Help shopping for skis

[crankcall]

Forum Sponsor

I love Glen Eden , I grew up there , it was 2kms from our farm ( we knew the farmer on the property before it became kelso) , I could go in the back trail past the lime kilns to the west and park my skidoo just below the west chair. Everything out the back end is 8ft chain link now, end of an era. My uncle worked for Conservation Halton ,working the snow guns and drove the groomer. If you ever get a chance for a groomer ride get in, going straight up hill and then down is pretty fun.

 

[sburns]

Yeah Glen Eden or Snow valley will be fine to teach your kids to ski. Just pick whichever one is most convenient and priced right. Because they will most likely be on 1 or 2 runs, if that, while they learn and then chalet. You won't even use the rest of the runs, unless your kid is the next Podborski.

 

[GreyGhost]

Yeah Glen Eden or Snow valley will be fine to teach your kids to ski. Just pick whichever one is most convenient and priced right. Because they will most likely be on 1 or 2 runs, if that, while they learn and then chalet. You won't even use the rest of the runs, unless your kid is the next Podborski.

If you are doing bunny hill, for a kids first time I normally go 3 runs/treat/5 runs/treat/10 runs/treat. That's it for day one. Treat may be going inside for hot chocolate and a rest beside the fire or it may be a candy at the base of the slope if they are amenable. Something to give their muscles a break and let their brain absorb something. 10 runs on the bunny hill is << 1 hour.

Lift tickets are expensive (unless the kids are really small). I can't afford to teach a kid if every run costs $40.

 

[crankcall]

Family season pass at a cheap hill like Glen Eden . Being a bit north your committed to better hills . Mansfield was always pretty reasonable, haven’t looked lately .
Teaching my daughter was one day on the bunny run , day two , big hill , she caught on super fast , son took three days at the bunny hill . When you have a great weather day and it’s one on one training it goes so much faster . Classes of 8-10 kids is fun for kids , learning curve is shallow .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

 

[GreyGhost]

Family season pass at a cheap hill like Glen Eden . Being a bit north your committed to better hills . Mansfield was always pretty reasonable, haven’t looked lately .
Teaching my daughter was one day on the bunny run , day two , big hill , she caught on super fast , son took three days at the bunny hill . When you have a great weather day and it’s one on one training it goes so much faster . Classes of 8-10 kids is fun for kids , learning curve is shallow .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

Glen eden is not "cheap" anymore. About $500/pp for a season pass (unless they are under 5, then it is ~$100). As usual, the value play is the equivalent to Blue Mountains 5x7 pass at half the money. That is pretty awesome value.

I am happy to take kids out if the parents pick up their kids lift ticket. Day tickets add up quick. If the parent wants to teach their kid, they need a ticket for the parent too. That puts a visit to the bunny hill on the wrong side of $100 assuming you had gear, rental doubles the bill.

 

[crankcall]

It’s never been a low cost sport . When my daughter thought she was serious about ski racing, the Glen Eden team , it was 3 pairs of skiis , 2 pair of boots . Every yr . And once out of house league it’s travel all over the province, I’m glad she ran out of talent before we ran out of money . It was Hockey money ….


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

 

[GreyGhost]

It’s never been a low cost sport . When my daughter thought she was serious about ski racing, the Glen Eden team , it was 3 pairs of skiis , 2 pair of boots . Every yr . And once out of house league it’s travel all over the province, I’m glad she ran out of talent before we ran out of money . It was Hockey money ….


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

Lately I've been buying the cast offs from those kids for my kids. One kid is using $500 boots that were bought for a racer during covid and never worn and then sold for a song.

Mine have no interest in racing at this point thankfully. Just coaching and equipment is over 1000 if you are lucky. One kid I know spends a good portion of the winter in BC training. Not sure if it will ever pay off but he's a good kid and working hard.

The numbers ive heard for skiing on the provincial team are in the ballpark of a vehicle yearly. National team is well above that.

 

[Relax]

Skis arrived today, but the bindings were missing. On hold with Sportchek customer service to sort it out. I hope it’s as simple as they have the bindings in the stores expecting us to bring the skis in anyways for fitting. But lack of any instructions to that effect tells me probably not.

 

[Relax]

Well, just like Amazon, for some reason there's no option to send me the missing components, so I need to return these at no cost by mail or drop off at a store, and then re-order online or buy from a store with stock. Oh, there was a third option to keep them at a further 15% discount, but in this case it makes no sense. So I've reordered online and will see what arrives (probably tomorrow) and go from there.

Just a note - the skis arrived in a large cardboard box with only crumpled paper as a filler. I half expected some type of foam wrap around the edges. The outside of the box appears undamaged, but it seems like skis should be packaged better considering how delivery companies handle the boxes.

