What To Look For
When shopping for skis, the sheer number of skis available, as well as the eye-catching graphics, can be distracting. It is best to narrow your focus to specific category before shopping. Powder skis are fat at the waist and typically employ a rocker, or reverse camber, to make the ski float better. All-mountain skis are the generalists, usually around 90mm at the waist, with a traditional camber. Free-ride or freestyle skis often sit somewhere in the middle, and usually have a twin-tip design for doing tricks and skiing switch (or backward).
Two things to look at are the waist dimensions and the turning radius. Generally, fatter skis are harder to turn on hardpack snow, so if you ski primarily on packed powder in the East or Midwest, look for a narrower-waisted ski of 80mm. For Western skiing, a 90mm or 100mm waist is better.
The turning radius will affect how quickly the the ski turns, and is defined as the size of circle the ski would make if it was put on edge and allowed to make a circle. Smaller turning radius skis are nimble it he bumps and trees, but with their reduced edge are prone to chatter if you open the ski up for long radius turns in open terrain. Longer turning radius skis are ideal if you like to ski fast and make fewer turns.
Common Pitfalls
Sizing is one of the biggest problems people have when shopping for skis, especially for novice. There is no one perfect length. Length will be determined by ski shape and skier type. More advanced skiers often prefer longer skis, which are more stable when skiing fast. Intermediates prefer something shorter which is easier to turn. Additionally, modern shaped skis are designed to be skied in shorter lengths than older, traditional designs, because the design creates nearly as much surface area in shorter shaped skis as in longer straight skis. Twin tip skis ski shorter than their length because of the upturned tail, so when buying twin tips for free-ride skiing, you may want a slightly longer ski than normal.
Where To Buy
Alpine skis can be bought at specialty ski shops, general sporting goods retailers and at many online mountain and ski shops such as REI, Eastern Mountain Sports, and Backcountry.com.
Cost
Alpine skis range in price from $400 to $1500 per pair (2010 prices).
Comparison Shopping
Some of the popular brands of skis include K2, Rossignol, Nordica, Salomon and Dynastar. Popular smaller manufacturers include Armada, Liberty, Line, Icelantic, 4FRNT, Movement and Moment.
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