UKC

Hi,
I have been given a budget of around 300 pounds for some skis for my birthday in Feb. To date, I have spent a lot of time on pistes and have recently started with a few days touring, which I would like to continue doing more in the future.
I'd therefore like a pair of skis that I can use both downhill and for touring. Is it better to buy a good quality pair of downhill skis and use adaptors for touring, or to buy a relatively lower quality pair of touring skis from somewhere like Sport Conrad? Could a decent pair of touring skis also suitable for piste skiing be bought for this sort of money? If so, could anyone recommend any particular skis or bindings? My current (downhill and abominable) skis are 168cm - is this a suitable length for touring?
Thanks very much

For 300 quid you should be able to buy a decent second hand ski touring set up that can be used both off and on piste. Try the forums on here and on the eagleskiclub website. If you are out in chamonix at any time try the Cham social forum that could have the sort of thing you are after on it.

In reply to sethmford:

Is your budget just for skis or bindings too?

At £300 for skis and bindings it will need to be 2nd hand for a touring rig however if you buy carefully they will be fine for the piste too.

You'll need skins as well.

In reply to sethmford: Go second hand, you'll often get a pair of skins thrown in too. I got boots, skis, bindings, skins, ski crampons and poles for 200 quid a couple of years ago. As for the length it depends how old you are and what type of ski your buying.

In reply to Chateauneuf du Boeuf: *How tall you are.

In reply to Chateauneuf du Boeuf:

Weight and ability are equally or even more important.

I'd say weight is more important than height when it comes to ski length. Unless you're talking about touring, in which case you don't want to go too big even if you ate all the pies (as big skis will make carries and kick turns more awkward).

£300 is a small budget if you want skis and touring bindings. You'll pretty much have to wait for a second hand bargain to pop up, and that'll probably mean waiting til the season is over. You might get lucky though, so keep your eyes peeled!

In reply to sethmford:

Get in touch with Mountain Feet in Standedge, they specialise in touring. They may not be able to sell you new kit for that budget but I bet they know someone who can.

For the record I piste ski on Rossignol Bandits with Frtizi Diamir touring bindings and Scarpa touring boots. I will almost never tour nowadays but I appreciate the light weight and ease of movement of the equipment around the resort and the Bandits (from Mountain Feet) are excellent all-mountain skis.

In reply to sethmford:

I'm 6ft 3, big old unit at 110 kilos and for me, my weight was the first thing I took into consideration when I bought a touring set up.

I bought a pair of touring skis that were 100 underfoot to compensate for my weight. Gives me more surface area and I thought it would make me slower coming down, if that were possible, but I'm not complaining. I've also used them for a couple of days skiing in Germany on the piste with no problems. I'm not too sure how well the touring bindings would fair with weeks on the piste but they are very good.

I really didn't want to buy a touring specific ski, I wanted something I could use for touring and skiing but I bought some ex rental skis for £100 that I could use when I wanted to spend time just skiing on runs. For reference, I ski 175s which according to all the experts you meet, is too small for me but I like them and ski well with them. Also, I bought a cheap pair of Scarpa Denali XT boots which although not the most refined or modern boots, I like them and importantly they fit me perfectly and keep me warm.

I think £300 is not enough to get a decent set up but you won't go far wrong with something like this:

http://www.winterhighland.info/forum/read.php?5,150786

That to me is a bargain. You just need the boots :0)

In reply to sethmford: I don't know what size feet you've got and whether you're looking to buy boots but I've got a pair of Scarpa Vector Alpine Touring Ski Boots in Size 8/9 (Blue) for sale on UKC For Sale Forum. They are in excellent condition, hardly used.
(outer shell measures 300mm in length/inner boot measures 285mm in length)
• 3 buckle with power strap
• Vibram sole
Can send photographs on request or can be viewed in North Wales

In reply to sethmford:

heres a good place to look....

http://www.eagleskiclub.org.uk/forums/public-forums/sale
#
however I'd suggest buying the best fitting boots you can (and if necessary getting them worked on to really gve you a snug fit) and renting ski's, that way you get a choice and when hiring people don't realise that you can take them back try a variety of pairs (if you talkl nicely to the hire shop).

Kev

In reply to sethmford:

What sort of skiing do you want to do, and how good a skier are you?

I would caution about going too lightweight. I like to enjoy the downhills and am willing to put up with a bit of weight on the uphills. I have Voikl Mantras (96mm) underfoot and Marker F10s. I have also yet to buy touring boots and have been making do with my old alpine boots.

Despite this "heavyweight" set up I have done Mont Blanc and the Haute route ove the past couple of years. I sweat uphill but when I lock down the heel and point the skis down the fall-line, it's all worth it!

In reply to Rollo: I enjoy steeper and more teqnical slopes when i can, not sure how good i am, dont stuggle on the piestes. When on the piestes im probably quite heavy on the skis, so would also like to go for something a bit heavier and tougher. Can touring skis and bindings take the roughness of the pieste over time as i want anything i buy to last?

In reply to sethmford:

Good point. If I'm honest I would be a bit wary of the Marker bindings. The 2010 model F10s I had developed a lot of movement int he toe-piece due to a design flaw. They replaced them with 2011(12?) model which has a beefed up toe hinge but it is too early to tell how these fare as I haven't used them enough (they are bomber going downhill when new though)

I think most of my mates would go for the Fritschis now if they had the choice as a reasonable compromise between light-weight and sturdy.

Talking to one mountain guide, he was of the opinion that they all had their pro, cons, and idiosycrasies!

Good luck....