Fischer 2015-2016 product line-up???

[Cannatonic]

ah, the 70's, when people used to have sex with each other….those were the days!

it is SO true about what I call the "marketing brainwashing"…it maintains a firm hold on peoples' minds. I don't give a crap! I catch hell for collectively referring to skiing, XC, telemark, and snowboarding as "skiing". I'll go off and do a couple snowboard runs somewhere and when people ask what I was doing over the weekend I'll say "skiing". Then the person is like "OK, that's cool. I'm a snowboarder". Then I say, oh yeah, I was actually snowboarding. and the person will be like "WHAT??" and look at me like I'm nuts. this gear hegemony is very important to some - they want to be known as snowboarder, NOT skier. or vice versa.

I can't help but being a shit-stirrer. I'll wander into discussion about skimo races where people are discussing which $900 pair of rando boots to buy and say hey, I bet I could do this race in $200 leather boots and $150 XCD skis - it's like blasphemy, it can cause a total meltdown for some people. It's the consumer society! Anyone that grew up in the 70's can see the change.

I like to point out Moutain Dew ads - in the 70's it was a bunch of teenagers swimming in cut-off jeans in a creek with rope swing and laughing. Now the ads feature a little team of 4 kids, each dressed in highly accessorized, major-brand outfits with a bunch of "action sports" gear.

[lowangle al]

I sure don't draw any lines, as I've said many times "all my skis are xc skis". The fastest I've ever gone kicking and gliding on somewhat level ground I was skiing Voile Insanes at 112mm waiste with a 4 buckle boot, free pivot binding and kick wax. The wax pocket was so big I got an unbelievable kick and with no tip preasure due to the free pivot binding I had a great glide. I think the added weight of the set up actually helped by increasing momentum, they felt like a freight train. You don't feel the weight until you go uphill, especially when herring boneing or sidestepping.

I live in a place with big mountains and almost all bc skiers are using skins and AT gear, I seem to be one of the few who are taking advantage of low angle terrain. There have been days when I gotten hundreds of feet of vert in untracked snow before the other guys have the skins off to ski a windblow skied up slope. That being said, when conditions are right skinning or climbing to a summit and finding that perfect line is the ultimate ski experience, and I think this is what everyone is chasing.

It is great that there are a lot of options for "xcd" and hopefully this segment of the market won't go away. Most of the people I see on that gear aren't skilled and don't seem to be working on it. I think most of them are just happy to have a metal edged ski and a beefier boot to have a solid snowplow in the bc, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Unfortunately fat tire winter biking is really cutting into tha xcd market IMO and they are fucking up the trails for skiers.

On another note I'm heading back to the Poconos for a few weeks and I think I'll be doing more paddling than skiing but I'll see.

[connyro]

I just found an older book on XC-Skiing, 1973, called The Cross-Country Ski, Cook, Look & Pleasure Book by Hal Painter. I highly recommend it. We're the only type of people that are going to get it. It is a weird one though, with energy-tents and a narrative on the pleasures of sex in the snow. But there are some hard truths too.

Whoah! Granted, I don't get out much, but I've never heard of that book before. Just bought a used copy online. Thanks for the tip!

[Cannatonic]

I live in a place with big mountains and almost all bc skiers are using skins and AT gear, I seem to be one of the few who are taking advantage of low angle terrain..

Al - where you at? the west somewhere?? low angle will keep you alive when the snow is unstable too.

[MikeK]

Hahaha. Agreed. That's my sole beef with TM...

Oh c'mon. He's not that bad... he knows a couple things but he has become rather boring though, don't you think? I mean it's the same diatribe with not even a picture (I'm paraphrasing here ). Good thing he has his bear friends to help him out. Maybe they will show him how to post a photo.

[MikeK]

Unfortunately fat tire winter biking is really cutting into tha xcd market IMO and they are fucking up the trails for skiers.

I'm pretty sure in the Adirondacks they are going to try to keep them off ski trails. It's kind of a pointless, losing battle just like snowshoe/ski laws but it surely does make sense because when they posthole they can cause a real dangerous situation for skiers, more dangerous than foot post holes even.

[MikeK]

I can't help but being a shit-stirrer. I'll wander into discussion about skimo races where people are discussing which $900 pair of rando boots to buy and say hey, I bet I could do this race in $200 leather boots and $150 XCD skis - it's like blasphemy, it can cause a total meltdown for some people. It's the consumer society!

Dude, it's call skimo!!!!!! What more could you expect??? I mean SKI-MO!!!

[Woodserson]

What's skimo?

[MikeK]

What's skimo?

It's short for ski mountaineering. It's the NA equivalent of Randonnée racing.

The concept is actually kind of cool, I think. But in reality it seems to take the worst of XC racing and splice it with some dh.

[Cannatonic]

skimo is here! Magic and Jay are having races this year, couple other places too, Berkshire East, MRG, etc

http://www.ussma.org/events