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Worst Skis Ever?

François Pugh

Skiing the powder
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Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Posts
7,617
Location
Great White North (Eastern side currently)
My worst skiing memory involves a ski bought at the Sear's Department store, they rattled so badly I had trouble making it up the t-bar. In their defense, knowing my father's 30's depression survivor mentality, he had probably bought me ski boots three sizes too big so they would last three years; I would grow into them instead of having to by me new boots every year.

More recently (though not recent), I do recall a pair of Salomon Street Racer's that were pretty bad. With a name like "Streetracer" I expected them to do well at speed, but they were totally unstable at moderate speeds. They were soft noodles and with next to no torsional rigidity.
 

John Webb

mdskier
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Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,779
Location
Nevada City CA
About 20 years ago we had the K2 Stein Erickson.

I had a free demo at of all places ---- drum roll ---- Deer Valley. It was so floppy & soft i couldn't wait to finish
just 1 run. Must have been geared to the rich who couldn't ski well as it was their most expensive ski at
the time. Total piece of crap. :roflmao:
 

Scotty I.

I only care about the graphics
Skier
Joined
Nov 8, 2016
Posts
502
Location
Evergreen, Colorado
This may be (probably will be) a real surprise for many people, but the worst pair of skis that I have ever owned was the Salomon S9000 (forget what year). I HATED those skis. The out-of-box tune was horrible. Then I couldn't find anyone who could tune them. They got a little better but not much. I couldn't believe it. These were the top rated skis in the world at the time. Game changing skis! Blah! I suffered through about ten times on them, sold them and bought a pair of Fischer World Cup Slalom 207's. I LOVED them. Never have enjoyed a pair of skis as much as those Fischers. It was like being married to a witch, getting divorced, and marrying an angel.
 

squill

Getting on the lift
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Joined
Mar 21, 2017
Posts
126
FELS out of Canada in the late 90's-00's. If I remember correctly they had the narrow part of the waist at the toe and double camber behind that to "carve like a shape ski but handle like a straight ski." I skied them for a day on-piste and never felt so out of place on a ski in my life.
 

falcon_o

Getting on the lift
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Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
110
Location
Rochester, NY
The pair I was on that did not have the good sense to avoid the tree I hit @ Sunshine several seasons past ........................
 

Don in Morrison

I Ski Better on Retro Day
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Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
1,418
Location
Morrison, Colorado
The rentals that I learned on, circa 1969. Usually Head and Hart Standards, always with cable bindings and lace-up boots. Between the lousy tune on the skis and the slop in the boots and bindings, it's a wonder I learned anything. I didn't really figure out how to ski until I had my own gear. Since then, I haven't had a bad pair of skis. Some were not well-suited to what I wanted to do, but they weren't necessarily bad.
 

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
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Nov 1, 2015
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42,624
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Reno, eNVy
Atomic Bionic HV6 RS..a GS ski with a slalom construction..a nervous GS ski...what could go wrong.
 

ADKmel

Skiing the powder
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Jan 6, 2016
Posts
2,344
Location
Southern Adirondacks NY
Elan something back in the 90's? they were one of the first shaped short skis Elan made (160's) ( I was on 190's). they had zero speed. my ski shop sent them up to the mt for me to demo thinking I'd love them and get them some sales.. LOL it was comical, a friend skiing next to me saying "make them go" I tried straight down the fall line on the steepest trails and they were just horrid.
 

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
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Salomon Axendo
Hard to argue with you there. These were breaking in the shops just as they were flexed, tail caps were breaking off. The French were caught off guard with that whole shape ski fad.
 

bmlvail

Booting up
Industry Insider
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
40
Location
Vail CO
Nishizawa WeeWill and Tactics
Atomic Metron
Fritzmeier Duo
Lange Softstyle
Graves
Volant
The Duret version of the Stein Ericksen ski
Sarner Crac
Fischer Watea
All the 70's crap- K2 Cheeseburgers, Rossi Smashes, Olin Mark IV's, Molnars, Century's, Head Yahoos, etc. etc.
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
Skier
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Posts
10,894
Location
NJ
Nishizawa WeeWill and Tactics
Atomic Metron
Fritzmeier Duo
Lange Softstyle
Graves
Volant
The Duret version of the Stein Ericksen ski
Sarner Crac
Fischer Watea
All the 70's crap- K2 Cheeseburgers, Rossi Smashes, Olin Mark IV's, Molnars, Century's, Head Yahoos, etc. etc.
I had a pair of Volant and they skied well for me the only thing I found was they were a bit heavy. I sold them to a friend that still loves them. As far as the Rossi Smashes I sold a lot of them back in the day and did not have any complaints come back to the shop. They were not a high performance ski but they did work for what they were designed. There is a guy on this site that really liked his.
 

bmlvail

Booting up
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Nov 12, 2015
Posts
40
Location
Vail CO
I had a pair of Volant and they skied well for me the only thing I found was they were a bit heavy. I sold them to a friend that still loves them. As far as the Rossi Smashes I sold a lot of them back in the day and did not have any complaints come back to the shop. They were not a high performance ski but they did work for what they were designed. There is a guy on this site that really liked his.

Perhaps the Volants skied ok- but they were a manufacturing nightmare- bending and delaminating by the score. Ill conceived design trying to glue wood to metal than having it flex, the shearing was incredible! Also the Vermont made Rossi's of that era were very poorly made- I don't think any 2 skis ever matched. I guess every ski may be good for someone but these skis were not good for me. By the way those Head's you are holding in your picture are among the best skis ever made, I have a pair of Titan's that are spectacular.
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Posts
10,894
Location
NJ
Perhaps the Volants skied ok- but they were a manufacturing nightmare- bending and delaminating by the score. Ill conceived design trying to glue wood to metal than having it flex, the shearing was incredible! Also the Vermont made Rossi's of that era were very poorly made- I don't think any 2 skis ever matched. I guess every ski may be good for someone but these skis were not good for me. By the way those Head's you are holding in your picture are among the best skis ever made, I have a pair of Titan's that are spectacular.
The Head Rally is a fine ski and it was a real toss-up between the Rally and the Titan for me back at the end of the 2015-2016 season and they say the newer Titans are even better than the older ones. What year/season is yours?
 

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
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Reno, eNVy
Perhaps the Volants skied ok- but they were a manufacturing nightmare- bending and delaminating by the score. Ill conceived design trying to glue wood to metal than having it flex, the shearing was incredible! Also the Vermont made Rossi's of that era were very poorly made- I don't think any 2 skis ever matched. I guess every ski may be good for someone but these skis were not good for me. By the way those Head's you are holding in your picture are among the best skis ever made, I have a pair of Titan's that are spectacular.
The FM, the replacement for the Smash was even worse...there was enough camber to drive a F250 Duelly through. Come to A-Basin for Mothers Day next year, I will bring my Fritzmeier Duo's..you can re live ze east German crappyness.
 

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