How to tell if you need new skis

[Saint Jocko]

When you find a pair of new old stock Volant SuperKarve I skis still in the plastic wrappers for only $35, and you already have the matching new old stock Marker bindings (never mounted) that sold for $300 back in the day, then you need a new set of skis.

I paid $575 for my first pair of SuperKarve I skis back in 1997, and that was a discounted price. Had a lot of fun at Taos Ski Valley on them. They were Ski of the Year at the time. So, when you look at the full retail price, I paid about a nickel on the dollar for those new old stock skis.

Those SuperKarve I skis are very fast and stable skis. They will still beat most of what is being sold today in a downhill race on a groomed run. More than once I had a Taos ski patroller yell at me to slow down. Taos isn't exactly known as a go-slow ski resort either.

I learned to ski on Volant SuperKarve I skis. A Taos ski school instructor asked me who was the idiot salesman who put a rank beginner on expert skis. I said I was only going to be a beginner for a few days (It pays to have a bit of a hardcore attitude at Taos) and 14 skiing days later in another ski school class another instructor could not believe I had only been skiing for 14 days. The SuperKarve I, docile enough for a beginner to learn on, and fast enough for Glenn McConkey to win a Natinal Masters championship.....against a lot of male competitors. Her son Shane didn't do too bad on Volant skis either.

But the fact I got a new pair of Volant SuperKarve I skis for $35 proves that a lot of other skiers who passed that opportunity by need a new brain and some deprogramming from the "newer is better" crap that ski magazine advertising sells them more than they need a new pair of skis that probably are little more than a topsheet change from a previous model that is on the half-price rack.

[Johnny]

I never bought a pair of 'brand new' skis in my entire life. Who would be stupid enough to pay 700$ for a pair of planks? I buy like 8-10 pairs every year, but always on the used market... (Well, to be honest, I bought my first ever pair of NEW skis earlier this season, because the Epochs are *impossible* to buy anywhere else...!)

There's always been a lot of bullshit in the ski world. People like to spend a lot of money on ski gear so they can tell their friends how good (and PHAT!) their skis are. The higher you pay for a pair of shitty skis, the better you will look to eyes of the world. As simple as that. It's especially true if you have NTN bindings, Black Diamond skis, Black Diamond gloves, Black Diamond poles and you wear a helmet. Oh, super fat skis are soooooo cooool aren't they?!?

They are to the skier what antlers are for deers... The bigger the better... The more they will impress other skiers... Or should I say, the fatter the better...

People have always been stupid, nothing's gonna change... I must be terribly sick, cause the only people who really impress me are the ones skiing with 1974 Olin Mark IV's with leather shoes and bent Kerma poles, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and a Vuarnet t-shirt...

Some people get rich studying artificial intelligence. Me, I make money studying natural stupidity. (Carl Icahn)

[Johnny]

I recently got a pair of Line's Mothership skis for 5 bucks. Best ski graphics ever.