Salomon Origins + Z10 Ti Ski - Women's

Fabulous skis which seem to be mostly overlooked as they aren't hyped commercially for some reason--you rarely read about them.  Extremely stable, 124-74-106 so they perform superbly on both groomers and in deeper stuff.  A 12.9 turn radius, yet equally beautiful in long carved turns.  Very quick and easy to turn on steeper slopes, hold well on the hardpack or icy parts.  A dream in powder, although I haven't had them in extremely deep powder. The Origins are often rated as Advanced-Expert, but as a solid mid-level intermediate I did not find them too much to handle.  They forced me to clean up my form a bit, and they have allowed me to become a much better skier already.  I got 2008's with the orchid top sheet (hated by many), but I've come to appreciate the design.  The 2009's are structurally the same with a new, non-flower top sheet.  I also really like the Z10 Ti bindings.  Overall the ski is solid but not overly heavy.  It is lively enough (probably would not be considered a damp ski like the Lotta Luv), but it's not really punishing for your errors.  This ski would help a solid intermediate skier advance, but I don't believe you would grow out of it as you move towards advanced-expert level.  As you advance, it will perform as you want it to.