realskiers

Jim & Ron I appreciate your comments. What I'm looking for in a new ski is one that I can literally take all over the mountain. I know that such a ski is not going to be optimal for extreme conditions (ice / deep powder) but I rarely see these conditions. For deep powder I will continue to rent skis as I don't see that many of those days (unfortunately). I really liked the Mantras I rented at Alta/Snowbird last year. I live on the east but ski half my days in Vermont and half out west. As for me, I'm in my late 40's and have been skiing for 35 years. I'm 5' 9" and 172 lbs. I'm in pretty decent shape, good core strength/conditioning, run about 20-25 miles per week, do some moderate weight training. I generally prefer a medium to medium-stiff ski. I find that softer skis don't give me the stability I like as I do tend to enjoy higher speeds. I like the moguls occasionally as well but don't spend all day in them like when I was in my younger days. I've tried the i.M72 and found them to be too soft, although they were great in the moguls. The i.M77 I demoed was much better for my type of skiing. The last couple of years I've been skiing my older Volkl P40 Platinum skis for high speed GS turns but they are terrible in even moderate crud/chop. The other ski I've been on the last couple of years (and ski mostly) are the Atomic R:11 Puls titanium. These are much better in all around conditions. They aren't as good as the P40's for GS type skiing but they are pretty good in crud and boot high powder. They are also good in the glades/trees and are manageable in the bumps, although they are a bit too stiff for good bump skiing.