This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web. We have fun here, come on in and be a part of it.
bgregoire wrote:
From my understanding the NARROW ones have zero sidecut (whereas as the XCD ones have tons). I tried one pair once for 30 seconds. Great for crossing a lake. I hear they are still being sold, even though the company does not seem to advertise them online.
Thanks for the info Ben. I've seen a few people on the Discovery's on groomed trails actually.
They'd probably be comparable to the E99 or Glittertind for K&G. I've not seen anyone with the wider ones around here - of course those people are sometimes harder to find
edit: I suppose they were the Discovery 68 or whatever model preceded those.
MikeK wrote:Not much talk about the Alpinas - do they still make skis anymore?
I've noticed a few models here and there at shops but I never bothered to try them.
From my understanding the NARROW ones have zero sidecut (whereas as the XCD ones have tons). I tried one pair once for 30 seconds. Great for crossing a lake. I hear they are still being sold, even though the company does not seem to advertise them online.
I don't have much to add but I've got a friend who has been on the Alpina X Terrains for several years. They have a ton of sidecut (110 66 96) and only come in up to 170 in length. They are heavy but solidly built, more like a downhill ski than a XC ski. The scales have very good grip for climbing and he seems to do pretty well on the downs with Voile 3-pin HW and Andrew double leathers. I don't think they are the greatest for K+G due to their heft and squirliness that is a result of all that sidecut. I would put these in the same category as the Guides/Annums, Rossi BC 125 or Vector BCs.
Locally (New Brunswick), the ski shops only carry the performance-orientated, groomed track, Alpina skis (classic and skate).
Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) has carried Alpina skis recently.
I have seen Alpina backcountry skis on many US websites (e.g. Backcountry, REI, GearX, ORS, etc.).
All of the Alpina backcountry-xcountry skis are now under the "Discovery" line. The lineup is similar to Rossi- the narrower skis are double-cambered and long; the fatter skis are single-cambered geared towards XCD (i.e. telemark). The fattest Alpina XCD ski is the Discovery 110 (formerly the X-Terrain)- has an extreme parabolic sidecut- reportedly has amazing turning performance- can't imagine using it as a touring ski.
