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[markojp]

There are some real good tweeter skis now though that a 90lb'er can maximize. She is at that awkward age and too much ski in not the right conditions can be a real detriment.

Indeed, but I skied 190 race skis when I was 110lbs 35/40 years ago, so my opinion must be germane.

(Yes, strawberries fly out of my head if I hit it hard enough.)

 

[Tricia]

@markojp we skied differently back then and we weren't 10 years old.
Realize that this girl is not only less than 100 lbs, but she is also at an age where her physiology is not fully developed.
While she may have driven the Great Joy in a surprising manner, she also admittedly got tired on them on day 2, and I doubt that a ski that strong is a good choice for longevity.

I'd like to hear something from a couple of our PT's on the site about the physiology of a 10 year old.
@Lorraine 335is @Brian Finch

 

[crgildart]

There are some real good tweeter skis now though that a 90lb'er can maximize. She is at that awkward age and too much ski in not the right conditions can be a real detriment.

A Jr GS ski would be a great option if she skis mostly packed terrain. Just saying that a little too little is more detriment than a little too much for someone with 8 seasons of skiing 30+ days per season at any age. Nobody is saying she is Lindsey skiing Bode's skis. I'm just saying that she probably skis better than 95% of the other 10 year olds and 80% of all other skiers on the mountain. Putting her on something "pretty" that isn't also a really solid ski would probably be doing her skiing a disservice.

 

[Tricia]

A Jr GS ski would be a great option if she skis mostly packed terrain. Just saying that a little too little is more detriment than a little too much for someone with 8 seasons of skiing 30+ days per season at any age. Nobody is saying she is Lindsey skiing Bode's skis. I'm just saying that she probably skis better than 95% of the other 10 year olds and 80% of all other skiers on the mountain. Putting her on something "pretty" that isn't also a really solid ski would probably be doing her skiing a disservice.

Meanwhile, we have @epic and @Xela giving some sound advice, both of which have daughters in that age group, at a similar size, who are into some serious race programs.

Maybe something like this - https://forum.pugski.com/threads/fischer-ranger-jr.1435/

A ten-year-old on womens skis makes me question my understanding of either ten-year-olds or women's skis, or both.

For what it's worth, my 12-year-old 70-pound big mountain skier is on the Head Ethan Too 143 and it's working pretty well for her. She has professed a desire for something a little lighter (for hiking) and we're thinking about the Cochise Jr.

 

[crgildart]

^^^Those are both what I'd call solid skis. Again, the weight and ability is way more important than the age or gender. That is all I am saying.

 

[maverick2]

Thank you all for the feedback and info! Very helpful! I'll interject here briefly to make sure we're all on the same page. The skis I'm looking for won't be a daily driver, but rather the upper end of a 2 ski quiver, to be used when we get enough snow that her everyday skis (70-75 mm at the waist) become difficult and the wider skis represent a more fun option. (Realistically, I'm guessing 30% usage.) As for her "physically", she seems to be following the pattern that her Mom and I exhibited, as we are both bigger, taller, and stronger than average and we both matured early. While 90# and 5'0" now, I'm guessing she'll be 5'2" and 110# next season and 5'5" and 120# the following (and may exceed those numbers since her feet just outgrew her Mom's).

I'm not at all stuck on adult skis, but it's a lot easier to get details and skiing characteristics on the adult skis than it is the juniors so I gravitated that way, particularly knowing that within a year she probably fits the bottom end of the size/weight demographic that the shorter women's skis are intended for. Line's Sick Day Shorty is a junior ski that has piqued my interest, but I'm not sure how that in a 152 would differ on her regarding wear, tear, and fatigue than a soft-flexing women's ski in the same (or shorter) length?

 

[SBrown]

... Line's Sick Day Shorty is a junior ski that has piqued my interest, but I'm not sure how that in a 152 would differ on her regarding wear, tear, and fatigue than a soft-flexing women's ski in the same (or shorter) length?

