Tahoe area All mtn/powder/wider skis for u14 girl racer?

[AlpsSkidad]

Bought tons of race and piste skis for my girls. never bought an all mountain or powder type for them (haven’t needed to) Daughter’s new team wants her to add an all mountain or even a powder ski to her quiver.
North Tahoe area skiing, which is also a new region to us.
Skier: 125 pound, 5’3” first year u14 female. Comfortably skis tweener 150cm SL and 170 tweener GS. Rossi Zsoft plug boot.
Don't know where to start for a wider ski for her brand/model/length?? I’d think an AM ski would be more veritable/pragmatic, but open to discuss all options.

 

[Philpug]

Someththing in the 90-95 mm range. Mavem 93. Rally Bird 92, Sheeva 9, Santa Ana 93 are all skist that come to mind. @Tricia @Lauren to the SkiTalk Courtesy Phone

 

[In2h2o]

@AlpsSkidad IMHO a few thoughts as the parent of a daughter who was on the free ski team at MM at that age -

1. Ask the coach what they are recommending - it's better when the team is all similarly situated. Not as much fun (but certainly skill building for some) when 1/2 the kids are on 90's and the others have dedicated fat powder skis. The coach will have an idea of what works best in your area and what the team goals are when they are to be skiing that ski.

2. IF possible, find out what the other girls are skiing. Trust me at that age there is some "I need/ want to fit in" with everyone.....
DD shared a locker room with similarly aged race girls and the racers all had "Blizzard Sambas" which at the time were a stiffer 98.
Who knows maybe they all have Moment Sierras or Bellas? or Nordica Santa Anna or Rossi Rallybird 104 ti?

3. When you get a short list demo. If I recall correctly, Palisades had a pretty decent demo fleet and for 70$ hopefully she would be able to do a one day demo and cycle thru some of the recommended skis in different sizes and pick out what works best for her.

At her size she certainly would find plenty of all mountain/powder skis in the 160-170 range that could work for her. There really are so many options but certainly some that work better in Sierra cement and chopped up crud. @Tricia and hopefully some other Tahoe skiers will have suggestions, but If you wanted to get up to speed on what's out there this year for women's skis here is a quick synopsis of the more popular skis that are available this year:


(you could also look at prior year videos to see what changes have been made in some of the skis)

 

[Lauren]

Tons of great options for an all-mountain ski with a powder/soft snow bias. @In2h2o has some great thoughts from the perspective of what other girls are skiing in her team…I would agree that no matter how much a ski suits her skiing, good chance she’ll be interested in skis her friends are on. Rallybird 92 for an all-mountain, or even the 102 for more soft snow bias could be an awesome ski for her. The Kenjas are often a hit with racers and former racers due to their stiff and stable nature. Sheeva 9 for something more playful, and less aggressive. Santa Ana’s will hit the middle ground between being playful while still having a solid feel to them.

 

[Tricia]

Bought tons of race and piste skis for my girls. never bought an all mountain or powder type for them (haven’t needed to) Daughter’s new team wants her to add an all mountain or even a powder ski to her quiver.
North Tahoe area skiing, which is also a new region to us.
Skier: 125 pound, 5’3” first year u14 female. Comfortably skis tweener 150cm SL and 170 tweener GS. Rossi Zsoft plug boot.
Don't know where to start for a wider ski for her brand/model/length?? I’d think an AM ski would be more veritable/pragmatic, but open to discuss all options.

Someththing in the 90-95 mm range. Mavem 93. Rally Bird 92, Sheeva 9, Santa Ana 93 are all skist that come to mind. @Tricia @Lauren to the SkiTalk Courtesy Phone

For a racer girl I'd lean toward something fairly with some stout.
I'd lean toward the Rallybird 92 or perhaps the Santa Ana 93. The last time I was on the Sheeva 9, I thought it was fun in real powder but not as good as an all mountain ski.
The Maven is another solid choice, but wait there's more....The fischer Ranger 90 and Volkl Secret 96 are both great in this category too. You should see which one you can get the best deal on and run with it.

 

[AlpsSkidad]

. You should see which one you can get the best deal on and run with it.

this is probably the best advice and ultimately the direction we will head. This ski will most likely be the least used in the quiver since racing is the focus of the season. Just trying o get my arms around what choices there are since we don’t have much experience in these types of skis for her.

