What skis do I need?

[sbooker]

Myself and my wife have just gone through the long process of buying our first set of boots. We went to two boot fitters and tried a number of different boots. I've never had any issues with getting rental boots to fit and be comfortable but my wife has more temperamental feet and the standout for her after much frustration was Salomon X Pro 80. Incidentally I tried quite a few that felt great but I also went with the same boot (mens) in 100.

Now we're thinking of buying skis. We're from Brisbane Australia and only ski a few days or a week at most in the powder playground that is the Aussie alps each season. We occasionally get to NZ but to be honest I don't find it much better from a terrain/snow standpoint to Australia. We do most of our skiing in the northern hemisphere and will be going to Europe in January. We have done road trip type trips to Canada and the US over the past 5 years. We expect to ski in Japan in the next season or two. We are probably intermediate skiers (I don't know for sure as we have never had lessons) but I am happy to push myself a bit and ski off trail and perhaps more difficult terrain and if conditions allow in fresh snow. I expect to improve as time goes on. My wife is not as adventurous and while she'll follow myself and the kids off trail she would spend 80% of the time on groomers.

We're obviously after an 'all mountain' ski that can do a bit of everything. We will definitely only purchase one set of skis each. Our experience has been normal rental skis - we've never got the demo type gear. The ski shop that sold us the boots suggested something like the Atomic Vantage 85 or 95 for me or the Salomon QST models. They thought the Atomic Vantage x77 would suit my wife.
There are so many skis out there - I really don't know where to start.

The other option is to keep renting but go to the extra expense of renting better gear. Dragging skis around the world certainly has a few disadvantages. I do like the idea of getting used to one ski though - I feel it may help with improvement.

 

[dbostedo]

I do like the idea of getting used to one ski though - I feel it may help with improvement.

It won't help nearly as much, IMO, as getting a couple of good lessons.

That said, Vantages are excellent all-around skis and I think the suggestions are good... but there are a LOT of options to choose from. And I don't know nearly as much as others here, so hopefully you'll get good suggestions.

 

[sbooker]

^^
I do expect to get some lessons at some point. Maybe even do a weekly clinic of some sort. I have had the opportunity to ski with much better and very experienced skiers and the little pointers they give are excellent. They also push you out of your comfort zone which is good.
@Tony and TonyC lead my timid wife and my 9 year old son and 11 year old daughter down from the top of chair 23 at Mammoth in January. Their first ever attempt at a expert run in deepish fresh snow. My wife in particular was very proud of herself.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

As a women, can I ask what your wife’s basic stats are? Not to be too personal but height and weight play a big part into gear choices.

 

[sbooker]

She’s 5’7” and about 130 pounds. I’m a short ass - same height but about 30 pounds heavier.

 

[fatbob]

Based on your OP the answer to what skis is Lessons. Have them in Europe - they are waaaay cheaper and have lots better continuity than in N America i.e you can get the same instructor for 6 days running in a group. Once you know your technical parameters you will be much better placed to describe your needs. If you are mainly going to be skiing in western NA and Japan it might turn out that a wider "all mountain" ski in the 100mm upward range is suitable for an adult male if your skills are up to it. On the other hand if you determine that you are really groomer cruiser people then no shame in that.

 

[Mendieta]

Myself and my wife have just gone through the long process of buying our first set of boots. We went to two boot fitters and tried a number of different boots. I've never had any issues with getting rental boots to fit and be comfortable but my wife has more temperamental feet and the standout for her after much frustration was Salomon X Pro 80. Incidentally I tried quite a few that felt great but I also went with the same boot (mens) in 100.

Now we're thinking of buying skis. We're from Brisbane Australia and only ski a few days or a week at most in the powder playground that is the Aussie alps each season. We occasionally get to NZ but to be honest I don't find it much better from a terrain/snow standpoint to Australia. We do most of our skiing in the northern hemisphere and will be going to Europe in January. We have done road trip type trips to Canada and the US over the past 5 years. We expect to ski in Japan in the next season or two. We are probably intermediate skiers (I don't know for sure as we have never had lessons) but I am happy to push myself a bit and ski off trail and perhaps more difficult terrain and if conditions allow in fresh snow. I expect to improve as time goes on. My wife is not as adventurous and while she'll follow myself and the kids off trail she would spend 80% of the time on groomers.

