I have the Switchbacks, for seeking turns only.
(rest of the stuff deleted, as I started a new thread)
Fischer S-Bound 98 or 88?
Re: Fischer S-Bound 98 or 88?
Last edited by 1EyedJack on Mon Mar 16, 2015 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"everybody's a genius" - albert einstein
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lilcliffy
- Posts: 4202
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
- Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
- Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
- Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
- Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
- Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger
Re: Fischer S-Bound 98 or 88?
Wow- just catching up on this discussion- you got way ahead of me.
First. Photos of the Northern Five Ponds Wilderness- beautiful. Looks a lot like large parts of NB. Northwestern NB is more mountainous (a branch of the Appalachian Mtns).
I ski through terrain and forest like this on an everyday basis. In deep, soft powder my #1 ski of choice is the Annum 195cm with NNNBC bindings. At that length the Annum gives me the best flotation in the pow, of any xcountry ski I have tried (I have little doubt that the 250cm Finnish forest ski would give even more flotation). In that deep soft snow, the Annum tracks beautifully; the soft, even flex allows for good early tip rise- and contributes to flotation. I am also impressed with traction. Despite the waxless base of the Annum, the camber/flex combination in soft snow actually contributes to traction. In short I get surprisingly good traction with the waxless Annum in that dry, deep snow. I can seriously cruise on my 195cm Annums in these conditions. I would love to be able to try a waxable Annum...
My typical skiing includes skiing through forest like your pictures; as well as forest roads/trails, coves, bowls, stream bottoms, frozen brooks/rivers, and the occasional field (I particularly love the very steep fields down in the Glen for adding some high-speed telemark arcs to my tour!). The 195cm width is certainly not ideal for bushwacking through dense forest- especially on a steep slope- but I need and want the length for touring efficiency (I would even buy them longer if I could).
Weight obviously determines the length you need however- can't remember what you weigh- but if I remember I weigh more (185lbs). My wife has 185cm Annums- as she weighs less- she get as good if not better flotation than me. My 12-year old son (110lbs) often takes the 185cm Annums (if he can get away with it) to play in deep powder. My 10 year-old daughter is a stick (70lbs)- she flies around on pow with 165cm Eons.
If I was spending all my ski tour bushwacking through dense forest?....then perhaps the length would be tiresome and inefficient...a ski like the Jakt is designed for skiing through dense forest. A short Annum would be somewhat similar. An equal length Jakt would offer better flotation than an Annum because of the lack of sidecut- the Jakt is wider underfoot. I would love to have the Jakt for my forestry field work.
A short Rossi BC125 would be even more awesome for flotation and maneuverability (they come as short as 165cm:
http://www.leyeti.ca/en/bc-125-wide-u.html
The Rossi BC125 has more camber than the Voile Vector BC.
For gentle terrain I would still put NNNBC on the Rossi BC125.
As recent as 3 years ago I never considered fat skis as straight forward xcountry skis in deep pow...I am some thrilled that I eventually did. To think for all those years I reserved my Guides for just the "mountains".
And as far as downhill turns- I routinely make controlled, smooth telemark turns with my 195cm Annums- in deep, soft, snow. In the past, I have needed something as stiff as my T4s to control the Annum/Guide when I am caught on a hardpack slope.
First. Photos of the Northern Five Ponds Wilderness- beautiful. Looks a lot like large parts of NB. Northwestern NB is more mountainous (a branch of the Appalachian Mtns).
I ski through terrain and forest like this on an everyday basis. In deep, soft powder my #1 ski of choice is the Annum 195cm with NNNBC bindings. At that length the Annum gives me the best flotation in the pow, of any xcountry ski I have tried (I have little doubt that the 250cm Finnish forest ski would give even more flotation). In that deep soft snow, the Annum tracks beautifully; the soft, even flex allows for good early tip rise- and contributes to flotation. I am also impressed with traction. Despite the waxless base of the Annum, the camber/flex combination in soft snow actually contributes to traction. In short I get surprisingly good traction with the waxless Annum in that dry, deep snow. I can seriously cruise on my 195cm Annums in these conditions. I would love to be able to try a waxable Annum...
