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When are Skis Outdated?

Philpug

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Phil

I've always valued your opinion, so ...
I'd love to hear if there were skis from several years ago you thought were fantastic but now think otherwise.
Skis you now "get" that didn't in the way back
Discontinued skis you think would still be top in their class nowadays
Let me work on that. I did do a once a decade skis list. Let me see if I can find the link. I am on my phone now.
 

Plai

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Let me work on that. I did do a once a decade skis list. Let me see if I can find the link. I am on my phone now.
 

Philpug

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Phil

I've always valued your opinion, so ...
I'd love to hear if there were skis from several years ago you thought were fantastic but now think otherwise.
There was a lot of love for the Metron, that fell out of favor very fast. In my defense I never like the B5... but was more partial to the 11 and the M:EX. For the past few days I have been trying to come up with skis that would fit this criteria and cannot. If I do, I will add them.
Skis you now "get" that didn't in the way back
Discontinued skis you think would still be top in their class nowadays
The Kastle MX skis are timeless and ski just as well now as they did when they were introduced. I really liked the Blizzard Magnum 8.7 and Blizzard has yet to fill the hole that that ski left when they took it out of the line. K2 Super Charger was a stellar ski that is just as good now at when it was introduced 5 years ago. The hart Pulse is over a decade old and while the mold has been used by different brands, that ski has also stood the test of time. Plus the graphics were great.
 

givethepigeye

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^ I’d add the OG Nordica Enforcer on to the “list” - these ones:

D0E1973D-6488-45EE-A1CC-36710B0B7981.jpeg
 
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karlo

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I really liked the Blizzard Magnum 8.7 and Blizzard has yet to fill the hole that that ski left when they took it out of the line.
Would a Blizzard Firebird HRC 8.7 do it?
 
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Wendy

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I'm on five+ year old skis, since I buy skis that are new old stock. They don't suddenly stop working. My 2014 (bought 2015) K2 AMP Rictor 82 xTi's are only being retired because at 237 days they've lost a bit of torsional rigidity, but I still love them and am not done with them yet.

My 2012 Hell n Back's, less beloved, are also still in service. They are still in service mostly because I don't love them as much. They haven't stopped doing what I ask of them.
My husband still has his AMP Rictors.
I didn’t have the Hell n Back, but I owned the Hells Bells. They were a fantastic ski. I sold mine to a friend who expressed interest and regretted that sale ever since. She still skis them and loves them.
 

crgildart

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If your skis are truly outdated.. then I'd argue that how you ski is also outdated. If the ski reacts differently, better, then how you ski them should also be updated to some degree. Most obvious example, pre shaped skis to shaped skis, and rocker. Prove me wrong.
 

Philpug

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If your skis are truly outdated.. then I'd argue that how you ski is also outdated. If the ski reacts differently, better, then how you ski them should also be updated to some degree. Most obvious example, pre shaped skis to shaped skis, and rocker. Prove me wrong.
You are wrong. A good skier can overcome a shortcoming in gear.

@Marcus Caston start about 1:00 in. I bet he coudl ski that 30 year old Blizzard Thermo better than 99.99% of the skiers on this site could ski any modern ski of their choosing.


Of course Marcus (or any elite level skier) is the extreme example. But Marcus does say, with good technique you can ski almost any ski because of the fundamental of a turn. (1:30 in)
 

crgildart

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You are wrong. A good skier can overcome a shortcoming in gear.

@Marcus Caston start about 1:00 in. I bet he coudl ski that 30 year old Blizzard Thermo better than 99.99% of the skiers on this site could ski any modern ski of their choosing.


Of course Marcus (or any elite level skier) is the extreme example. But Marcus does say, with good technique you can ski almost any ski because of the fundamental of a turn. (1:30 in)
But technique has to change to make the best use of the gear regardless of it it's transitioning from old gear to new gear or from new gear to old. Without honing those skills and adjusting to the different gear (skiing it "differently" than they've skied any other era/technology), the experience will fall short of its full potential.

If your skis are truly "outdated", odds are your technique will also be "outdated" when you get the UPDATED gear and your technique will need to evolve with it/in to it.
 

Sibhusky

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But so what if your technique is out of date? Do you get down the slopes you want to get down? Are you going to have less fun? If your dated technique is being used on dated skis, then arguably that dated technique is the best technique FOR THOSE SKIS. Who cares if you look different than Lindsey or Michaela?

Plus I don't know that the technique for skis from five or six years back is really any different than today's technique. I'm thinking the difference would be like between two skiers on one country's demo team.
 

slowrider

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Technique enables me to draw on my full physical potential when skiing. More fun.
 

crgildart

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But so what if your technique is out of date? Do you get down the slopes you want to get down? Are you going to have less fun? If your dated technique is being used on dated skis, then arguably that dated technique is the best technique FOR THOSE SKIS. Who cares if you look different than Lindsey or Michaela?

Plus I don't know that the technique for skis from five or six years back is really any different than today's technique. I'm thinking the difference would be like between two skiers on one country's demo team.
This IS my point. Better to stay on your current skis than switch to the latest and greatest, unless you plan to also update your approach to leverage those technological changes/advances. There's a learning curve involved when moving to more advanced or otherwise significantly different equipment.
 

crgildart

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The problem with skis is that even if they aren't out-dated, they can easily become worn out. All the technique in the world won't bring a worn out ski back to life (nor will it turn a K2 AMP Rictor into a high performance carving machine).
Same could be said with brand new skis but a bad tune..
 

fatbob

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The Marcus Caston thing is surely a bit of a sideshow - the the very best athletes can overcome the shortcomings of the gear (Dustin Johnson could probably hit a fair distance with your grandad's hickory shaft wood too, or Fededer play a decent game with a warped Dunlop wooden raquet). Fact is more ordinary people weren't skiing like that on older gear. Like the pisstake of the old jump turn extremism of old movies though.

Re a 5 year old ski - I'd say of course not - all of my skis were designed at least 5 years ago and I've only skied one ski since which has made me think I could be missing out on something if I didn't change up (and heresy it wasn't the Renoun!). At the margin if your 5 year old ski was a hangover design type from the early 2000s (thinking some of the piste K2s maybe) you could be missing out on something
 

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