Normally I like to research my gear purchases thouroughly in advance, but I went into this one nearly blind. I tried to impress upon the sales person that even though I don't know anything about ski equipment that I'm not actually a beginner, so please don't give me beginner skis.
She was sooo not convinced.
How long have my skis been in the past? Uhhh... I remember renting some 165s about 4 years ago.
Well... skis are getting shorter now, how bout these 153s? Uhhh.... Are these baby skis?
No.
Well, how can I argue with that? I'm just so sure that I have just bought baby skis. On the bright side they have a price sticker that says $299 and I got them for $89, so at least they are a good deal.
Then I went to the bindings guy. He found two that might work. I noted that either the blue or the red would match my baby skis. He pointed out that the more expensive red ones can be looser now that I'm in baby skis, but when I graduate to the next level, they can get tighter and will even go with my next pair of big girl skis. He knows I don't really need baby skis. Sold!
The big ego killer was that there was noone to standing by to help with the poles. Apparently anyone who would think to buy poles would know how high they should be. Uhhh... I felt like such an idiot. They all seemed so tall. I grabbed the shortest pair I could find in 10 minutes of digging. Then I went back to the ski girl. She said that she would want them shorter. Well this is the girl that outfitted me in baby skis, so I ignored her and bought them before she could take back my baby skis and try to sell me a tube instead.
I have found my skis online in a lot of beginner rental packages at resorts, which makes me sad about my purchase. But then I found this: "Designed for intermediates and beyond. Based on a stable, wider waisted chassis, these skis give developing skiers the confidence they need to loosen boundaries and expand horizons in all conditions ." That's me. I'm expanding my horizons. That's also pretty much what the ski girl said, without the inspirational horizon part and she didn't tell me I need a wide waisted chassis. Good think on that last bit.
Other Al's booty includes some Smith Sun glasses and Gu -- all on sale of course. I still need to buy boots. That's a key purchase, so I'll probably recruit a local who knows the jargon to help me out, or maybe I'll demo to begin with.
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