I have a pair of those skis. I think they were purpose-designed for soldiers in moderate terrain lugging giant backpacks full of supplies. The flex is definitely cambered, but more an 'XCD' type of camber-and-a-half than a full Nordic camber. They don't ski very well. I have the 190s and I find that...

Just a thought... If you have the room to maneuver, you can switchback up -- traverse uphill at a low angle for a while, kick turn or whatever, then traverse slightly uphill the other direction, repeat until you get to the top of the hill. The idea is to always be going at least somewhat uphill whil...

I mounted the Excursion 88s pins on balance point, which on this generation of Fischer 88s is pretty far forward. It's close to cord center, so I figured since those two points are pretty much the same, I'll just go with the balance point mount. I'm recovering from a surgery, so I'm not able to do a...

The tall ones with the (non-original) leather laces are Merrell Ultra (similar to Asolo Extreme) and the lower ones with blue laces are Merrell Backcountry (similar to Asolo Snowpine). They're so old that their outsoles will probably come off at some point, but with these boots I just glue them back...

So, I mounted up the skis. All is ready for Monday after tomorrow night's snowstorm.
I mounted the bindings pins-on-balance point. That's actually *forward* of cord center on these skis.
The bindings are the Voile 3-Pin Traverse (10mm risers).

For the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail: - Something like a Voile Objective/Endeavor and Scarpa T4 boots with 3-pin bindings would suit the Avalanche Pass Ski Trail just fine, in any kind of reasonable conditions (including hard-packed and fast, which it usually is these days). - It's not a full-on 'downmo...

"BTW I plan on heading your way in February. Avalanche Pass ski trail is on the list." Good choice, that tour is not to be missed, still my single favorite tour. First skied it in the 80's. And if you happen to have the time and inclination, Marcy is one hell of a wild and fun down-mountain trail s...

Since I'd snapped my beloved Rebounds last season, I needed a new pair of XCD skis. I bought these Excursion 88 skis in 179 cm length because I used to have a pair of the Outtabounds in 169 cm length and found they worked great as a forest wandering ski. What I liked about the Outtabounds was that t...

Did you experience damage to the duckbill from 3-pin bindings while skiing downhill, or while touring? What was the damage? The only time I destroyed the duckbill on a pair of big leather 3-pin boots was when I cracked a Fischer Rebound ski in half, trying to force my way up a steep, hard-frozen pit...

I measured where cord center is, which is half of 176 cm, or 88 cm from the end of the tail (or the tip, your choice). I measured where the balance point is. That turned out to be 90 cm up from the tail, which is 2 cm ahead/in front of the cord center line. Strange, but true. I'll be mounting these ...