Old S Bound series

[Cannatonic]

I'm grateful for Fischer's "E" series and Asnes skis. Didn't realize how bad things had become lately - did some web browsing yesterday - Rossi, Alpina, and Fischer don't make any "XCD" (tele) skis longer than 189. Pretty much no waxing skis either. Commercial industry has come a long way from the original 220cm Karhu XCD's. People are accustomed to going SLOW through the woods. I am pretty much a dinosaur with my insistence on 200cm and above skis. A happy dinosaur though!

[Teleman]

The ones I have now are 178....They are fast and run true....At that length they turn easily....Borrowed a 190 or so a few years back and did a 1300 foot WHIP WORLD RIDE with Telesven....The 109's worked in horrible whips....I mean they went through a forest of whips. They slipped through the bamboo world...in tiny spaces....Whips bouncing off our shoulders and bodies kept speed in check....If I had seen any 109's at that time I would have purchased them...B they ski big....like they have heft.....they stay straight....very little behind the front foot crossing....I weigh in @ 210...and never pay much attention to manufactures recommendations....I try to read between the lines on LC's observations....Really worry about built in skins....How could I roar by those Vectors that Telewheels skis if they have skins on the bottom....(gotta keep the boys straight)...TM

[connyro]

The ones I have now are 178....They are fast and run true....At that length they turn easily....Borrowed a 190 or so a few years back and did a 1300 foot WHIP WORLD RIDE with Telesven....The 109's worked in horrible whips....I mean they went through a forest of whips. They slipped through the bamboo world...in tiny spaces....Whips bouncing off our shoulders and bodies kept speed in check....If I had seen any 109's at that time I would have purchased them...B they ski big....like they have heft.....they stay straight....very little behind the front foot crossing....I weigh in @ 210...and never pay much attention to manufactures recommendations....I try to read between the lines on LC's observations....Really worry about built in skins....How could I roar by those Vectors that Telewheels skis if they have skins on the bottom....(gotta keep the boys straight)...TM

I love the idea of a 210 lb dude on skinny 178's in BC powder. I ski with someone that skis 178s skinnies and they're roughly half your weight. I also like the part about the whips slowing you down by hitting you in the shoulders and body. I bet that's really effective.

[bgregoire]

I try to read between the lines on LC's observations....Really worry about built in skins....How could I roar by those Vectors that Telewheels skis if they have skins on the bottom....(gotta keep the boys straight)...TM

TMan, the skins are not built into the new Fishers or the Asnes, rather, they have a built in slot to "lock" the half skin into it when you want to use it. Keep roaring buster!

[Cannatonic]

Tman how you keep from hooking a tip on the whips and going down? I did get a bunch of burdock burrs up my pant legs on a ski this year, they worked their way up to my knees, bizarre

[Teleman]

Lets put it this way....If you had on wide skis you would be toast....Think skinny tip and trailing ski tip tucked into your fore ski tight....Eyes wide open.....arms up....poles angled out in a V.....hands in front of face....then it's about listening to the drummer as in the drubbing your taking from whips.....but....on the other side of the band there is an opening....ah sweet turns then another whip band....If we had decent cover I'd go back there in a minute....Those 12 foot whips are now 20 feet high and are killing each other....In or close to the water gullies the loggers had to by law not cut....Gets dicey but tons of fun and don't we all laugh....So skinnies go through places wide CAN'T.....Telekid said about 3 years ago that he would NEVER ski that again.....Bets anyone? Oh and crysnarkman.....that 1300 feet was where we grew up skiing in the raw with a canopy of giant OLD GROWTH....Miss that a lot.....The thing about skiing whips is that there is always a patch of superb skiing and we are on a quest to find the best.....There is always a toll....TM

[connyro]

Love the name-calling TM! How old are you? I'm sure you can ONLY ski thick woods on skinnies. Great advice! I'm a little surprised to learn that I'm "toast" on my wider skis in the woods though. Considering you are the guy that brags about breaking skis, tearing boots, and getting injured, maybe your method is not the best?

Re: Old Growth: The old growth out here is some of the worst areas for skiing due to the abundance of enormous deadfall that blocks ALL the skiable lines: it ain't pretty. Hardwood stands that have not been managed for several decades are best for skiing around here at least. In this type of stand, there's good tree density but the deadfall is small and undergrowth is minimal. Not sustainable as far as good forestry practices are concerned, but great for turns!

[MikeK]

Hey Teleman, we made a whole thread about Old Growth! It was pretty cool. I'm missing some of those trees.

Geez Teleman, I'd love for you to take a ski trip with me. I'll take you to some real old growth. Holy shit it's a friggin' jungle. I posted that map up that showed the only true old growth areas in the North East. There's a big one in the Adirondacks that I go to quite a bit.

We'd definitely want to be on skinnies though. It's a long way and it's not very mountainous. Lot's of swamps and steep ridges you can't ski down, but must traverse over the tops or around.

I wanted to take a trip myself but we never got enough snow this year. You need a couple feet of base to be able to even ski where I was thinking of going, just to get over the boulders and corduroy. A typical year around this time if you take your skis off you'll post hole to your hips +...

[Cannatonic]

so whip-world is basically just bushwacking. I guess if you want to ski every day in the east you tolerate some whips and breaking a ski on the rocks every now & then. this year has made painfully clear the need for dedicated rock skis! Last year I don't think I dinged a rock even once the entire winter - the first snowstorm was 30 inches!

[MikeK]

Whips are just small saplings. Low branches I guess can be a bit whippy too. Just crash right through it.

Whackin' always has dangers. I won't go down unless I know the snow is deep enough or I know the terrain. Just traverse across and see what I crash into. Actually that's not true, I go down all the time near home. The Adirondacks you have to be way more careful, that's where I don't take as much risk. Those rocks won't just break your skis. If the snow is deep, no worries though. Just avoid the blowdown. I'll probably wind up breaking my leg near home though... that's just the way it goes.

Even skiing on trails has similar risk. Sometimes you can get away with less snow though... sometimes they are worse... can be like an icy tunnel with rock mines waiting to take you down.

I like skiing both ways though. Whackin' can be way more fun if you find the right openings. Skiing singletrack can be fun too, and just as hard, if not harder.

I'm still dyin' to ski that glade I showed pics of in the fall. I bet there was only one day this year I could have. Pitch is just right for me and openings are big. Good amount of vert too.