Let’s agree to disagree that Sverdrup is quite similar to IngstadManney wrote: ↑Thu Sep 21, 2023 2:06 pmThe more one looks at the Asnes line, the more one sees a merging of lines… product streamlining… marketing by top sheet graphics.
Look at the specs of the Ingstad, Sverdrup, and NATO BC. Same dimensions. Only variations in weight are easily explained by things like a titanal plate (Sverdrup, NATO BC) or shorter length.
Now we have the new NATO Combat, which no longer distinguishes itself with a different incremental length. It would not be terribly surprising to learn that the basic materials and tooling for all three skis is identical. All three are described as having “moderate” (Asnes language) wax pockets too.
Idk anything about PE entering the equation, but things look a lot like product streamlining to me. Not that Asnes’ bloated product line ever made much sense. It’s a small company, the products serve a pretty narrow niche (they’re not Salomon, Madshus, Rossignol, or Fischer and cannot compete equally on these companies’ “scale”). Their catalogs are far “busier” than they need to be.
Just looked at prices of Asnes skis on Canadian web sites. Wow! Now the Canadian dollar is different than ours but the Asnes line is brushing up against full alpine pricing in that market. That’s akin to an Alpina Alaska being within 50 bucks of an alpine boot. That’s absurd to me… almost as if ppl in Asnes think that the pandemic pricing of two years ago set the bar. Which, of course, it didn’t.
The end of a global emergency will see a return to market driven (vice FOMO panic drivien) pricing. Simple supply and demand.
My money goes where the value lies. Any company hoping to fleece me with boutique pricing or mystique mumbo jumbo better start looking for a different guy to sell stuff to, because stepping off of any brand’s boat is easy if you never get hooked on the fanboy bullshit that brands like to create.
I own both and I have skied both extensively and I have not used the Ingstad much since I biught the Sverdrup. In my backyard conditions the Sverdrup is way more efficient for touring. The camber is more pronounced and stiffer underfoot than the Ingstad. If I had to travel in deep snow for a longer tour I would choose the Ingstad. I think the Sverdrup was designed when Åsnes was still family owned and maybe the new owners want to streamline the production to make it more profitable. But that is an assumption… don’t know when the change in ownership occurred and what is their strategy for the future. But for sure I am happy that I built my quiver in the last few years. Again, I don’t w@nt to derail the original thread and let’s wait for some actual user review of the new Combat NATO.
