Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

I is quite difficult for me to find a definite opinion on Fischer E99 Easy Skin Xtralite, sorry - mabye my searching skill on this forum is not good enough.
My personal parameters are about 90 kg, 173 cm. Currently, I am using variable skis collected over years at a bargain price: 200 cm Tua Grade Neige, 200 cm Asnes Nansen (old model, grey), 195 cm Glittertind (red and black ones). They are fine for me for my tours in our Beskidy mountains, but they are rather turn oriented. I would like to have something which would offer me more glide and speed on traverse roads, ridges (they are plenty of themin Beskidy) - more distance-oriented, but also with some turning capabillty. Perhaps, Asnes Gamme would be the best, but they are a bit pricey for me. Maybe I could get E99 at some discount. What is your opinion on this ski? I have read about problems with soft tips, but how it really affects its performance? 210 cm is the right lenght for me?

If you can....get the 99 without rocker....Rocker is good on the down but interferes with the other two legs of skinny telemark...Cruising and going up....With practice anybody can turn the 99....Do the big toe, little toe thing and the ski will come around....The faster your going the easier they come around...If you really turn in powder the skis will slow and turning becomes harder....The "WAY" is to initiate the turn then back off.....the ski will not complete the turn with gravity pulling it back into the "head them down" position...The tracks will look like a new Moon....and the ride is awesome....play with camber....lighten up and the skis take off....press down and your in the ready position for more fun....Skied a lot of skis but the "BEST" in my opinion,.......for the FEEL.....is the 99....TM

Tough to go wrong with the E99 Xtralite, Krakus.

Great ski, it'll go the distance and turn a bit too. Yeah, I'd agree the Gamme is better, but the E99 is cheaper and more available.

A lot of us here have the Crown, not the Tour/EZskin so maybe that's the issue, but the ski is same minus the base material.

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greatgt wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:25 am

If you can....get the 99 without rocker....Rocker is good on the down but interferes with the other two legs of skinny telemark...Cruising and going up....With practice anybody can turn the 99....Do the big toe, little toe thing and the ski will come around....The faster your going the easier they come around...If you really turn in powder the skis will slow and turning becomes harder....The "WAY" is to initiate the turn then back off.....the ski will not complete the turn with gravity pulling it back into the "head them down" position...The tracks will look like a new Moon....and the ride is awesome....play with camber....lighten up and the skis take off....press down and your in the ready position for more fun....Skied a lot of skis but the "BEST" in my opinion,.......for the FEEL.....is the 99....TM

GT you’re a legend.

Krakus, I’m with Greatgt on the non-rockered E-99. I bought an older E-99 on EBay this year. Considering your weight and the fact that you have a shorter Glittertind, I would go for an older non-rockered E-99 to go fast.
I do have a 210 Gamme, I am 86 kilos and 176 cm. I really like my Gamme. On the other hand I have heard some negatives about the latest version of the E-99. Knowing what I know about the Gamme, I wouldn’t try to save a some dollars to have a new E-99. However I would save a lot of money and buy an older E-99. I know mine is old, but it’s reasonably light. I bought mine as to be a rock ski, and have only had the E-99 in my yard. It seems like a nice ski, however it will not be out until the snow gets thin. I just cannot leave Gamme at home to try out a different ski.

Hi Krakus,
This is a superb BC-XC ski.
It is very light, responsive and fast.
I have the 210cm E99 Tour Xtralite Easy-Skin (sintered waxable base).
I have tested this ski in multiple lengths- as it is a very popular touring ski locally-
I am 5'10"(178cm) tall and weigh 175lbs (80kg) and prefer the 210cm ski for distance-oriented tours.

This ski is has a stiff resistant camber underfoot.
This ski is not longitdunally stable-
- it has a stable, but flexible tail;
- it has a very soft shovel;
- it has considerable Nordic rocker in the shovel;
- it has a low-profile tip (I say "low-profile" here from a traditional Nordic ski persective).

When the snow conditions are "perfect" I absolutely love this ski-
By "perfect" I mean not deep snow and ideal kick waxing snow.
It is easier to turn than the Asnes Gamme 54 because it is easier to pressure the shovel/tail into a turn.
The ample Nordic Rocker encourages this ski to plane at downhill speeds.

HOWEVER- the current E99 Tour Xtralite:
- is completely unstable in deep soft snow- due to its very soft shovel;
- does not break trail effectively due to its low-profile tip and unstable shovel;
- it is terrible in breakable crust- the soft rockered shovel rides around on top of the crust- forcing the mid-section of the ski to break trail- yuck.

fisheater wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 21, 2021 10:28 am

I just cannot leave Gamme at home to try out a different ski.

Another great quote Master Eater-of-Fish!

Many thanks for your responses!

Which year did Fischer make the switch to Nordic rocker on E99?

I have to say, in the conditions I ski, I mostly appreciate the rocker or at least I am not bothered by it. Then again, I haven’t skied on the previous version.

For me the Offtrack Crown pattern vastly outweighs any other shortcomings. The grip is just amazing even though I am underweight for the 210 ski. In climbs where others have to herringbone, I can ski straight up. Sure you lose some speed downhill due to drag, but overall not something that bothers me.

//Rickard//

Eärendil wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:00 am

Which year did Fischer make the switch to Nordic rocker on E99?

I have to say, in the conditions I ski, I mostly appreciate the rocker or at least I am not bothered by it. Then again, I haven’t skied on the previous version.

For me the Offtrack Crown pattern vastly outweighs any other shortcomings. The grip is just amazing even though I am underweight for the 210 ski. In climbs where others have to herringbone, I can ski straight up. Sure you lose some speed downhill due to drag, but overall not something that bothers me.

//Rickard//

I agree. The Offtrack Crown is fantastic.

The Nordic Rocker started with the Xtralite designation.

I find that the Xtralite (with rocker) is higher cambered and the ski is actually faster than the E99 of the just-before previous generation with the "mountain tech crown."