I took out the 190 MR48 Skin and 170 M50 today. Both had Rottefella Move bindings and I was able to ski both in different conditions. There was a mix of groomed icy resort runs, rolling hills in the forest, steeper (10% grade) ascents, and open terrain on a frozen lake. None of it was trackset. Only machine groomed in sections and snow mobile and skier packed for the rest.
My observations are as follows:
- Although both skis have 3/4 steel edges, the M50 has a longer steel edge the then MR48
- The M50 have a much harder time holding its edge when traversing across the slope, compared to the MR48 and it was very noticeable. My feeling is that the M50 has less torsional rigidity compared to the MR48.
- Skiing on a narrow trail with a slight side slope of about 5 degrees was very tiring due to constant loss of grip on the edges for the M50
- Even though the M50 seemed to be softer and is 20cm shorter, the MR48 SKIN had much easier and reliable kick. Both had good glide on settled well tracked trails.
- I didn’t have the kicker skins with me for the MR48 but without the kicker skins, going up a 10% slope on a somewhat icy groomed resort trail was a chore and I ended up walking up most of it since it was much more faster that way.
- MR48 was much better when skiing on off camber trails but definitely not comparable to my AT setup (DPS 112 wailers w/ Dynafit bindings and a pretty beefy boot)
- Sking on a gentle groomed icy resort runs were ok once things softened up but I’d stick to green slopes.I wouldn’t dare get on a blue run with either skis. In contrast, my AT setup is fine for black and even some double black chutes in good conditions.
- Much of the trail was snow mobile tracked but not groomed/trackset. Both skis tend to hook up with any track left by snow mobiles which can be good or bad depending on whether thats the direction you want to go.
- On a frozen lake with well settled snow and about 2cm of softer fresh wind affected snow, both skis tracked well
- On the down hill, the MR48 felt much more directional than the M50 but it’s likely because it holds its edge better whereas the M50 tends to side slip a lot more
So where do I go from here?
- If I were to pick between the M50 and MR48 Skin, I’d go with the MR48S hands down.
- At 190cm, the MR48S with bindings shifted forward had enough kick for a skier of 48kg. I’m around 61kg and the 190cm had no issues at either weight. For more technical or challenging descents, I’d prefer a 180cm length.
- Both skis are fine if you’re skiing on fire roads and groomed trails.
- Both skis would be fine for a mix of trackset and skier tracked trails on fire roads where slopes are gentle
- Both have acceptable kick and glide but the MR48 seems to have a much bigger sweet spot
- The kicker skin options on the MR48 makes it a more flexible ski
- I’d be ok with either skis to do some spring XC skiing where having metal edges provide more stability and control but if that was my main objective, I’d go for a narrower ski like the Fjelltech M44
- For packed but non-trackset trails over variable terrain and extended off camber traverses, I’d prefer an AT setup with skinnier skis and a Skimo boot
- For softer conditions with skier tracked trails on a fire road that is not machined trackset or groomed, I’d lean towards the MR48 SKIN.
- If you have more off camber traversing, I think the MR48 can holdup if it had some NNN-BC or Xplore bindings with a stiffer boot. In contrast, I was using a Salomon S/Race and I felt like I had a harder time getting the ski on edge for extended periods of time. My feet are definitely tired from 4-5 kilometers of off-cambered skiing.