I took my old beater Annums out for a spin at Mohawk Mountain, a small ski hill in NW Connecticut (650 ft vert). The snow was soft, the slopes aren't steep, so what the heck. I had my old Dynastar Legend 3800 skis with me for comparison. That's a vintage 2005 downhill ski with 75mm waist, so I think...

I took the Ripstick 96 / Switchback X2 combo out for their first spin in the backcountry last weekend. I first skied up and over the Whale's Tail Notch, which is not too steep, and then climbed about 2000 ft up Mt Marcy to ski down the skier bypass next to the hiking trail. Because of the less deep ...

The Objective BC is only 80mm width in the waist, which is pretty much the same as the Madshus M78. The Objective BC is a very different ski, though. Rockered tip and tail, more sidecut, wider tip, more of a downhill-oriented ski. That said, I've seen people in the Adirondacks on those skis with 3-p...

I agree 100% with lilcliffy re: Annum/M78 on hardpack snow. It's really a soft snow ski. I feel more secure on my old Vector BC skis on hardpack. It's also better in steeper, bumpy trails (think Mt Marcy Ski Trail in low snow conditions) than the Annum/M78, I think because the Vector BC is a) stiffe...

I live in the Mid-Hudson Valley region. It's about a 3.5 hour drive to the ADK High Peaks for me. 1.5 hours to the interior Catskills.

I think one cool thing about the Annum/M78 is that it acts differently with different boot/binding combinations. For some, a pair of M78s sized a bit long and coupled with something like Alpina Alaska BC boots and NNN-BC bindings makes a nice deep snow XC setup, like if you were breaking trail for m...

For the same trails but icy and hardpacked? If yes, then I guess I'd take my full-scale downhill setup, which is a pair of Dynastar Cham 97 High Mountain with Axl bindings. If those trails are just hardpacked and not particularly icy, I might take my Voile Vector BC skis with Switchback X2 bindings....

I've skied the Wright Peak Ski Trail on my Annums with Switchbacks and 3-buckle plastic boots, and had a good run. I think they'd handle Mt Cardigan and the Wildcats in good conditions, but if icy then I don't know... The Annum doesn't give you a lot of grip on icy hardpack, even with 3-buckle plast...

Thanks, that helped. I got the heel plate thing off, but now it seems the three bolts holding the toepieces are in so tight I can't back them out without stripping the screw heads. I'm not sure what I'm going to do from here. Maybe take a soldering iron and warm up the screws to melt whatever glue w...

Sometimes you find a ski that just suits you. I also think your previous skis may have been holding you back, what were they and how were they mounted? My previous skis: - Dynastar Legend 3800 - 172cm (skinny, 75mm waist, no rocker, mounted BOF on CRS which ended up as boot center -2cm from ski cen...