FT62 196

[Nitram Tocrut]

I know the FT62 have been thoroughly discussed in the review section has well as being mentioned in so many threads. I started this thread to specifically discuss the longer one. I am not too great to talk about technical details but hopefully the usual suspects will jump in to fill the gaps

Last year I got the 188 and I could not have been happier with them... until I read that a longer version would be available... I am 6,1 and weight over 210 pounds so I can really do with longer skis and benefit from the extra glide. Touring is crucial for me as I really crave « tour for turn » on our rolling farming terrain and some hills with wide open space. To reach the best slopes I have a round trip of about 15 km and usually not a lot of time, so I must move quickly.

So, from my very limited experience with them in not so great conditions I can already say that I am very pleased with them. I don’t know if it is a « placebo » effect but it really feels like they glide better and I can’t wait to try them on better snow
And also compare them live with the 188 when my friend come skiing with them. For the dh part, I can’t say it felt like they were harder to turn because of the extra length or if the radius was greater... but it does not really matter as I have room to turn. The extra length probably gave me more stability but that was also due in big part to my new boots (Andrew Zenith) that are a great complement to the FT and of course much more efficient than the 3 pins Alaska for turning.

But the most important factor is the FUN factor and you can guess that there is plenty of it. Of course this not the perfect skis but for me it is my ultimate tour for turn machine as it is more than potent on most snow conditions and they are made to turn. I really think, from my experience, that the fun factor is better with a more rigid leather boot than the Alaska as the extra control allow to reach more of the ski potential.

That sums it for now...

[lilcliffy]

This is excellent Martin- merci mon ami!

I am assuming all of the geometry is the same as the 188- camber, rocker, flex?

Your review on the long FT62 is very useful. In many ways it is a totally different ski than a short FT62...

Keep us posted on your relationship with this ski!

Comparing the long FT62 to the Ingstad BC would also be helpful.

I have confirmed for myself that there is ZERO advantage to a short Ingstad for even a "medium-sized" man such as myself. I have tested the 185cm Ingstad vs the 188cm FT62 for skiing trees and the FT62 is much easier to turn. In fact I would like to try a shorter FT62 in this context.

The Ingstad is definitely a more efficient XC ski- it has more camber and less sidecut- it also is much better at breaking trail- especially in breakable crust. But whether this matters at all is entirely dependent on the snow, the terrain and the nature of the skiing.

Neither the FT62 nor the Ingstad BC are efficient XC skis on consolidated snow- so if one gets a lot of good snow the long FT62 has gotta pretty close to the Ingstad BC as a XC ski in good snow...

The only time I ever use my Ingstad BC is when the snow is ideal- would I take it at all if I had a 196cm FT62?

[lilcliffy]

Damn-
Have I just talked myself into getting a longer FT62?

[Woodserson]

DO IT, GARETH

[lilcliffy]

The only time I ever use my Ingstad BC is when the snow is ideal- would I take it at all if I had a 196cm FT62?

I just talked myself back around one of the circles- of many- in my head-

I want/need the Ingstad BC for distance tours in DEEP snow + hilly/steep terrain.

The FT62 kinda sucks as a XC ski in deep soft snow- too round-flexing.

So- I don't need a longer FT62-

If anything I would like to compare a shorter FT62 to my 188cm.

[fisheater]

The real question for Martin is, since it is longer, is the 196 stiffer? Does it offer better deep snow touring performance?
So Martin, I guess all we can hope for is that you get a big dump of soft powder. That way you will be able to answer.
Cheers!

[Nitram Tocrut]

The real question for Martin is, since it is longer, is the 196 stiffer? Does it offer better deep snow touring performance?
So Martin, I guess all we can hope for is that you get a big dump of soft powder. That way you will be able to answer.
Cheers!

Hi Fish,

Should get the answer to your question about deep snow performance today... as soon as I complete the first pass with the snowblower to clear the greenhouses

[fisheater]

The real question for Martin is, since it is longer, is the 196 stiffer? Does it offer better deep snow touring performance?
So Martin, I guess all we can hope for is that you get a big dump of soft powder. That way you will be able to answer.
Cheers!

