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Need help / guidance on what ski gear to buy

#1
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10/12/09 at 1:40pm
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Location: Wisconsin
  • Post Count: 8
Hey guys, my name is Luke, I'm 16, and I have been skiing for about 2 years. Over the last two winters I rented skis at a local ski resort and just did that whenever I went, now that I'm getting more interested in doing tricks and starting to go down more black diamonds, I'm looking into buying some skis. The problem is, I don't know anything about ski gear, I'm looking for some skis that would be good for an intermediate skier, and as I said I really want to start learning how to do some tricks like grinding, 180's, etc. For a price budget I don't really know but I'm looking for a good buy. Any help or guidance would be very much appreciated! Thanks everyone for your help. 

Edit : I'm about 5' 7" and weigh 130 pounds and have a shoe size of 8-9 if that helps any.
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#2
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10/12/09 at 1:51pm
  • Joined: October 2007
  • Location: Tahoe
  • Post Count: 1,081
Hi Luke, check Tramdock.com and ebay and Sierraski.com for deals. Tramdock is posting up a lot of twin tips for park and all mountain that look good. My son is selling a couple pairs real cheap that would fit the bill, but I don't know where you are.
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#3
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10/12/09 at 1:52pm
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Location: Wisconsin
  • Post Count: 8
I live near Eau Claire Wisconsin. Thanks for your post, are there any specific brands that would be good for me? 
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#4
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10/12/09 at 1:53pm
  • Joined: September 2009
  • Post Count: 22
Best advice I can give you is to focus on boots. It may not seem as "cool" or be nearly as appealing as buying a nice new set of skis but it is a larger factor in your performance than skis. You can ski half decent on shitty skis with good boots but the reverse is not true.... If money is a factor this is even all the more true, don't spend you money on skis and let the boots take the back seat. Plus boots will last you longer than skis so it just makes sense economically. I say buy yourself as good of boots as your budget allows and buy a set of used skis. 

The one thing I would advise when buying boots, especially at your age, is to but "up". When I was 15/16 I bought a pair of Lange FR80. I wish now, in hindsight, that I had got something a bit stiffer, something in the 90-110 flex range. At 16, assuming you are reasonable athletic and not abnormally small, you will be out-flexing beginner boots buy the time your 18, maybe even sooner.

Good Luck.
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#5
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10/12/09 at 1:55pm
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Location: Wisconsin
  • Post Count: 8
 Thanks for the advice and quick replies guys :)
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#6
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10/12/09 at 2:28pm
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Location: Wisconsin
  • Post Count: 8
 Any advice on specific boots or skis to get? 
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#7
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10/12/09 at 6:48pm
  • Joined: October 2009
  • Location: Wisconsin
  • Post Count: 8
 Anyone? :O
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#8
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10/12/09 at 9:32pm
  • Joined: September 2009
  • Post Count: 22
For boots there can be no substitute for trying them on. No one can really make recommendations with out seeing your feet. It's all going to depend on your foot shape. So like I said, the key is to find out first how much you want to spend on boots, then from there look at all the offerings in the performance category you have chosen. At 130lbs you could probably get away with a softer flexing boot(80-100), which is good because these boots are going to be less expensive.

One thing to watch out for and to think about would be your growth... At 5'7 130lbs at 16 you are probably pretty confident your going to hit another spurt ?? You may want to hold off on spending the big $ on gear till you are reasonable sure that your feet have stopped growing, feet finish growing first so you may not have to wait long... (my stopped at 15..).

As far as skis go check out the K2 extreme(formerly Public Enemy), I bought a pair when I was your age and they have served me very well. It's a super popular twin tip that does good all over the mountain, you should be able to find tons of discussion on them using the search function. You should be able to pick them up new anywhere form 400-600$, used even cheaper. I recommend used because like I said, spend the money on boots if anywhere, plus once you progress/get taller/gain weight you are going to want a longer pair.

Other then that all I can say is that finding the right gear for you takes time and research. Read as much as you can on this site, come on here everyday and read the new posts in the gear discussion section, pick on some ski mag gear guides, find what looks right for you and then come on here and TGR and search the hell out of it to refine your choices. 

Good Luck.

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