Choosing your first pair of skis

When it is worth buying

Roughly four weeks of hire pays for a decent pair of skis and bindings. If you are going every year, you are already past the point where owning is cheaper — and you will ski better on skis you know.

Boots first, though. If you only have the budget for one, buy the boots.

Length

Stand the ski on its tail. For a first pair, the tip should come up somewhere between your chin and the top of your head. Shorter is easier to turn and more forgiving; longer is more stable at speed.

Most people buy too long because it feels like an upgrade. It is not.

Width

The waist width — the narrowest point underfoot — decides what the ski is for.

• 70–80 mm — piste. Quick edge to edge, best on groomed snow.
• 80–90 mm — all-mountain. The sensible default for a European week.
• 90–100 mm — leaning freeride. Better in soft snow, lazier on hard.
• 100 mm+ — powder. Specialist.

For a first pair in the Alps, something in the high 70s or low 80s is almost always right.

The grade tells you the rest

Every ski in this shop carries a grade — green, blue, red or black — the same way a piste does. It is not marketing. It reflects flex, construction and how much the ski demands of you.

• Green — first time or progressing
• Blue — confident on blues, developing
• Red — strong all-mountain
• Black — expert and race

Buy the grade you ski at now, not the one you intend to ski at next year. A red ski will not make you a red skier; it will make you tired.

Bindings

Skis in the green and blue grades usually come with a matched system binding, which is simpler and cheaper. Above that you choose the binding separately and we mount it to your boot sole length, set the DIN and release-test it before it leaves.

Come and stand on them

We will size you in the shop in about ten minutes, and you will leave knowing why you are on what you are on.