wide waxless skis
Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2021 3:46 pm
Thanks for the great recommendation to pick up a pair of waxless Ingstads, which were tons of fun this past season. Fortunately/unfortunately, as you also correctly predicted, I've now become desperate for more gear and would love advice on a set of wider waxless skis for more downhill work next season.
By way of background, I'm skiing mostly in the Tahoe area, so deep, warm snow that's tough to wax for. I come from a classic XC background with limited DH skills, and I found there was quite a bit of terrain here that I wasn't capable of handling with the Ingstads + Alfa Guards, so I'm thinking that a wider waxless ski with a plastic boot would help give me more control/confidence on steeper descents, while also allowing me to do more rolling terrain when the deep, often refrozen/breakable snow out here limits the K&G effectiveness of the Ingstads.
Since it sounds like Asnes isn't going to make wider waxless skis any time soon, my initial research leads me to: Voile Objectives, Voile Ultravectors, and Altai Koms. If there's anything obvious I'm missing from this category, please set me straight.
I'd love to know how each of these compare in terms of 1) touring efficiency, particularly in deep snow, 2) DH control on moderate/low-angle slopes. I know none of these are great for K&G, but I'd probably optimize for that, since I won't be taking them deep into avalanche country or anything—mostly rolling terrain and meadow skipping that would be tough for me to handle with the Ingstad + Alfa Guards. I'm fairly big (6'2" ~200 lbs), so it may be that one of these shorter, wider skis would be uniquely bad for me. Happy to be told to stick to the Ingstads if that's the case.
Quick point on boots/bindings: I'm not necessarily committed to the idea of a boot like the T4 if, say, the new Xplore system offers more control than what I get out of the Alfa Guards. It may even be that the Ingstads are fine if I get a more supportive boot. But, I have huge feet (the 48 Alfas are pretty snug, and in any event are among the least comfortable things I've ever put on my feet—what I wouldn't give for an Alaska in a 48), so there aren't really a ton of other NNN-BC options out there in my size. Preliminary reviews seem to indicate that I shouldn't expect much out of the new system, so maybe a T4 in a big size is the best I can do?
Any and all advice greatly appreciated.
By way of background, I'm skiing mostly in the Tahoe area, so deep, warm snow that's tough to wax for. I come from a classic XC background with limited DH skills, and I found there was quite a bit of terrain here that I wasn't capable of handling with the Ingstads + Alfa Guards, so I'm thinking that a wider waxless ski with a plastic boot would help give me more control/confidence on steeper descents, while also allowing me to do more rolling terrain when the deep, often refrozen/breakable snow out here limits the K&G effectiveness of the Ingstads.
Since it sounds like Asnes isn't going to make wider waxless skis any time soon, my initial research leads me to: Voile Objectives, Voile Ultravectors, and Altai Koms. If there's anything obvious I'm missing from this category, please set me straight.
I'd love to know how each of these compare in terms of 1) touring efficiency, particularly in deep snow, 2) DH control on moderate/low-angle slopes. I know none of these are great for K&G, but I'd probably optimize for that, since I won't be taking them deep into avalanche country or anything—mostly rolling terrain and meadow skipping that would be tough for me to handle with the Ingstad + Alfa Guards. I'm fairly big (6'2" ~200 lbs), so it may be that one of these shorter, wider skis would be uniquely bad for me. Happy to be told to stick to the Ingstads if that's the case.
Quick point on boots/bindings: I'm not necessarily committed to the idea of a boot like the T4 if, say, the new Xplore system offers more control than what I get out of the Alfa Guards. It may even be that the Ingstads are fine if I get a more supportive boot. But, I have huge feet (the 48 Alfas are pretty snug, and in any event are among the least comfortable things I've ever put on my feet—what I wouldn't give for an Alaska in a 48), so there aren't really a ton of other NNN-BC options out there in my size. Preliminary reviews seem to indicate that I shouldn't expect much out of the new system, so maybe a T4 in a big size is the best I can do?
Any and all advice greatly appreciated.