Ski recommendation

Question
QUESTION: I am a female high school sophomore, going to be 17 years old this ski season. I am going to be on my school's ski team, mostly participating for fun. I am in between an intermediate to expert skier. I am 5'4" and weigh 120-138 pounds, (frequently changing due to increase in activity levels due to my schedule in my competitive sports- figure skating and soccer,) but most typically 127-133. I have only raced one season before in middle school. I want these skis to last beyond high school, where I will most likely be skiing a around 10 days a winter. I'm from New England so I mostly only get to ski on groomed, icy conditions. I will be racing mostly GS. I'm looking for a quality ski for a good deal either gently used or from previous seasons. I've seen a couple of skis that fit these descriptions (but they are all junior skis:

-Nordic GS Race JR Ski 2007 / 2008 $249.00(153cm, 161cm, 171cm)
Sidecut: 103/63/88(153cm and 161cm), 103/65/88(171cm).
-07/08 Fischer GS JR 165CM with Z11 BINDING $349 (used less than 10 days)
-07/08 Nordica GSj Junior Race Skis Used 171cm $349.00 (used 6 days)

What size would you reccomend?
I saw some online size charts and thought I would be somewhere between 155cm-170cm. I mostly was looking at 160cm-165cm skis.

My last pair of skis were 140cm 2005 Atomic Race:6 JR skis
and were way overdue for new skis. I got to the point where stopping was extremely difficult, skidding probably 10 to 15 from where I was trying to stop, and even worse, they were flexing when going over dips in the trails! And not just a little bit, so much I thought they were going to snap! Why wait so long? I wasn't sure what my future of skiing was going to be and didn't want to invest in the wrong pair of skis. I was considering transferring to my current school where I would be able to race, debating whether to get twin tips or back-country skis, or just a versatile all-mountain ski. Or maybe even a snowboard! I wasn't able to use my skis the last time I skied this past winter and rented a demo a pair of K2 BURNIN' LUV and felt it was very heavy, but maybe that is something I have to get used too? They were 160cm I believe.

Overall, what skis would you recommend for me?

Thank you very much I couldn't figure any of this out on my own!

ANSWER: Dear Maryann --

If you did not get the skis tuned fairly frequently, you probably no longer had a sharp edge for turning and stopping.  Also, you may have damped the camber out of your old skis, or you may have grown too tall and too strong for them.  Either way, you are right, you need a new pair of skis.

The rental K2 skis probably felt heavy because of the adjustable rental bindings.  These bindings are significantly heavier than a binding meant for one skier.  But I am not fond of K2 skis in general, I find them heavy for their level of performance, and I feel they do not track well at speed.

I would recommend a ski around 160cm.  If you are going to race, I recommend a race ski, rather than an all mountain ski or a back country twin tip ski.  That said, I would recommend skiing a slalom ski in the 160 length rather than getting a GS ski.  The slalom ski will actually give you a little more all mountain versatility than a GS race ski will give you.

The junior skis will still perform well for you at your weight, but, if you can, you should try to rent or demo them before you buy.   I would consider the Nordica, the Fischer, the Volkl racetiger junior, and the Solomon.  In this case, I do not recommend used skis, because you want to have good edges, and you want to know the skis have not been flexed inappropriately or been through a bad crash.

The most important thing that you need to have are properly fitting, comfortable boots.  Ensure that any ski & binding combination you get is compatible with your boot.

Please write back, if you want to discuss any of your options, if you have other questions, or if you find other ski options that you would like to discuss.

Good luck to you.  Think Snow!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your answer. Would slalom skis affect my GS racing? I don't know if it makes much of a difference, but I feel I put to much stress towards just doing ski team for fun. I would like to make Varsity at least 1 year out of my 3 and I would also like to qualify for states during my years on Varsity. I also realized that because of ski packages, I found myself wondering whether or not my binding and boots are good for my circumstances.

I am fairly sure my bindings are good. I have Marker M900 EPS binding (http://ecom1.sno-ski.com/product684.html). My boots however I am unsure about. They have not been very comfortable to me the past couple of years but I don't know if it is just because it is a ski boot. I have Women Junior ski boots Dalbello fx 5.4. I think some of the discomfort may be due to incorrect size, considering I got them at least 4 years ago if not more. Does a racing boot vs. a regular women's boot make a significant difference?

Another issue I have had is finding used gs suits. Are there any out there? I have found a very, very, very small selection of gs suits, some of which I love but $500 seems like to much to spend on such an item in this situation.
Last but certainly not least, do you know of any sure places to get new skis from previous years?

Again, thank you very much.

Answer
Dear Maryann --

Sorry it took me so long to answer, I was away on a business trip.

The Slalom skis should not affect your GS skiing, unless you have a very hard time riding your edge through a long carved turn.  If you will do both types of races on one set of skis -- I recommend slalom skis.  If you will do predominantly GS races, then you should get GS skis, understanding that your slalom races will suffer significantly.

I think you should really invest in good new boots.  They will be critical to improving your skiing.  I do not recommend a racing boot as they are generally too stiff except for the very best and most aggressive skiers.  An upper end boot from a top tier company will be better for you than a racing boot.

Does your High School team have ski suits?  If not, many ski swaps will have used GS suits for reasonable prices.  Just wash it well and you should be on your way.

As for last years skis, I think your best bet is to check your local ski shop.  They can put a package together for you, and mount the bindings etc.  If you buy off the web, you will have to take your skis, bindings and boots to the local ski shop, to have everything mounted and adjusted anyway.  You must consider the price for mounting and adjustment when you look at web prices versus in-store package prices.

Good luck to you.  Again please write back, if you have more questions.