Hi all,
I've been in Aspen in January for the last two years. I have absolutely enjoined the experience.
Jan 05 we skied Ajax exclusively for 4 -5 days only, and regretted not listening to the Travel Agent (who skis) who told us to stay longer.
Great mountain, heaps of challenging terrain. Great people, love the accents (yeah I know I talk funny, don't ask me to count past five)
The first day on the mountain was a 8" powder day. Fantastic. Biggest difference is the snow conditions, and how dry the atmosphere is. NZ is a very moist climate, and it was hard to adjust to the dry climate. Snow squeaking under your skis for the first time is freaky.
Jan 06, we had 10 days. Skied one day through the storm and down 4" of fresh powder by closing time. Managed to ski all four mountains. Loved Highlands, spent a bit of time learning from Cary Thompson, one of the Aspen instructors. Enjoyed that too, he was great.
Dec 06/ Jan 07. Planning 11 days skiing. Looking forward to New Years Eve being white & cold, not sunny, hot, beach etc. Planning day 1 on Buttermilk, then where-ever we end up. On the agenda is at least one day of back country powder skiing.
Question for the combined wisdom of the forum.
I'll take my boots and gear, but not skis & poles.
So, what to rent in Aspen ?
Or would it be better to buy, and resell back in NZ...
I would only buy and keep a ski suitable for NZ (very wet moist snow, hard icy conditions that soften to crud daily, then freeze overnight) Hence the preference for the Metrons
Last two years I have just rented what-ever executive skis the guy in the shop gave me. This year, having demoed:
Head Monster 82s
Atomic Metron B5 (loved them, my personal preference to buy MY08 skis in April 07)
Atomic Metron 11s
Atomic Metron 10s
Volkl S5s
Volkl AC3s
Salomon S something Hots
I feel much better informed about skis, models, capability and my ability to ski on the different models.
My current demo list thinking (from Peter's picks and my own research ) is
Head SuperShapes
Head XRC 12/1400s
Atomic Metron B5s (Need to compare off Home Ground) MY07 162 I've skied on, want to try 172s
Volkl AllStars
Length ?
I'm 6'3", 210lb, skiing about a level 8/9, cleanly carving on the B5s on all the black groomed piste on Turoa.
We don't get moguls much, so that terrain is something I need to improve on to better my skiing. Steeps are fun. Very steep moguls are a challenge that I will overcome.
Then the question is length, given that Colorado has this thing called POWDER
in abundance
Douglas