Ski Shopping

As I've already mentioned, taking up skiing at a later
age can be an exercise in frustration. It's cold. You
will fall down a lot. You'll get colder. Then you'll fall
down some more. And to rub salt in the wounds to
your pride, an eight year-old will zip by you with
embarrassing grace the moment you think you've
finally got a handle on things and hammer home the
realization that you've still got a long way to go.

It's important to remember that, at some point in the not so distant past, that kid looked just as
awkward and ungainly as you and he likely cried about it. Bite back the tears and you'll already
have a leg up on him and, with time and practice, you'll be as good as he is and likely more
humble about it. It just takes a look at the long lift lines during peak hours to realize that the juice
is worth the squeeze. People keep coming back to the slopes because the reward of a Zen-like
glide down the hill or an exhilarating rush down the harder slopes is worth all the sore muscles
and butt-bruises you'll endure in the beginning.

Providing you do stick with the sport, you'll eventually want your own equipment so you can
avoid the lines in the rental shop. I could go into a lot of detail about boots, bindings and clothing
(warm and dry, not stylish and cool, folks) but I suspect your first concern will be the right ski.

The main things to consider in purchasing a ski relative to you are - experience, height, weight,
type of skiing you'll be doing and type of snow you'll be skiing. The folks at www.skis.com have
a nice guide for you which I've linked at the end of this article so I'll just summarize here.

Experience - Generally, a shorter ski is easier to control at slow speeds and, therefore, the
best bet for a beginner. Longer skis provide better control and shock absorption at higher
speeds (something you'll want to avoid early on). You'll notice, though, that freestyle ski
aficionados opt for short skis which seems to fly in the face of this advice. Don't be fooled. At
the X end of the spectrum, extreme aerials require a smaller, lighter ski. Freestyle skiers often
sacrifice the better control and terrain dampening benefits of a long ski to better pull off fast
tricks.

Height - The general rule of thumb is to start your length selection based on your height and
adjust from there. A taller person is going to opt for a longer ski to compensate for the higher
center of gravity. Remember, this is just a single consideration and height is not the only relevant
benchmark for ski length. It's just a good reference point around which to apply the other
considerations.

Weight - Heavier skiers will add to the length thus far derived by experience level and height.
Again, the shock-absorbing properties of a long ski will compensate for added weight.

Type of skiing/conditions - Though the differences will be hard to discern for a beginner,
subtle modifications in ski design make what, to an experienced skier, will feel like a notable
difference for slalom, moguls, powder or downhill speed. If you are reading this, you're likely a
beginner and will, therefore, want a general purpose ski suited for groomed surfaces.

Visit http://www.skis.com/guides/guide_skis.html for a good guide that will get you off on the
right foot and take my word for it... suffer through the tough beginner days and you'll find
yourself well rewarded with wonderful lifestyle that's worth every bruise you endured.