Hello!
I am currently skiing my first full season at Diamond Peak (been out about 9 times so far). I didn't grow up skiing, but had a handful of lessons over the years. I'm currently renting, but considering what to do for next season. Season long rentals are $250 for the most basic K2 Strikes, and demo ski rentals are probably $350 or so for the season where I live.
With the end of season sales approaching, I'm wondering if I should consider buying a first set of skis as opposed to renting next season. I feel like demo rentals for a season are close to a used pair of skis or ones on sale/clearance.
Me: I'm 5'11" and 180-185lbs, athletic.
Where I ski: Diamond Peak and occasionally Sugar Bowl, rarely North Star or Heavenly. Going to be up at least 10 days next season.
Skill level: I'd say advanced beginner or intermediate. I'm spending most of this year chasing my kids who are also learning to ski on the greens and easy blues, but feel confident I can do the blues at Diamond Peak (did the steepest blue at the end of the day in a whiteout snow storm but with a few stops on the way down and mostly skidded turns). I can parallel skid turn and can side slip down hills, hockey stop, jump and turn, etc. The only time I snow plough/pizza is if I'm right behind my kids and intentionally tailgating them.
What I want the ski for: I would like to be able to ski all blues up to medium blacks next season with confidence in typical Tahoe conditions. I'm also interested in taking some lessons for moguls, carving, etc. I would like to be in the trees some of the time, would like to learn to ride switch and do smallish jumps when the kids are doing easier runs, etc. I'm guessing I'll be spending at least all of next season inbounds. I want an everyday ski I can use for several seasons and hope I won't need another pair until I have more specialized needs (powder, off-piste, going much faster, etc).
Current set up: I own good boots I got fitted for me this year, so I'm good there. Rental skis are 167cm K2 Strikes (I previously had 162cm but they felt very unstable in crud and slightly faster speeds).
I'm not a charger. I feel like I'm actually pretty slow in comparison to more advanced skiers but it's unclear if my lack of speed is from uncertainty in technique or the skis feeling bumpy/squirrelly whenever I am picking up speed, especially at the end of the day when it's choppy and icy.
TL;DR -
I am currently skiing my first full season at Diamond Peak (been out about 9 times so far). I didn't grow up skiing, but had a handful of lessons over the years. I'm currently renting, but considering what to do for next season. Season long rentals are $250 for the most basic K2 Strikes, and demo ski rentals are probably $350 or so for the season where I live.
With the end of season sales approaching, I'm wondering if I should consider buying a first set of skis as opposed to renting next season. I feel like demo rentals for a season are close to a used pair of skis or ones on sale/clearance.
Me: I'm 5'11" and 180-185lbs, athletic.
Where I ski: Diamond Peak and occasionally Sugar Bowl, rarely North Star or Heavenly. Going to be up at least 10 days next season.
Skill level: I'd say advanced beginner or intermediate. I'm spending most of this year chasing my kids who are also learning to ski on the greens and easy blues, but feel confident I can do the blues at Diamond Peak (did the steepest blue at the end of the day in a whiteout snow storm but with a few stops on the way down and mostly skidded turns). I can parallel skid turn and can side slip down hills, hockey stop, jump and turn, etc. The only time I snow plough/pizza is if I'm right behind my kids and intentionally tailgating them.
What I want the ski for: I would like to be able to ski all blues up to medium blacks next season with confidence in typical Tahoe conditions. I'm also interested in taking some lessons for moguls, carving, etc. I would like to be in the trees some of the time, would like to learn to ride switch and do smallish jumps when the kids are doing easier runs, etc. I'm guessing I'll be spending at least all of next season inbounds. I want an everyday ski I can use for several seasons and hope I won't need another pair until I have more specialized needs (powder, off-piste, going much faster, etc).
Current set up: I own good boots I got fitted for me this year, so I'm good there. Rental skis are 167cm K2 Strikes (I previously had 162cm but they felt very unstable in crud and slightly faster speeds).
I'm not a charger. I feel like I'm actually pretty slow in comparison to more advanced skiers but it's unclear if my lack of speed is from uncertainty in technique or the skis feeling bumpy/squirrelly whenever I am picking up speed, especially at the end of the day when it's choppy and icy.
TL;DR -
- Should I rent skis next season or buy something on sale in a few weeks?
- Which skis should I be looking at to buy or rent? What length and width should I be looking at?
- Should I care about bindings at this stage? Any DIN calculator I've used has put me at 10 even if I say I'm expert and aggressive, which I'm not.