Fischer Country Crown

[MikeK]

Ben had mentioned these skis to me a year or so ago and I kind of had them in the back of my head as a ski to look into. I wanted to get my wife something to replace the aging Glittertinds - something a little more of a XC ski - track capable but not super skinny. She has much better skis for rugged touring and XCD than the Glittertind, so I was hoping to get something that was a real good glider. I would have loved to get another pair of E89s like the ones I have, but I waited too long and none are in her size. And really, the edges aren't a necessity for what she will use these for.

What's cool about these skis is that they are a Fischer "Backcountry" ski. They are more similar (at least in appearance) to a E99 or E89 but without the edges. The are less like the OTX series, which I had tried and wasn't exactly fond of. I was hoping to get her something more like her old E99 but longer. Enter the crown.

They are super light. Not quite as beefy feeling as a E89/99 of the past. Seems like maybe a thinner layer of glass. Bases are excellent - stone ground. The shape is pretty straight, which is good for a ski like this that will be used on tracks or groomed conditions mostly. It perhaps has enough width to do some mild trail breaking - but I don't expect they'll see much of that due to her other two (three actually): Eon/S78 and Epoch.







The scale pattern is something that is new to me. It's called VARIO Crown. They claim "Grip meets Glide in all conditions." OK - I would have much rather had the BC offtrack crown that I know works great. Perhaps it's good.





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Couple other things. They are REAL double camber. None of that snow fight limp camber wanna-be XC skinnies. They are pretty stiff. About like my E89, but perhaps not as much initial camber (I didn't measure). They feel a bit more stout than the Glittertind, more geared toward performance XC. The tips are really soft - not sure what that gets you but I'm guessing an attempt to make them more pleasing when breaking trail. I'm not going to talk about turning ability because well, these don't really need it, and likely they won't really do much but skid. It would take a ton of force to really reverse camber these.

Just from initial impressions: would it be my only ski? Unlikely unless I was just skiing flat terrain that was almost always tracked. The BC on them might be a bit of a stretch, but they could definitely handle some easy trail skiing. I certainly wouldn't ski them on anything much more than a relatively flat truck trail in the BC.

[Woodserson]

Great ski, I have had up to 4 pairs. Classic ski that just stands the test of time and is affordable to boot. Certainly a forest road/snowmobile/frozen water ski. Does the job admirably, still one of my favorites after all these years.

They make it in wax too, which I also have, but then it overlaps my woodies.

[MikeK]

Cool - I hope she likes them. She was raving about how good the Glittertinds glide, which is OK I guess, but compared to the E89 in the right conditions, they seem a bit slow.

I'll try to translate what she thinks of them once she has tried them out.

[Woodserson]

For comparisons sake...

I'm 155lbs naked, strong classic skier and I'm on the 205cm. I started w 200cm but over time found them to be too slow. If I had *only* flats (ie lived in MN) I'd consider the 210 but it would slip for me on any hill, but would be good if carrying a backpack w camping supplies.

My wife is 125lbs and on the 195cm.

[Woodserson]

Also the Crowns get a little faster w use as they grind down. They can be slow initially. Corn helps.

[lilcliffy]

Have never tried this ski- but have examined them in the shop many times.

I know a number of people that love them- an excellent long distance, track-orientated touring ski. Mounting a backcountry binding on them (i.e. NNNBC/SNS-xadv/NN) enables a warmer more supportive boot than is available in SNS or NNN.

The design and intent of the "Vario" waxless pattern is very similar to Karhu's (now Madshus') "Omnitrack" now on the Eon/Epoch/Annum.

I am only familiar with the waxable Glittertind- doesn't the waxless Glitt have a variable waxless pattern (MGV: "Multi-Grip-Vario") with a similar design and intent?

All of these waxless designs are intended to maximize classic K&G performance: kick AND glide. The trade-off is very limited climbing performance.

Fischer's "new" "Off-Track Crown" is much more aggressive.

[MikeK]

I am only familiar with the waxable Glittertind- doesn't the waxless Glitt have a variable waxless pattern (MGV: "Multi-Grip-Vario") with a similar design and intent?

Yeah, except the MGV+ actually works, at least on snows that I've skied. It climbs well. They only use it on double cambered skis, so perhaps the center portion drags a bit more on the soft cambered XCD skis.

[Cannatonic]

I can't wait to eventually get a pair of these in 210, I've logged a million miles on an old pair of Kharus with similar specs.

the bonus is the extra width you get over the vast majority of straight-up XC skis. I have very wide feet and skis under 50mm width feel unstable. The extra width is great for off-trail powder, collapsing corn snow, etc.

[MikeK]

My wife skied these today on groomed conditions. Her first time on them.

Conditions were perfect: 28-30°F, fresh, soft snow from a few days ago over a 2-3' base. Sunny, mild. Ideal touring.

All her boots are pins so these are mounted up with Rotte STs at balance.

Some of my nerdist observations:

These skis are wicked light. Feel significantly lighter than my E89 which is similar in profile and only 5cm longer. Steel makes a big difference.

The camber isn't nearly as strong as the E89. That's a stout touring ski. Heavy initial camber - long bow i.e. big gap length when placed tip to tail... spans nearly 180cm of the ski.

Her skiing observations:

Glide is great. She is really out of shape from having babies and has only skied twice before this season. She kept a decent (not fast, but steady) pace for 3.5 hours. Not bad.

Grip is EXCELLENT - Fischer is really hitting marks with scale patterns. They don't track hills where we skied and the snow was soft and powdery, sometimes a difficult conditions for scales. She went up everything with no issues and only need to herringbone on the steepest bits (about the same spots where I needed to being on the E89).

She struggled with them down hills. This is the straightest ski she's ever been on and she's always used metal edges before. This is a technique issue, but it enforces the idea that you really need to step/skid these skis into place before you weight them to turn. They're an XC ski through and through... not much D in the equation.


The BC thing... well they call them BC skis, but I don't see it. They are just a bit wider, softer track ski. Could they ski ungroomed? Sure, I suppose... but there is not advantage to them except they are light. If we would have went off-track in the area we were today they would have been miserable. The lack of an edge makes me question their work-ability in firm conditions.

Overall I think they will serve their intended purpose - groomed XC skiing in hilly terrain. More practice will be needed and basic XC descending techniques need to be employed. Fitting in tracks and having excellent grip and glide for a waxless pattern is a certain plus. A 3/4 metal edge with some extra sidecut would certainly make going down more confident and fun. Even the E89, a terrible descending ski has no issues on groomed XC using steps and stems.

[Cannatonic]

willpower broke down, was unable to go 1 full year without buying skis...just got a 210cm box from Akers - possibly the last wax pair in the US?