Is tip-rocker always a good thing?

[lowangle al]

Well don't forget your pink beanie if you do... we don't want you getting mistaken for a female polar bear

The pink beanies are gone, I had an emergency.

[Woodserson]

[quote="lilcliffy"]
I believe you- and you are not the first person to say this...Perhaps replacing my old Guides with the Objective or even the Vector should be obvious?

For example, as long as one avoids truly, deep soft snow (i.e. use a fat ski in the pow), the tip rocker on the E-109 and the E-99 is not a problem. [/quote

Yeah, I am sold on the Objective, without a doubt.

Also, I would say I could seriously do without the rocker on my 99 Crowns. It doesn't make sense, I'm not using them for Turny Tour I'm using them to log miles. The Rocker + Crown = loss of speed. Don't get it. I would appreciate MORE rocker on the SBound 98's, for instance, which seem to me to have less rocker than the 99's.

Of course, this is from ME who is skiing logging roads and access trails and other trails that most likely have been packed down and/or snowmobiled on. I guess if I was blazing trail regularly I may reconsider a bit. Tough to Say.

[lilcliffy]

I think you should stick with your military theme:

http://www.voile.com/voile-vector-bc-skis-white.html

http://www.voile.com/voile-switchback-t ... -grey.html

Kinda cliche, but it works and you have the T4s already.

These are really, really cool...

You know what is even more exciting? The Vector BC, Switchback and the Asnes Combat Nato are all going to end up in army surplus bins at some point...

[lilcliffy]

I would get the 3 pin HWS unless you will be mostly skinning.

I am with you here- in 99% of the skiing I will probably ever do in the backcountry- the 3pin-hardwire is a better choice for me.

If I were to go as big as the Vector, I would probably be willing to shell out the extra dough for the power of the hardwire.

But, with the Objective? 3pin-cable or even just NNNBC-Magnum should be plenty of power...

[lilcliffy]

Well don't forget your pink beanie if you do... we don't want you getting mistaken for a female polar bear

I think this would be even worse than being mistaken for a seal pup.....

Death by unga-bunga- NOT FUN.

[lilcliffy]

Also, I would say I could seriously do without the rocker on my 99 Crowns. It doesn't make sense, I'm not using them for Turny Tour I'm using them to log miles. The Rocker + Crown = loss of speed. Don't get it. I would appreciate MORE rocker on the SBound 98's, for instance, which seem to me to have less rocker than the 99's.

Of course, this is from ME who is skiing logging roads and access trails and other trails that most likely have been packed down and/or snowmobiled on. I guess if I was blazing trail regularly I may reconsider a bit. Tough to Say.

Couldn't agree with you more here. The Nordic Rocker on the E-99 does make it slower. My older E-99 Crowns have no rocker- my current E-99 Tours have considerable Nordic Rocker, they open up at LEAST as much as the E-109. Ignoring complicating factors- such as scales vs. kick wax- the non-rockered E-99 has a much longer glide surface than the rockered E-99- especially on a dense base. On fresh soft, snow it less noticeable- however the Nordic Rocker on the E-99 is a serious liability in very deep snow- you end up breaking trail with the kick zone- YUCK.

The open tips on the E-99 do make them MUCH easier to turn- making the current E-99 an XCD ski, as opposed to a distance-focused ski like the Asnes Amundsen. The XCD-ness of the current E-99 causes them to have serious overlap with the E-109. The advantage of the E-109 is that they are softer and less cambered, offering "easier", more manageable downhill performance. The E-99 is still a much faster XC ski than the E-109. And I cannot find any difference in flotation between the two. The E-109 would be a much better ski if it had the same degree of sidecut as the E-99. An E-109 with a sidecut profile of 82-70-76mm, and the same flex pattern would be a much better BC ski as far as I am concerned. HECK- with a 70mm waist, and lengths to 205cm the E-109 would offer better flotation than the S-98 and the Epoch!

And as far as trail-blazing- I don't think that the E-99 and the E-109 are wide enough for the tip rocker to be of any help when breaking trail- I find very much the opposite.

[MikeK]

These are really, really cool...

You know what is even more exciting? The Vector BC, Switchback and the Asnes Combat Nato are all going to end up in army surplus bins at some point...

Also makes you realize how far skiing has come. You look at the older generations of Army skis and wonder if we would have been slaughtered in the event of a snow conflict.

Granted, I'd say the Asnes Combat ski is still more of an XC ski adapted to handle mountainous terrain whereas the Vector BC is an Alpine ski adapted to go overland.