Help shopping for skis

Forum Sponsor
I love Glen Eden , I grew up there , it was 2kms from our farm ( we knew the farmer on the property before it became kelso) , I could go in the back trail past the lime kilns to the west and park my skidoo just below the west chair. Everything out the back end is 8ft chain link now, end of an era. My uncle worked for Conservation Halton ,working the snow guns and drove the groomer. If you ever get a chance for a groomer ride get in, going straight up hill and then down is pretty fun.
 
Yeah Glen Eden or Snow valley will be fine to teach your kids to ski. Just pick whichever one is most convenient and priced right. Because they will most likely be on 1 or 2 runs, if that, while they learn and then chalet. You won't even use the rest of the runs, unless your kid is the next Podborski.
 
sburns said:
Yeah Glen Eden or Snow valley will be fine to teach your kids to ski. Just pick whichever one is most convenient and priced right. Because they will most likely be on 1 or 2 runs, if that, while they learn and then chalet. You won't even use the rest of the runs, unless your kid is the next Podborski.
Click to expand...
If you are doing bunny hill, for a kids first time I normally go 3 runs/treat/5 runs/treat/10 runs/treat. That's it for day one. Treat may be going inside for hot chocolate and a rest beside the fire or it may be a candy at the base of the slope if they are amenable. Something to give their muscles a break and let their brain absorb something. 10 runs on the bunny hill is << 1 hour.

Lift tickets are expensive (unless the kids are really small). I can't afford to teach a kid if every run costs $40.
 
Last edited:
Family season pass at a cheap hill like Glen Eden . Being a bit north your committed to better hills . Mansfield was always pretty reasonable, haven’t looked lately .
Teaching my daughter was one day on the bunny run , day two , big hill , she caught on super fast , son took three days at the bunny hill . When you have a great weather day and it’s one on one training it goes so much faster . Classes of 8-10 kids is fun for kids , learning curve is shallow .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
crankcall said:
Family season pass at a cheap hill like Glen Eden . Being a bit north your committed to better hills . Mansfield was always pretty reasonable, haven’t looked lately .
Teaching my daughter was one day on the bunny run , day two , big hill , she caught on super fast , son took three days at the bunny hill . When you have a great weather day and it’s one on one training it goes so much faster . Classes of 8-10 kids is fun for kids , learning curve is shallow .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Click to expand...
Glen eden is not "cheap" anymore. About $500/pp for a season pass (unless they are under 5, then it is ~$100). As usual, the value play is the equivalent to Blue Mountains 5x7 pass at half the money. That is pretty awesome value.

I am happy to take kids out if the parents pick up their kids lift ticket. Day tickets add up quick. If the parent wants to teach their kid, they need a ticket for the parent too. That puts a visit to the bunny hill on the wrong side of $100 assuming you had gear, rental doubles the bill.
 
Last edited:
It’s never been a low cost sport . When my daughter thought she was serious about ski racing, the Glen Eden team , it was 3 pairs of skiis , 2 pair of boots . Every yr . And once out of house league it’s travel all over the province, I’m glad she ran out of talent before we ran out of money . It was Hockey money ….


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
crankcall said:
It’s never been a low cost sport . When my daughter thought she was serious about ski racing, the Glen Eden team , it was 3 pairs of skiis , 2 pair of boots . Every yr . And once out of house league it’s travel all over the province, I’m glad she ran out of talent before we ran out of money . It was Hockey money ….


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Click to expand...
Lately I've been buying the cast offs from those kids for my kids. One kid is using $500 boots that were bought for a racer during covid and never worn and then sold for a song.

Mine have no interest in racing at this point thankfully. Just coaching and equipment is over 1000 if you are lucky. One kid I know spends a good portion of the winter in BC training. Not sure if it will ever pay off but he's a good kid and working hard.

The numbers ive heard for skiing on the provincial team are in the ballpark of a vehicle yearly. National team is well above that.
 
Last edited:
Skis arrived today, but the bindings were missing. On hold with Sportchek customer service to sort it out. I hope it’s as simple as they have the bindings in the stores expecting us to bring the skis in anyways for fitting. But lack of any instructions to that effect tells me probably not.
 
Well, just like Amazon, for some reason there's no option to send me the missing components, so I need to return these at no cost by mail or drop off at a store, and then re-order online or buy from a store with stock. Oh, there was a third option to keep them at a further 15% discount, but in this case it makes no sense. So I've reordered online and will see what arrives (probably tomorrow) and go from there.

Just a note - the skis arrived in a large cardboard box with only crumpled paper as a filler. I half expected some type of foam wrap around the edges. The outside of the box appears undamaged, but it seems like skis should be packaged better considering how delivery companies handle the boxes.
 
