ski boots and other gear, taking the plunge

P

P Masta Flex

Contributor
Veteran X
alright, it's finally time for me to stop renting skis, I'm in that transition period between advanced and expert and I'm gonna start buying my own gear. Boots are happening today for sure. I tried on some technica dragon hyperfit 100s and they seem to be a great fit for my foot and leg shape and allow no movement, are very tight, and are still comfortable and dont put my foot to sleep.

Anyone have any experience with these or similar boots? the guy at the shop is trying to sell me on custom insoles made for my foot but at 100 bones extra I'm not so sure. I'm moving up from rentals but after a bad weekend 2 weeks ago my own boots are clearly a requirement now. I'm getting 20% off and the sale price is 329 (+ 100 bones for the custom insoles)


also, I'm looking at getting a set of volkl mantra 177cm, I've been renting demo skis and these have seemed to be my favorite for my style skiing (not a fan of mogul fields so the stiffness is good for me) I tried them in 184cm and preferred the slightly shorter 177s. (I'm 6') as far as bindings go I'm torn between getting adjustable marker schizo or the model down for $100 less that dont adjust on the fly.

I'm 6' 195lbs or so, like being fast but cutting hard, and I'm by no means loaded so I want to buy quality equipment now (cry once, or cry many times if you cheap out) but dont want to waste money on features that aren't worth it.

located in CO, favorite mountain so far is loveland (checking Arapaho basin out monday)
 
people don't refer to money as "bones" anymore.

It's either cheddar , paper , or just "dollars"

please update your vocabulary
 
I've been a fan of Dalbello boots. Have had 2 pairs already and prefer them over some of the Technica similar range models.


personal preference sort of thang. Win > mac
 
custom footbeds are really worth it. 100% contact between your foot and the boot with a heel cuff makes it a lot easier to ski. get a booster strap on the boot too.

probably a boot with 110 flex or higher. lange's nordica's and dalbello's are great.

you can buy off backcountry.com and they have an unlimited return policy, so you can just exchange gear with them and barely pay anything on your next set of gear.

i'd say you should get the 184. it will serve you better as you progress and get more aggressive. i ski 186 and i am 5'10" 170. been skiing for 20 years now.
 
i wouldn't mess around on boots, but I've been on the mantra

two things: have you tried the gotama? It's just a superior ski to the mantra, although mantra is surprisngly good on bumps. If you try a gotama, understand that it's rockered and make sure yous ki it long, the ski skis very short. Even those mantras ski short, at your height i'd go with the longer ski even though i'm sure the shorter one feels more comfortable right now.
 
WAIT!!!!


I'll sell you my equipment, a few years old but I used it all of 1/2 day. Good stuff. Honest.
 
yeah, everyone always tells me to go bigger on the skis, but every time I do I dont like them as much. I find it so much easier to control the 177 and manhandle it where I want it regardless of the speed or angle.

the thing that really is keeping me from stepping up is sometimes I'll try and fly through tree trails, and the 184's felt like they wanted to kill me, as where the 177s didn't impede me at all.

that being said, when enough people give you the same advice you should probably listen, I'll consider it and I'll retry the 184s on monday since I'll have my own boots and see how they work out. I dont think they have gotama's for demo where I rent and I dont want to buy before I try anything.
 
electronic_lsd said:
custom footbeds are really worth it. 100% contact between your foot and the boot with a heel cuff makes it a lot easier to ski. get a booster strap on the boot too.

probably a boot with 110 flex or higher. lange's nordica's and dalbello's are great.

you can buy off backcountry.com and they have an unlimited return policy, so you can just exchange gear with them and barely pay anything on your next set of gear.

i'd say you should get the 184. it will serve you better as you progress and get more aggressive. i ski 186 and i am 5'10" 170. been skiing for 20 years now.
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yeah, I think I'll get the custom foot beds, the 100 flex will probably cut it for me though, I might like something with a higher flex but after trying on 15 pairs of so of boots the specific model I posted seems to fit the very best.
 
How long did you rent for? I've only gone boarding twice and I just bought my own gear. I figure I like it enough that everything I bought will have paid for itself in a single season. Its insane how much you get raped for renting. I did a two day rental a few weeks ago and ended up spending $110.
 
