Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Full length skins are totally fine pulka pulling.

Jurassic wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 10, 2022 5:35 pm

Hello Experts!

I'm looking to buy a set of skis for a pulka trek from hut to hut in Dovrefjell, Norway with some friends. 5 to 8 hours daily hikes, covering 10-30 km every day in sometimes hilly terrain. We will avoid too steep slopes or too difficult terrain since we are not experienced XC or XCD skiers. We did something like this before (In Rondane (Norway) and Urho-Kekkonen (Finland)), at that time I rented Madshus Glittertind skis, which were ok I guess.

I'm looking to buy my own gear now and am thinking about an Asnes Nansen (too much sidecut?) or Amundsen (too straight?). (Fischer skis TN66 or 82 are all sold out where I live in Europe by the way; the Asnes brand is more expensive and hence more available it seems). Does any one among you have any advice for a ski fitting the terrain I am talking about? Its moderately hilly (if you avoid the bigger mountain routes, of course), and we will be going at relaxed walking pace (last time we hiked with full length skins on our skis without ever taking them off, which will probably be blasphemy to most of you connoisseurs , but it helped with the pulka-pulling ).

My criteria for the ski:
-Easy to steer. I'm an alpine skier but suck at telemark turning and turning in general with narrow xc skis. Preferably not too long because of this.
- Acceptable for a beginner, taking some XC lessons but not good at downhill (and not really too interested in that except to get down safely). Good stamina from long distance running though, so that's not a problem.
-Compatible with the hilly Dovrefjell terrain (If you guys know what it looks like?), or compatible with a broad range of snow conditions in general and mountain touring (multi-day hikes).
-Good for pulka pulling
-Waxless (yes, yes I know . But for now I'm sticking to scales).
-preferably something I can use in the French / Swiss pre-alps or Jura mountains too

Thank you in advance for your expert advice, and thanks for all your work on this forum. It's very interesting and inspiring! Whenever I read a post, I feel like jumping on a plane towards some frozen wasteland

Jurassic wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 10, 2022 5:35 pm

My criteria for the ski:
-Easy to steer. I'm an alpine skier but suck at telemark turning and turning in general with narrow xc skis. Preferably not too long because of this.
- Acceptable for a beginner, taking some XC lessons but not good at downhill (and not really too interested in that except to get down safely). Good stamina from long distance running though, so that's not a problem.
-Compatible with the hilly Dovrefjell terrain (If you guys know what it looks like?), or compatible with a broad range of snow conditions in general and mountain touring (multi-day hikes).
-Good for pulka pulling
-Waxless (yes, yes I know . But for now I'm sticking to scales).
-preferably something I can use in the French / Swiss pre-alps or Jura mountains too

I'm 67 kg, 175 cm.

Roelant wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:02 am

Genevois. Now settled in Norway.

This is what Dovrefjell looks like in the mid summer through the eyes of an 8 month old. It was nearly snowing and there were musk oxen and reindeer wandering around. Snøhetta is shrouded in the clouds.
20210802_103214.jpg

In the winter it is almost always windy, so the snow is often crusty. I assume you'll be there around Easter? Usually weather will be a bit more forgiving. I also assume that you wont be climbing snøhetta with a pulk.

An alternative waxless option to the skis mentioned by Woodserson could be Alpina Discovery 80 if you cannot locate Fischer E88, T78 or tn66 crown.. While pulling a pulk otherwise, skins will be very useful and even short skins could offer more grip than even the best waxless pattern in certain snow conditions.