My typical skiing includes skiing through forest like your pictures; as well as forest roads/trails, coves, bowls, stream bottoms, frozen brooks/rivers, and the occasional field (I particularly love the very steep fields down in the Glen for adding some high-speed telemark arcs to my tour!). The 195cm width is certainly not ideal for bushwacking through dense forest- especially on a steep slope- but I need and want the length for touring efficiency (I would even buy them longer if I could).
Weight obviously determines the length you need however- can't remember what you weigh- but if I remember I weigh more (185lbs). My wife has 185cm Annums- as she weighs less- she get as good if not better flotation than me. My 12-year old son (110lbs) often takes the 185cm Annums (if he can get away with it) to play in deep powder. My 10 year-old daughter is a stick (70lbs)- she flies around on pow with 165cm Eons.
If I was spending all my ski tour bushwacking through dense forest?....then perhaps the length would be tiresome and inefficient...a ski like the Jakt is designed for skiing through dense forest. A short Annum would be somewhat similar. An equal length Jakt would offer better flotation than an Annum because of the lack of sidecut- the Jakt is wider underfoot. I would love to have the Jakt for my forestry field work.
A short Rossi BC125 would be even more awesome for flotation and maneuverability (they come as short as 165cm:
http://www.leyeti.ca/en/bc-125-wide-u.html
The Rossi BC125 has more camber than the Voile Vector BC.
For gentle terrain I would still put NNNBC on the Rossi BC125.
As recent as 3 years ago I never considered fat skis as straight forward xcountry skis in deep pow...I am some thrilled that I eventually did. To think for all those years I reserved my Guides for just the "mountains".
And as far as downhill turns- I routinely make controlled, smooth telemark turns with my 195cm Annums- in deep, soft, snow. In the past, I have needed something as stiff as my T4s to control the Annum/Guide when I am caught on a hardpack slope.
Last edited by lilcliffy on Fri Mar 13, 2015 8:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
-
lilcliffy
- Posts: 4202
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
- Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
- Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
- Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
- Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
- Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger
Re: Fischer S-Bound 98 or 88?
Ooh- and I think the really long "forest" skis (250+cm) (e.g. Karhu "Hunt") would be too unwieldy in dense forest (that is what a short, fat ski like the "Jakt" is for). Those long babies are for skiing on forest roads/trails.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
-
lilcliffy
- Posts: 4202
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
- Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
- Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
- Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
- Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
- Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger
Re: Fischer S-Bound 98 or 88?
Also- the Annum is a touring ski- it is surprisingly and wonderfully light for its width. I find it almost "snappy" in the ideal conditions.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
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Woodserson
- Posts: 2995
- Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:25 am
- Location: New Hampshire
- Ski style: Bumps, trees, steeps and long woodsy XC tours
- Occupation: Confused Turn Farmer
Re: Fischer S-Bound 98 or 88?
A little jump back to these because they are so damn cool...Check these out: Forest skis in wood, 310cm long! (77mm straight down) Yeah!lilcliffy wrote:jooleyen- check out these latest Karhu powder skis:
http://www.karhu.com/forest-series-skis
Both of these Finnish skis are designed for gentle terrain- they are dedicated powder xcountry skis. They have almost no sidecut- these will track beautifully straight!
The "Hunt" (70mm width) is a powder ski designed for cruising in relatively open cover- they are available in lengths up to 250cm! Apparently in Finland you can get them in 300cm!
http://www.vilminkosukset.fi/5
-
lilcliffy
- Posts: 4202
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:20 pm
- Location: Stanley, New Brunswick, Canada
- Ski style: backcountry Nordic ski touring
- Favorite Skis: Asnes Ingstad, Combat Nato, Amundsen, Rabb 68; Altai Kom
- Favorite boots: Alpina Alaska BC; Lundhags Expedition; Alfa Skaget XP; Scarpa T4
- Occupation: Forestry Professional
Instructor at Maritime College of Forest Technology
Husband, father, farmer and logger
Re: Fischer S-Bound 98 or 88?
Those forest skis are absolutely spectacular man!
With the current exchange rate- works out to $637CAN- not a ridiculous price for a hand-made ski.
Thanks for that Woodserson. Someday- I going to have me a pair of 300cm "forest skis" for cruising on deep, soft snow...
With the current exchange rate- works out to $637CAN- not a ridiculous price for a hand-made ski.
Thanks for that Woodserson. Someday- I going to have me a pair of 300cm "forest skis" for cruising on deep, soft snow...
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.