What is the ultimate compromise ski?

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lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
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Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
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Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by lilcliffy » Tue Dec 19, 2017 11:18 am

Phoenix-
Thanks for the reply on the XCD GTs- there are a number of verions of that ski I have been familiar with for more than 20 years- some of the older ones were narrower, stiffer and more cambered underfoot.

Great to hear yet another good report on the Objective. The specs on that ski are amazing.

What binding did you put on the Objective?
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.

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phoenix
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Location: Northern VT
Ski style: My own
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Occupation: I'm occupied

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by phoenix » Tue Dec 19, 2017 6:03 pm

I put some Telebulldog Spikes on them. Only out once, but they're great so far.
It's raining here right now. Gonna get colder, and probably get a few inches the next few days. We'll see how they do over a variety of conditions, but so far, so very nice.



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lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by lilcliffy » Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:05 am

What do you think of that binding? Have no experience with it at all.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



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Cannatonic
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Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 9:07 pm

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by Cannatonic » Thu Dec 21, 2017 11:41 am

the "ultimate" ski is very different for different skiers. These discussions can drag on forever....the best thing to do IMO is try & buy philosophy. Scales, length, flex, dimensions, all make huge differences in how they ski, you have to find your own preference. All these skis will perform well.

that said, if you want waxing skis I would only look at Asnes, considering you're in Scandanavia. Quality is a notch higher than the fischers & madshus offerings, again just IMO.
"All wisdom is to be gained through suffering"
-Will Lange (quoting Inuit chieftan)



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greatgt
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Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by greatgt » Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:01 am

Where can the e109 waxable be purchased?...Thanks...TM



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lowangle al
Posts: 2732
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Location: Pocono Mts / Chugach Mts
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Occupation: Retired cement mason. Current job is to take my recreation as serious as I did my past employment.

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by lowangle al » Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:36 am

greatgt wrote:Where can the e109 waxable be purchased?...Thanks...TM
Have you rechecked your local dumpsters for a suitable ski lately? ;)



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lilcliffy
Posts: 4112
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by lilcliffy » Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:28 pm

greatgt wrote:Where can the e109 waxable be purchased?...Thanks...TM
Haven't seen them for sale on-line anywhere in the USA in a few seasons...

You can buy them direct online from Fischer Canada:
http://www.fischersports.ca/p/e109-xtra ... ntry?pp=24

A number of dealers that will ship them from Europe including SportAlbert:
https://www.sportalbert.de/fischer-e109 ... ag=2367892
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



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phoenix
Posts: 816
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 5:44 pm
Location: Northern VT
Ski style: My own
Favorite Skis: Varies,I've had many favorites
Favorite boots: Excursions, T1's
Occupation: I'm occupied

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by phoenix » Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:14 pm

lilcliffy, sorry for the slow response; just now saw your question about the Spike's. So far (just a few days on 'em) they outperform any other three pin. They ski better, and are more user friendly, than the Voile's, Super Tele's or the old Chouinard/Black Diamond XCD's; provided you're using a thick soled Vibram, or a plastic boot. Won't work with a thinner soled xc boot though. For light touring/xc, the others may still be preferable, due to less solid purchase and coverage of the duckbill.
I'm happy to go into more detail if you have questions about 'em.



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Verskis
Posts: 179
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:14 am
Location: Tampere, Finland
Ski style: XCD touring on small hills. Heavy tele at resort
Favorite Skis: Åsnes Rabb 68
Favorite boots: Alico Ski March
Occupation: Hydraulics engineer

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by Verskis » Fri Feb 23, 2018 7:49 am

Sorry for the very long silence, but once again thanks for all the help and opinions!
I haven't been able to ski much this year due to having illness after illness, but now I'm getting better and get to ski again. We actually have quite a good winter (the first time in about five years) even in southern parts of Finland, there's enough snow for skiing and the temperatures are almost too low at the moment, -15 to -25 C.
I have been experimenting with waxable Merrells a bit more and found out that the waxed ski can both outglide and outgrip the permanent-skin skis in cold conditions. Only thing I don't like about my Merrells is how difficult they are to turn, especially on anything but perfect soft-but-not-too-heavy-and-not-too-deep snow.
I found out a pretty good deal on waxable 185cm Madshus Eons and bought them, I hope they are the compromise between XC and DH I'm looking after. I'll give you an update once I have mounted the bindings and skied them! I'm looking forward to stop adding skis to my quiver and just skiing happily!



User avatar
Verskis
Posts: 179
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:14 am
Location: Tampere, Finland
Ski style: XCD touring on small hills. Heavy tele at resort
Favorite Skis: Åsnes Rabb 68
Favorite boots: Alico Ski March
Occupation: Hydraulics engineer

Re: What is the ultimate compromise ski?

Post by Verskis » Mon Feb 26, 2018 5:31 am

First outing with the Eons yesterday!
They resembled my skinny Merrell XCD GTs much more than the fat and short OAC KAR147s. The kick and glide XC'ing on a harpacked trail felt somewhat similar as with the Merrell's, which I am happy with. But the turning was not that much easier than with the Merrells. Yes, they were a bit easier, but in the spectrum between the Merrell and the OAC it was much closer to the Merrell end. It feels like my problem lies in the turn initiation with the inside (=rear) ski, as sometimes it just wants to go straight and bumps into the already-turning outside ski. I don't have such problems with my resort skis (old 180cm Atomic Beta TM24) or the OACs. I'm wondering, if it also has something to do with the bindings, as I have only skied the Merrells and Eons with plain 3-pin setup, even though they both have the Voile 3-pin cable bindings installed. I need to try if the cable brings any help when initiating turns. For what it is worth, the resort skis and the OACs both have Rottefella Chili cable bindings.
I still had very much fun downhill skiing gentle slopes with the Eons, where I had enough speed to do some turns because of the great glide of a waxable ski. With the OACs I need quite a bit steeper slopes to be able to do any turns without killing all the speed.
All in all, I am pretty happy with the skis, although I expected a bit easier downhill turns with them. But I think I need to test the cables and then just hone my skills more.
Now the Merrells can be dedicated rock skis without any urgency to bring them out on good snow, and I think the OACs will be only called for yoyoing the steeper local hills up and down, I don't have much eagerness to do any XC skiing with them after tasting the waxable glide.



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