2022 Falketind 62 Xplore 196 cm First Impressions

[Vrasho]

@telerat
Already got xplore bindings and alpina pioneer pro boots. I'd rather just train in my backyard when I can just go uphill from door, than drive to a ski center with people.
I ordered the 188cm falketinds today. Just hoping I dont need to get new pair.

[telerat]

Congratulations. It sounds like good combination. Good luck.

[Vrasho]

Finally got my falketinds and installed the bindings. Could have gone for the 196cm, but I only have 58mm x-skin so cant tell anything about xc performance, those things just grip. Cant find 40mm race skins anywhere.
Pretty lightweight at 2117g and 2118g with alpina pioneer pro.
Tried to point those things down, but the slope was just icy, the crust wouldnt break, pretty bumpy and uneven. Tomorrow going to test them on longer slopes.

[fisheater]

I use the 45 mm mohair X-Skins on my 196 cm Falketind

[reborntelemark]

My skiing has for the longest time been bound to gromed tracks. In the end, the longing for the mountains became unbearable.

"My" mountains are not as steep/high as elsewhere in Norway and getting there may take a while. But there are peaks and they must be climbed! Usually the goal for any trip is to climb a peak and tele down - preferably several the same day! So I grabed my old Fisher E99 with Salomon Xadv-bindings and low leather boots and set off. For sure it was nice being out, but it was not very inspiring: Heavy equipment, the ski hardly turned and the boot flexing and twisting in their bindings. No fun and the only way down was zigzaging (stop and turn). My style is telemark with nice curves and for that the equipment cannot give in that easely. Only one way out: New equipment!!

Not like this - zigzag down (stop and turn).

The choice was a pair of new Åsnes FTX 180cm combined with Xplore bindings and Alfa Skaget boots. The ski and binding combination was "easy" to find. The ski is as made for my use - long trips with solid downhill capabilities. The bindings too for that matter - 2-pin technology gives the best of both worlds NNN-BC and 75mm: Excellent walking mode and easy to control downhill. It was a bit more challenging to get hold of the perfect boots.

Alfa Free: Based on reviews, I really wanted this boot to fit. Unfortunately they didn't. For me it was too stiff, they pushed the wrong places and my legs was hurting 45 minutes into the trip. These boots was to stiff in relation to my use and felt like it was stuck to the skies. In other words, no boots to reach the mountains furthest from civilization. It could have been a manufacturing error - I later tried a different pair which felt a bit better.

Alpina Alaska: These were far too narrow and to litle volume for my feet. Tried two different sizes but same problem for both pairs.

Alfa Skaget: Perfect.

Overall I'm very happy with the combination I've found. Both on the flats, going up and telemark turning down:

Backcountry, It is absolutely fantastic for kick and glide - both the transit and climbing the mountain! The combination is super light and uphill I'm blasting past people with "heavy" rando gear (as light as you get). I've basically only skied using short skins (58mm X-skin mix or old long traps), but it's a blast and impeccable. Will probably buy a couple of 30mm X-skin for touring only days for even better gliding.

Important taking time to enjoy the nice view

Downhill, it depends on the snow conditions. I have been using the FTXs on trips in varying conditions this season: 40 cm powder, fresh snow hard packed by the wind, slush, load-bearing snow crust, snow crust which collapses under pressure, hard artificial snow found in the ski resort and ice - some in combination with steering snow on top.

Skiing in the golden age of telemark in Norway (in the 90s): I know how to handle leather boots and slimish skies. In most conditions, controlling the skies with the Alfa Skaget was a nobrainer. It's just a matter building up some speed and dive in there. Good control on the ski with boot and bindings. You are in control of the skies and they turn easily. Even when suddenly breaking through the crust I mostly stay in control. This combination is WAY better than I can remember on leather boots. However, I become more exhausted than driving with my trusty old plastic boots and Chilis. So I needed some breaks to catch my breath on the way down. But as always take time to cheer a little for the latest turns and enjoy the wonderful view.

This was not taken where I usually go skiing. Down from Rametinden it is probably more fun with plastics, TTS and wider skis - nevertheless it worked well due to 5cm of steering snow. The descent was pushing 35 degrees.

On hard surfaces and when mostly snow crust, it is worse. Yeah, you get down in style, but it gets longer between each turn and the route doesn't go straight down. I think the Skaget reached their limitations. Possibly a pair of Alfa Frees would have given me some better control, but then the ski quickly would become the limiting factor. It may also take some time to get used to the new equipment.

