Asnes Rabb 68 Ski Review

[lilcliffy]

Hi Verskis,
Thank you for the update on your Rabb 68.

You have a pair of Excursions as well? Have you tried them with plastic Tele boots?

I shouldn't try and compare the Storetind too much to what you have...But, I find the Storetind acceptable when XC skiing in soft, deep snow- despite the 68mm waist, the tip and tail of my Storetind are stiff and supportive when XC skiing in deep snow. They are certainly, dead, short and unstable when XC skiing on dense, consolidated snow.

As far as downhill skiing my Storetind wants to charge and carve- period. I personally find they perform quite well in deep snow- but they want to go fast- they are certainly not modern, fat, round and smeary powder skis.

I ask about the plastic Tele boots because I wonder how they would behave if you were able to ski more aggressively with them?

[Verskis]

You have a pair of Excursions as well? Have you tried them with plastic Tele boots?

Yes I have, but I have only tried the Rabbs twice with the plastic boots. For some reason I have been struggling with weighting the rear ski properly with the Excursions. The leathers force me to put weight on the rear ski, as otherwise I will end up losing control, but it feels so good when the perfect weight distribution happens. So I have been mostly skiing with leathers now. Maybe next time I'll go with the Excursions, let's see.

I shouldn't try and compare the Storetind too much to what you have...But, I find the Storetind acceptable when XC skiing in soft, deep snow- despite the 68mm waist, the tip and tail of my Storetind are stiff and supportive when XC skiing in deep snow. They are certainly, dead, short and unstable when XC skiing on dense, consolidated snow.

Yes, I also think the Rabb is acceptable for soft snow XC, as it doesn't sink as bad as the Eon when breaking trail, even though it still sinks. But, I usually end up skiing a lot of hardpacked singletrack trail (packed down by people, and dogs, walking in the forests, as I usually ski in my local hilly forests that are surrounded by suburbs), and for the trail skiing the Eons are better, as they track straighter. I can tolerate skiing some distance on the trail on the Rabb, but it's not something I particularly look forward to.

As far as downhill skiing my Storetind wants to charge and carve- period. I personally find they perform quite well in deep snow- but they want to go fast- they are certainly not modern, fat, round and smeary powder skis.

I ask about the plastic Tele boots because I wonder how they would behave if you were able to ski more aggressively with them?

I think my Rabbs prefer to carve as well, but they can be also broken free and skidded or smeared a little when needed. But you got to keep in mind that I do not have any experience with modern fat powder downhill skis.
Do your Storetinds have a lot of nordic rocker?

I'll try to improve my technique with the plastic boots and charge harder (and report back after that)!

[lilcliffy]

Verskis-
Please remind me what binding you are using on your Rabb 68?

Yes- my Storetind has significant Nordic Rocker- comparable to the current Ingstad BC.

[fisheater]

Verskis, it sounds as if you have a nice place to ski. My local trails get tracked out quickly, as does my favorite downhill, "The Place Where Sleds Go to Die". So when I catch the dry powder my FT 62 are great. I do not get the opportunity to ski downhills where the snow has "aged" naturally. Skiing wind pack, sun crust, or just settled and heavy snow is much more difficult. I know that is why I jumped at the opportunity to buy the Tindan 86. Sometimes I drive north a couple hours to get into better snow and bigger hills. If the snow isn't dry powder, or if there is too deep of dry powder (dry powder is never too deep ). I wanted something wider. Many skiers go wider up to a Voile Vector or even bigger. You may or may not find you want wider, the trouble is getting to the downhill on the wider ski. Then, I read many positive reports on Vector trail manners.
It seems to me that presently you are finding your way on backcountry skis. Personally I would spend as much time as I could on those Rabb's unless I was only trail skiing. Making hockey stops with you back foot is a great way to work on back foot feel. Switch up those boots, they offer different feels. By skiing both types of boots you will learn different things. For me, dry powder days would be for leathers. Leave the manky snow to the plastics.
If you get a chance, post a few more photos. They may be all I see of Finland so I will appreciate seeing them.
Cheers

[Verskis]

Verskis-
Please remind me what binding you are using on your Rabb 68?

Yes- my Storetind has significant Nordic Rocker- comparable to the current Ingstad BC.

I am using Voile 3-pin Cable toepieces with Rottefella Chili cable assembly and Rottefella 10mm risers on my Rabbs.

