Asnes Gamme 54

[anrothar]

I only have one ski on these, so I'll be updating this as I go.

Skier: 6'3", 220 dressed, Mostly non-competitive, distance focused nordic backcountry experience.

Setup: Gamme in 210, bought from SportAlbert, so in theory they chose appropriate ones for my weight, since they ask on the form. AT toepiece and chopped boot setup.

Conditions: 20" base. Very warm temps yesterday moistened up the base, followed by 6" of fairly high moisture content snow overnight. All singletrack with varying levels of use since the 6" fell. Some unused, some just one skier had passed, some had a few walkers and one skier pass, some just walkers.

Wax: Scuffed up a short kick zone lightly with sandpaper, then sprayed one layer of Toko Red Grip Spray, which is somewhere between klister and wax, but closer to klister. Followed with two layers of Toko yellow hard wax. I should have brought Yellow Grip Spray. I think the snow was just a little too warm/wet for the yellow hard wax. Grip was sufficient on the flats, but uphill I had to basically run/walk with the skis instead of getting any real kick. Wasn't bad enough to make my try anything different, even though I had a slightly warmer Swix hard wax in my bag

The skiing was fantastic. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with the snow, but it was like skiing on silk. The skis were fast on the flats and downhills, turned well on the downhills and broke trail great on the flats and downhills. It was a really pleasurable outing. I expected the Gamme to be noticeably slower than the Mountain Race 48 and Pellestova, but I really can't imagine they would be much, if at all faster in those conditions. I can't wait to get more time on these skis. I think I'm going to take them out again tomorrow morning.

The balance point on Gamme is about 1" forward of the MR 48(and Pellestova). I expected to have less of a wax pocket than those two, but my wax pocket was the same after the @8 miles as before. I still expect there to be a noticeable difference on hardpack in the wax pocket, but for now I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount of double camber it has.

[lilcliffy]

These babies sound a lot like the current E-99 Tour Easy-Skin that I have. The construction at least appears to be more rugged and durable with the Gamme 54.

Your report on being surprised at how fast they are also reminds me of the current E-99.

This class of ski still is an efficient distance-oriented BC ski. The bit of extra width, softer flex makes them more stable and manageable on highly variable terrain and fresh, soft snow- compared to a narrower, stiffer ski...

This class of ski fits the terrain and snow conditions of my distance-focused BC skiing.

[Cannatonic]

I think the cool thing about these is the BP position. It's at chord center instead of 1-2 inches behind it, which is where E99's balance. Should make it feel easier to turn while also being balanced for K&G

I want to try a 35mm skin or cut a 45mm short and see if I can get decent K&G on spring snow without needing klister.

[HBS]

FWIW I cut off about 2" on my 45mm asnes nylon skins on my nansens and get great grip on spring snow but the drag is pretty rough. Thinking I might cut another inch off...

[anrothar]

If my nylons don't get a little faster as they wear in, I'm just going to replace the nylon with mohair or a mohair mix. You can buy a variety of skin material from these guys by the cm: http://skimo.co/skin-parts