Broken ski

Finally made the trek over to MRG today, and an otherwise incredible day ended with a broken ski toward the bottom of Chute (the run that follows the single chair from the mid-station to the top).  It being the end of the day, I was taking it easy bumping from mogul to mogul and out of nowhere I heard a crack and was face-planted in a mogul.  I got up a bit confused, noted my boots were still in the bindings and attempted to ski - only to face plant again on the first turn (all below the onlookers from the chairlift, who I'm sure were commenting to themselves about this being amateur hour).  At this point I realized my left ski had broken in half right underneath the toe of the binding.  I was able to make it down the mountain with some beautiful snowplow maneuvers and very careful turning, but now I'm off to 2017 without a pair of skis.

Before I rush out and buy a new pair I was hoping to get some input from my fellow skiers...  Has this happened to any of you?  Was it a ski defect, or did you chalk it up to hard use of the skis? And what should I be considering for my next pair?

As a bit of background - these are Blizzard skis I bought in 2011 and have probably used around 50 times.  I spend a lot of time in the trees and enjoy bumped up trails, but I stay firmly planted on the ground and have never used a terrain park feature.  I've had a few crashes that have caused the boot to dislodge, but it's always been at a relatively low speed and would seem to be well within the realm of normal ski use.  

Note that the non-broken ski has a crack in almost the same spot (see last picture).  Both skis have had cracks in this spot for a while, so it makes me think this has been building for some time and just took the right event to push it over the edge.

Might be a weak spot in the design as it broke right in front of the binding interface.  Could also be pilot error skiing repeatedly into the front of bumps.  Check out my blog post on a different way to ski bumps without ramming the tips into what I call the locked front door of the bump.  http://nyskiblog.com/coach-z-mature-approach-to-bump-skiing/

A 5 year old ski likely won't be covered by warranty.  Technology has advanced so new skis are in order anyway.  I'd go back to the shop you bought them be cool about it and see what they say.  It there was a design issue with that model they may help you out.  They may offer you a better deal on new skis.  If you got them on line you are screwed which is part of why to buy from a good local shop.

Another note is that if you noticed cracks in the side walls it's something to go show your shop right away.  That could have been a really dangerous fall.

Thanks for the advice and the bump skiing link.  I bought the skis at the Sports Page in Queensbury, so I did plan to take them back there.  I'm going in assuming it'll be a complete loss, so if they give me anything it'll be a bonus.

On your last point - in retrospect I'm realizing I should have thought more about the cracks when I first noticed them.  I'd never seen (or heard of) anything like this in the past, so I just figured it was something really minor.  And, they were there the last time I had the skis tuned, and no one said anything.  I do keep thinking it would have been much worse had I been in the woods, going faster, etc.  Valuable lesson learned.

Scary stuff there. Glad you're ok. I'd be curious to hear how you make out. Thanks for that link coach. Good advice.

That happened to me once.  I was cranking down a trail and was in the process of bailing when I saw a 90 degree ski in the air, with a fist-sized object (heel piece) to the upper right of that.

The shop I went to said the binding was not mounted properly (they didn't mount) and that water had gotten into the screw hole and rotted/deteriorated things.  This was in the days before plates.

I probably had 50 or so days on those skis too, and the season wasn't done yet.  Shows how much studying I did that year.

I tried the shop that mounted the bindings and the ski mfg., but I was SOL.

I see a Sports Page sticker on there. Take them into the shop and see if they can do anything for you. I had two pairs of atomics that they sent back. Those were within the two year warranty but it was for base edge separation not an actual broken ski. They might send back to the MFG. If Blizzard stands by their product you will either get a credit or a new pair of skis. You won't find out or get your gear/credit until the fall tho so you need a new pair of skis for this year. Glad you are OK. I know of more than a few people who have broken skis. Its def a scary thing.

I wouldn't expect much on a 6 year old ski, but point it out. It's very hard to know if this is a manufacturing defect of if someone ran them over in a parking lot. Definitely sucks. Never skied on a Blizzard, not inspired to do so now!

Boy I'm no expert but that looks like a manu defect to me.

A little different but the same feeling of terror...  I had a ski come loose from the binding. Atomic RT-86, brand new skis mounted at a well-known ski shop.  Good reason to practice skiing on one foot I guess.

The thing about TELE is that the "safety" or runaway prevention is attached to the binding. The ski took off and I crashed semi-on purpose.  I was afraid someone would get hurt.  

(To add insult to injury Gore threw away my brand new ski and it cost me $550. Grrr).

As a quick update...  Sports Page wasn't really interested in helping, and they were happy to tell me there are currently no specials, discounts, used skis, etc. as this is the peak time for buying skis (which I already knew - but thought they might have an interest in tossing a small discount my way for purchasing a new set).  I also emailed Blizzard a couple days ago and have yet to hear anything back.  Needless to say, I'll certainly not be recommending Blizzard to anyone in the future.

As a bit of consolation to me, the guy at Sports Page said something to the tune of "based on where that break's at it definitely wasn't skier error."  Even if he has no idea what he was talking about it was nice to hear, as this whole thing has caused me to really second guess what I'm doing out on the mountain.

Figure I'll stick to the XC skis this weekend and see where I go from here.

Sportspage usually offers a good deal on a full package. If you were expecting even more, that's asking a lot given the age of you skis.

Bummer. I thought you might get some love since it broke. Wonder what you will get back from Blizzard.

Have you demoed anything lately or have any ideas on what you want?

I've ordered skis from these places in the past and been pretty happy:

http://www.alpineshopvt.com/      they offer free two day shipping on orders over 99

http://www.coloradodiscountskis.com/store/index.html

JSkis is also selling demos from last year for 350 with bindings and 250 without. Check their FB page. You have to buy in person in their burlington store tho.

Good luck.

great service from alpineshopvt