Hello!
I m 6'2, 220lbs, intermediate skier. I m in my mid 30's and have 20+ years in snowboarding and went back into skying 2 years ago. As I m pretty athletic and my snowboarding skills were very good so I thought I could pick expert skis and I bought the bonafide 97 187 cm. I was wrong... This skis are too heavy and way too demanding. It s definitly not the right match for me.
I love freeriding but the condition in the french Alps have gotten worse and worse and we rarelly have powder. So I mostly hit the side of the groomers. I do want to improve my carving too but I m 60 % off pist, looking for fresh snow and small jumps. I m thinking about an Elan ripstick 96 at 180, or QST 92 at 176 or rustler 9 (but I m afraid to pick hard skis again! I realized I m an expert snowboarder, but just an interdemiate skier...) On sale, they end up at the same price in Europe as Elan get a higher discount, so no difference there. Rustler are slighty more expensive though, but not a big difference.
What do you think about the lenght for my size? The bonafide at 187 were way too long that why I would take now a shorter ski. Also they were so heavy and so hard to turn in steep and ungroomed terrain that the lightweight of the Elan is very apealing too me. But I ve read they re not good god skier over 200 lbs like me... What would you recommend?
Thanks a lot!