Posted on 11/24/2005 8:05:51 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
I gave my 17 year old daughter an IOU for a snowboard package for her birthday last August. I promised her we'd shop for it when the preseason sales started. It looks like Sports Authority has some good packages for sale tomorrow from 5 AM to 11 AM. So...does anybody have recommendations on what we should buy? She's a beginner / intermediate and loves the sport.
I personally like K2. However you should give her another IOU and hit up the post season sales. When I bought my board it was june and it was like 1/4 the orignal price. I even go half off on the bindings. If you want to spend a lot of money buy now.... but if no buy in spring and the summer time. For the best deals I would recommend the big sporting goods stores like oshmans and sports authority. However go see your local ski shop first to get the details on sizing and everything.
Well, the "ski dazzle" show opens next week at the L.A. convention center. Not the best prices, but you'll get to see the full range of new stuff.
I would strongly recommend you not go to Sports Authority for something like this. Nothing against SA, but they are for athletic shoes, clothing, and some sporting goods items, but not for specialized items like ski/board equipment. You need to find a ski store. SA may have ski clothing and all, but I'd be leary of their equipment. I know in the DFW area, there are several ski stores, so it doesn't require a trip to the mountains.
At SA, you'll likely find a limited selection of items that are meant to be sold to as many people as possible; i.e. one size fits all. I'm not exactly a world champion skier/boarder, but I've been through enough equipment to know that when you are buying, you need as good a selection as possible.
Same here. A few of the chain stores like Sports Authority may even still have last year's models on clearance. They mark them down big time. I bought some new boots after the season was over last year - $30 marked down from $200. Based on the other stuff they had there on clearance I figured you could put together a board, bindings, and boots package for a total of about $160-180 if you went with last year's models. About $100 for the board plus 30-35 each for boots and bindings.
I just looked at the SA site and they have Salomon boards which are probably decent. The other two brands they list I've never heard of and would probably stay away from.
Other brands to look at are Burton and K2 (as already mentioned). Spend a few extra dollars and go for the quality brands.
And you might consider getting her snow board lessons as a Christmas gift. Even if she already knows how to get down the mountain, lessons with a good instructor will make incredible improvements.
Very cool gift and I'm sure she is very excited. Have fun!
ping...
Thanks to all for your help. We went to Sport's Mart (recently purchased by Sports Authority) today for their sale. Prices were not as good as they were for their September clearance sale, but were pretty good. We got:
1. Ride Grace women's snowboard, 159 cm
2. Morrow Invasion bindings, size 6 - 9
3. Burton Moto women's boots
This wasn't an "officially" sanctioned bundle, but they gave us a bundle price. The bundles were all Morrow products, but the boots and board weren't as good. We also got a helmet, Pro-Tec Freeecarve, full price $80, for about $40. I asked for an additional discount and they knocked $15 off the total price. Board, boots and bindings ran about $310 before tax.
Thanks for all your help.
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