Wow! What a difference a new ski makes.

[dbski]

As an old fart skier I always claimed most of my skiing problems originated from the ankles up. I'm a recreational course skier and run 15/22 off at 32. I've been on a 2010 Radar alloy Senate (the ugliest ski ever made) and have always been happy with it. Believe it or not but my wife persuaded me that I needed a new ski. I picked up a left over '15 Senate Graphite last winter ($400 new in the box) and have skied it about 6 sets. WOW! Either I somehow got better over the long winter layoff or skis have advanced in 5 years. It is noticeably faster off the ball and through the wakes and I'm just waiting for the next ball. So if you're one of those guys that thinks that Ol' reliable is good enough, try a new ski! Hell I might get really crazy and try messing with the fin.

[LeonL]

Well if it's that good, measure carefully so you can go back to where it is now.

[chris55]

I completly agree. I started slaloming 2 summers ago with a O'brien Mapple 2002 (my pic) and I gave myself a special treat last october, a Mapple T2. First set at 28mph, too slow. 2nd set 30mph felt great and 3rd at 32mph 15off. And now I started the new season getting ready to go to 34mph. For a 60 years old guy like me the improvement was HUGE ! And less fatigue too ! I am telling you go for the new technology ski

[ESPNSkier]

Glad to see some other "Old Fart" skiers like myself having success! I rode an older 69" HO for the last few years and was basically stuck at 32 mph 15 off. Last month I tried a 67" HO Superlite CX and loved it from the first cut. This ski is so much faster and requires far less effort than my old ski. I ran a PB on my second set and am now getting deep into 28 off. Next step is to get back to 34 mph.

[ESPNSkier]

@LeonL is absolutely correct about documenting your current fin settings before you make any changes. When I rode a demo CX I absolutely loved it and I bought one from Performance which was set to factory specs. When I rode it for the first time it just did not ski nearly as well as the demo. Performance measured the settings on the demo for me and when I reset my fin to match the demo it made a huge difference in the way the ski felt for me.