I bought Carv this year as the black friday sale is decent. We'll see. Maybe it helps me improve, maybe it's a turd. I try to take lessons every few years to improve, Carv will use that money this year. Yes, it's subscription which I hate. Yes, they are flogging AI which is normally marketing crap. So far reviews from people that have used them are pretty good. Obviously I haven't used them yet. They haven't even shipped yet as they want to use CP.

My other idea was a 360 cam as you can see and fix a lot by watching yourself. Damn are they ever expensive still.
 
GreyGhost said:
I bought Carv this year as the black friday sale is decent. We'll see. Maybe it helps me improve, maybe it's a turd. I try to take lessons every few years to improve, Carv will use that money this year. Yes, it's subscription which I hate. Yes, they are flogging AI which is normally marketing crap. So far reviews from people that have used them are pretty good. Obviously I haven't used them yet. They haven't even shipped yet as they want to use CP.

My other idea was a 360 cam as you can see and fix a lot by watching yourself. Damn are they ever expensive still.
Click to expand...
yeah with the x3 you'd probably be set cause you dont need 8k quality from the x4

curious to see how you like carv

i have too many hobbies so i cant afford new skis this year, theyre over 14 years old...
i dont even know if ill ski with the kids this year
last few years we struggled with snow first two weeks of jan (south of orangeville)
 
LePhillou said:
yeah with the x3 you'd probably be set cause you dont need 8k quality from the x4

curious to see how you like carv

i have too many hobbies so i cant afford new skis this year, theyre over 14 years old...
i dont even know if ill ski with the kids this year
last few years we struggled with snow first two weeks of jan (south of orangeville)
Click to expand...
I think my newest skiis are at least six years old. I bought them used and manufacturers don't make it easy to figure out year. The ones I use often when skiing with the kids are 28 years old.
 
28 yr old bindings ? Nope , slow twisting fall and your hobbling.
I bought K2 all mtn last yr . They are 173 I think . I miss longer skiis but for southern Ontario who am I kidding.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
crankcall said:
28 yr old bindings ? Nope , slow twisting fall and your hobbling.
I bought K2 all mtn last yr . They are 173 I think . I miss longer skiis but for southern Ontario who am I kidding.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
Click to expand...
I functionally test all my bindings every year. So far just pull out toe, pull out heel and twist to make sure they release. Fwiw, they are set much lower than the fun skiis as they aren't stiff enough to get enough pressure to blow them.

In the back of my head is percolating a fixture to check them properly with a torque wrench. Haven't gotten around to building it yet though.

Last year I backed off all of my bindings a bit. I havent blown one on the hill in years and I'm getting older.

The head supershape are interesting if I buy a new set. Long skiis with short radius to keep ontario interesting. Big radius skis can be fun at blue but I really really don't like them at my local hill. I havent used the 40m radius skiis in years (but love them when I use them on a bigger hill although speeds get excessive) and I try the 24m every year and hate them.
 
I looked at new Atomic all rounds , I’ve always had a soft spot for marker bindings and Atomic skiis . But what I thought I wanted was a grand . I’ll squeeze another year out of the K all mtn. I spent years on GS race skiis but I’m too old to love them anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
LePhillou said:
yeah with the x3 you'd probably be set cause you dont need 8k quality from the x4

curious to see how you like carv

i have too many hobbies so i cant afford new skis this year, theyre over 14 years old...
i dont even know if ill ski with the kids this year
last few years we struggled with snow first two weeks of jan (south of orangeville)
Click to expand...
Carv is interesting. Only one session so far but probably keeping them. Score was more variable than I expected (136 to 146). It wants me to work on g force as I'm hitting 1.3 and it wants 3. It's "helpful" suggestion was to go faster to get more edge angle. Wtf. I'm on a crap hill in Ontario. I'm going 70, there isn't much faster I can go without a different hill. The steeper better hills aren't open yet, those may help. Not sure I can get to 3 gs though. On the better hills I can occasional drag knuckles but at 3g your hip is skimming the snow, I've never been close to that.

Theoretically they are working on a buddy pass system where you can loan your sensors to people to allow them to try them without screwing up what it is trying to teach you. It hasn't launched yet though.

EDIT:
If anyone buys Carv, use my code and you get $66 off. I get a buff (unless lots of people sign up, then I save some money if I renew). Link has a quote from me that I didn't make. Interesting.


If you don't want to click links, use this code before you checkout and the same thing happens.
REFER-5TK7VAYNMD
Forum Sponsor
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom