Best Budget Ski

The best buy for a person on a low budget is a used ski that has been lightly skied. There will be ski sales nearby in September that you should look into. As an intermediate skier you'll have lots of good choices. 

Make your boots your highest expenditure. Do your research about flex and volume to fit your feet and your needs and buy good quality ,new boots.

Agree, the first purchase should be boots that fit.(read the wiki)

THEN, the best budget ski is either used or new  old stock.  Choose wisely based on reviews. I recommend realskiers.com reviews for choosing the best skis that are a few (or a few more years) old).

If you ski a lot it is worth buying a brand new ski that has never been used, but is a few model years old.  If you only ski a little, then you can pick up a used ski fairly cheaply; many ski shops have consignment sales.  Lots of folk buy skis and sell them long before they are worn out.  Be careful buying used race skis, as they may have very little edge left.

My experience with that method has scored me a pair of Fischer WC SCs, and a pair of Volant Machete Gs that worked out fantastic, as well as a pair of Volkl P50s that were fairly decent, all for about 25 % of MSRP.

Chriso, its not uncommon for members here to ask specifics when giving ski gear advice, and your participation to this point has suggested that you're hoping to get some ski gear of your own in the future, if not the near future. 

Specifics usually asked are: 

Age

Weight, 

Height

Ability

Preferred terrain

How many days a year do you ski. 

etc....

Please don't be offended when these people are just trying to reach out to you and help the best way they know how. 

The best cheap skis are to buy a used pair.  Then invest your savings in better boots and better ski clothes.  Lots of advice here on how to buy used skis and what to look for and out for.

At your level of skiing it's really hard for you to know what to buy. It's very easy to buy something that looks like a great deal, but is completely wrong for you, makes you hate skiing, and is a total waste of money no matter how cheap it is.  Used skis in good condition are the best value, but which ski--buying used you're usually on your own, unless you buy a demo from a shop, in which case they are not lightly used.  At this point what you should be telling us is where you live and where you ski if you ski in one range a fair bit, and the question you should be asking is "What shop would you recommend?"  You want a shop with experienced sales people, who want to make you happy more than they want to sell what they want to move. Much harder to find a good shop than a good pair of skis.  It also matters when you go--if you can manage to go midweek, midday when things are slow the owner or manager will probably be the one who helps you and will be more knowledgeable and experienced and more motivated to get your repeat business than the folks that only work when it's busy. They'll also have more time to spend with you. As far as new skis go they generally drop in price  mid  season and again late season.  Popular models in popular sizes will be gone by mid or late season however.  In the fall there will often be great deals and sales of last year's gear. In my town (Truckee) the shops all have big sidewalk sales Labor Day weekend, and even earlier in the summer. There are also ski swaps later in the fall, and some of them will have knowledgeable people to advise you. One other thing to keep in mind when you ask for advice about brands and models--while some people on this forum are in the ski business, most of us are not, and only know about a limited number of skis--generally those directed at our ability levels so even if we tell you we like a particular ski we have no way to compare it to more than a couple of similar skis we may have tried and no way to know if it would be good for you.  Now--if you do come across what seems like a great bargain and if you tell us your height, weight, (age), ability and what kind of terrain and conditions you want the ski for there will probably be plenty of people who can tell you if that particular ski might be good for you. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chriso10299 

Ok, I will not be buying ski gear until a few more years and I just want to know what equipment people prefer now so that I can plan for later in my life.

Not possible, next year's gear is always a revolutionary leap forward and today's gear is already trash. ;)

If you are not shopping for gear, then I think you should be shopping to find a good boot fitter and a ski shop. That way you know where to go when the time is right. BTW, EPIC and TGR are two of the best used ski gear shops you will find. For boots, look for a Brick and Mortar in your area near the slopes who you can work with to dial in your boots. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philpug 

BTW, how old are you? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chriso10299 

I would prefer not to disclose my age to the public.

Phil check the user name. 10299. I'm guessing its not a random number. 

That said assuming it is your DOB you probably are better off renting for another year or four until your feet are done growing. 

My feet grew almost two full sizes in college.  Musta been the   steroids.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chriso10299 

I would prefer not to disclose my age to the public.

If you're a young person celebrate it . It only happens once for you. If it makes you uncomfortable then don't respond to age questions or implications . You just have things you wish to understand deeper. That's why many of us are also here. The rest already know everything there is to know and have no problem telling us so. 

