Prophets sustained some injury

I picked-up the Line Prophet 100 a few weeks ago -- there was a thread -- and finally skied on them Tuesday. I had lots of fun on them; I can talk about that later, but I will admit here that the P100s exposed a few of my bad habits, and I was forced to remember some actual technique for the rest of the day.

Near the end of the day, I noticed this on the left tail:

It would appear that I crossed my tails at some point -- but I have never ever seen this kind of damage on any of my skis, ever. And this on their maiden voyage. You may guess that I'm slightly depressed.

I cannot imagine that "normal wear and tear" covers such an early and blatant gash. As I said, none of my skis have ever looked like this, even after years of abuse. What gives? Is this typical?

Looks like a pretty solid gash you have there... going for some extra steeze with a tail cross?  All kidding aside I'm sure that makes you sick to see any damage on the first day on any new product.  I've had my Prophet 100s for 3 years now, and I definitely haven't had anything like that happent to my skis (and they've seen a variety of conditions, jumps, rocks, etc).  It does indeed look like you just sliced one ski with the edge of another somehow, but on the bright side it looks like it's mostly cosmetic.  I assume the edge is still entirely intact?  If so, I would probably just cut off that hanging piece so it doens't get caught on something else, and just cover the bare area with a black Sharpie.  Yeah it sounds bad, but it'll at least make it look a bit better.  Again sorry about your luck the first time out - hope you at least enjoyed the skis.

Yeah, the skis are great -- man, that cliff looked so high that I tried to cross them twice, but it obviously wasn't high enough.

It's not apparent in the photo, but some slivers of fiberglas and other insides are peking out; not too many, but I'll need to waterproof it somehow before I attempt the Sharpie. I'm going to REI this afternoon. I've heard good things about their customer service and return policies, so I'll try that first.

I've got about 10 days on mine and have a few gashes like that from clanking my tails on stuff.  A little disheartening, but hey they're skis, they'll only stay pretty for so long.  I really doubt it's a warranty issue since it's a huge gash, but let me know if it is, because Line has pretty good customer service.

Honestly, that's not such a big deal.  It's just a flesh wound!!!!

Seriously--it's just cosmetic damage.  And skis are meant to be skied, not to look pretty.

Don't worry your head about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wave 

 

Yeah, the skis are great -- man, that cliff looked so high that I tried to cross them twice, but it obviously wasn't high enough.

 

It's not apparent in the photo, but some slivers of fiberglas and other insides are peking out; not too many, but I'll need to waterproof it somehow before I attempt the Sharpie. I'm going to REI this afternoon. I've heard good things about their customer service and return policies, so I'll try that first.

Are you kidding?  You're going to return some skis after something YOU did to them?  It's not a ski defect.  I find that in very bad taste - weak sauce.

Yeah, that is clearly caused by the skier.  I think you should suck it up and be more careful with your new skis if cosmetic damage bothers you.  

I agree with axe.  I'd actually be disappointed if REI took the skis back because of that -- it would be equivalent to screwing the system in my book (which ultimately means honest customers lose out somehow).

Quote:

Originally Posted by axebiker 

 

 

 

Are you kidding?  You're going to return some skis after something YOU did to them?  It's not a ski defect.  I find that in very bad taste - weak sauce.

Yes, I'm kidding. I would never have bitched about it if I had actually abused them.

The worst that might have happened is that I crossed my tails in the lift line -- there was no cliff jumping going on that day. The guy at REI suggested that a snowboard may have attacked my skis on a lift; that's just as plausible as my explanation. He and several guys there all agreed that I had more than just a little cosmetic problem, and that a ski should be slightly more durable.

So I wondered if they could replace them, but the REI guy looked and could find no more in stock at any of their stores. Option A is to send them back to Line for an evaluation, and not have them for the rest of the season, and Option B is to let him repair it with some epoxy, then I can apply the aforementioned Sharpie to the top -- which is what I did. I can pick them up tomorrow.

It just seems to me that the ski should've taken that encounter, whatever it was, a bit better than it did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skier219 

 

Yeah, that is clearly caused by the skier.

 

Of course, but as I have said, a casual brush with another ski shouldn't rip a 2-inch-long gouge out of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wave 

 

 

 

Of course, but as I have said, a casual brush with another ski shouldn't rip a 2-inch-long gouge out of it.

In Mtn Biking parlance we call that "just riding along". Meaning some guy did something to cause a bike part to bust and blames it on the part. When in fact it was his fault. He goes to the shop and says he was just riding along and his wheel fell apart. Never mind that he smashed into a rock.
 

My point: don't be jerk and just own up to the fact gash was your fault. The ski will be fine and will not fall apart for at least five years

You will all please recall that my original post was a simple question: Is this typical?

It's never happened to me before, so I wanted to know if it was normal. Hokiesnow and mrzinwin both said Yes, it's normal, deal with it. Mordy, too. Great -- that's what I wanted to know.

I make a joke about jumping off of clips, and suddenly I'm getting a ridiculous lecture, as if I'm some litigious hack waiting to blame someone else. Thanks Dad.

If this were about "cosmetic damage" this thread wouldn't exist at all. I can see through 3 layers of the core -- that concerned me a bit.

Did I take a chunk out of my new skis? Apparently -- I even mentioned more than once that I probably did it myself.

Did I say I was going to sue Line, K2, and REI about it? No.

Did I say they owed me new skis? No. Did I think they would give me some anyway? Not a chance, but being that I had no idea as to the extent of the damage, I brought them in anyway, to see if they somehow failed, or if they just needed repair. I didn't get in anybody's face, I wasn't a jerk, and they were very cool.

What I did say in the original post is that I liked my new skis. I get to be bummed when I scrape them up on the first day.

Oh poor poor pitiful me.

Hi Wave,

Back to your OP.  Chunks like that happen.  It just takes the right hit take a chunk out.  I had that happen to one of my skis on its maiden voyage.  Mine was lift line damage.  I'm sure that yours was too.

The black sharpie repair advice was good.  Also consider smearing some silicon glue to help keep the moisture out.  Epoxy will also work as a sealer, too.

Denny

Yeah, doesn't look that bad, actually, although I feel your pain. Just seal it up to prevent further moisture/deterioration, and you're good to go.