Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Lars wrote:Thanks, Lilcliffy. It is the current bcx6.

Beauty. That is now Fischer's flagship XCD boot- they no longer make the BCX875. I have an older version of this boot that is the most supportive XC boot I have ever used to date.

My (perhaps incorrect) operating principle as an inexperienced xc/xcd skier is to approach it in a similar manner to what I did when getting into kayaking.

Everyone I talked to suggested sleek, narrow waisted kayaks and I was fairly miserable in them. I could paddle then fine, but I quickly realized that it didn’t make for an enjoyable experience. I found some significantly wider (but still high performance) craft (in this case fishing kayaks from Jackson that allowed me to marry my interests in fishing and kayaking) and enjoyed myself 1000 fold.

Something akin to that experience is what I am shooting for here with my enjoyment of downhill and hiking. Time will tell if I’m insane or not

I totally get your analogy here- you stating this reinforces Cannatonic's suggestion in this thread to go with NN- 75mm-3-pin boots and bindings.

I have both NNNBC and NN Nordic Touring kits.

What I can say is that NNNBC is a XC technology- an EXCELLENT XC technology finely designed for XC skiing in the backcountry.

NN-75mm-3-pin offers a MUCH wider breadth of function- ranging from XC-focused, to XCD, to full-on downhill Telemark skiing. Many, many backcountry Nordic tourers- myself included- have both leather XC boots and plastic touring boots, that both fit in 3-pin bindings- therefore one can choose the level of support power needed, tailored to the specific conditions of the tour.

Skilled XC skiers can ski downhill on XC tech- no question. But- it is not designed for downhill skiing.

Your analogy of the wider, more utilitarian boat fits the description of NN- IMO- not NNNBC.

NOW- you do have an excellent setup- but I would suggest that what you have is more on the XC end of the XCD spectrum than the D.

The 88 is wider and stiffer than the Eon- at your weight, it will definitely outperform the Eon as a XC ski.

The 88 may be a bit more difficult to control when downhill skiing though...Unless you can very easily squash and pressure that 88...

lilcliffy wrote:

Lars wrote:Thanks, Lilcliffy. It is the current bcx6.

Beauty. That is now Fischer's flagship XCD boot- they no longer make the BCX875. I have an older version of this boot that is the most supportive XC boot I have ever used to date.

My (perhaps incorrect) operating principle as an inexperienced xc/xcd skier is to approach it in a similar manner to what I did when getting into kayaking.

Everyone I talked to suggested sleek, narrow waisted kayaks and I was fairly miserable in them. I could paddle then fine, but I quickly realized that it didn’t make for an enjoyable experience. I found some significantly wider (but still high performance) craft (in this case fishing kayaks from Jackson that allowed me to marry my interests in fishing and kayaking) and enjoyed myself 1000 fold.

Something akin to that experience is what I am shooting for here with my enjoyment of downhill and hiking. Time will tell if I’m insane or not

I totally get your analogy here- you stating this reinforces Cannatonic's suggestion in this thread to go with NN- 75mm-3-pin boots and bindings.

I have both NNNBC and NN Nordic Touring kits.

What I can say is that NNNBC is a XC technology- an EXCELLENT XC technology finely designed for XC skiing in the backcountry.

NN-75mm-3-pin offers a MUCH wider breadth of function- ranging from XC-focused, to XCD, to full-on downhill Telemark skiing. Many, many backcountry Nordic tourers- myself included- have both leather XC boots and plastic touring boots, that both fit in 3-pin bindings- therefore one can choose the level of support power needed, tailored to the specific conditions of the tour.

Skilled XC skiers can ski downhill on XC tech- no question. But- it is not designed for downhill skiing.

Your analogy of the wider, more utilitarian boat fits the description of NN- IMO- not NNNBC.

NOW- you do have an excellent setup- but I would suggest that what you have is more on the XC end of the XCD spectrum than the D.

The 88 is wider and stiffer than the Eon- at your weight, it will definitely outperform the Eon as a XC ski.

The 88 may be a bit more difficult to control when downhill skiing though...Unless you can very easily squash and pressure that 88...

I appreciate your perspective and experience.

I strongly considered a 3 pin set up, but I felt like the nnnbc with the bcx6 was a nice compromise choice. I will very likely have a quiver of one and only do limited slopes.

Understood about the skis not being designed for downhill. What I’m really looking for at this point is stability with room to grow into my gear.

Outperforming the eon as an XC is what I was going for. I did want a ski that was more on the XC side than the D side but with the ability to handle a hill or two, but I am hopeful that the bcx 6 boot will help me squash and pressure the 88s a bit when needed.

I started to feel some choice paralysis coming on due to the myriad combinations and options available. Perhaps a slightly different configuration may end up serving me better, but I think I have a solid foundation of gear to operate and learn from now.




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As you said Lars, just go ahead and ski 'em. Sometime down the road you canalways switch up gear if needed.
As far as the paralysis about choices, you'll noticethat there are many among us who have been skiing for decades, and full of advice... and still obsess about "which would be better?".

so true, I like 3-pin now but I've used NNNBC for years and loved it, it was a huge improvement over the pre-1990 XC bindings. There are some really nice boots for NNNBC these days like Alpina Alaska also.

Took the 88s out for a quick around the house after work in ~8-12” of wet snow. For a 15 minute spin on light ups and downs I found them very responsive - glidy when necessary and grippy except for a rather pitchy bit in a drift. Broke the snow well enough for my standards and the boots really made me feel in control.

Looking forward to taking them out on some real trails soon.


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