2022 Falketind 62 Xplore 196 cm First Impressions

[lilcliffy]

I don't think dbl camber skis stay compressed long enough for turn radius to matter.

Don't agree with this.
Double-cambered skis "harder" to compress/pressure and engage the effective/working edge? Yes.
This does not preclude that a double-cambered ski cannot be sufficiently compressed/pressured to engage the effective edge.

On single camber you can quietly ride your edges through not only the turn, but the transitions too. Both skis evenly weighted and edged, from edge change to edge change, gliding silently barely disturbing a thing.

Agree with this. Single-cambered skis are "easier" to compress/pressure and engage the effective/working edge.
This is why downhill skis are at most single cambered.
Which is why the Falketind 62 Xplore is single-cambered- it is clearly designed for downhill turns.

[lilcliffy]

Summary of the turn radius of current Asnes fjellskis designed for hilly/steep terrain:
http://www.telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... d1f#p52939

[lowangle al]

I don't think dbl camber skis stay compressed long enough for turn radius to matter.

Don't agree with this.
Double-cambered skis "harder" to compress/pressure and engage the effective/working edge? Yes.
This does not preclude that a double-cambered ski cannot be sufficiently compressed/pressured to engage the effective edge.

On single camber you can quietly ride your edges through not only the turn, but the transitions too. Both skis evenly weighted and edged, from edge change to edge change, gliding silently barely disturbing a thing.

Agree with this. Single-cambered skis are "easier" to compress/pressure and engage the effective/working edge.
This is why downhill skis are at most single cambered.
Which is why the Falketind 62 Xplore is single-cambered- it is clearly designed for downhill turns.

LC, a lot depends on the snow. I was thinking packed powder because that where I'd be more aware of turn radius. In a little powder the skis turn nice and you can stay in a turn just like on single camber. My experience is, if your skis passed the "slide the paper under the ski" test, the edges underfoot will have less weight then the tips and tails when they are equally weighted, and they will be squirrely It feels like your tips want to wander.

I guess turn radius matters in powder too, but I never think about it in that context.

[fisheater]

I have not been able to log onto the English language version of the Asnes website for at least the month. If I recall correctly Asnes was stating the new FT X had a full wax pocket. I will say I am quite pleased with kick and glide. However that wax pocket is a refinement of the first two generations of the Falketind. It isn’t like a double camber ski, it is utilization of tension underfoot. “Tension” is taken directly from Asnes, and I think it is quite accurate. They utilize tension on the Tindan, and that is a straight up downhill ski.
Regardless of camber, tension, or anything else, when you point the Falketind Xplore downhill it is a downhill ski. It does not compromise going downhill.
They have put out an amazing ski. I know for fact that it is absurdly ridiculous to compare the two Fischer offerings to this ski.

[AdamA]

Just picking this thread up as I finally had a chance to try mine. Here is the setup:

Asnes Falketind 62 Xplore @196
Rottefella Super Teles
Fischer BCX Transnordics

I'm 6'5'' and skiied packless at 200 yesterday. Took it out on my local ski hill in New England and had an absolute blast. The skis happily made alpine turns, tele turns, and big fat wedges when my legs were too tired to keep skiing. I'm not super proficient with them (nor any ski, really), but felt comfortable with both groomed and ungroomed conditions (see New England concrete). In the PM when everything turned to ice, the edges did a great job helping with turns.

Did not have a chance to test the "XC" portion of these xcD skis but will hopefully have some fun next week with the holiday!

[CwmRaider]

These skis are pretty nice. 196cm length.
I went on a 11km tour with them of which about 6km on groomed xc corduroy. The rest was ups and downs. The picture below is from the summit, it is 340m above the lake in the center left so you get an idea of the relief.

Anyways we had Swix blue conditions. 3 layers corked in, i did not notice a drop in grip by the end of the tour so the wax pocket works fine even for me at over 105 kg skiing weight. Good kick and glide, but on corduroy it takes some effort to make the skis track straight. Not really surprising. When skiing on hard base with 5 to 10cm of powder they track straight, and there are obviously many xc skis more suited to corduroy xc tracks.æ, but it's passable.
I noticed in the past 4 tours that the shovel chatters a lot less than gen2 of this ski. Probably due to higher stiffness.
This is a very good and playful combo with Alfa Free. It's not magic and the hard flexor is very useful to help with downhill sections, but the ski turns easily and predictably. I do not notice worse DH performance due to increased stiffness compared to Gen2.

[lilcliffy]

@Roelant
Do you think it a better ski than the 2nd-gen FT62 that you had?
Gareth

[lilcliffy]

I have not been able to log onto the English language version of the Asnes website for at least the month. If I recall correctly Asnes was stating the new FT X had a full wax pocket. I will say I am quite pleased with kick and glide.

Hmmm...
Very interesting stuff!
Check out Asnes' Frank describing and presenting the FTX:

Not much camber there...
But the testimonies of this ski make me wonder...
........
I wonder why this wouldn't make the Ingstad BC obeselete...
.......
Anyone tried to break trail in deep snow with the FTX ski?
This seems the one characteristic of the Ingstad that I am thinking must still be better- it's traditional, raised Nordic tip...

[lilcliffy]

Also- considering that ski in the video above↑
That FTX has much less rocker than both 1st and 2nd gen FT62s that I have...

[fisheater]

Also- considering that ski in the video above↑
That FTX has much less rocker than both 1st and 2nd gen FT62s that I have...

My 1rst gen. FT at 188 cm had 37 cm rocker as a chord measurement from the top.
My FT X at 196 cm has 38 cm rocker as a chord measurement from the tip.

I have been in powder deep enough for the entire ski to be under the snow, however the powder was so light the tip didn’t make a difference. The ski was full supportive in that condition. I had to be at least 200 lbs with my pack.
I just haven’t been in enough deep powder to make any definitive claims. My other deep snow experience was 16” of higher moisture snow, in which the ski stayed on top. The ski broke trail fine, again it was supportive, the ski didn’t make me climb any higher than the angle of ascent.
I would believe Ingstad is better in XC performance, FT X better downhill. They are probably really not perfect touring partners, but both good choices for similar conditions.