more forgiving, but when pushing, I thought they seemed pretty good. Stable mainly, I suppose and no problems carving at various speeds which is from my point of view.
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Breaking away from Serre Chevalier Mark - how innovative! (or have I got the wrong Mark).....
How many times are you getting away this year.... I'm sure you've already had two havent you????
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think you got the right Mark ! I love both resorts, so I'm sure he will too.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Mark, later on during the same testing, I put on a pair of Salomon Equipe 10 3Vs, which I enjoyed a lot more. I finished the test on Head World Cup iRace, and they were too much for me to handle. You had to be in the perfect position all the time on them, and work hard to keep them under control.
It's a case of each to their own, while considering what are you looking for in a ski, based on your current ability/technique/type of skiing and where do you want to progress to with the skis. (These are the questions I ask myself)
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Had a day's visit to La Rosiere last week - excellant links with La Tuile. Great snow. Only downside was the hideously long Poma lifts and French ones at that. Don't fall off because you'll have miles to ski back down and largely "off piste".
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You know it makes sense.
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Tony Ellwood wrote: |
Don't fall off because you'll have miles to ski back down and largely "off piste". |
Hmm. Miles down, off-piste.
Oh dear, I seem to have fallen off this lift for the seventh time in a row :D
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Mark, I've skied the crossmax10 in a 170 and a 180 length and didn't particularly notice much difference. One prefered longer turns the other prefered shorter ones.
The crossmax9 however felt like two planks made of wet pasta when skiing quickly in hard conditions.
Don't under sell yourself either. Demoing is great fun.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks to one and all - a great help and much appreciated
Will try the Crossmax 10's - be interesting to judge the difference (assuming I can!).
WTFH - difficult to state accurately ability/technique etc as so many people have differing views about their standard etc. The guide I tend to use is the S & R scale of 1 - 12, which seems to cover things reasonably well. On that, if you're familiar, I'd say I was a 7/8 - probably at the stage that off piste is the next natural progression, probably next season.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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markP wrote: |
The crossmax9 however felt like two planks made of wet pasta when skiing quickly in hard conditions.
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An excellent description . I was just trying to be polite.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Maybe I was lucky to ski them in superb conditions, then
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Lol! Ta. I think quite a few people can sell themselves short about skiing so called advanced skis.
Unless its a race room GS ski of course.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Mark, it really does sound like U should be starting to choose your skis (model and length) by personal preferance rather than theory. Go testing.
Most people choose a ski shop because it's convenient for their chalet but I suggest choosing one according to how near the piste it is. This way it is easy to take a pair of skis on test for as little as a couple of hours then swap, so conditions (the snow and yours) remain constant and you really can begin to understand the variations between the skis.
It's usually possible to find a place where the staff are enthusiastic enough to talk about the kit and give a few pointers but remember - just because they work in a ski shop, doesn't mean they know what's good for U.
It's often worth suggesting that it's about time U were buying your own skis but need a wider experience to make up your mind - this way, when U hire from them, they will be happy to go the extra distance, making sure U get the skis you're after and being far happier about endlessly swapping sets for you.
I had a guy in one shop, so worked up about how I should try 181cm 1080's that he went downstairs and got his OWN pair out to lend me
I've found places that would lend U skis for two hours at a time and U could spend all day testing different sets - for free.
Before I did this, I suspected I might find it hard to tell the difference between them - Totally wrong. I could clearly feel the character of each ski and if anything, learning about what differences the ski could make, taught me loads about my own skiing.
Don't worry, I'm not advocating spending a week becoming an expert on this season's range but, if U can find a shop happy to provide the service, with a range that interests U, a day testing skis can be as fun and rewarding as any other day's skiing
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Thanks U - sound advice. Will report back after the trip on "progress".
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Mark, finding a ski shop in La Rosiere is not a problem and none are too far away from the lifts, it's a compact village. I would recommend Twinner, good equipment and a very enthusiastic owner who speaks good English. I hope you've still got the number of our chalet, Le Mouflon because we have a few top-end Dynastar skis for clients to use, I particularly like the latest Intitive models. We may be able to help provide a comparison. I'm out in La Rosiere the same time as you, so we could maybe get together. BTW, in the Daily Mail Ski mag this month there's a review of skiing in the Tarentaise valley, La Rosiere gets a lot of mentions not least because the guides featured are local lads.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Nice one David - got all your details from the SCGB Resorts and all printed off. Will aim to give you a bell when we're there. Due out on the 29th. I also tried out one of the Dynastar range last time out, but can't recall the model - all I can remember was the "mural" design. Very bright!
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