Ladies Ski?

[Glen1978]

Might be looking to get my wife out of rental skis sometime this year. This is her first year back from knee surgery and swapping from snowboard to skis. Groomers for the rest of the year Im sure to get those muscles building back up. For sure no twin tip stuff. Im thinking around 90-100 width and around 165 long for now. She is 5'10 and has put a few pounds on due to lack of activity but isnt ready for a ski that "fits her" I dont think. Doesnt need anything crazy as she is just getting back going but our rentals here are just crap and too much to demo every weekend. She looked at some Blizzard Black Pearls and talked to a girl on the mountain yesterday skiing them that really liked them. Just wanted to see what else was out there or if you folks had any other suggestions. TIA

[54-46]

Got my GF (out of skiing for 20+ years) some 163 Head Absolut Joys from levelnine for $200 w Head bindings. Good for a year or two until she’s back in

[Cabinfever]

Yes to Black Pearl in 88mm. Cant go wrong. I’m not holding but only hear good things from multiple owners.


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[bigdude2468]

My wife had the Black Pearl's until she demoed Moment Sierra's, no comparison. Sierra's hands down handle groomers with way more "bite" than the Black Pearls. Our daughter in law bought a pair also and loves them, she is an ex college racer and rails big GS turns at high speed with no problems. My wife does not ski like that at all. She is 4'10" and 95 lbs and even in a 164 she has no problem handling them. She does not use them on deep days as she has a pair of 101 underfoot skis for those days. But I can say our daughter in law skied them last Sunday in 24" of new and loved them. Lastly Moment skis are made in Reno, great guys to work with.

[EWG]

We've had luck with:

Line Pandora 95s. Tip rocker but not much tail rocker, non twin tip. Fairly floaty on mixed snow, good turn initiation. Very good ski for fooling around all over the mountain, not so much for setting things on edge on groomers, but can still bite when necessary. Enough float for a powder day for the lighter skier, though obviously not a huge ski underfoot. Stiffer tail provides some cushion. Wife loves them. It's essentially a women's Sick Day.

Faction Prodigy W, which is the same as a Prodigy 3.0. 96 underfoot. Twins, very very playful. Nice tip and tail rocker. My daughter seems to be able to set and edge and crank them, but she's very small and is on big skis, so your mileage may vary. But for a play ski that is really capable I think I'm impressed. They are great in soft snow and seem to work really well at speed. At snowbird she was pulling really high speed laps on runs off of Provo and Paradise and jumping off of everything and they were handling it well.


I think both of those skis are really well made, progressive skis, though I think you need to be a fairly good skier to use them to their potential.

[ShoNuff]

My wife is a bit shorter, but a very novice skier. She had a good experience learning last season on some Volkl Kenjas in 163 I believe. We recently got her on some Atomic Backland 102s in 164 and she has made huge progress in skiing ungroomed terrain. Both can likely be found on CL or EBay.

[concretejungle]

Atomic Vantage in whatever width would be worth checking out.

[yeahman]

Line Pandora 95s.

That's what my wife skis and she likes them a lot. Good all around ski.

[TAFKALVS]

Head Total Joy
Dynastar Glory 84/Legend 84w

I'd do 1 demo day...get her whatever she likes best, even if it's not what you think she should have.

[Glen1978]

I agree. Arent the Lines a twin tip?

[EWG]

I agree. Arent the Lines a twin tip?

Pandora's are not a twin tip.

Prodigy Ws are so maybe steer clear if you don't want that.

[Glen1978]

Thanks Beece

[Ottime]

Not sure if you are looking at just previous year models but my wife just bought a pair of Sheeva 9. She bought them to use them most days. She liked how they skied groomers. She rides them a bit longer than her cambered hard snow ski. But after a few days on them, she’ll probably ride them way more than her old nordicas. They roll over real easy into turns and bite. The more she rolls the ankle, the more ski she gets. The less she rolls the ankle, the more they are willing to pivot.

She tried black pearls and a few others that are more traditional with their camber profile and la fed on these. We did not expect that.

Might be worth demoing a few days and figuring out what style ski she prefers and gives her the most confidence.

[Glen1978]

For sure. Plan to let her demo several sets this weekend.

[Ottime]

All depends on your demo center, but my wife tried the:

Volkl Secret. Directional, just a hair of tip rocker, demanding, grippy.

