What would you suggest?

12 year old 5'3" 105 ish lbs. Strong and wiry. Get 35 days a year. Been on skis and in the programs at SB since 5 yrs old. Castlerock top to bottom and all the trees. Slidebrook X no problem at all. Enjoy the entire mountian at Mad for the dumps. Do not race but, do enjoy high speed cruisers and the air, those lips provide. Happy to mess around in the park but, not that much. Was on Armada Coda 143cm last year. Need more.

Would like something a little fatter this year for the trees. Guy down here (Outside Bos) did suggest Armada El Ray. (like the tough base and durable impact edge)

Any thoughts appreciated.

slaw wrote:

What would you suggest? 12 year old 5'3" 105 ish lbs. Strong and wiry. Get 35 days a year. Been on skis and in the programs at SB since 5 yrs old. Castlerock top to bottom and all the trees. Slidebrook X no problem at all. Enjoy the entire mountian at Mad for the dumps. Do not race but, do enjoy high speed cruisers and the air, those lips provide. Happy to mess around in the park but, not that much. Was on Armada Coda 143cm last year. Need more. Would like something a little fatter this year for the trees. Guy down here (Outside Bos) did suggest Armada El Ray. (like the tough base and durable impact edge) Any thoughts appreciated.

We ordered the Vokl Gotama Jr. for my son who is 13 and just shy of 100 lbs. It is rockered so it's supposed to be good in the woods and in powder. Joe at Alpine Options had recommended it although they are sold out already.

Yea, they do look nice. how long did you go? Thank you.

Do you guys know about the leasing programs?

I would think they are a great bargain for kids at that age? They grow out of equipment so fast!

Or do they not carry the quality equipment your kids need?

for me, my guy down here gives me 50% back every year. not sure its a std deal or not, i do buy a lot from him (3 kids, two adults)

Would love to use a local SB shop but, i usually don't pull into town for the season till the day after christmas and want to be ready to go.

slaw wrote:

Yea, they do look nice. how long did you go? Thank you.

147.

We rent for whole package for the younger one and my son rents boots. You can get really good deals on used/demo skis for the kids. These will probably last 3 seasons and he bought them new because that is the only thing he wanted and saved up to pay for them himself.

I was planning on the 148 Gotama Jr. Checked them out. Very nice. At 5'3 and change they only come up to his mouth. Given the rocker design that ok? Seem a little short to me. Any expert opinions? Thank you.

Rockered skis will ski shorter than normal camber, so you may want to check out next size up.

How managable is the rocker design inbounds on groomed, hard back or even in the bumps?

Yard Sale wrote:

How managable is the rocker design inbounds on groomed, hard back or even in the bumps?

stay tuned we're going to find out.

For East I would definitely recommend another pair of skis. I would imagine that fully rockered or early rise skis will do fine on the groomers of CO or UT, but for East coast "hard pack" you would like to have something else. Think about 3-4 days it takes to recover after the r... when everyone is skiing behind groomers. I picked up a pair of junior crossover skis (somewhere between SL and GS) for those days. Can be found reasonably cheap from GMVS kids.

I think that would be a killer combination something rockered to play in the woods and a GS for icy groomers.

good thoughts... thank you. Think 148 may be the max size on the Jr. Gotama. will keep looking.

fwiw- the new ski magazine has a page on kids skis at 108.