Non-rockered ski recommendations for resort and backcountry.

[Rodbelan]

Hum, I am a bit puzzled... You are looking for non-rockered skis, and the ones you are looking into are rockered...

No big deal; non-rockered is hard to come by... And finding a ski that tracks well and turns well (groomer) is somewhat a challenge...

One way to find one is to look for a narrow dedicated uphill skimo ski... Atomic and Fischer has good ones... Some are too stiff though... anyway, just a suggestion.

It's my understanding that the Nansen and the Combat NATO are both non-rockered skis, or at least that their rocker is so small as to be un-noticeable. At least, that is the impression I have received from reading reviews on this forum. My understanding is that the Ingstad is essentially a rockered version of the NATO, although Åsnes has now started building a second version of the NATO with rocker.

I hadn't considered the skimo ski idea. Do you know the names of any good models? Those types of skis haven't been discussed very much on this forum.

You will have to check skimo related shops, vlog, etc... Fischer, Atomic, Black Crow, have a narrow ski that could fit the bill (like Fischer TransAlp 75 — might be a little wider than you need...

Anyway, I mounted 2 pairs of light touring skis and they serve me well. For exemple, I have a pair of K2 Sahale (Andrew McLean design) mounted with 3 pins cables... No rocker, lightweight, a bit stiff, 25 m of radius, 68 mm under foot, one of my best for BC touring. And it turns and tracks reasonably well...

[corlay]

for a "crust-buster" common advice usually points to the Combat NATO.
and maybe an even better cruster, is the NATO's older "relative",
the USGI... (but shipping is a barrier to obtaining it from the Surplus store in Harrisburg, PA)

To bust-crust, I think: heavy, and stiff...

[lilcliffy]

Let us know how you make out with the Combat NATO-

You are correct- the original- and still available at the moment- Combat NATO is the same design as the old Ingstad, and does not have a rockered shovel- it has pronouced resitance underfoot, with proportionally more flexible shovel.

The Nansen has a more uniform, rounder flex.

The Combat NATO makes wonderful open long-radius turns, but you need a lot of room to make linked turns with them.

The Nansen objectively has the same turn radius as the Combat NATO- but, it is easier to pressur the Nansen into a shorter-radius turn than the Combat NATO.

Regardless, if you choose either in a shortish length, they will offer shorter radius turns-
Choose both of them in long lengths for maximum XC performance.

The Nansen is at least as good at crust busting than the Combat NATO- it might be even better...
The Combat NATO is generally an excellent crust buster, but I do find that if the crust is particularly thick, the supple tip of the Combat NATO will ride on top of the crust- leaving the shovel to break trail through the crust (nowehere near as bad as a rockered touring ski like the current Ingstad though.)

I would rate in terms of crust-busting trail breaking- in order of effectiveness:
1) Amundsen
2) Nansen
3) Combat NATO

The Combat NATO is still great in breakable crust, and is a XC trail-breaking machine in truly deep snow.

[Rodbelan]

Hum, puzzling, because the NATO version I saw in store — this year — had a slight rocker, like my M62...

[CwmRaider]

@Rodbelan
The "older" version without rocker:
https://www.en.asnes.com/produkt/combat-nato/
the "new" version with rocker and tapered tip:
https://www.en.asnes.com/produkt/combat-nato-62-ski/

I think the design change was due to a call for tenders for the Norwegian Army for new skis for the military in 2023.

[Rodbelan]

Ok, makes sens... My next M62 is going to be a NATO 62. The camber is very low, much lower than my Pano M62; good for turning but nos as energic on K&G... I would buy another M62, but the wax version doesn't exist anymore.