UKC

My 20-year-old Atomic piste skis have finally been declared no longer serviceable by the local ski shop.  Their ski tech says that the edges are now so thin that there's hardly any base left between them; he can't repair the existing base damage, let alone any new dings they might pick up, because there's not enough base or edge there to hold a repair in place.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can dispose of these skis other than just chucking them in the landfill skip at the local recycling centre?  I can take the bindings off, but those are composed of both metal and plastic so can't obviously be chucked in either of the recycling skips for those materials.  The skis themselves are an even more complex glued-together assembly of timber, metal and plastic so again it's not obvious how they might be recycled.

I don't think they're worth trying to donate any of the organisations that try to find new homes for old outdoor gear, because they're basically past the end of their useful life.

Any helpful suggestions would be very welcome...

Make a sledge. 

You must have 20 years of amazing memories! Surely wall mounted above the fire or something? 

I neither need nor want a sledge.  Or a ski-themed chair, or any of those other things that people suggest you re-purpose old skis in to.

I suppose I could advertise them on Gumtree as "free to anyone who wants to use them to make a sledge".  (I don't use Freecycle or Freegle after I encountered too many oddballs who seemed to think they were doing me a favour by taking my stuff away.  Er, no: you come and get it, or I drop it in the skip next time I'm going that way.  I'm not going to make a special journey at a time of your choosing to deliver it to you.  Sorry, but.)

I can't see that going down too well with the other half.

Shot-ski, grass/gravel ski, adirondak chair, sledge, and base ptex donor spring to mind. 
 

or just forget about them edges and fill coreshots with slow cure epoxy. The on lovely spring days, bring our the Neon fartbag and Equipe 91s backloader, plus matching hairdo and go rock out them moguls and do the Odd mule-kick or back scrathers jumps. Oh, they better be pink and 203+. As short skis suck, long skis truck. 
 

edit. Ok, so forget the sledge and chair. Shot ski, grass ski, fun ski, and ptex donor are still valid options. I still bring out my pink 207 Völkl P9 with telebinders and that hideous partly matching pink fartbag. Only for special occasions though, like May Day ski stuff. 

A few laps of hillend should finish them off.

That wouldn't actually solve the problem of what to do with them when they are finished off (which the ski tech says they basically are anyway).

Seen ex skis repurposed as pickets for saplings/fruit trees 

Do some more laps then and when you have really knackered then prop them up with a free sticker on them at the lift station.

I did this with an old exercise trampette bolting two feet to each ski and removing the other two. After the first run i understood how oppenheimer must have felt staring at that first Atomic Mushroom Cloud.

I'm amazed nobody has mentioned sending them to Atomic HQ with a note explaining that you would like help finding an environmentally friendly way of disposing your old skis that are no longer useable. Give them a call and see what they say. Outdoor companies of all shapes and sizes are increasingly recycling old gear. I know 20 year old skis are a pretty extreme example but at least they might have a way of disposing of them.

Good luck.

Somebody might find them useful as a test ski for base repairs,edging or drilling, especially a trial run before mounting 'Quiver Killers'.

They’ll look great up on a wall even if it’s ina shed or garage. Bring back a load of happy memories too.

keep them.

A couple of bars / restaurants here turn themselves into 'alpine chalets' over winter - you may find someone would take them for decorative purposes if you put them on your local freecycle or similar.