What's the coolest pair of skis you've owned

[Bad Bob]

My first pair of quality skis. 1964 Kastle Downhills. They were a heavy metal ski that was as easy to turn as any 2X4, but they were stable at speed. Beautiful solid dark blue ski with the Kastle logo on the tip, and mounted up with Marker Turntables and the old Marker toes. Took them to my first race camp, all slalom and a little GS; the coaches saw those things and just laughed.

They died an interesting death. My family moved to Anchorage and they were not a particularly good soft snow ski (they SUCKED). Went over the handlebars too many times and split the ski under the foot longer than the boot sole. I bolted and glued them back together but they were just never the same again. It was on to a pair of Head Masters from there, they were much more appropriate for the the snow and me.

But those Kastles were cool.

 

[scott43]

i don't think I've ever owned a cool pair of skis...

 

[Philpug]

i don't think I've ever owned a cool pair of skis...

Than you haven't lived.

 

[scott43]

Than you haven't lived.

This is what I'm afraid of... Thanks Phil!!!

 

[Guy in Shorts]

These are a pretty cool ski.

 

[slowrider]

My coolest ski @ the moment.

 

[KingGrump]

This is what I'm afraid of... Thanks Phil!!!

It is never too late to rectify the deficiency.

 

[mdf]

Definitely K2 KVC's. The hot pink insets in the base made the snow underneath them look like it had a radioactive glow. And they were mega-trendy that year.

Of course, upthread Phil has not only KVC's, but some limited edition variant....

@Uncle Louie 's custom Ski Logic pair are probably the coolest skis I have ever seen in person.

 

[Chris Walker]

Easily my Red Sleds. 1985 Atomic ARC Bionic RS 210s, special Olympic edition. I got them for a song from a childhood friend who had moved to Tahoe and worked in a ski shop. As a poor college freshman they were my most prized possession. After a race at Winter Park, I put them on the rack and went in to the Balcony House to change out of my pads for the drive back to Boulder. I didn't lock them up, but I separated them-- one ski on one rack and the other on the opposite side of an adjacent rack. Somebody must've watched me do it, because I was only gone like 5 minutes and when i came back out they were gone without a trace. What a deflating, infuriating, agonizing feeling. I still have some salt over that one, 3 decades later.

 

[slowrider]

I'm waiting for team Volant to arrive.

 

[x10003q]

These. Head Super DH 223.

I got them used at a swap for $150 in the mid 1980s and was able to actually use them at a couple of downhill speed camps held at Sugarloaf. I was clocked at 71mph thru a speed trap during one of my downhill runs. I used to free ski them quite a bit. They actually turn once you reach about 40mph and they are still in the garage.

 

[graham418]

I had a pair of Spalding Squadra Corse, 195's , when they first came out. They were the previous years test skis, I bought them at the swap. They were mounted with Look bindings. Those skis rocked. No one else had a pair , which added to the cool factor

 

[slowrider]

Those DH boards made great powder skis back then.

 

[Muleski]

Lots of cool skis and thought spotted here. I love the pic that Phil posted of Phil Mahre on Eddie Chase's shoulder at Lake Placid in 1980. Ed was a great guy, and really drove K2 race and the twins skis. RIP!

So, I have some serious K2 VO love, too. One of my college buddies was a race rep, and since I was still "sort of" a coach, I was well taken care of. I was no longer racing and those on the softer flex scale were perfect and available. I always had R stock. Funny, the only pair that I kept was a non R ski, in a wimpy flex, mounted with the "wrong" binding....Sollys instead of MRR's. I loved those skis, and skied them everywhere, in everything. High Rustler at Alta in close to two feet of fresh. I also had a pair of KVC VO's, which made their way to me form a college student who needed a few bucks.

I had a couple of pairs of Head XR-1's which were pretty great skis, and cool ones. Around 1977, I had a pair of Rossignol Strato 102's with a clear base, and red Nevada race bindings. And a couple of years later, I scored a pair of race stock, USST, Yamaha Paramount GS skis. They really were an amazing ride.....until I bent them. Unsuccessful trying to straighten them.

Had a whole series of Volkl race skis. And Renntigers. I really never had NONE that I didn't like. Until the first P30 Race carver. What a dog!

The coolest? I would give "a lot" to have these back. A pair of 212cm Dynamic Vr17 GS skis, with red Nevada's. Clear bases, with the Dynamic logo etched into the sidewall. Lightly used, lightly raced, and passed on to me from a real icon in the sport. I got them after my race days, skied them a bit, and gave them to a younger racer....who ended up going real far with his ski carreer. This were his first serious GS ski, and I think his last before he got picked up by his first ski company.

There were SO cool. Would love to have them on display. But, they didn't mean so much to me, as I never skied them much. I bet the original "owner" would like them back.

Have really not kept any skis over the past 35 years, other than our kids' first skis, boots and poles.
Guess none were that cool!

 

[Philpug]

Euro Salomon S9000's

 

[Primoz]

I have used more skis then I could count in all this time, but definitely cooles pair is Rossi Soul7. It's not because it would be great ski, it's actually shitty ski on everything but in powder, and when it comes to "cool" factor for other people, I'm pretty sure the other Rossi skis I have and are from certain WC racer stock would most likely be way cooler, but for me, those moments when you sink into 1m fresh powder and ski that, they just can't be compared to anything else. And that's why my Soul7 is coolest ski I ever had. Well I might change my mind, when I will try my brand new Super7 waiting in basement for snow to come this winter, but for now Soul7 has my "coolest ski I ever had" title.

 

[Crank]

I never skied them, but the coolest pair of skis owned was given to me b a member of the 1968 French ski team. It was mid-80's and I was working part time for a moving company while going to college. We moved a bi place in a town of really big places, Greenwich, CT. The owner had a ton of skis and we got to talking. He was french and I think his name was Pierre Judy or Jugy... can't seem to find him through internet searches. Anyway he gave me this 20 year old pair of long ass racing skis. Wood, screw in edges, they were Dynastars. I never mounted bindings on them and so never tried skiing them. Eventually I dumped all my old skis one time when I moved.

 

[Chris Walker]

Those DH boards made great powder skis back then.

Or mogul skis if you were Glen Plake.

 

[Kurt]

1973 Dynamic VR7 207cm bought off of Ochoa after a World Cup event at Heavenly Valley; don't know what they put in those bases but you could do high speed, core busting, rock shots (those kind that make you cringe), and be awed that the bases wouldn't have a scratch. Yes, time does perhaps cause ones fond memory of a ski be a bit exaggerated but those bases were amazing, and the skis were quick, smooth at speed, and all-around fun in the gates. Only regret is that I never kept old ski; I see them on the walls of après ski bars all the time...

 

[Bad Bob]

This thread seems to reprove the adage that; "You date your skis, but marry your boots".

There are just some dates that you never seem to forget.