Sounds like the Storetind should be pretty similar to Rabb then, unless the flex is different.

[Verskis]

Verskis, it sounds as if you have a nice place to ski. My local trails get tracked out quickly, as does my favorite downhill, "The Place Where Sleds Go to Die". So when I catch the dry powder my FT 62 are great. I do not get the opportunity to ski downhills where the snow has "aged" naturally. Skiing wind pack, sun crust, or just settled and heavy snow is much more difficult. I know that is why I jumped at the opportunity to buy the Tindan 86. Sometimes I drive north a couple hours to get into better snow and bigger hills. If the snow isn't dry powder, or if there is too deep of dry powder (dry powder is never too deep ). I wanted something wider. Many skiers go wider up to a Voile Vector or even bigger. You may or may not find you want wider, the trouble is getting to the downhill on the wider ski. Then, I read many positive reports on Vector trail manners.
It seems to me that presently you are finding your way on backcountry skis. Personally I would spend as much time as I could on those Rabb's unless I was only trail skiing. Making hockey stops with you back foot is a great way to work on back foot feel. Switch up those boots, they offer different feels. By skiing both types of boots you will learn different things. For me, dry powder days would be for leathers. Leave the manky snow to the plastics.
If you get a chance, post a few more photos. They may be all I see of Finland so I will appreciate seeing them.
Cheers

Thanks Fisheater for all the comments and tips!
I have quite nice places to ski around me, some really small hills actually just behind my backyard, but of course the hills could always be bigger and the forests more open. And the snow deeper
I have been skiing nothing but the Rabbs since I've got them, I have been seeking every opportunity to get a couple of turns on them on natural snow. Those skis made me much more interested in touring for turns than trail skiing, but I know that someday I want to make a longer trail skiing trip on my Eons again.
I still have a lot to learn about skiing downhills, but I think I have had some really good turns during my last couple of trips. At least it has felt good
Like I said, I think the leather boots make me a better skier by punishing for mistakes, whereas with the plastics I can ski more sloppy and still get down the hill. But I know that once the snow is not so fluffy anymore, it's probably time to change to plastics. Still, the greatest improvement will come from just skiing more, whatever the equipment!

I don't have that many pictures, since I usually ski alone and mostly in the dark, but here are a couple I have taken during couple of my last trips. A bit offtopic for a ski review, but at least all these were taken with the Åsnes Rabbs strapped to my feet (well, on one picture they are in front of me)

[Cannatonic]

looks fun! What kind of boots are those????

[Verskis]

Cannatonic, they are Alico Ski March boots.

[fisheater]

Thank you photos, the third one is my favorite. I really like the colors of the twilight and the rolling terrain in the distance. While I live in a deciduous zone, I am not far from mixed forests. The conifers where you live seem different than what we have here in Michigan. It may just be the snow cover on the trees.
Regardless you live in what appears to be very nice country. A man could find peace skiing in your woods, however he could also eat a little pine tar turning in those tight trees

[Verskis]

I ask about the plastic Tele boots because I wonder how they would behave if you were able to ski more aggressively with them?

Last weekend I skied the Rabbs with the Excursion plastic boots. Now I managed to put enough weight on the rear ski also with the plastic boots, when I skied less steep hills. It was only a problem on really steep former quarry walls, where I had quite a many faceplants because of my timid skiing.
On an abandoned ski hill piste with about 40 to 50 cm of natural soft (but somewhat tracked) snow the Rabbs were a dream with the plastic boots. I could ride pretty fast (although my fast seems to be only about 30 km/h according to the GPS tracker, which may not qualify as fast for better skiers) and bounce from turn to turn, which was the most fun I've ever had on my skis. They floated plenty enough on these conditions and did not get hooked on snow like my Eons do on the deep snow.
Lilcliffy is quite right in that these skis want to carve even in soft snow. They can be also skidded but that takes more effort than carving.
This was also the deepest snow I've been on the Rabbs yet, and they did not sink too bad even when XC skiing. Of course they sink somewhat, but not frustratingly deep like the Eons do in similar conditions.
To me it seems like the Rabbs are pretty much similar as Lilcliffy's Storetinds are.

The only thing that I do not like on the Rabbs is that the steel edges do not go all the way to the very end of the tip to protect it. My ski tips are already looking quite bashed. Sometimes I also wonder if a track groove would make it track better, but would that hinder the turning?