I want to buy some downhill skis this year so I don't have to use my back-country gear at the resorts. Having just re-picked up skiing last year, I have no idea what I'm looking for in a ski, and frankly I don't know that I'd notice or benefit from a higher end ski. To help me solve these mysteries Christine and I went out to Loveland Ski Resort for their Demo Day yesterday.
I tried 4 different skis, doing a couple runs on each ski. Getting the right sized ski demo demo is sometimes a scramble due to the limited selection that the vendors can bring. Sometimes I had to take out a ski that was way too long, which makes for a difficult side-by-side comparison. Generally, all of the skis were pretty good. I don't think I'm a good enough skier to notice some of the finer points of the skis but I was surprised to be able to tell a difference between the feel of the different skis. In the end, I think I'd be happy with any of the skis I tried. We looked at some of the prices when we got home. Yikes. I need a prodeal. Skis are expensive. Who knew? What that? I need to buy bindings too? Oh man. On the upside, it looks like I can get by using my AT boots at least for this season.
Last year we did both the Christy's and the CSG demo days at Loveland. The former was ok, but the latter was GREAT. MUCH less waiting around for the right size, MANY more manufacturers, and man, the reps at the CSG demo day were super knowledgeable, helpful, and mostly rockstar types. There's also a decent contingent of AT and Tele manufacturers there, I think
ReplyDeleteThat's next weekend at Loveland and we're going back--it's both days so we'll pick a day based on snow. I also posted a bunch of other Demo days on SnowHugger.
Awesome, thanks for the info! I may give CSG a call this week to find out who's going to be there. Christine still wants to try a couple K2's that they didn't have in her size. Keep in touch when you figure out what day you're going.
ReplyDeleteIf you find anything out, let us know or post to SnowHugger? Last year, it was booths for Salomon, K2, Atomic, Rossy,....pretty much everyone, plus Burton, G3, and others.
ReplyDeleteAnd we'll let you know when we know what day.
Will do. By the way, it looks like I can buy a Bike Hugger shirt but not a Snow Hugger shirt. I hope that's changing soon, because I want one of each.
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