Best for NE groomer and NE chop

[dbostedo]

next 105???

Not unless (until?) I move somewhere that gets more snow!

 

[TheArchitect]

Not unless (until?) I move somewhere that gets more snow!

Just buy a 10x width ski and say it’s only for trips out west. That’s my justification to have a 104

 

[BaysideSkier]

Your experiences on the two Elans and the Volkl Blazes are revealing. They suggest you gravitate toward easy-flexing easy-to-pivot skis. The issue you had with the tail on the Wingman suggests the same thing. Those are all great skis. At my lighter weight I like them a lot for off-piste skiing. However, there's not enough there there - either in terms of design or construction - for building a foundation of solid hard-snow turns under a big guy like you, or for slicing through sugar piles. In other words, the skis that immediately feel easy and intuitive to you are NOT, in the long run, the ones that are going to do the best job at helping you achieve your stated goals in post #1.

@GreenAthlete49 I’ve been following this thread from the beginning (1/2/23) to maybe shed some light on my situation. I just returned to skiing after a 30+ year hiatus. Skied 12/30/22 and fell back in love with it and realized how much I missed it. Bought gear on 1/4/23, and also got my wife into skiing and got her own gear couple days later. I ski the Poconos in PA. At the advice of my local ski shop I got Salomon s/force Ti.76 skis in 177 R16. I’m 6’-2” 212 lbs. These skis are a far cry different from what I skied in the 80s to early 90s, and the rentals I more recently used. They’re above my level for the time being, but each time I ski them I’m learning and progressing more than I anticipated. So as @Tony S and others have said before, for the NE conditions you ski and your goals take the advice that has been repeatedly given here. From my first hand experience that I‘m going through now this is the way to go. I love my skis and as I continue to progress on them and get them dialed in I know I was given the right advice to get in a little over my head, take the nut lesson and be ahead of the game coming out on the other side

 

[GA49]

I've been looking at the skis in <80 group, watching many 'ski essential' reviews and looking at the Ski Selector on this site.

I am starting to circle around the Head Shape e-V8 (one of the skis recommended here) as mentioned a couple of messages back. Based on all the information I have at this point they seem like a good fit for my circumstances.

 

[GA49]

@GreenAthlete49 I’ve been following this thread from the beginning (1/2/23) to maybe shed some light on my situation. I just returned to skiing after a 30+ year hiatus. Skied 12/30/22 and fell back in love with it and realized how much I missed it. Bought gear on 1/4/23, and also got my wife into skiing and got her own gear couple days later. I ski the Poconos in PA. At the advice of my local ski shop I got Salomon s/force Ti.76 skis in 177 R16. I’m 6’-2” 212 lbs. These skis are a far cry different from what I skied in the 80s to early 90s, and the rentals I more recently used. They’re above my level for the time being, but each time I ski them I’m learning and progressing more than I anticipated. So as @Tony S and others have said before, for the NE conditions you ski and your goals take the advice that has been repeatedly given here. From my first hand experience that I‘m going through now this is the way to go. I love my skis and as I continue to progress on them and get them dialed in I know I was given the right advice to get in a little over my head, take the nut lesson and be ahead of the game coming out on the other side

Thanks @BaysideSkier. I'm in the same boat as you, started skiing a couple of years back after 25 years of not skiing (prior to that had about 15 total days of skiing across 10 years) and figured I'd ride this thing out until I can't anymore. It brings me a lot of peace.