We're obviously after an 'all mountain' ski that can do a bit of everything. We will definitely only purchase one set of skis each. Our experience has been normal rental skis - we've never got the demo type gear. The ski shop that sold us the boots suggested something like the Atomic Vantage 85 or 95 for me or the Salomon QST models. They thought the Atomic Vantage x77 would suit my wife.
There are so many skis out there - I really don't know where to start.

The other option is to keep renting but go to the extra expense of renting better gear. Dragging skis around the world certainly has a few disadvantages. I do like the idea of getting used to one ski though - I feel it may help with improvement.

Here is an interesting comparison of the two. I hope @Philpug and others can stop by here to suggest a couple more comparables to these and/or suggestions for an OSQ.

 

[François Pugh]

Myself and my wife have just gone through the long process of buying our first set of boots. We went to two boot fitters and tried a number of different boots. I've never had any issues with getting rental boots to fit and be comfortable but my wife has more temperamental feet and the standout for her after much frustration was Salomon X Pro 80. Incidentally I tried quite a few that felt great but I also went with the same boot (mens) in 100.

Now we're thinking of buying skis. We're from Brisbane Australia and only ski a few days or a week at most in the powder playground that is the Aussie alps each season. We occasionally get to NZ but to be honest I don't find it much better from a terrain/snow standpoint to Australia. We do most of our skiing in the northern hemisphere and will be going to Europe in January. We have done road trip type trips to Canada and the US over the past 5 years. We expect to ski in Japan in the next season or two. We are probably intermediate skiers (I don't know for sure as we have never had lessons) but I am happy to push myself a bit and ski off trail and perhaps more difficult terrain and if conditions allow in fresh snow. I expect to improve as time goes on. My wife is not as adventurous and while she'll follow myself and the kids off trail she would spend 80% of the time on groomers.

We're obviously after an 'all mountain' ski that can do a bit of everything. We will definitely only purchase one set of skis each. Our experience has been normal rental skis - we've never got the demo type gear. The ski shop that sold us the boots suggested something like the Atomic Vantage 85 or 95 for me or the Salomon QST models. They thought the Atomic Vantage x77 would suit my wife.
There are so many skis out there - I really don't know where to start.

The other option is to keep renting but go to the extra expense of renting better gear. Dragging skis around the world certainly has a few disadvantages. I do like the idea of getting used to one ski though - I feel it may help with improvement.

I'll second the shop's advice.

 

[Corgski]

Myself and my wife have just gone through the long process of buying our first set of boots. We went to two boot fitters and tried a number of different boots. I've never had any issues with getting rental boots to fit and be comfortable but my wife has more temperamental feet and the standout for her after much frustration was Salomon X Pro 80. Incidentally I tried quite a few that felt great but I also went with the same boot (mens) in 100.

Now we're thinking of buying skis. We're from Brisbane Australia and only ski a few days or a week at most in the powder playground that is the Aussie alps each season. We occasionally get to NZ but to be honest I don't find it much better from a terrain/snow standpoint to Australia. We do most of our skiing in the northern hemisphere and will be going to Europe in January. We have done road trip type trips to Canada and the US over the past 5 years. We expect to ski in Japan in the next season or two. We are probably intermediate skiers (I don't know for sure as we have never had lessons) but I am happy to push myself a bit and ski off trail and perhaps more difficult terrain and if conditions allow in fresh snow. I expect to improve as time goes on. My wife is not as adventurous and while she'll follow myself and the kids off trail she would spend 80% of the time on groomers.

We're obviously after an 'all mountain' ski that can do a bit of everything. We will definitely only purchase one set of skis each. Our experience has been normal rental skis - we've never got the demo type gear. The ski shop that sold us the boots suggested something like the Atomic Vantage 85 or 95 for me or the Salomon QST models. They thought the Atomic Vantage x77 would suit my wife.
There are so many skis out there - I really don't know where to start.

The other option is to keep renting but go to the extra expense of renting better gear. Dragging skis around the world certainly has a few disadvantages. I do like the idea of getting used to one ski though - I feel it may help with improvement.

Agree with the Atomic Vantage x77, my wife has the x77 cti but the X77c (no metal) will be a better match given your wife's weight and experience. My suggestion if going for Atomic, stick with the Vantage X range for yourself, the x80 would be a safe choice, it will be a better match for the snow conditions more often than a wider ski. The few times it isn't, you can rent something wider. Trying to determine the perfect one ski quiver by finding a middle point for a very wide range of conditions is going to be sub-optimal too often.