However, this equipment is not for the toughest descents in difficult conditions. My focus with this equipment is trips in the mountains and not necessarily the wildest summit trips.

Personally, this equipment made me understand how much I love the telemark style. Back to basics!! Highly recommend!

[Stephen]

@reborntelemark

[lilcliffy]

@reborntelemark
Thank you for this excellent post-review and the spectacular photos!

The Alfa Free boot does indeed offer more support than the Skaget boot-
but, I much prefer the Skaget for Nordic touring-
and the FTX is a superb backcountry Nordic touring ski for steep terrain.
Gareth

[telerat]

Thanks for a nice review reborntelemark. I am glad you are happy with the gear. The E99 isn't too bad at turning though; here is a picture of my wife skiing Dronningkrona on them (on 3-pin 75mm and Asolo Morgedal boots):

If I were you I would consider remounting them with Xplore and use Alfa Skaget, as my wife does with hers currently. She would bring her Falketind skis to Dronningkrona now though.

I bought Alfa Skaget in December 2021 and am very happy with it, it is the cheapest of the Xplore boots here in Norway, fits well, is warm and very supportive for a pure leather boot. I will use it with FT62X on all conditions, but hard snow and steep descents where I now use my Alfa Free. I even bough a reserve pair this spring as they were 55% off compared to last year's price.

I bought a used pair of Free this winter to complement my Skaget, and luckily I can use them for any skiing I want and they are significantly more supportive and nice on steeper descents and on hard snow. All is not well and I will describe it in the Free review thread:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4512&p=68806#p68806

Alpina Alaska seems like a very nice boot for flatter tours due to low weight and height, unlike the 75mm and BC versions that are higher and more supportive, but seems to share the narrow last that does not fit all. When we bought new boots for her last spring, due to her old Alpina Alaska 75 had gotten to small, she considered the Xplore version and it weighed 650 grams compared 890 grams for her old boots. Her Skaget also weighs in at a similar weight of only 624 grams.

I have telemark gear too, and will use it on steeper tours. 75mm with the Voile Switchback an its walk mode was a revolution compared to Chili/Cobra/Riva3. The 22designs AXL might also be a nice alternative. I still use 75mm, but usually goes with wider skis, NTN and the Meidjo binding now.

[tkarhu]

Thanks for the review @reborntelemark!

This week, I skied a 34 km XC-BC tour on my 196 cm Falketind Xplores up in the fjells. Snow was hard, you could ski through forests without your skis sinking at all. On the other hand, the snow was soft enough for blue wax to grip.

Before going out, I considered buying a pair of Mountain Races that a local shop had -50 % on sale. I thought Falketinds would be less than optimal for the day. Because I did not expect finding any downhill snow for my NNN-BC setup.

Yet after the tour, I was really pleased with the Falketind Xplores also for this trip. I left the Mountain Races in the shop without any thinking. Three pairs of Åsnes skis should be enough for one person

I started on groomed tracks to get to the backcountry first. It was nice to ski some b-tele turns in a skate ski track, when going down an icy fjell.

Surprisingly, I also found a spot of soft snow up in the fjells! In the less than perfect BC snow, the ease of turning Falketinds brought me a lot of joy, along with some swans and ptarmigans flying over me. The 200 m of BC-XCD added a feeling of freedom to the long BC-XC day.

For sure I would have been happy on the Mountain Races that day, too. On the MR's, the tour would probably have been more effectice, but less playful. Yet isn't skiing in itself a destination? Are you in a hurry to get back to the place where you left.

A note on waxing the Falketinds, or any skis with that much sidecut. Out in the backcountry, I did a long climb on a sidewards inclined slope, on snow that was hardened by rain and wind. I waxed both tips and tails, especially near ski edges, and put on 45 mm mohair skins. Waxing the tips and tails helped a lot because center parts of your skis do not touch much snow in the crusty conditions. With the tips and tails grip waxed, I did not need to herringbone at all. Still with wax, I had a lot more glide than you get with long skins.

Maybe I could have done even without any skins all day. You needed to wax every 5 km's, and the crusty snow was a real skin killer. The long hairs of my 45 mm Colltex mohairs resemble 40 mm Pomoca mohairs now Like we chatted with @jyw5 a couple of years ago, thanks for the tips back then. I guess I can now buy new 45 mm mohairs, and use the old 45 mm's for ”race” skins.