It's probably cheaper. And a 152 seems short for someone you expect to be 5'2 and up pretty soon? It has tip and tail rocker, I would get the 162. And Line recommends it for kids weighing 70-130 lb, so you're right in there.

 

[markojp]

@markojp we skied differently back then and we weren't 10 years old.
Realize that this girl is not only less than 100 lbs, but she is also at an age where her physiology is not fully developed.
While she may have driven the Great Joy in a surprising manner, she also admittedly got tired on them on day 2, and I doubt that a ski that strong is a good choice for longevity.

I'd like to hear something from a couple of our PT's on the site about the physiology of a 10 year old.
@Lorraine 335is @Brian Finch

Tricia, I was being very fatuous... I absolutley agree and think that what we did on skis 30-40 years ago isn't relevant to the OP's query. If I were here coach, I wouldn't recommend a 98 waisted ski. I like to see juniors on around 90 max, and narrower. The Mantra Jr. Is a great off piste jr ski, and there are others for sure including the Ethan Too. For my own little guy, we'll stay a bit on the narrow side until certain movements are sorted out when the time comes in a couple more seasons.

 

[Philpug]

98mm for a 5' 90lb skier (regardless of age & sex) is a 130mm for normal sized adult. The ski needs to be scaled for her.

 

[SBrown]

98mm for a 5' 90lb skier (regardless of age & sex) is a 130mm for normal sized adult. The ski needs to be scaled for her.

But he's not buying a ski for someone that size now, he's buying it for someone almost Christy's size next year. And bigger after that. Who apparently skied the head great joy just fine.

 

[Ron]

But he's not buying a ski for someone that size now, he's buying it for someone almost Christy's size next year. And bigger after that. Who apparently skied the head great joy just fine.

5' 3/8"

 

[Xela]

Was she able to bend the Great Joys?

 

[maverick2]

Was she able to bend the Great Joys?

Yes. The 2 hr demo in the afternoon was soft snow skiing in open glades (not too demanding on her or the skis), but the following day we rented them and she skied them for 4+ hrs in deeper, wetter, heavier snow in steep, tight-spaced trees and ravines. She skied them well in all of it, getting the skis to do what she wanted and turning when and where she wanted. I don't know what she would have looked like on groomers on those skis (or if she would have liked/disliked them there) as I don't think we skied a groomer at all that day. I didn't see her struggle at all on the skis until her legs ran out of gas early afternoon, but the same happens with her 72-mm wide skis in that kind of snow (actually sooner on the narrower skis because she's working so much harder).

 

[maverick2]

Thought I'd jump back in with an update. Made a short list of skis we were interested in for our daughter and did a quick local search of what was out there in case anything was sitting available under our noses. Didn't find a lot of variety (much less in the right sizes) but did run a across a hardly used (6 days) pair of Blizzard Crushes in 156 for $180. This was a ski I thought might work (as I watched a teenage daughter of a friend ski a pair of these well) so I bought them. We adjusted for her boot size, set the DIN, and turned her loose on them this weekend. My flyer on these skis worked (that 's probably a big understatement.) Snow this weekend was challenging -- rain most of Saturday turning to heavy snow midday giving us 4 heavy cut-up inches to play in late, and then it snowed most of the night and we had fresh snow again today (nice conditions early and zero visibility, heavy cut-up snow in the afternoon). She had a ball on the Crush in everything she touched, and rocked them. Deep fresh snow was a breeze for her (I don't think I've heard her say "awesome" so much in my life) and she skied the groomers beautifully, but what amazed me was how she looked in the crud. Late today, it was pretty challenging -- deep, heavy, chopped up snow and low visibility (so you couldn't really pick a line so much as "react" fast to what was happening under your feet) and she made it look easy in snow that on any other skis she's skied would have her traversing to get back to a groomer. Ended up taking some pics and video (the latter I'm not smart enough to manipulate but did pull some stills from it) to give you an idea how she looked on her first "fat skis". Thank you for all your ideas and input.

 

[SBrown]

Awesome! We all know how I love those skis....