Voilé and Kästle selling XCD in North America

[phoenix]

I'm a little surprised that Voile suggests the Endeavor/Alaska combination is pretty decent downhill. Having skied Alaska 75's on the narrower Objectives (for a good few years), I wouldn't say that, at least without a clear addition of "in easy conditions". Once more I'll also note that the snow in the Wasatch (Voile's home turf) is a lot different than, say, anywhere in the northeast. Get into something other than smooth consistent snow on low angle slopes, and you're likely to be spanked with that rig.

This isn't dissing anything or anyone, I'm a long time fan and as I've said own Alaska's and a few Voile's... just an opinion, and a heads up in case someone may be tempted thinking the Alaska's will be a solid XCD choice. I'm sure there will be other opinions, such as Fisheater having excellent feedback with Alaska's paired with Rotte Super Tele w/cables, which I could see working better than 3pins for turning.

[riel]

I just noticed this on La Cordée's website. Some time over the summer they received a whole line of Kästle brand fishscale XCD skis:

https://www.lacordee.com/fr/sports-d-hi ... ste?page=1

Does anyone know more about these? Are they the same skis as fishscale Sportens (https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php? ... tle#p67574), or are they new designs?

The geometry and weight of the Kastle XT63 Crown suggests "Børge Ousland with fishscales"

The XT84 has the same sidecut as Ingstad, and the XT69 looks suspiciously like the Amundsen (and old Sondre) sidecut.

The only mystery one is the XT77, which looks like it might be either Nansen or Sverdrup derived.

If the camber of the XT77 is like the Sverdrup, that could be a must-have ski for me, for the simple reason that that kind of ski here in New England is really best for spring skiing, when fishscales will be more convenient than wax.

[riel]

The geometry and weight of the Kastle XT63 Crown suggests "Børge Ousland with fishscales"

The XT84 has the same sidecut as Ingstad, and the XT69 looks suspiciously like the Amundsen (and old Sondre) sidecut.

The only mystery one is the XT77, which looks like it might be either Nansen or Sverdrup derived.

If the camber of the XT77 is like the Sverdrup, that could be a must-have ski for me, for the simple reason that that kind of ski here in New England is really best for spring skiing, when fishscales will be more convenient than wax.

There is more information on the Kästle website, which shows where my earlier guesses were wrong. Looking at the photos, none of these Kästle skis appear to have rocker, and the lengths are all 160/170/180/190/200:

https://kaestle.com/en-us/collections/backcountry

Assuming this means the skis correspond to ca 2015 Asnes models, before Asnes started using rocker in many skis and switched to xx5 lengths, we get this correspondence:
- XT63: Asnes Sondre
- XT69: Asnes Amundsen? Or maybe Sporten Ranger 68 based?
- XT77: Asnes Nansen (possibly - I'm really not sure about this one)
- XT84: Asnes Ingstad/NATO BC (pre-rocker)

Of course, that is just the length and sidecut from these ski molds.

They have likely been made with a different base, with whatever fishscale pattern Kästle prefers, and may have been produced with a different flex pattern, too.

The XT63 could be especially interesting to people who want something like the MT51/MR48 but with fishscales, and the XT84 could be very nice for people who want something like the Ingstad that's better at breaking through crust, but maybe not always turning as easily as the modern rockered Ingstads.

[Inspiredcapers]

I’ve already got a shit-ton of skis to mess with but that XT77 looks like something that would come in useful for those crappy days where waxing is a major P.I.T.A. for goofing around on single track type of trails…I’ll be curious to see reviews on these.

[JohnSKepler]

Along with a brand new boot from Scarpa. And I thought tele was dead.

Like John Wayne in "Big Jake." Not hardly.

[Inspiredcapers]

Had another peep at these when I stopped at Spry. When I was comparing the scale section to the Fischers they have stocked I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they’re identical (with the exception of colour). The scales have the same tooling marks, pattern, and feel between the two skis. While the Rex Tape option mentioned in another thread has me wanting to experiment with my waxer skis the Kastles could be an option down the road.

Kinda thinking I might have to work a little overtime…

[randoskier]

ConsilSport, a Czech company, owns Sporten skis and their Czech factory.

This factory produces their own Sporten skis as well as all the Asnes skis, and it produces the Kästle skis.

ConsilSport owns the Kästle brand, they have for several years. They also own Sporten.

So this group is not new to the sport or to Nordic ski-making.

[JB TELE]

I'm a little surprised that Voile suggests the Endeavor/Alaska combination is pretty decent downhill. Having skied Alaska 75's on the narrower Objectives (for a good few years), I wouldn't say that, at least without a clear addition of "in easy conditions". Once more I'll also note that the snow in the Wasatch (Voile's home turf) is a lot different than, say, anywhere in the northeast. Get into something other than smooth consistent snow on low angle slopes, and you're likely to be spanked with that rig.

This isn't dissing anything or anyone, I'm a long time fan and as I've said own Alaska's and a few Voile's... just an opinion, and a heads up in case someone may be tempted thinking the Alaska's will be a solid XCD choice. I'm sure there will be other opinions, such as Fisheater having excellent feedback with Alaska's paired with Rotte Super Tele w/cables, which I could see working better than 3pins for turning.

Leather boots with the Objective is a great combo for xcd powder skiing. XCD powder skiing = "smooth consistent snow on low angle slopes." There is an argument that putting a leather boot on a backcountry downhill ski is a mis-match, but a lot of people on here enjoy earning their turns in leather boots in moderate terrain and want to increase downhill performance without putting on plastic. After primarily skiing on backcountry crosscountry skis like the fischer s-bounds or madshush annums, my voile objectives have brought my novice leather telemarking up a significant notch. I plan on only using them for powder days, I live in Colorado not the Northeast.

I should also note that my leather boots are beefier than the Alaskas, however I have skied boots similar to the Alaska (crispi antartic) on wider xcd skis and that was still fine, just a little harder to control at speed.

When the snow starts to get more consolidated, they are harder to control. Firm snow, no way. I wouldn't expect voile to be totally transparent with the negative downsides of this setup. It's a sales pitch no a review. I do think that filming their XCD video on spring corn snow is a bit misleading.

[lowangle al]

When you think about it, the Objective should ski better downhill than similar "XCD" skis do, with an Alpina type boot. The reason being that the Voile Objective has an alpine camber and will be better suited for the downhill than any "XCD" camber and a half ski. If you want to maximize your downhill performance and pleasure, get a downhill ski, not a compromise ski.

[phoenix]

" I should also note that my leather boots are beefier than the Alaskas, however I have skied boots similar to the Alaska (crispi antartic) on wider xcd skis and that was still fine, just a little harder to control at speed."

The Antarctic's have alot more oomph than Alaska's, and "wider xcd skis" likely do not have the torsional rigidity of the Objective/Endeavor's. With the possible exception of using them with the Rotte ST's, I still wouldn't suggest the Alaska's and Voile's for a reliable xcd in the northeast when conditions are less than nice. You've generally got better snow out your way than we do here. While the Alaska's are delightfully warm and comfortable, they are also quite noodley.