Good ski for touring in mountainous New England terrain

[mainexcguy]

Yet another "what ski should I buy" post...

I'm a long time Nordic skiier, with solid Alpine background as well; looking for a ski to add to my quiver that will do well skiing up and down mountains and hills here in New England, while also being decent enough at kicking and gliding as not to be a pain on the flats. In recent years I've increasingly enjoyed light alpine touring (e.g., skiing up and down the Moosilauke carriage road), but find myself running up against the limits of what my Fischer Spider 62s can handle--mostly, I don't find them responsive enough on the turns.

I'm primarily looking at the Madshus Panorama M62 (formerly Eon), Rossi BC 80, or Alpina Discovery 80. Any insight as to which would be better for my proposed use? I'll be mounting them with NNN-BC Magnums. Would also appreciate any advice on sizing: I'm 6'2", 165 lbs; generally prioritizing grab over glide for this ski, but not the point that I might as well be snowshoeing. Thanks!

[Woodserson]

There are a lot of subjects throughout this forum that talk about these skis at length. Searching on google within this forum specifically is the best route to find them.

I'm going to guess the Panorama is more what you're probably looking for as historically they have been tuned with a softer flex for better turning.

There has been mixed reviews on the Rossi 80. A few people here have tried but do not like, though I think one person did. I have run into a few people out and about and again, mixed reviews. Maybe Village in Lincoln has a demo pair? I think the Discovery would be the least turny-- but zero personal experience, just from hearsay. The Fischer Sbound98 would be a decent option too, but more turning oriented and possibly completely sold out. I have found the Excursion 88 is OK turning wise, but has historically been tuned more for straight ski travel with a good bouncy flex and camber underfoot. The 98 is better, the 78 about the same as the 88. There are varying degrees of how easy a ski turns.

You will start with one
End up with many
This is the way

[riel]

Yet another "what ski should I buy" post...

I'm a long time Nordic skiier, with solid Alpine background as well; looking for a ski to add to my quiver that will do well skiing up and down mountains and hills here in New England, while also being decent enough at kicking and gliding as not to be a pain on the flats. In recent years I've increasingly enjoyed light alpine touring (e.g., skiing up and down the Moosilauke carriage road), but find myself running up against the limits of what my Fischer Spider 62s can handle--mostly, I don't find them responsive enough on the turns.

I'm primarily looking at the Madshus Panorama M62 (formerly Eon), Rossi BC 80, or Alpina Discovery 80. Any insight as to which would be better for my proposed use? I'll be mounting them with NNN-BC Magnums. Would also appreciate any advice on sizing: I'm 6'2", 165 lbs; generally prioritizing grab over glide for this ski, but not the point that I might as well be snowshoeing. Thanks!

At your weight, the Asnes Nansen (still in stock at Ragged Mountain Equipment in Intervale) might work well, especially when used with kicker skins. Those have 20mm of sidecut, and the entire tip, from the kicker skin attachment point forwards, bends to help your turns.

If you get the waxless ones, you will find that the fishscales work well enough for low angles, but need the kicker skin when you go up a steeper slope. If you are ok with attaching and taking off kicker skins, that may be a solution to the tradeoff between having good glide on the flats and also having good grip on the uphill.

If you can do the carriage road on Spider 62s, it should be a breeze on Nansens.

[mainexcguy]

Thanks for the input. I ended up going with the Madshus, and am very pleased. Took them out for a few sessions of touring in the woods, a day of downhill skiing at a nearby ski resort, and a glorious tour through the fresh snow yesterday. Great ski. Now I just need to upgrade the Rossi BC5 boots to something a bit stiffer...gear creep never ends.

[Cannatonic]

so Ragged's got some Asnes skis, excellent news! Is this the first year? What other models did they get?

I'd like to think having all my Asnes skis mounted by their expert tech staff over the years had something to do with this! They were always in awe of the quality. I think I had 5 or 6 pairs mounted there.

[riel]

so Ragged's got some Asnes skis, excellent news! Is this the first year? What other models did they get?

I saw the Amundsen / Liv, Nansen / Cecilie, Ingstad / Tonje, the FT62 Xplore, and one more of their more downhill oriented skis, maybe the Rabb?

I special ordered a pair of Gamme through them, which arrived with one of their shipments of Asnes skis.