mogul skis

Question
I'm a 62-year old woman, 5'3" and 115 pounds.  I've skied for over 50 years, though it was only once or twice a year for part of that time.  I've been given a six-day a week season pass to Kirkwood, so for the first time in years, I'm skiing about once a week.

I'm a very pretty skier on groomed intermediate slopes.  I love to ski with my feet tightly together, making either short wedeln turns or smooth long curves.  

I've been skiing on 190 cm Elan skis for over 20 years and have been pressured to turn to the parabolic skis.  I've demoed them several times and can ski fine, but I just don't like them.  The shape of the skis forces my feet apart, rather than have them tightly together.  

I thought I was doomed to have the longest skis on the mountain, until I watched the mogul competition in the Olympics.  Would mogul skis be a good option for me?  I don't have a lot to spend, so if that's a good route, I'd probably look for a used pair.  Do you know if there are any locations in northern California that demo mogul skis?

I'd appreciate any help you can give me.  I like the way I ski now, except I'd like to be more aggressive.  I've rejoined a local gym, and I'm working seriously to build the muscles that will make that happen.

Answer
Hey Kay,

Great to hear that you are still avidly skiing. I understand your reluctance to switch to the newer shaped skis. I didn't switch until 5 years ago when I changed over to telemark skiing. My suggestion to you would be to look for and demo some all mountain skis. Mogul skis are designed for short, quick turns and tend to be wide in the tips and tails with a narrow waist. An all mountain ski will be more proportionate with the tip/waist/tail dimensions. I feel that they woulr work much better for the style of skiing you are used to and also perform well for you if you want to be a more aggressive skier.

When you look at the dimensions of the ski, the larger the difference between the waist and the tip/tail, the tighter turning they will be. Also look for the 'turning radius'. The smaller the number, the longer the turning radius. With a larger number, you can make tighter, quicker turns, a smaller number, long cruising turns. With any all mountain ski, you will still be able to make tighter turns when needed but they will perform well in a larger variety of conditions.

Check out the link to see a variety of women's all mountain skis. Look at a variety of them to see what the dimensions are. You should be able to get an idea of what would work well for you. Once you have a range of numbers, then you can shop for used skis and know what you are looking for. Good deals can be found at resale shops, craigslist, and ebay. Ebay can be a good and bad as you usually can't physically inspect the skis. But extra pictures can be asked for to help you make a decision to bid. With resale shops and craigslist, you can usually inspect the skis and possibly bid the seller down.

http://www.evogear.com/shop/ski/skis/all-mountain/usedby_womens/p_all.aspx

Hope this helps.
Keep on skiing,
Windlover