I can write more later. +1 to what
@razie and
@Muleski have written. If Nordica and Blizzard look the same and flex the same, they are the same. If not, they’re not. If they look different, they are different. Newer skis are better than older skis, but consider construction as well. I’m currently a believer in longer, softer skis. I think there has been an attitude that kids should be in shorter skis, and then they were made stiffer to compensate. The result is skis that encourage pinched lines. If your coaches are in the pin it to win it camp, shorter is good. Instead, we should be putting kids on longer skis, and going softer to compensate. Regarding brands, all I really recommend right now are Rossignol/Dynastar and Fischer skis, Lange boots. Maybe also Head and Atomic skis and boots. I don’t know much about Atomic, but they did a complete rethink of the entire line and seem to be very good. Head junior skis are soft, until they aren’t, and I don’t know when that changes. I just don’t have much experience there. I do not recommend Fischer boots. FWIW I ski Nordica, so this isn’t about me pushing what I ski.
I think racers and trainers are a very good idea, but they don’t have to be identical. You need to have slaloms to inspect/warm up for slalom, GS for GS, SG for SG, etc. Call it global warming, climate change, a drought, whatever you want, but ski ending rocks are a new reality. If you ski your race skis to the course, you may not have skis to race on. If you inspect a GS on race slaloms and hit a rock, that’s going to be a problem the next day. If you only have one pair of “trainer” skis, go slalom. Thankfully they were trainers, but one athlete severely damaged a ski on the way to the course yesterday. The ski felt bad and the parent had a shop repair it overnight. The result was not ideal and she goes into the race tomorrow thankfully with perfect race skis, but with no confidence after training runs on the damaged ski.
As for what do you need to know, ski boot alignment (canting, etc.) is critical. Most junior boots are strongly canted, many junior racers are pretty neutral. It doesn’t work. Alignment is part of fit. Be very careful with custom foot beds. Most boot fitters mold very rigid insoles that prevent the foot from articulating. From a technique standpoint, they make a big mess. Ski base bevel is also critical. When people talk about alignment, they only think about boots. Well, the base is what touches the snow. If those angles are off, nothing will work well. Parents think gates are important and freeskiing is not important. That’s backwards.
