Female Low Intermediate Recommendations??

[reegs9966]

My fiance (low intermediate) is beginning to take weekly lessons and is learning to carve.  In terms of conditions, we ski Minnesota hills on ice/hardpack.  We'll take a couple trips out west annually.

Looking at a 2 ski quiver option and considering her current and near future ability level, what would be a:

1. Good narrow waist, technical ski for icy conditions at home?
2. Good wider all mountain for out west and the occasional powder/crud day back in MN?

I'd consider 05/06 leftovers as well.  Thanks!

[jim-ratliff]

Don't have a specific ski recommendation, but Peter has a woman's section to this years 1SQ quiver designation and has a similar "starred" ski recommendations sections from previous years.

What I wanted to say is that I would highly recommend you focus on boots/alignment and one pair of skis to accelerate the learning curve.  You can always rent wide skis if you hit powder conditions and she wants to ski in it.   

The other thing is, I'm sure we've all heard stories about guys that take their "best friend" to learn to ski, tell them they don't need lessons, and on the second run they're trying to get their buddy down the black trail with them.  So my other recommendation would be to let her learn and progress at her pace and not try to keep up with you.  I'm glad to hear that she's taking weekly lessons.  She should also consider a Harb Green/Blue ski camp.

[reegs9966]

Thanks for the response Jim.? She's already been fitted into some good boots w/custom molded footbeds.? Haven't done any alignment testing though.? We'll have to save that for the Harb Camp next season.? ?? Too bad they're all sold out otherwise we'd love to attend this season yet.? However, she is improving rapidly with her current instructor, which is great.

Man, I tell you, after reading all Peter's reviews and demoing some Salomon Siam 8's (too much tip?) and Volkl S1's (not enough ski) I still don't know what to get her.? Not a lot out there to demo is also a problem.

We're set on getting her a narrower waisted carver for sure.

Anyone else have any opinions?

[40DayJ]

I'm a male level 7 skier, but as a developing intermediate what I needed most was: good edge grip for that hard pack (learned to ski in Western NY state), and relatively damp skis, because too much chatter makes you feel like your platform is not solid and like you are not in control. To me here's nothing more unnerving than tyring to learn to do more aggressive carves and having the skis start to skid, or chatter over rough spots.

I think you are right to go for a carving ski. Many rental shops push mid-fat or fat skis, but how many powder days are you really going to ski? Carving skis are probably going to be more fun and more manageable while learning.

I have really enjoyed demoing the products from Volkl and Nordica, and 2007 Salomon. They have had the above 2 qualities. Granted, I demoed high-end products, but for example I'd recommend trying something higher than the S1 in the Volkl product line, such as the AC2, or one of the lower end SuperSports, like the Attiva S4 (if you can find them to try). I really liked the Salomon X-Wing Tornado; it was a very easy to handle ski that had good hard-snow grip and and a nice stable (yet still lively) feel, so based on that I'd recommend trying the products lower in that line, such as the X-Wing 10 or Blast. Previous recent years of Salomon skis (i.e. 2005? Scrambler Hot) had a plastic-ey feel I didn't like and were more chattery. The Nordica skis I've tried were excellent carvers and nice and solid. I'd certainly recommend trying an intermediate model, though I'm not familiar with the specifics.

There are a lot of K2 skis out there for rental, but I found the Crossfire too damp and unexciting, so I have not tried any others. Not sure about edge grip compared to the above.

Some brands tend to be harder to find as rentals (at least where I've lived) so unfortunately I have not given some brands much of a tryout: Dynastar, Head, Elan, Fischer.

[Barrettscv]

Consider the Fischer RX6 & Dynastar Legend 8000.

Michael

[John]

I'm an intermediate and ski Elan Magfire 10 for a versatlie, stable ski in varying conditions (mid-fat). I am going to get a pair of Fischer RX8's to add to my Elan's. Although I feel that my Magfire's carve well in groomers and in cruddy snow. I searched for stability, edge hold, forgiveness, and short radius and found these qualities in the Elan's. I mainly ski in Nortwest Montana.