I've been doing a lot of catching up lately after missing 3 seasons of skiing. Unfortunately, I just don't have time to catch up on everything, so I'm looking for some help from the forum collective on what were the key standout skis over the past 3 seasons. What I'm interested in are those skis that have become "reference skis" (as Phil terms them) or other skis that have received near universal praise from skiers. I know that sometimes newer does not necessarily equal better (case in point, the Stockli SR88 from last season), so what were the "gems" from the past few seasons? I typically like to purchase new past season skis to extract as much bang-for-the-buck as I can.
Please limit your suggestions to skis that approximately match this 3 ski quiver approach I'm now pursuing:
1. Hard-pack groomer/carver ski (~66mm-75mm waist, 165-170cm length, 12-14m sidecut)
2. Western all-mountain ski (~86mm-95mm waist, 175-180cm length, 16-18m sidecut)
3. Dedicated pow ski (~106mm-115mm waist, 185-190cm length, 20-22m sidecut)
Note these are my personal definitions and the intention of this request is not to get into a "discussion" about how I have categorized the skis and their associated characteristics. This is just what has worked for my quiver in the past.
TIA
Please limit your suggestions to skis that approximately match this 3 ski quiver approach I'm now pursuing:
1. Hard-pack groomer/carver ski (~66mm-75mm waist, 165-170cm length, 12-14m sidecut)
2. Western all-mountain ski (~86mm-95mm waist, 175-180cm length, 16-18m sidecut)
3. Dedicated pow ski (~106mm-115mm waist, 185-190cm length, 20-22m sidecut)
Note these are my personal definitions and the intention of this request is not to get into a "discussion" about how I have categorized the skis and their associated characteristics. This is just what has worked for my quiver in the past.
TIA