Anyone ever enjoy skiing gear made for skiers BELOW thier ability level?

[crgildart]

We talk a lot about people buying gear that's designed for skiers above their current ability level.. i.e... don't want to under equip an advancing skier. Anyone ever actually go out of their way to ski gear designed for skiers below their ability level.. i.e... any advanced skiers want to fess up that they found a solid intermediate ski fun to ride??

Even on snowblades, I ski circles around my kids. So, I tried tele some last season and might again this season. But, also thinking of skiing some noodles for kicks.

Yes, I've spent quite a bit of time on SL cut 170 cm SuperShape iWorld Cup to keep the little place interesting at higher speeds. Just want to keep mixing it up.

I got some Atomic Nomads for my kid. They're a bit long for him right now so I'm toying with the idea of taking them out for half a day at the smaller hill (360 vert feet and nothing steep) while skiing with the teenagers.

Anyone else ever go out of their way to ski something designed way below their ability level and actually enjoy it?

 

[Jilly]

Only if I'm demo'ing for the store!

 

[slowrider]

I ski an Intermediate/rental 168cm SL rock ski that hasn't been tuned in a decade. Hey its a rock ski. Sucks on hard snow but is a fun lively ski in soft snow.

 

[SallyCat]

I'm not good enough for much gear to be "below" my ability, but I did once ski at a place that was so small and beginner-oriented that I worried about getting bored (Yawgoo Valley, RI. That's right: Rhode Island). So I brought twin-tips and spent most of the time trying to ski backward and playing in the baby terrain park. Then when I was tired of that I went to the bar and had a couple beers and went back to skiing backward, which was by then much more challenging.

 

[slowrider]

^ sounds like an expert to me.

 

[Mickey]

I'm pretty sure the skis don't know how good you are.

I also enjoy kids cereal. It's not as "advanced" as Eggs Benedict.....

 

[Don in Morrison]

I've spent a significant part of the last several seasons on 70's vintage K2 Shorts, 150 cm. They were ski school rentals in their day. I use them for cruising groomers and ballet. They work perfectly fine for that. I also seem to prefer them for bumps, over my other skis. As long as the snow is soft, they're quite adequate.

I spent most of last season on them, with my granddaughter, as she was learning to ski.

 

[François Pugh]

I don't go out of my way, but I do enjoy trying different skis. All skis are fun for me.

The softer flexing skis are actually more fun at lower speeds. The ease with which they carve tight turns is what makes them fun, but if you try to turn with more force they will drift out of the groove. Also, if you try getting into the back seat you'll be on your adz; the soft-tail beginner skis don't have aback seat .

 

[Dwight]

Skied Nordica's rental line last year a few times. Actually very enjoyable for a Midwest rental ski.

 

[Goose]

I will say one point. When I finally felt the time and also afforded to get my teens on their own mid level skis a couple seasons back instead of beginner skis they improved so significantly just that same day and through that weekend it was amazingly impressive. I knew they were being held back a tad but I never knew just how much. Their advancement once on the new skis was immediate and honestly was a bit surprising to me. And so did their confidence level increase accordingly. I know this doesn't directly answer the question as for skiing on skis below level but It does show the need as to why we must move up as we improve.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I like to demo whenever there's a demo tent on mountain. I just like to slide on snow so don't really think too much about what level the skis but more did I like it and would I ski it again.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

No.

 

[Royal]

I will often try my wife's skis if there is a demo binding on them just to see how they ski. I had a lot of fun on her old Rossi B2w's on a soft snow day. as long as I kept the speed down they made beautiful round carved turns and the bumps were a blast.

 

[crgildart]

Ya, the Scream 10 Pilots I had were a blast at moderate speeds but sketchy when really hauling ass. My PEs gradually decayed to that noodly performance after about 60-75 days of hard skiing on them. I kept them in rotation a lot longer than I would have have had I been skiing more with faster skiers. They were great for skiing with my kids though. Skiing a good carver or race ski at slow speeds on flats just isn't as fun or easy as skiing skis designed for those speeds and terrain is no matter how great you are. Using the best tool for the terrain can mean skiing an intermediate ski if that easy blue and green terrain is all you're on most of the day.

That said, I'd certainly rather have a beefy ski on a green than a limp noodle on a double black..

 

[Crank]

Yes I like softer skis. Generally go for ones that are rated advanced/expert rather than expert.

 

[1chris5]

We talk a lot about people buying gear that's designed for skiers above their current ability level.. i.e... don't want to under equip an advancing skier. Anyone ever actually go out of their way to ski gear designed for skiers below their ability level.. i.e... any advanced skiers want to fess up that they found a solid intermediate ski fun to ride??

Even on snowblades, I ski circles around my kids. So, I tried tele some last season and might again this season. But, also thinking of skiing some noodles for kicks.

Yes, I've spent quite a bit of time on SL cut 170 cm SuperShape iWorld Cup to keep the little place interesting at higher speeds. Just want to keep mixing it up.

I got some Atomic Nomads for my kid. They're a bit long for him right now so I'm toying with the idea of taking them out for half a day at the smaller hill (360 vert feet and nothing steep) while skiing with the teenagers.

Anyone else ever go out of their way to ski something designed way below their ability level and actually enjoy it?

Why not snowboard? Fund to get kids on snowboard also. What's a noodle?

 

[1chris5]

I will say one point. When I finally felt the time and also afforded to get my teens on their own mid level skis a couple seasons back instead of beginner skis they improved so significantly just that same day and through that weekend it was amazingly impressive. I knew they were being held back a tad but I never knew just how much. Their advancement once on the new skis was immediate and honestly was a bit surprising to me. And so did their confidence level increase accordingly. I know this doesn't directly answer the question as for skiing on skis below level but It does show the need as to why we must move up as we improve.

That's a great lesson. Depending on my budget, I try to get the best tool for the situation. Always seems to take me to a higher level no matter what the project, sport etc.

 

[HDSkiing]

I’ve jumped into basic ski school rentals on occasion. In terms of basic parallel turns on easy/ moderate terrain at typical ski school slow speeds I can’t say that it made any difference, they turned and acted like a Ski should. Of course I wasn’t really pushing them or attempting to evaluate them, in fact I don’t think I gave them any thought at all, if I noticed anything it was that they felt slower or even a little draggy, but I didn’t have to change or adapt anything to operate them.

Now if you asked me to ski in a typical rental boot or one with a wider last and soft flex I think I would notice that immediately and would have to modify to a much larger extent.

 

[crgildart]

Why not snowboard? Fund to get kids on snowboard also. What's a noodle?

I grew up skateboarding in the 70s and surfed in the 80s and 90s. I tried snowboarding early on and HATED IT. I like to be able to step around. having both feet locked down on one board wasn't nearly as much fun as skiing is. Might have felt differently had I not started skiing first but ya, and having poles is also quite nice. Boarding is summer activity for me when I can't get my skiing fix.

 

[Alexzn]

No.

Sometimes I care sometimes I don’t.