Rossignol XP 12 XPLORE boot

[lilcliffy]

@fledersau
Fantastic report! Thank you!

Kick and glide:
Everything was fine, but a NNN BC boot kicks and glides a little bit better.

Interesting- I have been testing Xplore with the Alaska XP vs Alaska BC- my experience is that the XP is more stable-responsive even in straight-ahead backcountry XC skiing due to the solid connection of the boot-binding when my foot is fully extended in stride.

Going up:
The boot performed well, the heel riser of the XPLore binding works great with the boot, even if the feel is kind of bizarre if you are used to climging aid with hardboots.

Yesterday afternoon- I too had my first extended steep climb with the heel riser- wonderful to have when you want it!

Sometimes i asked myself if the ski is harder to squash to flatten the ski for grip with the XPlore sole.

Interesting- I wonder how the stiffness of the Rossi XP12 compares to the Alaska XP-
I was concerned about this out of the box- but now that my Alaska XP is broken-in, the boot has a superb flex for XC and downhill skiing.

Going down:
I felt better on this than on a Garmont Excursion with G3 Targas and old skis...

Wow. What ski were you using on this tour with the XP12?

on the last day we had a really long moderately steep downhill on a skidoo trail, snow was fresh but a few skidoos passed. I tried the hard flexer on this descend. I was able to easily turn inside the tracks and even the traces of the ski do skis didn't put me off trail. I'm really surprised by the stiffness of this boot and i'm looking forward to take them for a day inbound and see how they perform...

I too am VERY impressed with the donwhill performance of the XP binding- and, I actually love the stiffer "hard" flexor. I find that the "hard" flexor offers just enough resistance to stiffen up everything to improve stability downhill, but it is not so stiff that it completely inhibits XC skiing and climbing.
I took the hard flexor out for a sustained steep climb yesterday, but otherwise I left the hard flexor in for several hours of glade and trail skiing. LOVE it. It may not be stiff enough for some, but it is ideal for my typical hilly BC touring!

[fledersau]

@fledersau
Fantastic report! Thank you!

Kick and glide:
Everything was fine, but a NNN BC boot kicks and glides a little bit better.

Interesting- I have been testing Xplore with the Alaska XP vs Alaska BC- my experience is that the XP is more stable-responsive even in straight-ahead backcountry XC skiing due to the solid connection of the boot-binding when my foot is fully extended in stride.

Going up:
The boot performed well, the heel riser of the XPLore binding works great with the boot, even if the feel is kind of bizarre if you are used to climging aid with hardboots.

Yesterday afternoon- I too had my first extended steep climb with the heel riser- wonderful to have when you want it!

Sometimes i asked myself if the ski is harder to squash to flatten the ski for grip with the XPlore sole.

Interesting- I wonder how the stiffness of the Rossi XP12 compares to the Alaska XP-
I was concerned about this out of the box- but now that my Alaska XP is broken-in, the boot has a superb flex for XC and downhill skiing.

Going down:
I felt better on this than on a Garmont Excursion with G3 Targas and old skis...

Wow. What ski were you using on this tour with the XP12?

on the last day we had a really long moderately steep downhill on a skidoo trail, snow was fresh but a few skidoos passed. I tried the hard flexer on this descend. I was able to easily turn inside the tracks and even the traces of the ski do skis didn't put me off trail. I'm really surprised by the stiffness of this boot and i'm looking forward to take them for a day inbound and see how they perform...

I too am VERY impressed with the donwhill performance of the XP binding- and, I actually love the stiffer "hard" flexor. I find that the "hard" flexor offers just enough resistance to stiffen up everything to improve stability downhill, but it is not so stiff that it completely inhibits XC skiing and climbing.
I took the hard flexor out for a sustained steep climb yesterday, but otherwise I left the hard flexor in for several hours of glade and trail skiing. LOVE it. It may not be stiff enough for some, but it is ideal for my typical hilly BC touring!

Your're Welcome, interesting to hear your impressions from the Alaska XP. I'd be curious to try them, but unfortunately they are hard to get at the moment...
Your impressions on the Hard flexor seem to be different from mine, While on the long downhill, i found them fantastic, long flats and climbs aren't comfortable, but i think this is because of the large heel pocket that doesn't grip my heel inside on the boot and causes discomfort and friction on the heel...

On Kick and glide, yes! Way more responsive and stable. I just have the impression that it's harder to roll the foot because of the stiffer sole than on my old, soft NNN BCs. that makes the movement a little less natural for me.

My setup is a Ingstad Waxless in 195cm and some X-Skins. I'm 5'10 and 190lbs.

[lilcliffy]

Your impressions on the Hard flexor seem to be different from mine, While on the long downhill, i found them fantastic, long flats and climbs aren't comfortable,

To clarify- I certainly don't prefer the hard flexor for XC skiing and climbing-
I wanted to rigorously test whether I could "tolerate" the hard flexor on tours in steep terrain- with lots of transitions-
the deal-breaker for me with XP is if I felt compelled to constantly switch out the flexor.

I regularly do distance tours in steep terrain where the turn must serve the tour-
I also tour for turns when the conditions are ideal-

I do not have the verticals (max ~350m) in my local terrain that would allow me to tolerate constantly switching out the flexors.

And while I still like XP downhill with the standard flexor- I much prefer the hard flexor for downhill skiing.

The only time I am going to choose to ski with zero resistance is out of nescesity (I have lost a flexor a few times on a tur).

