Replacing skis is a yearly event if you ski 100 days or more a year. As you demo different types of skis, it is important to decide what type of terrain you usually ski and what style skier you are. If you are a powder hound chasing the snow all season you may only need one pair of fat skis, but if you spend time carving groomers and playing in the bumps, you may need a pair of all-mountain skis also.
Designs vary as skiers do; some are stiffer with more sidecut for greater carve-ability, others have narrower tails than tips for better bump maneuverability. Generally, old-school skiers who keep their feet together won’t like a ski with a lot of side cut, and racers won’t like a straighter ski. More aggressive skiers like myself need stiffer skis for more power and stability at higher speeds. (Less aggressive skiers do not need as stiff a ski, as they’re harder to turn, particularly if the ski is heavy.)
As an experienced skier I know what I’m looking for and I’m being picky about it. I’ve read great things about the K2 Strykers and can’t seem to find those bad boys anywhere here in Glasgow or the UK at all. Summit Outdoor Gear has them but not in my size. I’m 6 feet tall so I need the 174cm.
So call me crazy but I did some shopping online for my skis on a US website, SunandSki.com
Sun and Ski has the K2 Strykers and other discounted gear like K2 Automatic Ski Poles and Thermotech gloves. I assumed it was going to be a challenge to arrange International Shipping for Snow Skis. After all, I have dumped numerous shopping carts in the past once I realized the retailer didn’t ship to the UK. Very frustrating! I was happily surprised to see that Sun and Ski partners with a company called Bongo International.
Bongo provides a US street address for $5. The address is a unique suite # at their warehouse in the States. It was easy to set up my account with Bongo real quick, then head back to Sun and Ski to finish my checkout, entering my new US Street Address as the “Ship To”. Wow, it turned out to be no problem, getting International Shipping for Snow Skis. I wish I had known about this service sooner!! What an awesome idea. My new skis arrived in 5 days and I’m ready to hit the slopes.
“If it was easy, they’d call it snowboarding”
(K2 bumper sticker)
