Ski Review: Altai Kom 162cm

[fisheater]

Gareth, I think you will be very pleased with the Storetind. Now that is based on assumptions I am making based on the FT 62. I would wax a little on the cold side in the pocket (yes, it is single cambered, correct). I know the next time out on the FT 62 I will wax a little cold. A tin of warmer and a cork fit in my pocket. I look forward to another good review.

[Woodserson]

Just spent a day roaring around frontside on my KOM's in delicious spring corn and riding the lift. Sure, they chattered a bit at speed over pushed-up piles of sweet spring corn and jump around a bit more but interestingly they still give confidence because of their short length, the lever arm is shorter so they don't go pulling legs apart. I also paralleled them today which is something I almost have never done and they were very well behaved doing this too. Damn! Everytime I go for them, I don't come away disappointed. It's a weird thing. I forgot my regular skis and had these in the trunk and the first run I was a little bummed out- especially since I was skiing with my ski bud on his Vectors (smooth base). But he slowed up just a bit and I sped the KOMs up, and we had a great day!

Telemark patrol woman (who I happen to know) said I made it look so good! YEAH, KUDOS!

[lilcliffy]

So I have saved my Kom from the yard sale-

#1 is that I grip-waxed the entire base this year- this transformed this ski for me and meant that it gripped and glided superbly in cold soft snow (which I get a lot of) and meant that I could charge up and down my local glades and ravines without having to use skins.

The Kom is a superb BC touring for turns ski- it floats, it breaks trail superbly-

It turns beautifully- it is stable and supportive, yet it turns on the dime and particularly loves to make smeary floaty turns on both soft snow and spring corn.

It is perfect for skiing tight lines in the Northwoods.

The other thing I have discovered is that I like it better than the Hok as a bushwacking ski...
It turns better, it tracks better, and it glides better...(and with grip wax, it climbs just as effectively as the Hok).
For bushwacking in gentle to moderate terrain- lately I have been using my Kom with my light, soft Lofoten boot (instead of my Hok) (I do a lot of skiing like this with my 8-year old autistic son- he on his Balla Hok- who loves to explore in the woods.) On gentle to moderate terrain, I love the Kom with the softer BC-XC boot (much more than my T4 in this context). The one thing I prefer about the Hok- in this context- is that it is lighter- especially due to the much heavier binding that I have on the Kom.

I have an extra set of 3-pin cable bindings sitting on my shelf...I might just swap it for the 3-pin hardwire on this ski...

As a dedicated ski the Kom can certainly cover what the Hok offers and MUCH more.

We have two pairs of Hoks- one with the universal binding. I do prefer the universal binding as a utilitarian bushwacking ski- I use it both on the farm and in my forestry work. It is a huge advantage to be able to wear work/field/hunting/chainsaw boots and then clip into a ski to travel on the job.

Anyway- love the Kom!!!

[Whiteout]

[snip]
As a dedicated ski the Kom can certainly cover what the Hok offers and MUCH more.

We have two pairs of Hoks- one with the universal binding. I do prefer the universal binding as a utilitarian bushwacking ski- I use it both on the farm and in my forestry work. It is a huge advantage to be able to wear work/field/hunting/chainsaw boots and then clip into a ski to travel on the job.

Anyway- love the Kom!!!

Dipping in here as nearest I can find to info on Universal Bindings. I have some Hoks I am going to give to friends to use as a guest-in-the-meadow-with-soft-boots ski. Slidey snowshoes. (The skis have a fatal flaw for me--re-frozen rain crust). But I need to get Universal Bindings. Ain't cheap. And I now see an upgrade from flex plate to pivot plate. Should I strive to find some older flex-plate ones for greater.....universality...of boot size? TIA