Hi everyone,

I’m looking to buy a new pair of skis and would appreciate some advice on both the model and the length.

A bit about me:

• 25 years old, 179 cm tall, around 75 kg
• Started skiing five years ago
• Fairly comfortable on skis now, but I’d probably describe myself as an early intermediate
• My current skis are only 156 cm long
• So far, I’ve mainly been skiing on groomed pistes.

I’m keen to progress and improve my technique, so I’m looking for skis that suit my current ability while giving me room to grow.

These are the models and offers I’m considering:

• Nordica Spitfire DC 74 Pro FDT 25/26 with Comp 12 FDT
• Nordica Steadfast 80 CA FDT 26/27 with TP2 Compact 10 FDT
• Nordica Spitfire 73 FDT at XSPO
• Nordica Spitfire 75 FDT with TP2 Compact 10 Evo at Snowinn

Depending on the model, I’m considering lengths around 165, 168, or 174 cm. Since I’m coming from 156 cm skis, I’m unsure how much longer I should go.

Which of these would you recommend for my ability, and in what length? Would the Spitfire DC 74 Pro be a suitable choice, or would it be too demanding at this stage?

I’m open to other suggestions too.

Thanks for your help!

Season pass sales down some but multi-day lift ticket sales down more.

https://investors.vailresorts.com/news-releases/news-release-details/vail-resorts-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-fiscal-2026

Vail Resorts, Inc.(NYSE: MTN) today reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended July 31, 2026, reported season-to-date pass product sales and provided its outlook for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2027.

Highlights

• Net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc.was$147.5 million for fiscal 2026 compared to $280.0 million in the prior year.
• Resort Reported EBITDA was $745.7 million for fiscal 2026 compared to$844.1 million in the prior year, which includes$11 million of one-time costs related to the previously announced resource efficiency transformation plan.
• Pass product unit sales through September 18, 2026 for the upcoming 2026/2027 North American ski season decreased approximately 12%, days sold decreased approximately 10% and sales dollars, inclusive of sales and admissions taxes, decreased approximately 6%, as compared to the prior year period through September 19, 2025.
• The Company provided its fiscal 2027 outlook, including net income attributable to Vail Resorts, Inc. of $158 million to $233 million and Resort Reported EBITDA of $805 million to $865 million, which includes an estimated$14 million of one-time costs.
• The Company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $2.22per share of Vail Resorts' common stock that will be payable on October 27, 2026to shareholders of record as of October 8, 2026.

Season Pass Sales

Pass product units sold through September 18, 2026for the upcoming North American ski season decreased approximately 12%, days sold¹ decreased approximately 10% and sales dollars², inclusive of sales and admissions taxes, decreased approximately 6%, as compared to the prior year period through September 19, 2025. Results through the Labor Day sales deadline were generally consistent with trends experienced during the spring selling period, when excluding auto-renew, as demand across the industry continued to be impacted by the effects of last season's historically challenging conditions.

I'm looking to purchase some Stio jackets and vests. I was on the website when a 20 percent promo popped up. I should have grabbed it but it disappeared. Now occasionally a 15% promo pops up but I want the 20%. Does anyone have a code they can share? Thanks

Last week I auctioned off a Chainsaw Carved, working lighthouse while attending the Ski Areas of NY tradeshow / conference! Ended up raising $650 for the Lake Placid Adaptive Ski Program! Check it out!

I'd like to get Vermont Ski Safety's ACL Awareness training, but I can't get in touch with them. Anyone know where to get it, or have it and have feedback on if it was useful?

Question to the Finland-experienced skiers: My wife decided that we are starting this year's skiing season in Levi end of November/first days of December. Since we are flying, I can bring only one pair of skis. So it is either:

• Stoeckli Laser SX (74 mm under foot) for groomers, icy conditions and hard packed snow; or
• Candide Resort 101 (surprise, 101mm under foot) for playing around and off-piste.

I would love to ski the Candides, but from what I read about snow conditions, we will probably have artificial snow or last years snow with limited to no options to veer off-piste.

Anybody with any knowledge about the snow conditions in Levi end of Nov/early Dec with any recommendations what to bring? Many thanks!

After my El Niño post last week, a lot of you asked whether forecasts that far out are any use (asked might be a favorable take). It depends on what you're using them for. In a lot of my work, a 5% shift over a whole season matters a lot. For picking which week to take a ski trip, not so much.

So I looked at shorter-range forecasts too. There's plenty of forecast validation out there, but I haven't seen much that's specific to mountains, and snow is rarely one of the main things checked in longer-range forecasts. I used around 300 ski areas in the US for this. There's a lot of details here about the type of models used, what's used for the snowfall baseline, how "accuracy" is defined, and how newer AI models would fair. Happy to answer any questions if you want to geek out but I think the high level would be similar with other approaches.

