In reply to mike123:
> thanks all . Pondering a mid April ski trip , not sure wether to be put off
Mid April is still a month away.
So a lot of things can happen.
And the worst outcome would simply be, that you get a free basegrind .
Honestly I don't think it will be that big of an issue. Sand is darker and thus melts quite deep into the snow (provided sunny weather). So not a big deal...
But then again, I'm more of a pragmatic when it comes to skiing.... The old proverb I heard an older skiing legend once say has also been my mantra... it goes something like this "all skis are rock skis"... You buy the skis for the enjoyment of skiing them, not to worry about them too much all the time. So use the skis, and if you get scratches or coreshots on them, learn how to fix 'em and continue to use 'em... and when they are so beat up, that they are un-usable, get new ones... Or get multiple skis... once to take out when damage is likely (i.e. rock skis), and then skis for when damage is less likely