Hi Folks!
Been a while since I've been online. Last season was a wash for us with Covid and we didn't end up getting passes and barely skied, and it just made me sad to read about all the gear and runs other folks were getting. This is a long post, so buckle in!
Back in early March 2020, I had big plans to attend the Sports Basement demo day at Alpine Meadows at the end of March to look for a replacement for my all-mountain daily drivers. Alas, those plans were canceled when the world shut down on March 15. And since then, quite a few skis have been re-configured, so I'm just starting to research what is out there for me.
Details:
I ski mostly Squaw/Palisades(?) and Alpine Meadows in Tahoe. So it can be heavy snow....Sierra cement as we like to call it. This will be a resort-only ski, mostly on-piste. A mix of groomed and ungroomed, but those groomed trails often end up with crud-like small mogul things by the mid-afternoon. I do some bump runs, but they tire my knees out, so it's more something I throw in depending on the snow. I like trees, but we don't have a ton of tree skiing at those resorts. We maybe make one trip per season somewhere else - Utah, CO, etc.
Current Quiver:
About Me:
Been skiing my whole life, since I was 4 - learned in VT in the 70s on ice, skied NJ and PA in college. Didn't ski out West until I was in my late 20s. Now I live in the Bay Area, so ski Tahoe. I'm 5'1", about 115-118 lbs, depending on the season. I'm 49, and have had two knee surgeries on my right knee in a failed attempt to treat chondromalacia patella (lateral release in 2006 - which they don't even do anymore - and scoping in 2009 to remove excessive scar tissue build up).
What I'm looking for:
I want to replace my Santa Anas because when I got them, I think I over-indexed on getting a poppy ski and as time has gone on, I like them less and less in the heavier snow we get in Tahoe (or maybe it's me getting older). I mean, they're easy to ski, and they carve fine and I feel good taking them most places on the mountain. I do wonder if I should have gone with a shorter length - sometimes they feel a little long for me, even though they do have a decent rise in the tip. I'm leaning towards something with some metal in it for a little more stability. I kind of want a goldilocks ski with a bit of pop and more stability, less chatter. Does that exist?
Thinking something in the 92 to 99-ish width range. I thought about going down to the high 80s, but frankly, the Laser AX's are so versatile, I feel like there would be too much overlap. Does this seem reasonable?
Skis I'm considering - and this is where I'd love some opinions from folks who have tried these skis - or just know more about these things than I do.
Help me narrow this list! Or am I missing something obvious? (Also, focused on skis I think I can find to demo in Tahoe, with the exception of the Stockli.)
If you've read this far, you are a wonderful human being. Thanks!
Been a while since I've been online. Last season was a wash for us with Covid and we didn't end up getting passes and barely skied, and it just made me sad to read about all the gear and runs other folks were getting. This is a long post, so buckle in!
Back in early March 2020, I had big plans to attend the Sports Basement demo day at Alpine Meadows at the end of March to look for a replacement for my all-mountain daily drivers. Alas, those plans were canceled when the world shut down on March 15. And since then, quite a few skis have been re-configured, so I'm just starting to research what is out there for me.
Details:
I ski mostly Squaw/Palisades(?) and Alpine Meadows in Tahoe. So it can be heavy snow....Sierra cement as we like to call it. This will be a resort-only ski, mostly on-piste. A mix of groomed and ungroomed, but those groomed trails often end up with crud-like small mogul things by the mid-afternoon. I do some bump runs, but they tire my knees out, so it's more something I throw in depending on the snow. I like trees, but we don't have a ton of tree skiing at those resorts. We maybe make one trip per season somewhere else - Utah, CO, etc.
Current Quiver:
- All Mountain/less than 8 inches of snow: 2017 Santa Ana, 100 waist, size 161 - the version before they added metal to the skis - this is the ski I want to replace/update
- Carving/no fresh snow: 2018 Stockli Laser AX, 78 waist, size 159
- Powder: 2014 Rossignol Star 7, 116 waist, size 162
About Me:
Been skiing my whole life, since I was 4 - learned in VT in the 70s on ice, skied NJ and PA in college. Didn't ski out West until I was in my late 20s. Now I live in the Bay Area, so ski Tahoe. I'm 5'1", about 115-118 lbs, depending on the season. I'm 49, and have had two knee surgeries on my right knee in a failed attempt to treat chondromalacia patella (lateral release in 2006 - which they don't even do anymore - and scoping in 2009 to remove excessive scar tissue build up).
What I'm looking for:
I want to replace my Santa Anas because when I got them, I think I over-indexed on getting a poppy ski and as time has gone on, I like them less and less in the heavier snow we get in Tahoe (or maybe it's me getting older). I mean, they're easy to ski, and they carve fine and I feel good taking them most places on the mountain. I do wonder if I should have gone with a shorter length - sometimes they feel a little long for me, even though they do have a decent rise in the tip. I'm leaning towards something with some metal in it for a little more stability. I kind of want a goldilocks ski with a bit of pop and more stability, less chatter. Does that exist?
Thinking something in the 92 to 99-ish width range. I thought about going down to the high 80s, but frankly, the Laser AX's are so versatile, I feel like there would be too much overlap. Does this seem reasonable?
Skis I'm considering - and this is where I'd love some opinions from folks who have tried these skis - or just know more about these things than I do.
Help me narrow this list! Or am I missing something obvious? (Also, focused on skis I think I can find to demo in Tahoe, with the exception of the Stockli.)
- Blizzard Black Pearl 97 in 159 - I had a Samba for a season before the Santa Ana - I don't think it was that I didn't like it - it was just that when I demo'ed that Santa Ana, it was so poppy and fun
- Blizzard Sheeva 9 (92 waist) in 157 - Never skied the Sheeva series, but intrigued
- Head Kore 97 W in 156 - I tried an earlier version of this ski maybe 3 years ago and didn't love it. It was too stiff for the shorter size, but this year it seems to have a new construction. But I know these are pretty light and I wonder how they would do in the heavier Tahoe snow and crud
- K2 Mindbender 98Ti in 154 - I demo'ed this ski the year it came out - not sure if the construction has changed. I recall liking it that day, but don't remember specifics
- Nordica Santa Ana 93 in 158 - Haven't tried the narrower sibling, so curious to compare
- Nordica Santa Ana 98 in 158 - Of course I have to give this one a try. It's gone through multiple rebuilds since I bought mine. My one slight hesitation is that I think this is the heaviest ski on the list - which actually hurts my knees a bit while sitting on the chairlift
- Stockli Nela 96 in 156 - This is really only on the list because I looooove my AX. But I've never skied a Nela or Stormrider before so have no sense of how these ski. And I think this will be hard to find to demo
- Volkl Secret 96 in 156 - I had the Volkl Queen Attivas (2007-ish?) and love them, but hated the Auras, which everyone else liked. Haven't skied Volkls in a while
If you've read this far, you are a wonderful human being. Thanks!