Skis you've worn out, to where even you have to admit they're dead.

[cantunamunch]

You held on to them in spite of ski swaps and Ebay and in spite of new gear coming out- but then you really did have to say goodbye dear friends.

Volant Chubbs, zebra bases

Yellow '98 Elan SCX - the bases got thin as Saran Wrap, any random crack and they would pop up off the core.

Fisher Radarcs (blue no plate)

Fischer RX8 second season - I wound up putting 3 different plates on these trying to save them, they had Vist World Cups on them when I first met @Philpug at ESA.

2007 Dynamic i.perform 1.2 - Dynamic's version of an Atomic 9'11 - I have had one of these at about every gathering since '06 since its a great tooling-around ski.

And now - 2011 Head Supershape iSpeed

 

[crgildart]

My "go to" skis are 2006 K2 PEs with the 80mm underfoot. Bought new old stock in 2008 and probably have 60 days on them now. I used them as rock skis Saturday at Blue Knob, even skied across Bunny Hop on the way to Jack Rabbit From Big Snow several times over the weekend. A close inspection of the bases didn't reveal any significant new damage, not much damage at all, but the ski is starting to feel a bit noodly.

For actual rock skis I still ski Josh Matta's old GSRs that were close to dead when he sold them to me, one tip is slightly bent too at this point. I still use them for very early or very late season DGAF days, bottom is structured and they do well in slush.

Everything else I own is still not very new but has fewer laps than those above.

Skied some Kicker POTUS demos Saturday and REALLY noticed the difference between those and everything I own, Elan M777 (87mm version) is the closest I have to that. Made it brutally obvious to me that all my gear is farther behind on the tech curve than I was willing to admit.

 

[KevinF]

I had some pair of Rossignol's back in the early 2000's that ran out of edge to sharpen.

I had some Blizzard g-power's (7.2?) that ran out of edge to sharpen.

My current Blizzard 8.5ti's are in rock ski status... the edge on those is down to the last 0.1mm.

There have probably been others that I've unloaded at ski swaps that had questionable life left, but those are the ones that come to mind.

 

[Alexzn]

The original Bonafide

 

[crgildart]

Mostly dead is still slightly alive!

 

[Muleski]

I've had a number of pairs like Kevin, where eventually the edge just peeled of the side as they were so thin. One of my favorite pairs was a pair of K2 VO, SL's back in the day. Had almost no usable edge left, and when pushing one last day, the edge literally peeled off the entire length of one ski. Ditched the edge in the woods, and flipped skis so that I had two inside edges, and proceeded to "ski" pretty carefully to the car. Luckily it was soft spring snow lower on the hill. Haven't kept a pair going that long in a while.

Before ski design changed, and when you really were carving with your weight on your DH ski, just stomping on it, I remember running into a friend, who was a tremendous skier, and a weekend race coach. Our kids were about the same age, and at that point about 8. We decided to ski a few runs with the kids. He was just killing it. We were skiing on everything for terrain. After about our fourth run, we're on a chair, and I look down at his skis. One Rossi 7S, one Volkl P9SL. I started to laugh, and he explained that "I'm cheap, and you really only use one at a time." Had broken or wrecked the mate of each, so he made a pair. The bindings were a pair. As I recall, his younger brother got into the business about a year later, and he had real pairs after than.

We still joke about it, 20 years later.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

I still have a pair Pocket Rockets in my basement. The topsheets seem to be detached from the core so that when you tip your foot, you can see the whole top sheet buckle to the side before the bottom of the ski starts to lift.

 

[lone pine]

Just today my ski shop told me my 12 year old Volkl Supersport Superspeeds have lost their camber and are functionally shot. But I love them as my Vermont rock skis, and I have certainly needed them this season. I bought them used as demos in 2005, so they don't owe me much. It was suggested I might look at some demos. One more tune up and then we'll see. Love these skis.

 

[Philpug]

In many cases, you don't realize how bad your skis are until you get on to a new version..then back on to yours. It is such a fine window of breaking that ski in and making it that old pair of jeans to being worn out.

 

[Eleeski]

My beloved Goodes had the left ski break at the front binding after something like 8 years of hard use. I would have skied down if the binding had stayed on (I finished the day when my Atomics had a similar break but the binding stayed on). A snapped ski is certainly dead. Sigh. Maybe the factory has an old pair somewhere.

Eric

 

[Doug Briggs]

In many cases, you don't realize how bad your skis are until you get on to a new version..then back on to yours. It is such a fine window of breaking that ski in and making it that old pair of jeans to being worn out.

QFT

Rossi Bandit XX 184cm. Cracked edges, core shots, the works. Only after skiing a decent SL ski and trying so ski the Bandits did I realize how far they were gone. Of course, they'd still work on soft snow, but right about now I'm ready to take the bindings off to put on something else.

Most other skis have either died a horrible death (broken core, severe bend or some such defect) or are still going strong.

 

[Johnny V.]

My pair of the original Atomic D2 cheater GS skis are still going as beaters. WAY too soft for training and even edging on icy surfaces, they're fun as long as the snow is slightly soft. They have no resale value, so I'll just keep skiing them until they die.

 

[cantunamunch]

X bindings, Neox or 1018s?

 

[Johnny V.]

Neox.

 

[KevinF]

I still have a pair Pocket Rockets in my basement. The topsheets seem to be detached from the core so that when you tip your foot, you can see the whole top sheet buckle to the side before the bottom of the ski starts to lift.

Ummmm, why do you still have them?

 

[KevinF]

I've had a number of pairs like Kevin, where eventually the edge just peeled of the side as they were so thin.

Ok, I haven't taken mine to the point where the edge peeled off the ski!

I only recently started tuning skis myself, so mine were at the point when the shop said that there was nothing left to sharpen on them. The edges were pretty thin... I could have probably kept them going for a while by diamond stoning them as necessary... But as others in this thread have indicated, you don't know how ruined skis are until you get on something newer.

 

[markojp]

My Rev 85's are getting a bit long in the tooth... lot's of days on them though.

 

[liv2ski]

I normally sell my skis after a few seasons and buy the latest and greatest. Problem is Movement skis are not sold in the USA, so I always hold them until that last base grind makes them to thin My Source skis are on their last legs now, so what to buy that is about 94 underfoot to replace them?????

 

[John Webb]

Does destruction count !
Rossi ST650 -massive core blowout.
Volkl P9 -toe ripped off twice.
Fisher Vac SL - edge ripped away

Likely others I don't remember. (none in last 10 years)

When moving I had Rossi's too old to donate so I used a Sawzall to
cut them in pieces that went out in household trash.

 

[cantunamunch]

Does destruction count !

Absolutely.

Likely others I don't remember. (none in last 10 years)

I finally had to retire my 90s vintage Marker spring gloves. Goodbye dear friends *cry*