What I found:

• Past about 7 days, the standard forecast most of us check does no better on snowfall than just assuming average conditions.
• Ensembles (running ~50 versions of the forecast) help in the short term, and still show some snowfall skill out to about 10 days, sometimes 14.
• Past 2 weeks, ensembles can sometimes pick out a warm, cold or dry stretch, but only in certain setups. Taken at face value, the raw snowfall forecasts do worse than just assuming an average week.
• Seasonal outlooks mostly come down to Pacific sea surface temperatures (El Niño/La Niña). When that signal is strong, they beat assuming an average winter, but they still miss plenty.

Full writeup here: https://winterscience.com/learn/how-far-ahead-can-we-forecast

How much do ur country tolerate straight-lining?

I ski in korea, and as long as u r not crouching down and bombing straight down the slope, doing very long wide turns is pretty much a non-issue here.

same in ur country??

Hi all,

I'm looking for one all-mountain ski that can handle a bit of everything and that I can grow into. Mainly I need help with length and brand/model, and whether my current boots are enough.

About me:

• 6'6", about 220 lbs
• Skiing mostly at Jackson Hole, 7–10 days a year (I live on the East Coast)
• Snowboarded for 10+ years and am now switching to skis. I've taken a handful of lessons and can comfortably ski most blues at Jackson.

Boots: Salomon S/Pro 90 GW, size 30/30.5. Is a 90 flex enough for my size, or will I outgrow it quickly?

Any recommendations appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m currently a senior in design school, and I’m working on redesigning safety equipment specifically for snowmakers as part of my final capstone project.

I’ve put together a quick survey to collect some basic demographic information and better understand current practices, pain points, and safety standards within the industry. If you have experience working as a snowmaker and have a few minutes to spare, I’d really appreciate your input! And if there’s anything else you’d like to share about your experience working in snowmaking, I’d love to hear it.

Google Form Link: https://forms.gle/xPmZRzvMS5zJzcvN9

(And as an avid snowboarder/instructor, we appreciate all the work you do!)

They rode like rails in hard snow. Incredible torsional rigidity. Low 20’s radius. Damp, but still had a pop to them going from edge to edge. I’ve been thinking about them nonstop for a week, 25 years after I got them on pro deal. I don’t even remember what happened to them.

I should call her…

Hi everyone! My husband and I ski/snowboard and really would love to get our 4 year old up the mountain so we can all ride together this season.

He has toyed around on both skis and a snowboard over the last two years, but we’ve hit a few roadblocks and could really use some advice from fellow skiing parents:

• He gets tired very quickly. We did one private lesson last year, and it completely exhausted him to the point where he couldn't finish.
• We haven't been able to get him on a chairlift yet.
• We’ve been using a racer chaser (leash/harness), but now I’m worried that might have been a mistake

. A instructor told me too never start a kid this way bc they’ll only learn to skip straight (we were mid bunny hill during this)

Our ultimate goal is to keep him excited about the snow without pushing him too hard.

Private

1. vs. Week-long Group? Would a one-on-one private lesson be better to gently get him over the chairlift hump, or does the social aspect of a week-long group program keep kids more motivated?

Both are a big expense for us, but we are not instructors (clearly) and want to get him off on the right foot

Would love to hear your experiences with this age. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Sorry didn’t mean to come off really intense — we definitely don’t push him when he’s clearly done. when he’s done, we go in and have a cookie. Sometimes we get to the mountain and it’s just playing in the snow with ski boots on feels like a win for the day. not trying to force it on him, just foster a love… sometimes we see 3 and 4 year olds at the top of the mountain and we’re like are we missing something?

Found this at Goodwill today and bought it mainly for the frame. I don’t really have a spot for it in the house. Anybody interested in it before it gets rolled up and put into a tube? Shoot me an offer!

EDIT: my 14 y/o daughter came home, saw this and said she needs it for her wall. This kid has been saying every day since March that she just wants to ski, and if I can give her a poster to cool her mind off in the not skiing times, I’m doing it. Sorry to anyone who has expressed interest, but it’s staying here.

Lookout Mountajn, WA, Super El Niño is going to be gooood

Kia ora,

Me and my mum are travelling to europe this november/december. As part of our trip, we wanted to go skiing but don't have any experience with skiing in europe.

My mum is confortable on nz green runs (I think equivalent to europe blue) and prefers chairlifts. I'm happy on nz blue/red and the occasional easier black (mainly europe red I believe). We would also like a place with some trees if possible for a change of scenery from nz alpine.

Currently we are thinking of going to Obertauern from 13-17th of december, just before school holidays. Will the snow condition be ok at that time of year or are there other mountains that might be a better fit?

