What You Need to Know About Buying a Pair of Skis

We offer a large selection of skis, it can be a very daunting task to choose which is the right ski for you. Here are a few questions and answers that will help you to make the right selection:

1. It's my first time skiing, what should I look for?
2. How do I know which ski is right for me?
3. What's the difference between freestyle and freeride skis?
4. What length of ski do I need?
5. I am female and looking to buy skis, but I don't like the girls graphics. Can I ride guy's skis?

6. Here are some techie terms defined for you

1. It's my first time skiing, what should I look for?
If it's your very first time out, congratultions; you're doing the right thing. Skiing's a great sports with plenty of room for everyone to do their own thing. The best advice we could offer you is to relax, enjoy the ski culture... and perhaps even a little of the apres ski too.
First of all, lessons help. Get yourself over to snozone if you're in the UK, or your local hill if you're lucky enough, and take a couple of lessons with a qualified instructor. You'll form habits in your style very quickly, and it's beneficial to have somebody there to catch when you haven't got it quite right. You'll probably be on skis that seem quite short, but don't worry too much, this just means they're easier to handle.
Ok, now down to the business side of things; most manufacturers and ski resorts agree on a three tier system of classification. Choosing Type 1, 2 and 3 is a reasonable indicator of your level of skiing. the scale starts at Type 1 - Cautious skiiers who are comfortable on green/blue runs, probably making snow plow turns, and skiing with a fairly conservative style. Type 2 skiiers tend to make parallel turns (both skis facing the direction of travel) and are comfortable on runs, maybe venturing on to the occasional black run. Type 3 skiers, are aggressive skiers. This doesn't necessarily mean they're experts, but it does make a difference to what kind of ski you use and binding settings you're set up with! Ideally we'd say at this level, you'd be comfortable on most black runs.

2. How do I know which ski is right for me?
The best solution here is a simple one; ask around. First of all, pop in to a Two Seasons store and talk to our staff. We'll be more than happy to take some time with you and get you set up, plus it's a little more personal. Secondly, read the manufacturer's descriptions of the skis. They spend a lot of money making sure that the product they sell is just right, we'd recommend Salomon, K2, Atomic or Head. For Type 1 skiers (see above) aim for a ski that is about 5/10cm short of your chin; remember, the shorter they are, the easier to control. For type 2, the tip should come between the nose and the chin. Type 3 skiers generally have a preference in the length of ski they use, depending on their chosen discipline.

3. What's the difference between freestyle and freeride skis?
So we're all clear what we're talking about, here's a list of what's what first;

Freeride - All mountain skiing, go anywhere, do anything, just take it as it comes and have fun.
Freestyle - mostly park riding, jumps, kickers, halfpipes, boxes, rails etc
Big Mountain - For the lunatics among us, this is all about throwing yourself off the biggest things you can find.
Race - Self explanatory really!

Ok, so what's right for what? Generally speaking, freeride skis tend to be what most of us would consider a stereotypical ski - flexible but with a good resistance, made from strong materials (generally wood core). 120mm or bigger wide at the nose, tapering to about 70-75mm underfoot, and widening at the tail. This shape, known as a parabolic ski, is now pretty much standard across all skis. It makes it a nice, all round easy ski that copes for most riders in most conditions.
Freestyle skis tend to look a little different - the tail will often curl up similarly to the nose. This is known as a twin tip ski, and can usually be skied forwards or backwards. They also tend to have a little less taper than a normal ski and be a little wider to start with (Think 120mm nose, 90mm underfoot).
Finally, race skis. These tend to be a lot stiffer than other skis, primarily because they need more grip in hard packed snow conditions.

4. What length of ski do I need?
See above for a rough idea. This is always a bit of a touchy subject, as there's no real guidelines set in stone. Most people would accept that for complete beginners chin height minus 10cm is good. For intermediates between the chin and nose, and anybody above this level should have a pretty good idea of what they're comfortable on.

5. I am female and looking to buy skis, but I don't like the girls graphics. Can I ride guy's skis?
Sure, the only real difference with a women's specific ski is that you guys (gals even?) tend to have a slightly narrower foot and weigh a little less than us guys. The manufacturers try to reflect this in the shape and flex patterns that they build into their skis. If you prefer a guy's graphic, we'd first recommend that you rent a set of guy's skis first, just to make sure that you're as comfortable with them as a women's specific. As always, any question, give us a call!

6. Here are some techie terms defined for you:

Flex - The flex of a ski affects its handling/ride characteristics and typically varies with the rider's weight. Skis flex in two directions Longitude (tip to tail) and torsional (side to side), you will often see people 'flexing' a board by holding the nose and pushing the centre, this gives a good indicator to flex but it may be soft in longitude and stiffer torsionaly. Usually a softer flex makes turning easier while a harder flex makes the ski more stable at high speed. There is no standard way to quantify ski stiffness, but beginners and riders who mostly do rails and jibbing tend to prefer a softer flex, free-riders (powder, bombing groomers etc) stiffer flex.

Twin tip -Identical shape (symmetrical) whether riding forwards or switch (backwards/fakie)Typically have a shorter nose and tail.

Directional -longer nose than tail with a tapered side cut to initiate turns easy and power you through turn to exit.

Camber - The amount of space beneath the center of a ski when it lays on a flat surface and its weight rests on the tip and tail.

Chatter - Vibration of the ski as a result of high speed, tight turns, and/or icy conditions.

Effective Edge - The length of your ski's metal edge that makes contact with the snow. When you turn, you shift your weight to your effective edge.

Side Cut - Measured as a radius of a circle from a few radii to multiple radii. A deeper sidecut (small radius) will mean the ski will make tight, short radius turns, a shallow sidecut (large radius) will mean its not so good at turning quickly but ideal for long sweeping turns ideal for beginners and freestyle because it is more forgiving.

Sintered Base - A porous wax absorbing material, made by melting granules of a polyurethane based compound to form a soild block which is then cut to shape, absorbs more wax and is faster, less easily repaired and adds more cost to the board.

Extruded Base - This method produces a softer, easily repaired tough base material but is less absorbent. Bit slower but keeps costs down