You'll sort through the BS when you see it.

Buy skis used. 

Spend your money on boots, and what ever is leftover is your budget for used skis.  And TAKE YOUR TIME SHOPPING.  There are plenty of good deals to be had, don't blow your load on the first sale you see.

I've gotten some great deals on skis.

Dawgcatching (he often sells great trade ins from his shop here) hooked me up with barely used Head Monster IM88 with bindings for 225.  My eperience with these as my first decent all mountain is they totally rip like rocket ships. So much fun.

Just caught a skis.com sale and got Blizzard Crush with bindings for 200 NEW..same as The One.  I'm excited to try something at 98mm that is a little more playful.

Do some research and keep checking here and other sites. Find out what type of ski is best for you and where you ski. There are discount sites and used deals always popping up.

I got fitted for boots at the end of last season from Loveland Ski Area for 50% off. I'm all set!

...as posted above though, my skis are likely not at your level.  get fitted for boots and there are plenty of brand name beginner to intermediate skis for sale cheap if you don't want to rent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tromano 

Not possible, next year's gear is always a revolutionary leap forward and today's gear is already trash. ;)

 

Words to live by. 

Yep. All good. If he's smart enough to come to Epic for advice, we owe him some. 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caucasian Asian 

Buy skis used. 

 

Spend your money on boots, and what ever is leftover is your budget for used skis.  And TAKE YOUR TIME SHOPPING.  There are plenty of good deals to be had, don't blow your load on the first sale you see.

^^^^ This, and I'll add that lessons with demos is a good way to figure out what you want in a ski. If you can't bear used equipment, or can't afford lessons or demos, would suggest the year you buy joining Real Skiers, reading the reviews. Very strong for people entering the sport. Here is good too, but it can be hard sorting through the noise. We have some good reviews in the Gear Review forum, by people like Dawgcatching, Sierra Jim, Phil, Whiteroom, others, look for comparisons of several models or brands, often organized by width in mm of ski, like 80-100, or where's there's a glut of good ones, just a single range, say 98 mm. Take threads on how wonderful one particular ski is as potential humor. 

And to be respectful, your original question: All major makers, and many smaller ones, offer some great skis these days. Most of the differences are in feel, what the skier is looking for in the way of handling, what kind of terrain you ski, what size you are (heavier folks may want stiffer skis). You don't give us much there, but I'll make some assumptions.

Some brands seem to overproduce on purpose - although this is becoming less common - and you can find good bargains on new skis at the end of the season, say March to May. Dynastar is notorious for this, I also see a lot of K2's, Atomics, Fischers, and Elans floating around in April. For one ski to make a new skier who's young and athletic happy, often something in the 80's (assuming you go up to the Rockies from TX) is a good size. Assuming you're light, I'd pay particular attention to late season deals on skis from Fischer, Rossignol, Blizzard, and Dynastar. A couple of Atomic skis, like the Smoke and Blackeye, also fit. The new Dynastar Outland series in 80 or 87 will be great all around skis. The Blizzard Bushwacker would be a lock if you were targeting softer snow, bumps, trees, that kind of thing, the Blizzard 8.0 or 7.6 are solid if you spend more time on harder snow. The Fischer Wateas are nice all purpose skis in several widths that are lively and easy going in softer snow and bumps, not great on ice. The Head REV 80 or Rossignol Avenger Basalt 82 are/will be nice all-arounds for mixed snow. If you think you'll want more park and freestyle possibilities, skis like the Volkl Wall, Nordica Dead Money, Scott Jib TW, or K2 Press are money. If you think you'll want more carving chops, go down into the 70's, same brands. 

But the specific names and graphics and some of the designs change every year or two. Just keep in mind that you want a ski that fits your body, your skills (don't get something too far above or below your skill set, or you'll learn to ski it wrong), and your style. All of which will evolve a lot in the next few years. That's why so many here are recommending demos, lessons, used gear, basically exploring a bit before slapping down your $$. Most of us did/do it that way; my older son is a few years younger than you, has skied since age 3, and still hasn't seen any new skis. Finally, when you go to buy, many of the reviewers mentioned above, and others here, own brick and mortar stores, can give you a solid deal on a ski that you can trust to work for you. If you try it at one of the big online warehouses, well, maybe you save another 10%, and maybe you win maybe you lose.