Gore demo shop

I've been shopping for skis to replace my 8+ year old volkl motion P50s. I planned on going to the demo day at gore, but unfortunately it was cancelled. So the next best thing was to demo a few pairs with the gore demo shop. I knew I wanted something different from the Volkls but wasn't really sure what exactly needed changing, so I figured it was worth the $62 before dropping $500+ os skis.

The folks in the shop were vevy helpful and recommended a few pair based on our discussion. I first tried Head ipeak 78s which I didn't really care for. Possibly this was partially due to having only skied the volkls for 8 years and I wasn't ready for the feel of these skis. Next Eric set me up on Rossi assult 82 ti and set the binding 1 cm forward from the norm. Thi8s was done to help me out of the back seat.These were very easy to control, good on the hawkeye headwall and easy to turn. I felt pretty much the same about the Atomic vf 82. My final test was on Rossi assult 82 (carbon). I really wanted to like this ski, because being a 2011, they had a nice price. But like the Heads I had difficultly controlling these on blues as well as blacks. I was really surprised how different these skis were given that they were from the same lineup. At the end of the day I ended up buying the Rossi Assult 82 ti and skied them the rest of the weekend after they did a performance tune on them.

Overall I thought it was a good way to purchase 1 year old skis. A few suggestions for anyone interested in demo/buy program:

Do your homework before you demo the skis. Check out exactly wjhat they have that you would be interested in and check online/local shops to see if they have them as leftovers. They will negotiate a bit on price.

You get a credit for the $62 demo fee if you buy the same day.

It's much better to demo during the week. On weekends, the skis you are most interested in could be out on the hill.

Give yourself a lot of time. You need to come back to the base to swap skis and it takes time to adjust the skis and get back on the hill.

tom

Since I really wasn't sure

Gore has an excellent operation at the bottom of the hill. I almost bought a pair from them last year. The tuning shop is super convenient and a good value, and I tend to save my tunes for them when I ski there. Wham, bam, my boards are greased and sharp in no time. Love the hard core metal and stuff those guys play, too. Must freak out the beginners over in the first timer area.

The Gore shop is very cool. A couple of weeks ago they solved a huge binding issue for me at a favorable price and had me back on the hill in no time. A week later I needed some follow up with the bindings and they were awesome. Great group of guys who know their stuff.

Although I have never used them I have heard great things about them. People have said they do a good tune at a reasonable cost and I see whenever people have equipment trouble they do their best to get them back on the quickly. If you are at Gore and anything breaks from a telemark binding to a ski pole it is likely that they can reach into their bag of tricks and get you going again.

So, drop a little, eh, beer money into their jar every time they hop to for you. Show your appreciation.

TomCat wrote

I've been shopping for skis to replace my 8+ year old volkl motion P50s. I planned on going to the demo day at gore, but unfortunately it was cancelled. So the next best thing was to demo a few pairs with the gore demo shop. I knew I wanted something different from the Volkls but wasn't really sure what exactly needed changing, so I figured it was worth the $62 before dropping $500+ os skis.

The folks in the shop were vevy helpful and recommended a few pair based on our discussion. I first tried Head ipeak 78s which I didn't really care for. Possibly this was partially due to having only skied the volkls for 8 years and I wasn't ready for the feel of these skis. Next Eric set me up on Rossi assult 82 ti and set the binding 1 cm forward from the norm. Thi8s was done to help me out of the back seat.These were very easy to control, good on the hawkeye headwall and easy to turn. I felt pretty much the same about the Atomic vf 82. My final test was on Rossi assult 82 (carbon). I really wanted to like this ski, because being a 2011, they had a nice price. But like the Heads I had difficultly controlling these on blues as well as blacks. I was really surprised how different these skis were given that they were from the same lineup. At the end of the day I ended up buying the Rossi Assult 82 ti and skied them the rest of the weekend after they did a performance tune on them.

Overall I thought it was a good way to purchase 1 year old skis. A few suggestions for anyone interested in demo/buy program:

Do your homework before you demo the skis. Check out exactly wjhat they have that you would be interested in and check online/local shops to see if they have them as leftovers. They will negotiate a bit on price.

You get a credit for the $62 demo fee if you buy the same day.

It's much better to demo during the week. On weekends, the skis you are most interested in could be out on the hill.

Give yourself a lot of time. You need to come back to the base to swap skis and it takes time to adjust the skis and get back on the hill.

tom

Since I really wasn't sure

That's all good advice. When I demo I like to ski with a guy that is my same boot size and DIN setting or close enough, that cuts your trips back for more skis in half.

Doing the demo thing with a group of skiers with the same boot size and ability level would be great.

tom

Danny and his crew save my bacon at least once a week; setting up folks with the right gear, fine tuning or replacing non-responsive equipment, expediting lesson-bound clients, always with a "Thank-you" to the customer.  They are said to have discerning tastes on beverages as well as snow-toys.

Ski you on the hill.