 

[GreyGhost]

I bought Carv this year as the black friday sale is decent. We'll see. Maybe it helps me improve, maybe it's a turd. I try to take lessons every few years to improve, Carv will use that money this year. Yes, it's subscription which I hate. Yes, they are flogging AI which is normally marketing crap. So far reviews from people that have used them are pretty good. Obviously I haven't used them yet. They haven't even shipped yet as they want to use CP.

My other idea was a 360 cam as you can see and fix a lot by watching yourself. Damn are they ever expensive still.

 

[LePhillou]

I bought Carv this year as the black friday sale is decent. We'll see. Maybe it helps me improve, maybe it's a turd. I try to take lessons every few years to improve, Carv will use that money this year. Yes, it's subscription which I hate. Yes, they are flogging AI which is normally marketing crap. So far reviews from people that have used them are pretty good. Obviously I haven't used them yet. They haven't even shipped yet as they want to use CP.

My other idea was a 360 cam as you can see and fix a lot by watching yourself. Damn are they ever expensive still.

yeah with the x3 you'd probably be set cause you dont need 8k quality from the x4

curious to see how you like carv

i have too many hobbies so i cant afford new skis this year, theyre over 14 years old...
i dont even know if ill ski with the kids this year
last few years we struggled with snow first two weeks of jan (south of orangeville)

 

[GreyGhost]

yeah with the x3 you'd probably be set cause you dont need 8k quality from the x4

curious to see how you like carv

i have too many hobbies so i cant afford new skis this year, theyre over 14 years old...
i dont even know if ill ski with the kids this year
last few years we struggled with snow first two weeks of jan (south of orangeville)

I think my newest skiis are at least six years old. I bought them used and manufacturers don't make it easy to figure out year. The ones I use often when skiing with the kids are 28 years old.

 

[crankcall]

28 yr old bindings ? Nope , slow twisting fall and your hobbling.
I bought K2 all mtn last yr . They are 173 I think . I miss longer skiis but for southern Ontario who am I kidding.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

 

[GreyGhost]

28 yr old bindings ? Nope , slow twisting fall and your hobbling.
I bought K2 all mtn last yr . They are 173 I think . I miss longer skiis but for southern Ontario who am I kidding.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

I functionally test all my bindings every year. So far just pull out toe, pull out heel and twist to make sure they release. Fwiw, they are set much lower than the fun skiis as they aren't stiff enough to get enough pressure to blow them.

In the back of my head is percolating a fixture to check them properly with a torque wrench. Haven't gotten around to building it yet though.

Last year I backed off all of my bindings a bit. I havent blown one on the hill in years and I'm getting older.

The head supershape are interesting if I buy a new set. Long skiis with short radius to keep ontario interesting. Big radius skis can be fun at blue but I really really don't like them at my local hill. I havent used the 40m radius skiis in years (but love them when I use them on a bigger hill although speeds get excessive) and I try the 24m every year and hate them.

 

[crankcall]

I looked at new Atomic all rounds , I’ve always had a soft spot for marker bindings and Atomic skiis . But what I thought I wanted was a grand . I’ll squeeze another year out of the K all mtn. I spent years on GS race skiis but I’m too old to love them anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com

 

[GreyGhost]

yeah with the x3 you'd probably be set cause you dont need 8k quality from the x4

curious to see how you like carv

i have too many hobbies so i cant afford new skis this year, theyre over 14 years old...
i dont even know if ill ski with the kids this year
last few years we struggled with snow first two weeks of jan (south of orangeville)

Carv is interesting. Only one session so far but probably keeping them. Score was more variable than I expected (136 to 146). It wants me to work on g force as I'm hitting 1.3 and it wants 3. It's "helpful" suggestion was to go faster to get more edge angle. Wtf. I'm on a crap hill in Ontario. I'm going 70, there isn't much faster I can go without a different hill. The steeper better hills aren't open yet, those may help. Not sure I can get to 3 gs though. On the better hills I can occasional drag knuckles but at 3g your hip is skimming the snow, I've never been close to that.

Theoretically they are working on a buddy pass system where you can loan your sensors to people to allow them to try them without screwing up what it is trying to teach you. It hasn't launched yet though.

EDIT:
If anyone buys Carv, use my code and you get $66 off. I get a buff (unless lots of people sign up, then I save some money if I renew). Link has a quote from me that I didn't make. Interesting.

https://getcarv.com/refer/1d8163ce-34b3-4821-9e40-4654ba64c05f?utm_source=carv22&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=referral&utm_content=sharesheet

If you don't want to click links, use this code before you checkout and the same thing happens.
REFER-5TK7VAYNMD

 

[GreyGhost]

Ski season is over for me. Most hills are pulling the plug today as this weekend is supposed to be awful.

