UKC

I've had a 'one rig' setup for my skis for a number of years (Diamir Freerides and Movement Flames) but am looking at doing a fair bit of piste based skiing next season as I work towards some qualifications. To that end I want to get another set of skis which will be suitable both for general use but also for lift served off piste.

My preferred type of skiing is steeps and all terrain so they need to be good for that.

Any recommendations from UKC? Thanks in advance.

In reply to Edradour:

Am i right in saying the Movement Flames are 77 under foot with a radius of 16/17? Many skis nowadays are getting wider and wider. Ive been skiing black diamond verdicts (the current model) that they class as there all rounder 50/50. its my second verdict. I hated 10/11 model(bright orange), this years model however (red/white) is an awesome bit of kit. so more stable at speed and happier to carve even with a mid sized early rise. I presume you would not like the width however. defiantly worth a look though.

also a friend of mine did his basi2, went for a movement gladiator with those new scott touring bindings. Lovely to ski on piste, didn't get to try them off piste, yet I'm sure they would be good. i think they where 80 under foot, yet they felt similar to the newer verdicts. and i suspect the verdicts to float better. Defiantly felt more stable at speed.

Not sure if it helps, hope it does.

In reply to Edradour: I had to rent skis in Colorado this year (all the airlines charging silly prices to take your own) and the K2 Rictors they gave me fit the bill you describe perfectly. Really nice skis - carve well on piste and deal perfectly with crud and powder, wee bit springy in the bumps. I had K2 Apache Recons for years and loved them and the Rictor is their very recognisable but clearly improved descendant

In reply to Edradour:
Try the Line Prophet 100's. I have Marker bindings on mine. Awesome

In reply to Edradour:

Whitedot Preachers tick your boxes for me, tight radius and stiff enough to carve brilliantly on piste, but very fat for off piste; great fun and very forgiving in deep powder. Marker F10 bindings

In reply to Edradour: go fat! Most big skis these days ( ie 110mm and above) are naturally good in powder but also handle well on the groomers. Not so true the other way around.

In reply to Morgan Woods:

i agree, however 90-100mm underfoot would be best in this situation. especially if working towards qualifications.

In reply to Edradour: Another vote for Whitedot Preachers, had mine now for 4 years and used all over the alps in everything from icy pistes to waist deep powder and they are awesome! good little company making excellent skis! cannot rate them highly enough, however the recent directors have caught my eye as another alternative!

In reply to Scrabble:

I'm interested in these white dot preachers. How good are they in a touring respective?

In reply to Edradour:

If going towards qualifications - assuming BASI - you'd be best not to go too big underfoot, as skiing off piste on something narrower is what you'll need to do on the course, and much better for your technique. I'd go for Head peaks in the width underfoot that you would like - they do some 88s that are great and will safely take you through the first couple levels of BASI and around the mountain.

Ali

In reply to RichardAWatson: I think they have too much sidecut but that's a personal preference.

I love my Mantras, they're pretty much my every day set up (with Plum bidings for touring and, next year, with some Salamon DH bindings for general thrashing around).

I've heard Line Prophet 100s are good, maybe a little more forgiving than the Mantras (which always kick my arse when I'm tired and get lazy).

Also, Blizzard Bonafides are meant to be really good too.

In reply to Fultonius: Oh. also, Kastle's BMX98 (I think) sounds ok. Check some reviews though as I don't know anyone who owns them. Just remember a comment a while back.

In reply to Fultonius: Actually, scratch all that. Just buy the bloody Mantras http://www.snowfit.co.uk/volkl-mantra.html?gclid=CMnHqaDrhrkCFTLMtAodDjQAvw

In reply to Edradour:

Mantras seconded. A really good ski for pretty much all conditions off-piste except the deepest pow and cruddiest crud. Piste performance is amazing as well, they carve like SOBs!

Should be pretty good for doing most of what you need to qualify as instructor. Turning radius is relatively large with most mid-fat skis though and they need a bit of speed to work.

I qualified as a snowboard instructor (gasp!) many years ago and the hardest thing for a lot of us speed-mongers was doing the slow speed, short radius sort of turns you will be required to demonstrate. Especially on "performance" equipment. You could always just go out and buy the cheapest pair of second-hand piste skis in addition to the Mantras for that purpose.