Nordica Santa Ana 93. A good bit more tip rocker, a hair of tail rocker, directional, a little less demanding, fairly grippy

Blizzard Sheeva 9. A bit more tip rocker, tail rocker, playful, grippy enough for firm, more centered, but she could still drive the tip, easy to ski when she was tired or skiing slow.

Salomon QST 95 (?). Moderate tip rocker, a bit in the tail. Soft and weak. Easy to ski. Not playful due to lack of pop. Not grippy.


At least that is her feed back. We though the Solly would be an easier to ski Santa Ana, but it just felt flat. The shorter and stiff camber on the Sheeva made it more playful when running flat or slow, but still felt chargey when driving the tips. Only time she did not like them was in variable crud with variable crust. Just not enough ski to power through and with the shorter camber, they also got tossed around in the real shitty snow. But she hate that conditions and only skis it occasionally and accidentally.

[Puderjagarn]

GF changed from board to skis som years ago, nothing extreme here, started with Völkl Snowolf touring skis, later got a pair of BC Atris Birdie, likes them a lot in the pow but misses her Völkl Aura when it is hard and fast.

[Glen1978]

I dont really see her getting off groomers for awhile. She is super scared of Fn that knee up and it really is holding her back mind fuckin herself every time she gets off the lift.

[EWG]

I dont really see her getting off groomers for awhile. She is super scared of Fn that knee up and it really is holding her back mind fuckin herself every time she gets off the lift.

Groomers only might make me think you would be better off with something like the Black Pearl.

[Puderjagarn]

I’ll go for a thing like the old Aura, more suited for soft and hard piste and still wide enough and a small tiprocker if the powpow devil gets you. Unfortunately the 18/19 model got a full rocker profile (why is this the trend ? even the iconic Black Crows Corvus is changed)

[Ottime]

Groomers only might make me think you would be better off with something like the Black Pearl.

This. At least it is a very groomer oriented ski and easy to ride.

The old Aura is good, but it’s still a volkl and needs to be driven.

Most of the Volkl line this year has reduced the rocker component. They were going rocker on everything for a burnt seemed. But the Secret, Yuko, Kenya, 90Eight all have camber with some tip/tail rocker. The Secret (M5) is basically a cambered ski and really needs a driver. The 100Eight is the only ski in the women’s line with full rocker. If OP’s wife is not likely to go off groomers, then a wide waist seems is not needed and will make learning to carve more difficult.

For reference, my wife is a solid advanced ski. Skis all black diamonds comfortably, skis the occasional double black. He widest ski for really deep
Powder days is 105 underfoot. She does not need anything wider at her weight to float. I fully expect her to be on the Sheeva 9 (93mm) up to a foot of fresh.

Black Pearl 88 or Yumi sound like good skis to try. The Black Pearl will be a bit more demanding and Yumi a bit more

[Glen1978]

Leaning pretty hard towards the Black Pearl 88. Plan to demo some this weekend at Copper. Let her try a couple out and see what makes her feel all warm and fuzzy.

This. At least it is a very groomer oriented ski and easy to ride.

The old Aura is good, but it’s still a volkl and needs to be driven.

Most of the Volkl line this year has reduced the rocker component. They were going rocker on everything for a burnt seemed. But the Secret, Yuko, Kenya, 90Eight all have camber with some tip/tail rocker. The Secret (M5) is basically a cambered ski and really needs a driver. The 100Eight is the only ski in the women’s line with full rocker. If OP’s wife is not likely to go off groomers, then a wide waist seems is not needed and will make learning to carve more difficult.

For reference, my wife is a solid advanced ski. Skis all black diamonds comfortably, skis the occasional double black. He widest ski for really deep
Powder days is 105 underfoot. She does not need anything wider at her weight to float. I fully expect her to be on the Sheeva 9 (93mm) up to a foot of fresh.

Black Pearl 88 or Yumi sound like good skis to try. The Black Pearl will be a bit more demanding and Yumi a bit more

[toast2266]

I'd argue that for most of the skis listed in here, if she's just getting back into it and is mostly hitting mellow groomers, the tune on the ski is going to matter as much as the construction. Most of these skis are more or less the same shape. Some have a bit more or less rocker, but whether or not she likes that depends more on her skiing style than whether or not the ski is "good." If she's coming off of rentals, pretty much anything is going to be better.

Of the skis listed in here, buy whatever you can get for cheap. Experiment with the tune a bit. If she likes them, great. If not, figure out why she doesn't like them and then you'll be able to ask this question again with more information than "she's a 5'10 female coming off of rental skis."