Old skis make the best rock skis. Maybe not this old. Photo: Henry Perks//Unsplash
Winter is here — those three words sound so declarative and all-encompassing, when in reality it means a lot of different things to different people. To some, winter is here when the first heavy swells of the season start rolling through. To others, it’s a date on the calendar (December 21), or when the ski resorts open, or the first snow falls.
I say that winter is here when I’m able to get my first turns of the season in. And so to help those first turns come sooner rather than later, I keep a pair of rock skis in the closet.
Rock skis, of course, are “Old skis used for thin snow conditions in early and late season when hitting rocks is more likely.” A definition that I would wholeheartedly agree with.
My rock skis are an old, heavy pair of Solomon X-Wings that I bought for $100 from a friend as I was getting back into skiing in college. Since then I’ve graduated to newer, more high-performance sticks, but despite the relative lack of use those X-wings now receive, I haven’t been able to bring myself to get rid of them. Why? Because they’re my rock skis. Here’s why I think everyone should own a pair.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want my favorite pair of skis bouncing over a patchy snowscape like this one. Photo: William Jones //Unsplash
1. Early and late season turns can be a sloppy affair. Warmer temps and worse conditions leads to t-shirts, sunglasses, and drinking in the lift line, a surefire recipe for shenanigans and risk-taking. And while you might be dying to break out those fresh new skis you picked up when they were cheap over the summer, hit enough rocks and you’ll be using the money you saved on repairs and a stone grind instead.
2. Skiing carefully is less fun. And that’s exactly what you’ll be doing on those nice new skis of yours. Rock skis were meant to be dinged up, and with them underfoot every rock you hit can be a celebration of “thank god that wasn’t my actual skis that just took a core shot” rather than a string of curses.
3. Winter isn’t getting any longer. Say you don’t want to do either of the above — perhaps you “only ski powder” or are “always in the park.” Well, I hate to be a downer but winter is already too short, and it isn’t getting any longer.
4. More time on the mountain means more fun later in the season too. While everyone else is just getting their ski legs underneath them, you’ll already have quads of steel from slipping all over the early-season ice.
5. The cost-to-benefit ratio of rock skis could hardly be any more in your favor. Rock skis are cheap. Using them prevents you from damaging your nicer skis and lets you have more fun (because in the end that’s what it’s all about). That’s a win, a win, and a win. Sounds more like a benefit-to-benefit ratio, eh?
When you boil it all down, not owning a pair of rock skis means either waiting for more snow to fall, and therefore skiing less, or paying more to fix or replace your nicer equipment. You could do either of those things, or you could check out your local Craigslist, stop by a thrift shop or a used ski outlet, and get yourself a pair of beaters.
All that being said, rock skis can only do so much to make the most of rocky conditions. This guy might have called “Winter” a little early:
View this post on Instagram
