Women's PMTS Ski

[dbillo]

Any recommendations for women's PMTS ski?

My sister-in-law has been skiing 5 years on *cough*blades*cough*, without poles, and we have finally convinced her to get real skis. I guess she would be considered intermediate, skis blue runs in southern Ontario, but completely new to PMTS.

She demoed some Cool Ones, and seems to like them.

Thanks

[Mac]

Head has always made a good line of women's skis. My wife has been skiing for years on the Head Lightning's, which is a women's version of the Intelligence Cyber series. The Cool One is a lower level of the women's line, probably not much better than a rental ski. Your sister in law might be better to shoot for something in the Head line with a little higher performance ceiling that she won't outgrow as quickly. Just stay under the 70mm waist size, will make practicing much more productive. K2 used to make some good women's skis, but because K2 has dedicated themselves to the rocker technology, I'd stay away from them. The only thing she will learn from them is a lot of bad habits. Fischer has also been commited to making women's skis for years now. Harald does not like the Atomics and Volkls, and Rossignol and Salomon's quality has not been very good over the years. Dynastar also makes a nice lady's ski. Of course, if money is no object, she can check out the Kastle line. They are not cheap, but she will never outgrow them, get bored with skiing them, or wear them out. Check out Peter Keelty's site, realskiers.com. He has reviews of all the major brands going back over ten years. For the small price of a membership, that would be a great place to start.

[dbillo]

Thanks, Mac!

Depending on what reviews and articles I read, the "Cool One" is sometimes categorized as a novice ski, but more often as Intermediate to Advanced. The HEAD website classes them for "advanced skiers" and "advanced technique".
http://www.head.com/ski/ski.php?region= ... en&id=3109

She did try another ski the same day, can't recall the name just now, not "Perfect One", but something I can't find on the HEAD website. It was a more advanced ski than the "Cool One", and the Demo Guy seemed to be reluctant to put them on her. She actually could not tell the difference between anything she tried.

[Mac]

The Head Lightning IC that my wife skis on is an "advanced ski" and my wife is a very timid skier, but she enjoys it very much. It depends on what level your sister in law is. If she is a competent skier already, then I'm afraid that she would out grow the Cool One fairly quickly, and then be looking at buying another pair of skis in a year or so. What length is she skiing on? I'll post a copy of Peter's review of these skis and you can judge for yourself. The cost of membership on his site is $20. This is just a tidbit of the information that is available on it. I think you'll agree that it's well worth it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Power One
111-66-97 (14.2m) 156,163,170,177 Female-specific analog to the Supershape and just as good. Superior carver, excellent Nastar race ski, technically demanding, very quick and stable with excellent edge hold. Fast fall line skiers also will love this carver.

clean carve: 5
soft edge: 4
straight run: 3
stability: 4 rebound: 5
quickness: 5
lightness: 3
forgiveness: 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Perfect One
115/67/99 (12m) 146,152,158,164,170 Less demanding than the Power One and recommended for skill improvement, along with groomer cruising, even at fairly high speed. Is it actually "perfect?" Probably not, but it's close for the right kind of skier.

clean carve: 4
smooth soft edge: 4
accurate: 4
stability: 5 rebound: 4
quickness: 4
lightness: 5
relaxing: 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every One
122-72-106 (15.6m) 149,156,163,170 Perfect name. Great 1-ski-quiver for all but the most aggressive female skiers. Does everything acceptably well. Very light. What more need be said?

clean carve: 4
soft edge: 4
straight run: 3
stability: 3 rebound: 3
quickness: 4
lightness: 5
forgiveness: 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cool One
116-70-102 (12.3m) 142,149,156,163,170 Medium level, low energy, easy to ski cruiser for skiers who are more interested in enjoying the mountain than in perfecting technique or learning to ski aggressively. To quote one of our top female testers, "Very easy to ski. The intermediate woman should love it." Although we give it a bumps rating, skiers who ski a lot of bumps will probably prefer the Every One.

clean carve: 3
soft edge: 4
straight run: 3
stability: 3 rebound: 3
quickness: 4
lightness: 4
forgiveness: 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[dbillo]

Thanks again. I've passed the website on to her, and I suspect she will join.

[midwif]

Adding my .02 cts.

Stats:
54 yrs
5'4'/120lbs
Ski 25-30 days/year.
Have attended several camps.
Middling PMTS skills.


I am looking to upgrade from my Every Thang (now Ones) with a narrower, more front side dedicated ski.

I demo'ed the Power One recently.
Quite demanding, stiff, heavy. Requires a lot of input from the skier.
I would have considered it, because when I was "doing it right", I could feel it. The opposite was also true.

But, my feet were killing me on those skis. Not sure why, but some skis I have demoed just make my feet ache. So, they are out of contention.

The Cool One sounds like a good candidate for your sister in law. At this time of year, she might be able to find a good deal on it. And if she outgrows it in a season or two, no regrets!

L.