Hi All,
First time posting on here, though I have been reading through the archives for a while. A lot of good information on here which has been very helpful for me on my skiing journey!
A little background on me; I’m Australian living in Norway - a love refugee you could say. I was basically forced into XC skiing when I relocated to Norway with my Norwegian wife in 2019. After getting the hang of it, it quickly became an obsession.
This last Christmas I was lucky enough to get a pair of Åsnes Kongsvold skis which compliment my other hobbies (bird hunting and training my very active young bird dog in the mountains). The Kongsvold’s were the first mountain skis / back country skis that I had ever tried - and I love them. It’s most likely a combination of the skis being fun to ride, the meditative nature of walking on skis off groomed trails in the mountains and doing something new - I’m hooked in any case.
After riding the Kongsvold's several times a week this season and experiencing the stability, control and turning ability of this type of ski - I am wondering what else is out there, what are the next skis for me? I feel my quiver is lacking something in between XC skis and my Kongsvold’s. This season the snow conditions where I live have been extremely variable, little snow, strong winds and warm weather haven’t hosted many days of good XC skiing. I guess what I am looking for is a ski that will be fast and perform on those days where wind has blown fresh snow over newly prepped XC tracks of fresh snow lays on top.
I have done quite a lot of looking and I have some options in mind but I have not found something that I would call “Perfect for my needs”. This came as a bit of a surprise to me but let’s hear what you all have to say, maybe I have missed something? List of potentials below and their associated cons in my eyes.
- Åsnes Finnmark 54 - I have read this is basically a Gamme 54 without the steel edges. Stiffened up to compensate for the steel-less edges. Cons: slightly wider than the 60mm ski tracks, maybe they still fit (not sure), options are for a waxable base or a scale pattern. I’ve never tried a scale pattern and everyone I talk to says that these patterns are for kids skis and are almost useless. I’m also don’t know anything about kick waxing skis so this option is not super attractive to me. If there is one thing I am not super impressed with reg. Åsnes is their x-skins, the way they are mounted in the ski seems unnecessarily “draggy” when compared to the Fischer easy skins or the Madshus intiligrip systems.
Fischer Country Crown - haven’t heard much on these skis but only available in a waxless scale pattern base which as I have mentioned doesn’t really excite me.
Åsnes mountain race 48 skin - this seems like almost the perfect ski for my needs. Fits in the tracks, by all reports super fast, skin attachment if i ever need it (probably wouldn’t use it with the integrated skin) BUT, 3/4 steel edge which I don’t know if i could risk it with the dog.
Madshus Fjelltech M50 - similar ski to the mountain race, with the same downside of steel edges.
Any other suggestions or comments, I’m interested to hear your thoughts!
Thanks