Compromises...What Are You Willing To Give Up?

[crgildart]

I won't give up fit or flex in my boots. Boots are the most important piece of equipment and worth paying for. I've only gotten lightweight boots for touring since the performance has improved from wimpy to near race performance. Before that I toured in my race boots.

Compromise is for relationships, not skiing.

What about spending a day in retro gear on going tele? I compromise performance for some old school or hippie steeze every once in awhile..

 

[Doug Briggs]

What about spending a day in retro gear on going tele? I compromise performance for some old school or hippie steeze every once in awhile..

Retro skiing is something I love to do. Tele not so much anymore... The reduction of performance is a choice, not a compromise. When I do tele, it is because it is the right tool for the situation. Like an extended tour or giving a lesson.

 

[crgildart]

Retro skiing is something I love to do. Tele not so much anymore... The reduction of performance is a choice, not a compromise. When I do tele, it is because it is the right tool for the situation. Like an extended tour or giving a lesson.

Haha nice try;; Most "choices" are also "compromises" when we have alternatives to choose and something is being given up.. in the case of retro.. performance.

 

[slowrider]

Being a green groom skier primarily I don't need flotation or edge hold. My demands focus on graphics & short soft flex skis.

 

[pchewn]

One desperate year after my brother and I both broke a ski, I skied on one Head and one Fischer ski, different lengths. I just couldn't afford to replace with a real pair.

Nowdays, I ski on 2nd hand skis, bindings, and boots -- all several years old. I'm not really giving up anything other than "latest model", "latest graphics", and "brand new".

 

[Monique]

Hmm.

I just bought some ugly-ass skis whose graphics I hate, so I guess decent graphics. All things equal, I'd prefer a ski with graphics I like - but things are rarely equal.

I'm willing to give up hard snow performance for soft snow performance. In a heart beat. That's why my daily driver was a 113mm prior to injury. Loved those skis. Hope to love them again.

 

[jo3st3]

Boots that fit is #1. For skis, I want stability above all. Wearing a pair of noodles is like riding a bucking horse all day. And on the east coast, you really need something that can perform on all kinds of challenging conditions, but deep powder isn't one of them. So if I'm giving something up, it's float and powder friendly features

 

[Josh Matta]

lol yeah we never get deep powder in the east coast. Yet we average more snow per year than all of Co, besides Steamboat and Wolfcreek. Never deep powder though.

 

[jo3st3]

lol yeah we never get deep powder in the east coast. Yet we average more snow per year than all of Co, besides Steamboat and Wolfcreek. Never deep powder though.

Anytime we get more than a foot, 3 days later it's above freezing and the groomers turn it into a skating rink. There's been some nice powder days, but man, it's few and far between.

 

[Josh Matta]

lolololol

you werent skiing today, or yesterday? So far this year there has been at least 15 Outta of 50 days of skiing that have bottomless turns of some sort, and this year isnt as good as last year.

Maybe you need to ski some place new.

 

[jo3st3]

lolololol

you werent skiing today, or yesterday? So far this year there has been at least 15 Outta of 50 days of skiing that have bottomless turns of some sort, and this year isnt as good as last year.

Maybe you need to ski some place new.

heck no, it's been negative temps. Where do you ski?

 

[Josh Matta]

Stowe....

yeah when the temps are negative that means there is noone else to ski the powder.

 

[Monique]

That's clearly not powder, but rather a cotton ball photoshopped into a picture of you on a groomer ;-)

 

[river-z]

I compromised on getting the latest model. I ski a pair of MX 88 Kastles that were several years old when I bought them several years ago, but my hunch is that they’re as fun as anything I might get new.

 

[Tom K.]

I have an embarrassing number of skis, but if I had to give up something in the equipment arena, it would be powder skis.

I love skiing them, love reading about them, love hunting out bargains on them, but, who am I kidding?!

Life would continue to be wonderful if my fattest ski was 100 mm!

 

[Jenny]

Me: Older (70+) conservative expert who is retired and skis 60+ days a season, mostly in Vermont and an annual 3-week vacation in Colorado.

I ski slow for my ability (I like to turn!) so high speed stability is the first thing I will not place high on my list Since I ski mostly in Vermont and only have 2 skis I routinely use (a narrow carver and a wide(r) all mountain ski), I want even the wide(r) ski to have good hard snow grip. I am willing to give up powder float in exchange for that hard snow grip and versatility. My wide(r) ski will be my one-ski quiver on my annual Colorado trip, so it has to work well on groomers, bumps, and trees as well as on those too rare powder days. FWIW, that current ski is a Fischer Motive 95.

Replace Vermont with Michigan (and discount the whole "expert" level comment) and this says it best for pme. I have one pair of skis that I use, and since we split our massive <20 days between MI and trips west (and sometimes east) I need something that works in both places. (Oh, and no trees yet, either.)

 

[skibum4ever]

Since ads for Renoun skis keep popping up as I peruse this thread, I have to say that I am willing to give up Renoun skis. They sound wonderful and might do a lot for me, but I'm afraid that I will never find out.

 

[crgildart]

Unless financing and free time to spend it are both unlimited we are all making some kind of compromises on just about every equipment decision we make.. It's more about where each of us as individuals draws the line to mark our own point of diminishing returns to investment.. Otherwise we'd all be on the absolutely best of the best of the best of everything available. We'd all be skiing what Mikala and Ligety are skiing (or insert top pro of your preferred discipline).

 

[Analisa]

In the past, I've tended to give up cool indie brand skis in favor for something I can demo. Got burned once by Faction Agent 90 Ws (reviews later came out that they were good for straightlining, but couldn't hold a charge).

 

[Monique]

We'd all be skiing what Mikala and Ligety are skiing (or insert top pro of your preferred discipline).

Top pros have physical assets I don't have. I suspect that's true for most, no, all of us.

Like you said, money and time. Both of which @Philpug and @Tricia save me by making a massive quiver of demos available in their magical mystery tour.