Favorite skis?

[Trailpatrol]

I thought it would be interesting to see what others are skiing on...

What are your favorite ski(s) for what conditions - General, in-track, backcountry, etc.?

I'll start off:
Remembering that the backcountry around here is a lot less vertical than most of you on this forum are used to,

I have four pair of skis; 1996 Karhu 10th Mtn. Tours, 1972 Trak touring skis, 2001 (2nd generation) Trak Bushwackers and a pair of historic military skis I am restoring.

Without a doubt, my favorites are the Bushwackers:
190cm Trak Bushwackers, (85-70-80) with Berwin Backcountry Bindings that allow me to wear any boot (or, in my case, Steger mukluks) on my skis. It also allows me to wear the same footwear on my snowshoes (4-pair, all traditional wood and web)without having to change shoes.

Ski safe,
Hans

*1st generation Bushwackers were all 160cm and green. 2nd gen were blue and came in 160, 175 and 190 lengths.

[Flatrock]

I'd have to say my Asnes U.S. military surplus waxables (200 cm). Good for breaking trail in moderately deep snow, but good on a grooved trail, too.

Next would have to be the Catamounts (175 & waxless), followed by the Karhu 10th Mtn. Tours, which are waxless and 190 cm. Both of those are pretty much for trailbreaking & bushwacking, although the 10 Mts, will track OK when necessary.

I'm also very fond of an old pair of Fischer GTSs (200 & waxlable) for trailbreaking moderately deep snow. They fly.

For fast runs on a well-broken trail, you won't find a better ski than the Fischer E99 (200 & waxable). Under the right conditions, file a flight plan.

All my skis (except for the woodies) have full metal edges. I feel nekked without them.

[Riosacandaga]

favorite skis

my all-time favorite is a pair of black diamond resolutions, 180CM, single camber, add some climbing skins and go find some glades.

kick n' glide , banging around: Karhu XCD-GT 205CM, double camber, waxable.

for the groomed stuff or when the snow is consolidated to a styrofoam consistency I like my Madshus ultra-super-something sonics for skating.

[Jake]

2 Favorites

Atomic Rainiers when I'm touring and climbing for turns. Waxless model, but I do use skins for steeper stuff.

Karhu Lookout for rolling terrian and flatter tours. They track and kick and glide pretty well and have a 3/4 metal edge for when you encounter the dicey/icey conditions.

[mikeharo]

For the deep -
k2 apache chief 180 (131-98-116) with Fritschi's for the trek.

Inbounds depends on the day's soundtrack:

GS - Salomon 182 Lab with a Hangl plate
SL - Elan 165 with the salomon poweraxe plate
both with S916 Lab salomon bindings

Salomon X2 spaceframe Lab, 150 flex with a booster strap to keep me awake

[aaronlawson]

My backcountries

I actually had a hard time getting good backcountry cross-country skis, mostly because storeowners kept thinking I really wanted randonee downhill skis or telemark skis. When I told them that I cross country ski on ungroomed and generally untracked hiking trails throught the trees they would try to sell me some traditional x-country skis designed for "in and out of track".

I tried these for a few years and they are often not so bad (rossignol evo ar-track) but I knew they weren't what I wanted.

This year I decided I was going to get what I wanted. I went down to Dick Sonne's and had him order me some Waxless Fischer Outtabounds, with crazy leather back country boots and big, tough bindings. They seem to be just what I wanted so far. The extra width underfoot (88-68-78) really makes a difference, I've noticed. They're also very light for their size. The only downside is the cost!


Now, mon pays n'est pas un pays c'est l'hiver.

[forevrwyld]

Backcountry Ski

I have a pair of Karhu Lookout and my wife has Karhu Oddessy?? Both with NNN BC bindings and Alpina boots. I like mine for breaking trail (kind of heavy though). Diana's are great on something broken out....thus she follows. If I go by myself where others have gone before I wear her skiis instead as they are lighter and quicker.

My son has a pair of Madshus Dino's and leather BC boots. He has had them since he was 7, this is his third year on them, and they are an excellent kids ski and boot. We looked into upgrading him to a womens backcountry ski with metal edges but he isn't heavy enough to depress the camber....so we will wait a year. All of our stuff is done on ungroomed track.

'Ev

[Flatrock]

Aaron, I've always wanted to try the Outtabounds but, LOL, you don't see many pairs on Ebay. How do they track when the trail has already been broken? My wider skis tend to snake around quite a bit in the track; the Catamounts, for example, are best used on one-way trips or loops, but they'll go places no skinnier ski will.

[shaggy]

I have cross country skied for a few years on racing skis and have just upgraded to some backcountry friendly skis. I have the Karhu XCD - Pinnacle and they have treated me great so far. I just got them this season, and the limited time on the snow with them was great. They are heavier than my racing skis, but that is comparing racing to backcountry planks. I am learning (or trying to learn) to telemark turn or to just plain turn with them and am really liking the metal edges and little bit of side cut. They turn nice and track straight, a great balance!!

Here is a link to their XCD products (Cross-Country-Downhill)

http://www.karhu.com/gear/category.php?c=backcountry

Shaggy