Buying a pair of skis doesn't need to be a daunting experience. Let us help to guide you through the process...
When buying a pair of skis, there are a few simple pieces of information that will help you to find your perfect match. With the introduction of carving skis and new technology, ski length is based more on the user’s weight than the tradition of using your height. Combine this with your ski level and your aspirations and this will help narrow your choice very quickly.
Choosing The Right Skis...
STEP 1
Firstly choose your current skiing level from the list below:
1 - Never skied before
2 - I can stop with a snowplough
3 - I am doing snowplough turns, and the odd blue run
4 - I am starting to parallel ski and onto blue runs
5 - I am venturing onto reds, and starting to make step turns
6 - I am getting confident on reds, and maybe doing the odd black
7 - I am comfortable skiing most black runs
8 - I am confortable on ice, and venturing off-piste
9 - I am skiing off-piste aggresively, and carving across all pistes
10 - I am a professional experienced ski instructor or racer
Here at The Skiers Lounge we then brake this down into 5 groups:
- NOVICE (Level 1 to 4)
- INTERMEDIATE (Level 4-6)
- ADVANCED (Level 6-8)
- PROFESSIONAL (10)
STEP 2Now you know your skier level, you can decide where you will mainly be using your new skis:
- Groomed Piste Runs
- All snow conditions (From ice to slush)
- All mountain skiing conditions (piste and off-piste)
- Off-piste skiing (powder)
- Ski touring
These 2 pieces of information will now quickly allow you to build a short list of skis to look at as potential new skis which will be perfect for you.
SKI LENGTH
For selecting the correct ski length, we take your ability, weight and where you will use the skis, and can calculate an approximate length:
FINAL CALCULATION - For
NOVICE skiers, this is your recommended length. For
INTERMEDIATE and
ADVANCED skiers we recommend adding 5cm to the above measurement, and for
EXPERT and
PROFESSIONAL skiers you would normally add 10cm to the above length
WHAT IS SKI ROCKER? Ski rocker is the biggest change in ski design since carving skis. A FULL rocker ski has the tip and the tail up in the air, much like you are standing in the centre of a banana:
These will be amazing in powder for float, but not as agile on piste. So designers combine rocker with traditional CAMBER to to produce skis that are more versatile depending on their intended use. Here is an example of 20% rocker or "tip rocker":
So as the tip (and sometimes tail) are not in contact with the snow, the effective side edge of the ski is shorter. The ski will still carve well, but this is the reason that we recommend using skis in this style a little longer. You won’t lose any control but you do gain more float when the snow is softer or in powder.