I'm afraid the only part of Full Johnny skiing that I would do intentionally is the full frontal portion!

but i think this is because of the large heel pocket that doesn't grip my heel inside on the boot and causes discomfort and friction on the heel...

This makes sense to me.
I have zero heel lift in either of my XP boots.

On Kick and glide, yes! Way more responsive and stable. I just have the impression that it's harder to roll the foot because of the stiffer sole than on my old, soft NNN BCs. that makes the movement a little less natural for me.

Yes- this makes sense to me. As my Alaska XP breaks in, the sole flex is getting close to my Alaska BC.

My setup is a Ingstad Waxless in 195cm and some X-Skins. I'm 5'10 and 190lbs.

You and I are of a similar size and ski preference!
I am also thinking I am getting similar downhill stability from the Free boot as my T4 (you mentioned vs Excursion)-
It is exactly the "Ingstad/E109" class ski that is the real test for me with XP though- at least for my local ski touring context. This week I am testing E109 with both XP and NNNBC mounted.

What do you think of the grip of the Ingstad WL and how are you prepping this ski?
Gareth

[fledersau]

I have the Ingstad Waxless. I didn't have the time/patience to explore gripwas on the ski. Up to now, glidwaxed it with an iron and some liquid glider on the skales. I have the X-Skins aswell (58mm mix, my thoughts about their limits in another post). The grip of the skins is correct, but way less than on the Madshus panorama M62 with NNN BC i had last winter. With skins the grip is good, especially when the track is "groomed".

Tonight i was nightskiing in Stoneham in Québec with my telemark T2 setup. At the end of the evening i thought i could be fun to do a green lift run on the XP 12. I had so much fun, i did a second run just after. Clearly after a evening of hardboot telemarking it was sooo soft and sketchy, but smooth a slow aswell. on the second run i was able to keep up with some skiers and do some nice turn telemark. In one part you have to get some speed to get over the flats and it was so fun. But especially am i impressed with the control i was able to maintain on the ski! I felt way better than i anticipated.

[lilcliffy]

I have the Ingstad Waxless. I didn't have the time/patience to explore gripwas on the ski. Up to now, glidwaxed it with an iron and some liquid glider on the skales. I have the X-Skins aswell (58mm mix, my thoughts about their limits in another post). The grip of the skins is correct, but way less than on the Madshus panorama M62 with NNN BC i had last winter.

Are you comparing the grip of the Ingstad WL scales with the M62- or are you saying that the M62 scales have better grip than the 58mm X-skin?

Tonight i was nightskiing in Stoneham in Québec with my telemark T2 setup. At the end of the evening i thought i could be fun to do a green lift run on the XP 12. I had so much fun, i did a second run just after. Clearly after a evening of hardboot telemarking it was sooo soft and sketchy, but smooth a slow aswell. on the second run i was able to keep up with some skiers and do some nice turn telemark. In one part you have to get some speed to get over the flats and it was so fun. But especially am i impressed with the control i was able to maintain on the ski! I felt way better than i anticipated.

AWESOME!

[fledersau]

I compare scales to scales. the difference is massif!
But of course, with the skins, grip is better on the ingstad compared to the scales on the m62.
What ski prep do you use?

[lilcliffy]

I compare scales to scales. the difference is massif!
But of course, with the skins, grip is better on the ingstad compared to the scales on the m62.

Ok- I understand now.
Do you know if your "M62" had the old Karhu Omnitrack scale pattern?
I haven't seen a new "M62" since they dropped the "Eon" model name.

What ski prep do you use?

I have the standard sintered waxable Ingstad- I grip wax the entire base- only use the X-Skin in the spring on this ski if the snow temperatures rise during the day and I don't want to move to a soft kick wax.

I have Nasen WL- which I am reasonably pleased with- but I don't use "waxless"-scaled skis very much in my local skiing.

[fledersau]

I don't know the old Karhu Omnitrack pattern, but the one on the M62 is called omnitrack aswell, is really long and has 2 types of pattern, a classic one and a squared off below the feet.

I'd be curious to try grip wax all the way (i assume you use polar?) but i'm afraid to spoil my already rare moments on ski...

[lilcliffy]

I don't know the old Karhu Omnitrack pattern, but the one on the M62 is called omnitrack aswell, is really long and has 2 types of pattern, a classic one and a squared off below the feet.

The Omnitrack waxless scale design is a legacy of Karhu and it is still a very good design.
Madshus ended up with the Omnitrack design when they ended up inheriting the last-generation Karhu XCD designs- including the last-generation XCD GT = Eon= Eon 62.
While Madhus temporarily made a brand new "M62" with waxable base and kicker skin insert- it appears to me that they have returned to the old Karhu XCD GT/Madshus Eon Omintrack design for the current "M62".

Regardless- yes- the Omntrack design is more effective in general than Asnes' scales design in my experience. (But I personally think that Fischer's Offtrack Crown + sintered shovel-tail is better still).

Great to hear that you are pleased with the Ingstad WL!

[LarsBukkehave]

Rossignol XP12 Cross-Country Ski Boots is it waterproof?
And what about when walking in very wet snow?

I read the upper shell is CORDURA brand nylon. Some places they write its waterproof other none.

Just used the Alfa BC boot Skaget xplore on 3 trips. Each time it get total soaked of water. So looking for something better. Ideal the Alfa Outback A/P/S 2.0 GTX but its not yet made to xplore.