Skiing For Fun

There’s a lot of different kinds of skis out there – for the beginner, it can be confusing! Instead of buying a set of skis right off the bat, you can always try renting until you are more familiar with the equipment.

Buying or Renting

Novices are often better off renting, at least at first. It can be expensive to buy a full set of equipment and a beginner often doesn’t know enough yet to choose their ski equipment wisely.

The staff at most ski resorts are a good source for information on choosing the right skiing equipment. They will assess your height, weight, skill level and style along with snow conditions. They don’t care which brand you go for – the rental fee is the same, so you can trust their recommendations.

What they do have an interest in is making your skiing experience a pleasure so that you will want to come back and rent again. Listen to the staff.

Renting your ski equipment allows you to try out different skis and boots to see which work best for you. You can try skis of different lengths, brands and materials – all of this will be useful when you’re ready to buy.

Buying

After a few seasons of skiing experience, you’ll be ready to buy your own equipment. Before going to the ski shop, get educated on the terminology.

You need to know as much as you can about skis, so you can tell the shop staff exactly what you are looking for. You need to know the sidecut radius; this will affect how easily you can turn – the larger the radius, the broader the turn.

Think about how you’ll be using your skis. Are you going to use them on or off of trails? Do you generally ski on powder, or on snow that has been groomed? Is speed your primary concern or stability?

The type of skiing you’ll do, you height and weight and skill level should all be taken into account. Women and men should buy different skis – there are specialized skis that take the difference in center of gravity between men and women, as well as the difference in average weight.

Just as when renting, the staff in the ski shop can help you buy wisely. They tend to be experienced skiers themselves and have valuable insights. Give them as much information as possible so they can help you make the right purchase.

Modern skiing technology allows skis to be designed that can be used equally well in many different situations by many different skiers. Beginners and intermediate skiers especially can find all purpose skis. The biggest brands of skis include Rossignol, K2, Fischer, and Salomon.

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