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Eventually, any ski will reach retirement. How long can you expect solid performance from an older ski? Here, we look at when it's time to get new skis.

Picking skis can be intimidating if you don’t know what to look for. Instead of pouring over countless reviews, we'll guide you through all the components of finding your next ski. A good place to start is choosing ski length. Let's get started.

Choosing your ski’s waist-width is one of the most important parts of the ski-buying process. It’s the biggest determining factor of what terrain your skis will be best suited for. In this article, we help you determine what waist-width is best for you.

Shape means exactly what it sounds like: the dimensions of the tip, waist, and tail, as well as the profile (camber and rocker). While the waist-width is part of the story—determining the general habitat your ski will prefer—the shape of the ski determines its personality. Let's dig deeper.

Sure, shape, profile, and length determine many attributes of a ski, but the materials are really the meat—and bread—of the proverbial sandwich. We’ll explain here what each material does for a ski, and how it can help (or hinder) your personal skiing.

One of the final steps in building your perfect ski is to determine the flex pattern. A ski that's too stiff will make you feel tired. If your ski is too soft, you'll feel like you are “going over the handlebars”. Here is what you need to know about stiffness and flex patterns.

Looking for the cheat sheet for the basic information you need to know about ski width, length, camber, stiffness, and materials? We put together the "good parts version" of our Buyer's Guide together for you in this handy article.