Falketind 62 Review

[Petetheswede]

Hi!
Does anyone, especially you fisheater have an opinion how this ski would work in Scandinavian alpine conditions with some touring, turning, sometimes soft snow but unfortunately always a fair amount of hard, windblown snow? I really would like a companion to my Gammes bit fint ski enough to justify a big quiver. I know i have already got input before but now I just wonder hö miserable I would be in the windblown...

Cheers
Petter

[fisheater]

Petter,
I cannot tell you how the FT62 will handle your wind packed snow. I can relate to you some of my experiences and perhaps they will be some assistance. On hardpack trails the ski will walk, or more accurately not track straight, however for me it is not much of an aggravation. It is much less annoying than what my Fisher S-112 was on hard trails. I attribute the FT62 having more hard trail manners to the fact it is pretty flat cambered, and perhaps the rockered tail helps.
My experiences with heavy snow on this ski are at the local lift served hills, where I ski with my son. I have skied the chopped snow after a 30 cm snow fall. The FT 62 was a delight in the powder snow. As the snow got chopped up the ski being so light really got pushed around. At the end of the day as the snow became more packed skiing was much more pleasant. Another heavy challenging condition came earlier this season. We had good early snow, followed by rains and hard freezes. The "snow" had the consistency of rock salt, basically it was tilled up ice. The base was ice. Alpine skiers didn't have much difficulty with these conditions. I did on the FT 62. Being skinny it slice thru the granular snow easily which was approximately 10-15 cm deep, the very hard base required pressuring the edges firmly. The trouble was that the heavy snow tossed the ski around a bit. My solution was to keep the skis pointed mostly downhill to slice thru the heavy snow, and when I finished a turn to "pop" out above the heavy snow putting a little air under my skis to enter the next turn. Well I caught an edge skiing fast, and my ribs still hurt from that Christmas break fall.
I guess that is my long winded explanation of why I think the FT 62 is best geared toward softer snow. Where I live in Michigan wind pack is reasonably soft and I would Ski wind pack on my FT 62. That being said, our wind pack usually turns into sun crust. I would not take the FT out in sun crust. I would be most happy to trail ski on my Gamme, and turn another day.
Good luck,
Bob

[lilcliffy]

Have only been "playing" on this ski so far-

Steep open fields and glades- on ideal soft snow, with a deep, dense stable base.
(Also been doing relentless laps on the steep sidehill behind our barn with my 5-year-old daughter on her Balla Hoks!)

Initial experience is that it is like a miniaturized modern "alpine touring" ski. It is like having a Bonzi Voile Vector...
I can seriously charge and carve- even in my Alaska BC or Svartisen BC.

It does not of course have the float of a modern, fat, round, smeary powder ski. But- its flex is both round and very supportive downhill skiing in deep soft snow. It rides deeper in the snow at downhill speeds than a fat powder ski. But- I definitely feel more stable and balanced at downhill speeds on this ski than a ski like the Ingstad BC. The FT 62 has a flex pattern that is tuned for round downhill turns.

This little Nordic-downhill ski is a ton of fun and easily rode with BC-XC boots!

[Petetheswede]

Thank you guys!
Always difficult with choices. So much to think about!

[lilcliffy]

Was out on the FT62 late yesterday afternoon again. These skis feel just wonderful on soft snow over a dense base.
I was tooling around with my kids in our fields- both on gentle terrain and on sidehills.
The XC glide on soft snow is more than acceptable- and they don't get all "squirrelly" and wander like they do when XC skiing on dense snow.

This ski is a TON of fun. Just not oriented towards skiing long distances. That is perfectly okay!

[fisheater]

Was out on the FT62 late yesterday afternoon again. These skis feel just wonderful on soft snow over a dense base.
I was tooling around with my kids in our fields- both on gentle terrain and on sidehills.
The XC glide on soft snow is more than acceptable- and they don't get all "squirrelly" and wander like they do when XC skiing on dense snow.

This ski is a TON of fun. Just not oriented towards skiing long distances. That is perfectly okay!

Just curious Gareth, isn't that what I have been saying? Well, if I was not clear that is exactly what I have been trying to convey. I think my problem is I only want a few skis in my quiver, and I probably write from that perspective. I will say I am done skiing these skis on ice with some kind of tilled granular. My last little tumble had me feeling old, as I quit skiing on day two. I just couldn't move in my core, and even though my local lift served isn't death defying, I couldn't handle it and I was afraid I would hurt myself to a greater degree. It was really humbling and I was feeling like I may be entering a period of life I'm not quite mentally ready for. Well now that the swelling is down, it wasn't that I bruised my ribs, I relocated a couple. I guess I'm not over the hill after all. That would have slowed me down at thirty.

[lilcliffy]

Just curious Gareth, isn't that what I have been saying? Well, if I was not clear that is exactly what I have been trying to convey.

No- you have been very clear in your descriptions of your experience with this ski- that have been VERY helpful. Your posts and our conversations are the reason I wanted this ski! It is everything I wanted it to be and more! If I can wrestle it from my wife and son's hands- I might be able to ride it every once in a while!!!! MY wife claimed them as soon as they came out of the box (she is a downhill skier first). I have been pushing my 6'2" 16-yr-old son to tour on longer faster skis so that he might keep up with me. He has been missing his 165cm Epochs- he recently noticed the FT62 on the rack...

I will say I am done skiing these skis on ice with some kind of tilled granular. My last little tumble had me feeling old, as I quit skiing on day two. I just couldn't move in my core, and even though my local lift served isn't death defying, I couldn't handle it and I was afraid I would hurt myself to a greater degree. It was really humbling and I was feeling like I may be entering a period of life I'm not quite mentally ready for. Well now that the swelling is down, it wasn't that I bruised my ribs, I relocated a couple. I guess I'm not over the hill after all. That would have slowed me down at thirty.

Glad to hear your injuries have healed my friend.
Gareth

[fisheater]

No- you have been very clear in your descriptions of your experience with this ski- that have been VERY helpful. Your posts and our conversations are the reason I wanted this ski! It is everything I wanted it to be and more! If I can wrestle it from my wife and son's hands- I might be able to ride it every once in a while!!!! MY wife claimed them as soon as they came out of the box (she is a downhill skier first). I have been pushing my 6'2" 16-yr-old son to tour on longer faster skis so that he might keep up with me. He has been missing his 165cm Epochs- he recently noticed the FT62 on the rack...


Gareth, I am happy and relieved you are enjoying the FT 62. It is different than any ski I have ever had, and while I really like it I also realize that it is not for everyone. Take care my friend, enjoy your snow.

[Petetheswede]

Now i see johnny is claiming the Rabb68 to be the perfect ski for everything. I wonder how the FT62 compares to the Rabb68 in terms of tourability. What do you guys think. Is it as easy as:

Touring
Ingstad > FT62 > Rabb68 or are matters more complicated?

[lilcliffy]

Now i see johnny is claiming the Rabb68 to be the perfect ski for everything. I wonder how the FT62 compares to the Rabb68 in terms of tourability.

Verskis' reports on the Rabb 68 suggest that its XC performance is very similar to the Storetind:
-Acceptable in deep soft snow.
-Dead and "squirrely" on consolidated snow (For reference the Ingstad BC is a much better XC ski- despite all of its tip rocker)
(The XC performance of the FT62 is very similar to the Asnes 68- the 68 offering greater flotation at 68mm underfoot)

What do you guys think. Is it as easy as:

Touring
Ingstad > FT62 > Rabb68 or are matters more complicated?

By "touring" do you mean classic XC performance?
I don't think that the FT62 is a better XC ski than the 68.