P Masta Flex said:
yeah, everyone always tells me to go bigger on the skis, but every time I do I dont like them as much. I find it so much easier to control the 177 and manhandle it where I want it regardless of the speed or angle.

the thing that really is keeping me from stepping up is sometimes I'll try and fly through tree trails, and the 184's felt like they wanted to kill me, as where the 177s didn't impede me at all.

that being said, when enough people give you the same advice you should probably listen, I'll consider it and I'll retry the 184s on monday since I'll have my own boots and see how they work out. I dont think they have gotama's for demo where I rent and I dont want to buy before I try anything.
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If they have mantra and don't have goats, i'd be shocked. The longer ski will result in a slightly different turn radius, but if you're finding THAT much of a difference between 177s and 184s then I'd have to question if you're really advanced/expert or if you're skidding your turns and "manhandling" the ski and thus you don't feel comfortable with more ski. You're generally going to find more stability on the longer ski.

I'd really, really, really recommend getting on gotamas before buying the mantra. I'm not sure where you're skiing, and the gotama is more of a powder ski, if i remember correctly aren't you in the north carolina area? If you're on more eastern hardpack, i'd recommend skipping the mantra and looking at the ac30, which in my opinion is the beast of the east. Doesn't perform great on powder days, though.
 
i like volkl AC's

i checked craigslist a few times a day for a few weeks and finally some popped up that were cheap. turned out to be a crazy deal from some guy who had a kid so didnt need them anymore and just wanted to get rid of em quick
 
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Diablo Escobar said:
If they have mantra and don't have goats, i'd be shocked. The longer ski will result in a slightly different turn radius, but if you're finding THAT much of a difference between 177s and 184s then I'd have to question if you're really advanced/expert or if you're skidding your turns and "manhandling" the ski and thus you don't feel comfortable with more ski. You're generally going to find more stability on the longer ski.

I'd really, really, really recommend getting on gotamas before buying the mantra. I'm not sure where you're skiing, and the gotama is more of a powder ski, if i remember correctly aren't you in the north carolina area? If you're on more eastern hardpack, i'd recommend skipping the mantra and looking at the ac30, which in my opinion is the beast of the east. Doesn't perform great on powder days, though.
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yeah, I really dont have anyone to evaluate my technique and give me tips ect. I've never actually taken lessons and I pretty much self taught. It might do me well to take an advanced lesson.

I say I'm advanced working on becoming expert because of the trails I run, 40% of the day I'll run blues, 40% black, and 20% ET double blacks and bowls. With that, I just kinda assumed I was advanced on the "rating scale." Skiing in colorado, so hitting powder happens fairly often, but isn't the standard. I will be moving back out east in a few years so I'll be on WV crud soon enough :(

what do you mean by skidding into turns? I like the 177s because I feel I can turn faster and harder on them. it's not the stability but the agility I feel I gain. That all being said it hasn't been good experiment really because my boots have been different every time. the day I took out the 184s my boots were too loose as well. I just got back from getting my own boots (did the custom footbeds, thanks electronic_lsd) so that should give me a solid baseline for length decision.
 
well, you're probably not on the verge of expert, but there's always room for improvement so in a lot of ways it doesn't matter. Chances are you could manage your turns better and it's never a terrible idea to take a lesson if you're going to keep doing this.

If you're really going to ski in Colorado for a few years, try the gotamas on a good day before you buy. I think you guys are getting dumped on right now, so find a shop with goats and get out in the powder in them, I think you'll enjoy your experience.

Ski length is a personal preference, but seeing as how you're still learning and learning to push the envelope, i think the general advice to go a bit longer is sound. In 2 years you'll be amazed at how much faster and harder you ski than you do today, and the extra length will really pay off in those situations. At this time of the season, gear can be had so damn cheap, though, that if you really don't feel comfortable on the longer ski I suppose it isn't so much money to spend that you couldn't lengthen in a few seasons. But if you really plan to move back east, you're probably going to want more of a front side carver than either the mantra or the gotama as your regular ski. This would be another reason to go with the gotama now, as you'd have a nice powder ski for the future and could fill in your quiver with a frontside carver when you go east
 
ok, he's my .02.

i was tryin to give you gear advice for gear you could grow into over the next few seasons. the 184 will kick your ass if you're not leaning forward steering them, which will help you. trees will be hard at first, but i used to ski the 177 mantra and after i got used to it in a season i needed something bigger.

you might want to go for something closer to 100-110 under foot, they aren't that bad on groomers and they kill it in powder.

the best advice i could give you would be have 2 pairs of skis- the 177 or 184 mantra, and then a powder ski like the armada JJ/rossi s7/moment bibby pro mounted with marker duke bindings.

that will keep you busy for years. the mantra is small enough for east coast and tight trees, and the other skis for any powder days (esp. helpful in wet heavy east coast powder).
 
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