Hello everybody. New to skiing and to this forum. Just finished my first full season around 20 times on the slopes on Mt Hood, fulfilling my lifelong dream to ski. After long research, I decided to upgrade my beginner Elan Waveflex 76 (176 cm) with Rossignol Experience 82 Basalt (184 cm) for the next season. I took advantage of an end of season deal and found a very good price from Level 9 Sports for new ones and just got delivered. My question. One of the skis has a long scratch (first photo) and also a half inch deeper scratch that looks and feels almost like a crack (2nd photo)...Being new, I don't know if I should worry about this, go to Evo to check them out, contact L9 and complain, or ignore as it's nothing...Appreciate your help!
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Skis scratched during delivery
- Thread starter stoik
- Start date
Is it right? No, but not uncommon with late in the season inventory, it has been moved around a bit and I am assuming you didn't pay full price at this time of year. Also, it's nothing that could not happen on your first run of the year. I would't lose much sleep over it.
Contact L9 customer service. See what they offer, if anything. If they can't/won't do anything, ski them, don't think twice and have fun.
Yes, I got them at half price. It is what motivated me to buy some skis that I will not try until beginning of next season...
I'd wait a little bit after "beginning of next season" before putting new skis on the Mt Hood slopes. It takes until about 2nd week of January before the cover is really deep enough to avoid hitting rocks and tree stumps and I wouldn't want you to damage your new skis.
FYI: For Timberline Lodge here is a graph of the snow depth month-by month. This year's data (black line), and historical average over the past 70+ years (brown line). 75" depth is usually "good enough" coverage to expose new skis.
If you ski them this season, you'll likely want to do a base grind next season anyway. Frankly, I can do far more damage to my skis than that in a few early/late season days.
I'd file a complaint. Not because this is something I cannot live with but simply because it is wrong. The price you paid makes no difference if the ski was advertised as "new".
But yeah, I can do a lot more damage to my ski in a single run under the right or rather-wrong conditions.
But yeah, I can do a lot more damage to my ski in a single run under the right or rather-wrong conditions.
That's why you buy local when you can. Stuff sold in the showroom, as mentioned earlier gets handled a lot, which can induce damage to the skis. If you were to order, it's better to order from larger online companies that ship direct from the warehouse, as the skis would still be protected in its original factory packaging.
IMHO, this falls under "can vs. should", can you contact them and complain, sure. Should you? Well, seeing what the imperfection is, I personally would not bother. There are many hills I will die on, this ain't one of them.
Look at it from another angle, keeping quiet would meen keeping valuable feedback from the seller. By complaining he’d actually help them improve on their handling processes. Would they take the complaint into account is entirely different story but it’s his duty as a customer to point to the imperfections.
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I first looked at Evo, Next Adventure, and REI, all with brick and mortars in pdx. But only L9 had these skis in stock...I would have even paid more to get them from local stores, yes. Anyways, I contacted L9 and after sending some photos, they promptly replied they would cover any cost of repair plus $15. I will go tomorrow to Evo to see if they can clean them up and maybe add a wax and tuneup and bindings release check while im at it. If L9 makes good on the promise to cover the repair portion, I would call it a pretty good customer service and be satisfied.
I'd file a complaint. Not because this is something I cannot live with but simply because it is wrong. The price you paid makes no difference if the ski was advertised as "new".
But yeah, I can do a lot more damage to my ski in a single run under the right or rather-wrong conditions.
This tends to be my attitude as a consumer. However I have found that precious few others see it this way. Particularly on the receiving end.
In fact, overall, in I think you might be the ONLY person I've ever heard articulate these thoughts more or less exactly the way I would.
In short, we are the weirdos, so even if we're right we're wrong.
Sidebar
It's a good illustration of a fundamental principle of psycho-social dynamics: Even the most "objective" people are still judging you by how far you are from the median, no matter how many real lunatics might comprise the context population. (I can think of plenty of examples of this phenomenon in American politics.) The arbitrators - psychologists, say, or supreme court justices - got where they are partly by not being too far from the median themselves.
One last question: I will not find out for sure until next season if I made the right decision on length for these skis (Rossignol Experience 82 Basalt), 184cm (versus shorter, 176cm).
I am tall, 6'4'', 205 lb., male, early 40s, beginner moving towards intermediate. Yes, I waited for a while to learn how to ski...I played professional tennis until the age of 25 and ski was a no-no for risk of injury...although I wanted to ski since I was a kid...Then 15 years passed with family, job, etc...until I remembered my dream to ski...I took a couple of lessons at beginning of 2023 and then went by myself 15 times at Mt. Hood, OR, each time eager to come back as soon as possible...I also watched a lot of YouTube instructions and I am a bit of a perfectionist and value good technique (similar to my tennis playing approach...). Only did green runs during my 1st season with a pair of beginner Elan Waveflex 76 (176cm). Bought Rossi Experience 82 skis to hopefully help me progress next season to blue runs, etc. Will stick mainly to groomers unless my progress surprises me... I plan to be 20+ times on the slopes next season.
I went back and forth before ordering between 176 and 184s...I wish they had a 180 cm...I decided to go with the longer 184s as maybe the basalt (instead of TIs) provides a balance for these skis to not be too difficult to ski but also get me to progress...
Any thoughts appreciated!
I am tall, 6'4'', 205 lb., male, early 40s, beginner moving towards intermediate. Yes, I waited for a while to learn how to ski...I played professional tennis until the age of 25 and ski was a no-no for risk of injury...although I wanted to ski since I was a kid...Then 15 years passed with family, job, etc...until I remembered my dream to ski...I took a couple of lessons at beginning of 2023 and then went by myself 15 times at Mt. Hood, OR, each time eager to come back as soon as possible...I also watched a lot of YouTube instructions and I am a bit of a perfectionist and value good technique (similar to my tennis playing approach...). Only did green runs during my 1st season with a pair of beginner Elan Waveflex 76 (176cm). Bought Rossi Experience 82 skis to hopefully help me progress next season to blue runs, etc. Will stick mainly to groomers unless my progress surprises me... I plan to be 20+ times on the slopes next season.
I went back and forth before ordering between 176 and 184s...I wish they had a 180 cm...I decided to go with the longer 184s as maybe the basalt (instead of TIs) provides a balance for these skis to not be too difficult to ski but also get me to progress...
Any thoughts appreciated!
Awesome, you made the right choice.
The 184 will definitely be the better choice... when you're skiing blue trails with some conviction. If you're truly a beginner/intermediate the 176 would feel more comfortable as you progress.. If you're a former professional athlete, you'll probably be there pretty quickly..
At this point both sizes would work as it looks you will need some time to reach the limits of the 176, but at your size, yeah you did well to go with 184.
Ah Tony....I'd file a complaint. Not because this is something I cannot live with but simply because it is wrong. The price you paid makes no difference if the ski was advertised as "new".
But yeah, I can do a lot more damage to my ski in a single run under the right or rather-wrong conditions.
When I read these posts from you I can hear my mom's voice in my head.
"Tricia... sarcasm is not a fruit of the spirit. Faith, hope, love.... no sarcasm"
Ah Tony....
When I read these posts from you I can hear my mom's voice in my head.
"Tricia... sarcasm is not a fruit of the spirit. Faith, hope, love.... no sarcasm"
I am not being sarcastic here. A rare occasion where I am not but it is true. I'd complain. Seriously.
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