Roughly 400 runs, 7000 turns,18km vertical, 170km skied over 30 days on skis at the small local hill. One day on a snowboard (I'll try to get the board out more next year).

I'm still undecided on Carv. It's not awful and it is interesting to track metrics. That makes skiing more fun. It's coaching is pretty crap. From first time I tried it to best run of the year was only three points improvement. That makes it hard to try to compete to move up the leaderboard as there is a chasm to cross and it can't get you there. Leaderboard was barely changed all season for anybody (some people moved when other did their first run but once on the board, scores didn't change much). I'll see how much they want next black friday. I may only pay for it every other year and pay for an actual lesson in the other years.

 

[GreyGhost]

I bought Carv again. Kids and wife are taking a year off from skiing (they complain about cold). Hopefully, the hill builds moguls earlier this year and I can spend hours playing in them and improving. I suck at moguls.

Carv ran the same black friday promotion this year with 20% off and "free" sensors (total under $300 for the sensors and the season). If I renewed early (in May), the price was the same but I didn't get more sensors. You only need one set but if you lose/break one, having spares isn't a bad idea (especially for zero cost). They need to fix their pricing imo. In exchange for giving them money six months earlier, I get less?

Every year they respin the software. We'll see if they have improved the coaching aspects.

If you buy carv and enter my referal code, you may save some money and I may eventually get a free year (if 10 people use the code).
REFER-Q7P65FV238

 

[Relax]

Hopefully, the hill builds moguls earlier this year and I can spend hours playing in them and improving. I suck at moguls.

Where do you ski? I haven't gone in a while now that my kids are grown. When I used to go, I'd hang out on Blue Mountain's Apple Bowl all day or Horseshoe's equivalent mogul hill, but I remember sitting in the chalet in the afternoons watching as they drove the groomer over them to make them flat. Seems they didn't want them there at all. I'm not the best skiier, but decent (or at least used to be), and got to the point where carving down a flat run became boring. Moguls forced me to turn and/jump whil trying to go as fast as I could without hurting myself. Kind of like riding...

 

[GreyGhost]

Where do you ski? I haven't gone in a while now that my kids are grown. When I used to go, I'd hang out on Blue Mountain's Apple Bowl all day or Horseshoe's equivalent mogul hill, but I remember sitting in the chalet in the afternoons watching as they drove the groomer over them to make them flat. Seems they didn't want them there at all. I'm not the best skiier, but decent (or at least used to be), and got to the point where carving down a flat run became boring. Moguls forced me to turn and/jump whil trying to go as fast as I could without hurting myself. Kind of like riding...

I buy a pass close to home. It's not the best hill but from deciding I want to go until sliding down the hill is less than 10 minutes. In the past I was shooting for 100 times per year (I never made it). With kids in so many weeknight activities now, 50 times a year is a more realistic goal for me.

I stopped skiing in Ontario for years as I got bored so I switched to a snowboard (~25-35yo). Started skiing again with the kids as that is an easier and less painful starting point for them. Working on improving carving helps make it more interesting as travel speed is higher and you can run closer to the edge of control. Like a bike, working on hand/elbow/hip drag without crashing is a constant battle. Different skis can really change the situation too. I have world cup DH skiis with turn radius of ~40m. They are miserable at the local hill. At something like blue where you can let them run, they are a riot if you don't mind high speed (they are really happy leaned over hard at over 100kph). I mostly ski short radius skiis now (11-15m) as they are more fun on smaller hills and you can lean on them hard at lower speeds (max at local hill is ~75kph). My wife isn't skiing this year so I will setup her twintips for me to play in the park. If I am going out alone and the snow is fast, I will grab skiis, if the snow is slow, I will grab a snowboard as I am not as good and still rebuilding the ability to carve well. Once I get that back, I will work on switch as I never bothered to learn that.

Most hills in Ontario don't allow natural moguls to develop over time. There is an attachment for the groomers to make a mogul field but it obviously needs a bunch of snow to make. My slalom skiis have the bindings set tight so I don't accidentally release when carving (not balls tight but tight enough). I don't like to take them into the moguls as I fear for my knees. I'll grab skiis with looser bindings for moguls.

Doing your own ski tuning helps some things. It avoids waiting for a shop, it lets me set angles where I want and I tune far more often as when paying for tunes, I am cheap so it was ~once per year. The slalom skiis are set at a sharper angle that starts to lose grip quickly and they need a touchup at least every 3 hours (and they are noticeably fading after an hour). It's worth it for the grip they provide when fresh though.

Moonstone is trying to open next weekend if the current storm cooperates.

Forum Sponsor