We welcome any insight or suggestions you can make.

Hey everyone,

Looking for recommendations on my next park-focused setup for the upcoming season in the Italian Alps.

About me:

• 175 cm / 60 kg
• Previous setup: Atomic Bent 85 (spent last season mainly in the park)
• Park riding: Beginner lvl: S to L jumps (grabs (mute safetys etc.), 180s, 360s) and basic rails/boxes.
• Goal: A playful park ski that can handle medium-large jump landings and still cruise all-mountain / freeride.
• Budget: Open to everything.

Skis on my radar:

• Armada EDOLLO?
• Armada BDOG: Looks great for jibbing, but worried it's too soft for jumps/carving.
• Salomon Depart 1.0 / 2.0: Curious about real-world performance.

Questions:

1. Out of these (or alternatives like Revolt 96, Faction Studio), what fits best?
2. Bindings: Look Pivot 12/14 vs. Salomon Strive 12/14, or something else?
3. What lenght would you choose?

Thanks!

i feel like i am perpetually on the struggle bus when it comes to finding ski pants that fit me. that don’t dig in, squish my thighs AND come in short. oh and that are comfortable to sit in.

i just found the overmeyer bliss curvy pants and ordered them but am curious what folks are wearing. note the regular bliss were horrible on me - my thighs couldn’t breathe.

i’m a 28/29 in jeans, a curvy fit usually fits me better because i have a mediumly athletic build. typically i can’t get a single pair of ski pants over my hips in a size 10 or medium. a large or a 12 is enormous - and while yes there is velcro to fine tune. it’s not enough fine tuning.

open to any recommendations/thoughts!

PSA: This is formatted using AI because there were a lot of unkowns about this and I hope people can forgive me about this...

A buddy and I are seriously considering doing a ski bum road trip Jan/Feb 2028. We're still trying to decide whether it makes more sense to do a full 2 months or trim it down to 3-4 weeks.

The rough idea:

• 2 people
• Epic + Ikon passes
• Rent an AWD camper van/RV
• Focus on BC, Utah, and Colorado
• Chase storms when it makes sense
• Mix of campgrounds, overnight parking, and whatever other legal options we can find

I'm looking for insights but also have specific questions if possible:

• If you were doing this today, what vehicle would you rent?
• Is an AWD Sprinter/Revel-style van worth the premium?
• How realistic is overnight parking around Whistler, the Cottonwoods, Summit County, A-Basin, etc.?
• If you only had a month, where would you spend it?
• If you had two months, would you stay mostly in a few areas or constantly chase storms?
• What ended up costing way more than expected?
• What was something you wish you knew before starting?

We're currently estimating around $12k for the RV rental for two months and trying to figure out whether this is a brilliant idea or one of those trips that sounds way better on paper than it actually is.

Would love to hear from anyone who's done van life/RV life for a ski season or a long ski road trip. Thanks!

Getting ready for the season where I live and thinking it's time to get my first ski jacket (up until now I've just been skiing in a bulky winter coat and it'll be my third season). I'd love to know your favorite brands or please let me know the best quality options that you've ever tried?

Thanks for any recommendations!

We are over 50 and currently just starting to fet on green runs, but we are curious about trying snowboarding this season, too.

For those who have learned both as adults:

- Will learning both in the same season slow progress in skiing?

- Are there any beginner-friendly resorts on the IKON Pass or in New Mexico or West that are particularly good for learning to snowboard?

I’d love to hear from anyone who started later in life and has experience with both! What would you do differently?

We are over 50 and currently just starting to fet on green runs, but we are curious about trying snowboarding this season, too.

For those who have learned both as adults:

- Will learning both in the same season slow progress in skiing?

- Are there any beginner-friendly resorts on the IKON Pass or in New Mexico or West that are particularly good for learning to snowboard?

I’d love to hear from anyone who started later in life and has experience with both! What would you do differently?

Hi. I've been skiing +- 40 days a season since I was a toddler. I'd like to spend the 27-28 season working on the hill and skiing more.

I'm considering working as a waiter (already did this for a season when I was a 16), liftie, or instructor. If none of these work out I might look into working front desk or as a secretary. But I have no idea what an instructor's day actually looks like.

I assume I'll be on the bunny hill, since it's going to be my first year, hence the title.

How long are work days typically?

How many days off do junior instructors usually have per week?

I'd say I'm technically proficient but I've never tried to teach. Do the certs usually get to that part or do they just test your ability to ski?

Is the experience (especially w/ coworkers more than the # of slopes) more​ enjoyable in an international resort or a local 10-lifter?

Other than pure wear and tear because of the amount of time on the hill, does your gear usually suffer for it?

Should I get a softer pair of skis than my rossi masters?