Salomon Crossmax 10/912TI

I don't ski often enough to bother carting my own skis around these days, so I've tried quite a few on hire in the last 10 years. I'm an intermediate in skills but ski quite aggressively. I was very disillusioned with most of the new generation intermediate skis (or at least the ones hire shops offer) until I used Salomon CrossMax this year. I now realise that this is because the waisting ratios have got more and more marked, with a view to flattering you into thinking your turning skills are better than perhaps they really are. The downside with this is that it's almost impossible to ski straight on the flat or anywhere near the fall line wihtout the skis trying to go one way or the other. highly waisted skis simply hate aren't designed to go in straight lines. Crossmax are the first ski I've tried that seems to manage a reasonable compromise: easy enough for a decent intermediate in differing on-piste conditions but can get up good speed in a schuss wihtout the skis jiggling from side to side continuously. The only big drawback is their weight but all that means is that they weigh as much as all skis used to 10 years ago! Worth putting up with. Can'y comment on off-piste characteristics.

The Saloman Crossmax 10/912TI are the most expensive skis to hire but go for it.

Hired these for 4 days in the Italian Dolomites. skied all day and covered lots of terrain and couldnt fault these skis. When I really wanted to ski aggressively they responed well, but in the real world when s a 52 year old my legs are tired I could ski defensively nd easily on these.

Excellent carve, turn skis with balance and performance.

More of an intermediate-advanced skiers' ski.Performs well on moguls and handles well at carving.Go for 912 bindings, more expensive but a lot safer.