Waist size on the East Coast

mystery3You'll be fine on 95-105mm skis on the east coast. They will generally be more difficult to carve hard but coming from a snowboard you probably won't be carving super hard on ice and hard pack anyway.

What kind of board do you ride?

I came back to skiing in my 30's from boarding to teach my kids how to ski and have been skiing exclusively for the last several seasons.

What skis are you looking at so far?

ArgyleNJOk, it's honesty time. The first ski that caught my eye was the mindbeder 108. The graphics to me are the perfect amount of silly-ness that I want in my life. But after all the digging I realized I'm not crazy about going with china-made (though it's not gonna completely sway my decision making). Also, the mindbender 99s are the most boring things I've ever seen. (I'm 51% concerned with finding the right ski, and 49% concerned with what they look like).

I thought to myself, why shouldn't I buy american if there are are so many US ski companies? But there are very few ski shops in north jersey and they hardly carry any US brands aside from Icelantic, so it's tough to make a $700+ decision on something you can't see for yourself in real life.

I stumbled upon ON3P and was really into that vibe, but everything I'm reading is that they are very stiff. On the flip side of that, I was liking the idea of Candide 2.0s, but everyone online says they're super soft. So I'm basically battling myself here wondering what the right balance of waist size + stiffness is the way to go. I know I'm on the wrong side of my prime athletic self, but I like to think that I'm still gonna be pushing it pretty good for the next 10 years. This seems like a classic case of over-thinking, though. I've been riding the same Solomon snowboard since 2004 and it might be the single greatest purchase of my adult life.

ArgyleNJ@animator really appreciate the feedback, thanks dude. I'm totally fine with the extra 70 bucks if you think the ON3P is a better 1-quiver ski, so long as you think it's not too stiff to fuck around with buttering. Any reason you rec the Jeffrey rather than the Woodsman? (I just can't quite tell what the difference is).

Also (since you seem to know your shit), when I went to the local ski shop they urged having metal under foot. Is that really something that I should take to the bank? Seems like there are a lot of highly touted skis that don't have metal.

ArgyleNJTrying my best to be brief here. I'm a lifelong snowboarder who has decided to go back to skis after 20 years (I'm 35, my back is killing me!). I mainly ride in VT, so I'm looking for an all-mountain ski, but I very much determine my ski trips by being a hound about the weather and trying to score the powder days. I've read tons of reviews and watched all the videos of waist size and ski length, but after all that I'm left wondering, does it really matter?

I'm a pretty aggressive snowboarder and I'm confident after a couple days back on skis I'll find myself in that category. I know I want rocker on both ends so I can screw around in the park and butter all over the mountain, but I also know I'm gonna be chasing the powder days whenever possible.

Am I really gonna hinder myself by getting something like a 105-ish waist? I can't help but wonder if it's a detail that advanced skiers like to talk about because they are good enough to notice things like that, but for the general population of the "intermediate" world is there really a huge difference between a 95 and a 108? Will I hate 95s when there's a lot of powder? Will I be cursing at 108s when I'm in moguls?

The internet tends to be very sarcastic, so I'll just reassure everyone that I'm genuinely asking. I wanna make the right choice and have a solid pair of skis that I don't have to think about for a good half of the next decade.

CeleryJeffery is more freestyle based while the woodsman is more directional. You can definitely butter the jefferys but you won't be bending them, more just leaning on the rocker. Another great option is the Reckoner 102. I ski it park and all mountain in Maine. It's stable enough but it feels soon good to butter, like there's no limit to it while still giving some pop and feedback out of the rotation. It also had chunky edges. Wicked fun skis.

ArgyleNJ@animator really appreciate the feedback, thanks dude. I'm totally fine with the extra 70 bucks if you think the ON3P is a better 1-quiver ski, so long as you think it's not too stiff to fuck around with buttering. Any reason you rec the Jeffrey rather than the Woodsman? (I just can't quite tell what the difference is).

Also (since you seem to know your shit), when I went to the local ski shop they urged having metal under foot. Is that really something that I should take to the bank? Seems like there are a lot of highly touted skis that don't have metal.

ArgyleNJOk, it's honesty time. The first ski that caught my eye was the mindbeder 108. The graphics to me are the perfect amount of silly-ness that I want in my life. But after all the digging I realized I'm not crazy about going with china-made (though it's not gonna completely sway my decision making). Also, the mindbender 99s are the most boring things I've ever seen. (I'm 51% concerned with finding the right ski, and 49% concerned with what they look like).

I thought to myself, why shouldn't I buy american if there are are so many US ski companies? But there are very few ski shops in north jersey and they hardly carry any US brands aside from Icelantic, so it's tough to make a $700+ decision on something you can't see for yourself in real life.

I stumbled upon ON3P and was really into that vibe, but everything I'm reading is that they are very stiff. On the flip side of that, I was liking the idea of Candide 2.0s, but everyone online says they're super soft. So I'm basically battling myself here wondering what the right balance of waist size + stiffness is the way to go. I know I'm on the wrong side of my prime athletic self, but I like to think that I'm still gonna be pushing it pretty good for the next 10 years. This seems like a classic case of over-thinking, though. I've been riding the same Solomon snowboard since 2004 and it might be the single greatest purchase of my adult life.

HometownerzYou could try and get your hands on some Lib Techs. Sustainably made, a bit cheaper and softer than on3ps, Cool graphics and pretty good edge hold from what i hear. Would also help you stay true to your 1-plank roots.

HydroaYour going to have a bad time with anything in the hundreds if your looking for an "all mountain" ski. Look for something in the mid to high 90's in waist width.

animatorNot even close to true but nice try!

HydroaI’m talking about when it comes to the east coast. Although we get more powder than many make it out to be, conditions across a mountain will never be enough for a waist width above 100 unless it has recently snowed.

ArgyleNJMy search continues. I'm starting to lean towards the Jeffreys, but the Reckoner has got me interested now if I were gonna go with K2. My local shop also has a pair of Bent Chetler 100s from last year (or maybe 2020) on sale for $419. It's an intriguing idea to save some cash since this is my first pair of skis in ages, but I also really love the camo ON3Ps

DesertStixI feel like we should talk about them more on here

BradFiAusNzCoCaGot me a pair from here for $100. Mint condition. Think I’m selling them to a buddy who needs skis though because I just can’t justify them in my quiver atm 😭

ArgyleNJI went with Fischer Ranger 102s. Appreciate all the feedback from everybody. I combed through all the ski essential reviews on youtube and when they talked about the Rangers they just had a different sound in their voice. You could tell they really liked that ski. Now it's time to totally overthink what kind of bindings to buy.