Advice on a new set up

[SkiBoB]

I have always skied beat hand me down and used gear but I'm going to spend a chunk of change on a new setup instead of bulk ptex and fiberglass and looking for some advice/input on it
I ski long days/ multi day backcountry tours in washington state (crappy variable conditions, wet icey hard we get it all haha) i was looking at madshus panorama m78, voile 3 pin telemark or voile traverse bindings and crispi svartisen ( I prefer leather boots especially if hiking is involved) would you change anything about this set up? is this worth it?
Thanks!

[Rodbelan]

It seems ok, but I am wondering why the M78? With the description you made of your snow conditions, I would go M68... Voile Traverse is a good choice (for the cables and the riser). Never tried the Svartisen (I own the Antarctic), but it looks like a good burly boot.

[SkiBoB]

I have been back and forth on 68 vs 78 I currently ski beat up madshus epochs and I like them alot sometimes I wish they were wider. I'm 6'4" and 220lbs so bigger usually helps out for me but you are right the 68s probably make more sense

[JB TELE]

I've skiied the madshush annum which I think is the older version of the m78. They were exceptionaly good for skiing powder, but terrifying on anything packed. It chattered and wobbled and noodled all over on hard snow. It was not a versatile ski. I also felt the scales were not grippy enough. Yeah they glide better, but I couldn't make it up even small hills without skins. And without a kicker skin option I ended up just using full lengths skins all the time.

[chris_the_wrench]

@SkiBoB Where in Wa ya skiing? Im on chinook pass, east of the closure. I ski sbound 98s(69 waist)with 3 pin cables and alaskans for deeper days and some 52 waist metal edges with nnnbc most other days. Im 6’3” 190’ish.

[fisheater]

I have hesitated in responding but the OP @SkiBoB asked for an opinion

My opinion is that the Asnes XCD skis are far better skis than the Fischer/Madshus skis. I would say it might be fair to say the difference in price in this case is reflected in the superior construction, which is the difference between “aircore” skis and poplar/carbon cores. The XC factor is also important in the that the Falketind X and Rabb are available in 196 cm. Don’t think for a minute that they are difficult to turn at those lengths, put them on edge and they turn! What the Asnes skis don’t have are scales. In sub-freezing conditions wax works quite easily, but in challenging conditions the X-skins work great.
I will also add that for a leather boot, the Rottefella Super Telemark with cable offers more longitudinal support than the Voile 3-pin cable. The Voile 3-pin Traverse allows you to hook the cable behind the heel piece for easy transitions between cable hooked to boot and not. The Voile cable is however quite easy to quickly attach in the field. The Rotte ST cable is not easy to quickly attach in the field. I remounted my Rotte St on a Voile Traverse riser (10 mm) as for me I never used the cable any other way, and I makes a huge difference downhill.
On the subject of transitions, one should give thought to the Xplore system. I have not. I have two leather and T-4, for 75 mm boots. The Xplore binding is still expensive. Another factor is even though there is a lot of boot offerings in Xplore, I have not read a single review that made me say I want to try that boot! My final reason is that my XCd go fast skis are NNN-BC, the bindings are cheap. I am happy with my Alaska BC boot. I have a new Nansen mounted NNN—BC. Snow is hard on my rock ski, but maybe in a day or two Nansen will come out. I actually think without the cable, my Alaska BC boot turns better than my Alaska 75. I am quite curious to put some time on Nansen. It’s possible I could convert the Falketind to NNN-BC. I don’t know, I live in rolling terrain, no transitions are better than easy transitions. I’ll see what I think.
I had two USGI skis one mounted 3-pin cable, one NNN-BC. I could certainly turn that ski with theBC binding, but nothing like the heavy leather old school boot and 3-pin cable. I guess that’s the thing about Xplore, I don’t believe for one second it can turn like an old school leather boot and 75 mm and a cable.
I didn’t mean to ramble, but those are my thoughts.

Two additional thoughts, the clamp on the Rotte ST should be a much better fit for those Svartisen boots. It certainly was with my Alaska, that’s how I found out the cable was so much better as well.
Icy, slushy, and changeable are all good reasons for an X-skin. While you may not want an Asnes ski, the skin option would be a good reason to go with the Fisher 98/112.
For the record, I had an S-112, it served me well for more than a few years. I never skied it after I bought my first Falketind. That first Falketind was a flawed design, too soft in flex in my opinion. When the Falketind Xplore came out, a friend from here gave me a report and I decided to try it. I had it for about a month, sold both the S-112 and the original Falketind with the Voile 3-pin cable bindings. I knew they would never be used by me again.

Okay, this books over. If you read this I hope it helps.

[mca80]

I don't know about Svartisen but my Crispi Bre do not work with Voile 3pin w/cable bindings. The bale clamped at 2 has far, far too much play, and it will not go to clamp position 3. The boots work fine in Rotte ST. I don't know what year the bindings are, or if they changed anything over time--I got them used, and use an Alico leather with them which work fine.

OP what will terrain mostly be like? How much downhill turning? Your objectives and a breakdown of what % of tour will be doing what might help folks get a better idea of what ski will be best. Most skis excel in certain conditions at the expense of others--can't eat your cake and have it too. Some other skis may be adequate in all respects but excellent in none. And though I have no experience with Madshus, I second all that fisheater wrote about Asnes, skins, scales, etc.