Hi Fish,

Should get the answer to your question about deep snow performance today... as soon as I complete the first pass with the snowblower to clear the greenhouses

Martin, that looks awesome! So many times when I see photos of Quebec, I ask myself why my ancestors on the boat with Cadillac voyaging to Detroit just didn't jump out at Quebec City???

[CwmRaider]

I took mine out for a second time today.

The trip was a 9 km loop over a steep-ish mountain, 20 cm powder on the way up, partly on XC groomers on the way back. Total 2 hours trip.
Skis - Åsnes Falketind 62 196 cm, 2020 model
Rottefella Super Telemark cable bindings (I did not mount the cable)
Boots Crispi Bre 75
Poles - Åsnes Spidsbergen Expedition

As this was going to be a quite up and down focussed tour I started with the Asolo Extreme Racer boots on, but retreated to the car to switch them for the Crispi Bre after 200m in the snow. These boots are tilted so much forward that it is impossible to stride comfortably with them.

Air temperature was -10 to -6 degrees. The snow is 10 days old but it stayed consistently cold since falling, so quite fresh.

The first time I took these skis out i messed up the wax job (let's just say it was trying new things). This time was much better.
Ski prep - the full base was with an ironed-in single layer of Swix V05 Polar, and I had 3 corked layers of Swix V20 (green) grip wax from the heel to the X-skin mounting holes.
Grip was amazing, I was concerned that the green might be too hard but it worked awesome! The wax easily lasted for the whole trip.
I was able to stride very efficiently, and in the flatter sections I was very happy with the K&G performance - with the exception of when I crossed a frozen lake. I wonder if the bottom layer of snow on the ice there was too hard for the polar wax to glide effectively. On XC groomers (outside the rail tracks obviously) the glide was great too, however I had to focus quite a bit to keep them tracking straight, especially when pulling the rear ski forward just after the kick. On the downhill sections of the XC groomers I skied faster than XC people, and could outclimb them as well on the uphill sections - but they were significantly faster on the flats, inevitably.
The skis turn very easily. The main downhill section from Gråkallen was a steep, narrow, unprepared red ski slope, the snow was very uneven and cross cut by 20 cm deep trenches carved by people on SkiMo gear. I was unable to telemark down this and had to ski down in "survival mode" zigzags. Perhaps with stiffer plastic boots I might have been able to steer the skis. I did not think that binding rear wires were useful in these conditions and I left them in the backpack.
On sections where the snow was more pristine I was impressed by how easily they turned.

I am very happy with these FT62's. They track relatively straight in pristine snow, they have pretty good K&G performance for a mountain ski, they apparently conserve wax just fine (at least in these conditions, with Swix Polar as a base) and are really nimble to turn.

I also really like the Rottefella Super Telemark bindings and the Crispi Bre boots. Touring performance feels comparable to the NNN-BC setup I had before (with Crispi Stetind) but the boots are more comfortable (the way the sole flexes feels more natural to me) and I feel more stable in the descents.

I also think that I want a pair of T4's now that I figured out that the Asolo Extreme Racer's really are downhill only...

[Nitram Tocrut]

The real question for Martin is, since it is longer, is the 196 stiffer? Does it offer better deep snow touring performance?
So Martin, I guess all we can hope for is that you get a big dump of soft powder. That way you will be able to answer.
Cheers!

Hey Fish,

I finally can give you an answer about the longer FT. We have been graced with over 50 cm of snow during the last week. The first dump was mixed with warm weather around 0C so the conditions were not that great. But thankfully the temperature has varied between -5 and -15 so the snow conditions has improved a lot.

This said, I took the FT 196 for a ride in deep snow, 35-40cm, and find them acceptable for touring. The spatula did come up to the surface but it was not that bad and I could track without swearing at all I can not directly compare them to the 188 FT62 but it seems logical that they offer a larger floating surface.. I compared them to my 205 Ingstad and of course the Ingstad was faster and the spatula did not come out as much... or aka "less banana disorder"

But when I go out with the FT it is specifically for "Tour for turn" and unfortunately, the low angle slopes of our hills combined with that much snow meant that they were "dead" which is not surprising considering the narrow waist. The story would be completely different if we had received something like 15-20 cm of dry snow on a good base...

Finally, quite happy with the longer FT... but even happier that I have other skis better adapted for those conditions