I've just returned from a week of piste skiing in the Portes du Soleil. On a whim, I decided to take my 20-year-old Atomic skis: 190cm long, 104-62-92 profile. Having not skiied on them since 2010 I was a little apprehensive as to how I would get on with them. In recent years I've rented skis in the resort (largely due to not being able to be bothered with servicing and transporting skis), meaning that I usually ended up with more modern skis around 10-15cm shorter, and significantly wider both underfoot and at the tip and tail.
Somewhat to my surprise, from the first run of day one I felt more at home on the old skinny skis than I ever had on more modern ones. For the first time in ages I was able confidently to put together a long series of short radius linked turns down the fall line. Slicing through piles of snow was angst-free, unlike on the shorter, wider (and blunt-tipped) more modern skis, which always felt to me as if I was about to catch the tips and "trip over". Even in deep snow I didn't sink out of sight but glided through serenely (well, as serenely as I am ever really likely to manage).
Long story short: I had a very enjoyable week feeling at one with my gear and with the snow in a way that I hadn't experienced in years. Unfortunately the ski technician who serviced my skis for me before this trip just gone did say that the bases likely wouldn't take another grind. I am therefore left wondering whether, when these skis finally reach the end of their life, I will ever be able to find anything that feels so 'right', given that everything these days seems to be shorter and wider (and less 'pointy') than the skis I've just fallen back in love with.
So to the point: is my future skiing going to be hamstrung by 'fashion', or are there features I should start looking for in a modern ski which would mean they will behave as much as possible like my newly-beloved but not-much-longer-for-the-slopes skinny skis? Or do I just need to put more time & effort in to learning how to drive modern skis properly?