 

[Sinecure]

Support the local company.

www.praxisskis.com
www.momentskis.com

She'll up her Tahoe cred, and she'll have awesome skis.

I have a pair of Praxis skis that I've beaten the snot out of and they still ski awesome. I rode them at Rose today. They probably have 250 days on them.

 

[Lauren]

this is probably the best advice and ultimately the direction we will head.

There really are so many good skis in this genre. With someone with a good technical background (I'm assuming this due to her racing background), it's hard to go wrong.

 

[In2h2o]

this is probably the best advice and ultimately the direction we will head. This ski will most likely be the least used in the quiver since racing is the focus of the season. Just trying o get my arms around what choices there are since we don’t have much experience in these types of skis for her.

I'm surprised that the coach is not a bit more helpful in at least providing a list of skis that would be suitable, considering you are paying $$$$ to be in a program? I'm all about saving money, but with a bit more direction as to what the other kids have (I would want to know what they really need: All Mt vs Powder) and what the goal is for those days so you would be able to narrow it down a bit. Have your reached out to the coach? While it may be the least used ski in the quiver, it may be used on the days where she will have the most fun. If she's not race training its probably puking snow (feet not inches), and the team is working getting fresh tracks - what would you want to be skiing? And there is a point to @Sinecure post -- some of the team may be supporting the local ski manufactures ....as well as imho being a teenager and wanting to fit in.......

 

[AlpsSkidad]

I'm surprised that the coach is not a bit more helpful in at least providing a list of skis that would be suitable, considering you are paying $$$$ to be in a program? I'm all about saving money, but with a bit more direction as to what the other kids have (I would want to know what they really need: All Mt vs Powder) and what the goal is for those days so you would be able to narrow it down a bit. Have your reached out to the coach? While it may be the least used ski in the quiver, it may be used on the days where she will have the most fun. If she's not race training its probably puking snow (feet not inches), and the team is working getting fresh tracks - what would you want to be skiing? And there is a point to @Sinecure post -- some of the team may be supporting the local ski manufactures ....as well as imho being a teenager and wanting to fit in.......

I spoke to the coach face to face on Saturday. Her coach has a bunch of experience so she isn’t new, but her guidance over the weekend at the team meeting was to buy some skis for all mountain/powder days. Doesn’t matter what kind. Only specified “not twin tips”. Even said possibly go look at used in Truckee. I spoke to a second year u14 parent, he said they didn’t end use the wide ski at all last season during training, only used it free skiing after training hours or with family. He did say that had more to do with snow conditions last season, but obviously could happen.

 

[In2h2o]

@AlpsSkidad ok now I understand, not that helpful but at least you know not to get twin tips!
With so many good options I can see how it can be overwhelming.
Let's hope its a different snow year than last year....

 

[robertc3]

The use of these skis will vary with the snow year. Two years ago our race team didn't set gates in training for four weekends in a row. We had an epic February and they just skied powder all month. Other years they may be able to set gates nearly every weekend. I would second the suggestion of something with some heft. 5'-3" and 125# is not a featherweight skier and with a race background she will be ripping and can make use of a burlier ski. My kids generally ski their freeskis at the same or similar length as their gs skis. At something around 170 you should get a couple of seasons out of them.

 

[AlpsSkidad]

Found a deal on a new pair of 2022 Kastle FX96W in 172 that I might jump on. This pair is new and I can get them less than half the price of most other options. I’m an older Kastle fanboy, but haven’t tried their newest stuff since production moved.

 

[Pequenita]

Hopefully it's okay for me to jump on this thread as I am also looking for an all-mountain/soft snow bias ski in the high 80s/low90s for myself, and am (sadly) smaller in height and weight than OP's daughter. I figured that ultimately there would be a lot of overlap between the skis recommended in this thread and whatever you all come up with for me. But, if the mods think I deserve a thread all to myself, then woohoo!

I'm 5'0", 100lbs, and much older than a racing junior. I'm at the point of my skiing where I want to be more lazy, and I'm looking for a ski with tip and tail rocker and a surfy feel to replace* my 2013 Kenja (the ones with the clouds, 156cm, 127-87-106, with a 17m radius, claims to have tip rocker but it seems pretty normal to me). Also, something softer than that ski. Back when I bought them, I was split between them and the Nordica Hells Belles and went with the ski that I could first find with the best deal. This has been my daily driver for almost a decade. Like OP's daughter, I am in Tahoe. There is definitely room for improvement in my skiing, but I'm not shabby. I do need more practice in powder, and the only time I "skied" it was when I was on crazy wide K2 Pon2oons, which sort of feels like cheating and looks ridiculous when you are my size. That said, I don't want to start veering in to the mid-90s width and higher because of knees, and I want to be lazy (have I mentioned that already?). I know there are plenty of people who can get something like my existing skis to ski well in deeper powder, but I haven't figured out the formula, hence wanting to switch up the tool a little.

