Average Life Span of Skis

C

CUSHKOMA

Member
This past winter I moved to Telluride and logged more days on the hill during the season than I ever have in my lifetime. While I was out in Hood this spring, the edge on my Edollo’s blew up after a gust of wind blew my skis over while they were leaning against my truck and slammed into the parking lot. I was a disappointed because it was only my second season on them, but then again I skied longer and harder this year than any other season before in my life.

I realize this is a subjective question, but how long is the average life span for a pair of skis? I’m used to skis lasting longer but that’s because in the past I’ve only averaged roughly 20-30 days on the hill per season.
 
I've had a pair of K2 presses for about 2 and a half years skied them near enough every week on dryslope or snowdome. Just started to delam on one of the tails and have a few base gouges. They held up way longer than I expected. My friend had a pair of ar7s which snapped at the tail on his 5th time skiing them. I guess it's just luck of the draw sometimes
 
Nobody knows the overall average. I had some kartel 98's I used for park with like 80 days on them before the topsheets cracked and peeled. Then I have some kartel 108's for big mountain with 200+ days and they are still in amazing shape.
 
If you ride hard you can usually get like a year out of a pair. If not then you can tamper with them to get them to the end of the season. What I’ve learned is that even tho a pair may be super super beat you can still get a good amount of use out of it before it just don’t slide on snow anymore.
 
Depends on the ski and your skiing, you hit a lot of rails, you put a lot more wear on your edges. If you ski in rocky areas off piste, you'll have a lot more wear on your base.
 
Usually I ski around 90 days a year, around 80 in the park probably and that’s about how long my park skis will last. I’ve had the same pair of pow skis for about 4 seasons now and are still in good condition but they get like 10-15 days of use a season.

**This post was edited on Jul 22nd 2018 at 11:02:49pm
 
Pow skis don't really have a life span. I have a pair that are 5+ years old. The edges are good, bases are good, top sheet is solid... There dosen't really seem to be a solid reason to buy a new pair of pow skis... They just don't feel as playful. Maybe the rocker isn't as tight as before.

Park skis on the other hand only hold up for a minimum of 50 ski days. They can last significantly longer if you don't ride rails every day. Then you have to sand down your edge cracks before they rip out large chunks of your edge. Its hard to keep riding on park skis that have 2+ inches of edge missing.
 
13933512:DirtYStylE said:
Pow skis don't really have a life span. I have a pair that are 5+ years old. The edges are good, bases are good, top sheet is solid... There dosen't really seem to be a solid reason to buy a new pair of pow skis... They just don't feel as playful. Maybe the rocker isn't as tight as before.

Park skis on the other hand only hold up for a minimum of 50 ski days. They can last significantly longer if you don't ride rails every day. Then you have to sand down your edge cracks before they rip out large chunks of your edge. Its hard to keep riding on park skis that have 2+ inches of edge missing.
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even if they're in good nick, lots of use will wear out the core and fibreglass, which is where the loss of playfulness comes from, you have less rebound and pop. Carbon fibre is better and will maintain it for longer, but it's going to happen no matter how well you look after them
 
I found that cambered all mountain skis loose their rigidity after 50 days. They become a little more floppy and harder to keep a good edge on groomed runs

Park skis tend to fall apart after 2 seasons or 80 days, but each ski is different.

Powder skis last forever, unless you hit a rock.
 
I expect a quality pair of skis to last 300+ days of skiing before they need to be retired.I would expect to possibly have to make minor repairs in that time (i.e. re-laminating tips/tails, re-attaching an edge segment). I have had skis last anywhere from 4- 500 ski days. The longest lasting pair of skis I've used has been 2008 Volkl Karmas which i bought used. I have been skiing 75-100+ days a year for the last 10 years. I'm pretty tall and heavy, ski an even mix of park and ungroomed all mountain, with some backcountry thrown in.
 
13934018:trevorschu said:
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One that can do alot of damage that alot af people don't consider is storing skis in hot tin shed, roof cavity etc. in the sun that heats up skis alot (example - my back shed in aus, middle of summer can easily reach 50). Not sure if it's the heat alone, or the cycle between hot and cold at night, but either way not good for them.

Another one that I'm not actually sure is true or not (but I still do) is unwinding bindings to prevent unnecessary strain on the release spring.

Other than that just the obvious summer wax to prevent bases drying and edges rusting.

May be more, but this is all I do
 
I ski at least 1x a week and the 4 pairs I've owned all lasted me around 6 months before the edge starts cracking and seperating from the ski.
 
I get around 100 days on each pair then sell them

I had a pair of 185jj 2.0 that I rode almost 300 days before selling them and the kid I sold them to has put at least another 60 on them

skis will last decades if you take care of them at all (i ride them thru the parking lot, over rocks, in addition to the obvious rails, boxes, and other park features and theyre still all good)

ARMADA TO DI WORLD!!!!!!
 
tbh, no armada ski will last 100 days without at least some sort of problem. I had a pair of b-dogs and like 30 days in the whole fuckin edge just blew up. Armada def charges way to much for their skis as they are fucking garbage.
 
13934331:DieselChevys said:
I only had 7 days on a pair of atomic infamouses until the tail edge blew out and was delamed
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I got them in the box and they were delamed. those skis were built cheeeaaaap
 
13935037:F.A.R.T said:
I got them in the box and they were delamed. those skis were built cheeeaaaap
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after i took them back to the shop i got a pair of 14-15 punx skis for $60 new and unused
 
I think average is like 10 years, then you pull 'em out of the garage and try to sell them on Craigslist for $300 because "these cost $600+ new!" and they're "almost brand new" but irl I think if you can get 100 days out of a good ski you're doing alright, fewer if used for rails extensively.
 
13935021:gucciman7 said:
tbh, no armada ski will last 100 days without at least some sort of problem. I had a pair of b-dogs and like 30 days in the whole fuckin edge just blew up. Armada def charges way to much for their skis as they are fucking garbage.
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thats just nonsense, ive never skied a pair of armadas for less than 100 days and im an over 200 lb park skier...
 
I ride my skis until they truly don't ski any more. Park skis get hit the hardest and usually don't make it more than one real season. All mountain skis will last a few seasons unless they meet a big crash, and pow skis usually last a very long time. Honestly, a solid ski will outlast the bindings you mount on it. If you are a princess and need perfect bases and razor edges to enjoy a day, then ya way fewer days. But that's not me. If it slides, I ride it. I'll find a day that it's appropriate to throw the ski on until it's just not fun anymore.
 
I've been skiing only on Armadas for the past five years and have probably gone through as many pairs, beating on them hard and hiking a ton of rails. But my current pair has almost 2 years on them and they're still fine, so we'll see how much longer they can last....
 
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