Other skis that I'm regularly on are a pair of 2019 Volkl jr SLs (150, 67mm waist), 2010 K2 Paybacks (146, 92mm waist, mounted with tech bindings), 2020 Armada trace (152, 88mm waist, mounted with tech bindings - crazy light, have never been in the resort). I haven't regularly skied on a ski with tip and tail rocker.

First question: would this year's Kenja work for what I want? I am thinking while it is a great ski, it might not be as surfy/soft snow biased as what I'm now looking for.

If not the 2023 Kenja, then here's what I'm curious about:
* Liberty Genesis 90
* Nordica Santa Ana 93 (how much of a difference is there between this and the 88? Less metal in the 93, right?)
and, does anyone know anything about the Sego Lupine 92 (it's got a longer radius than the Genesis and Santa Ana...)?

Does it even matter between these skis? Are they so similar that I'd be happy on any of them, kind of like when I made the Hells Belles/Kenja decision back in 2013?

Next question - length. I'm stumped. I am trending shorter on skis with a traditional profile because I want to be lazy, but is 151 on a ski with tip and tail rocker too short for me? Will I be hating life after the 2nd run? Or so far behind my friends that they'll be whipping out a snack to eat while they wait for me? Assume there is no opportunity to demo a 151 vs. a 158. And 158 is way over my head whereas 151 is probably my forehead/hairline.

Thanks in advance for the food for thought!!



* replace because I want to get these into consignment while I can...

 

[James]

Her coach has a bunch of experience so she isn’t new, but her guidance over the weekend at the team meeting was to buy some skis for all mountain/powder days. Doesn’t matter what kind. Only specified “not twin tips”.

Lol, there go the Faction ct’s!
Those Kastle 96w fit the bill for shape and profile of what the ski coach is looking for. It may be a little wide and long for her size, not sure, but whatever. If initially she “can’t ski it” and it “won’t turn”, there’s a problem with the base likely.

My assesment of what coach wants is any ski traditionally mounted that reinforces using the front of the ski, entering turns being ahead of the ski. As opposed to standing centered nearer the center of the ski.

Why not Moment? - Moustache rocker.

 

[Near Nyquist]

@Alexzn
Your daughter was on squaw teams at this point in her career
What was she on ?

P.S. she totally ripps
Looking to ski with you both sometime

 

[ELDoane]

My 13 year old daughter has a gazillion race skis and one pair of Mantra Jrs. She rejected pretty much everything else. We're east coasters, but I still that's enough float for lightweights in most any resort snow depth.

 

[Tricia]

First question: would this year's Kenja work for what I want? I am thinking while it is a great ski, it might not be as surfy/soft snow biased as what I'm now looking for.

If not the 2023 Kenja, then here's what I'm curious about:
* Liberty Genesis 90
* Nordica Santa Ana 93 (how much of a difference is there between this and the 88? Less metal in the 93, right?)
and, does anyone know anything about the Sego Lupine 92 (it's got a longer radius than the Genesis and Santa Ana...)?

It sounds like you want more of a powder specific ski than an all mountain ski.
In that case, the Santa Ana 93 is strong in this category. I'd also consider the Fischer Ranger 90 and. I also skied the Genesis 96 quite a lot (sorry not much time on the 90) and can see it being a really good powder ski for someone your size.

 

[AlpsSkidad]

We bought the Kastles 96w. 172 might be a touch long, but she’s strong, and will probably figure it out. Had the bases ground/prepped. Looks like it is clouding up for tomorrow’s storm, and this weekend too. She might get to actually try them out this weekend If the forecasts hold true.

 

[Pequenita]

It sounds like you want more of a powder specific ski than an all mountain ski.

Thanks for your thoughts, @Tricia. I hesitate to say "powder-specific," in part because my brain is still thinking powder skis are over 100mm wide, and because I always feel like I'm going to die getting from KT to Headwall at Palisades, which is rarely powder.