Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

...Ukraine! My new skis arrived today- Traverse 78 from Fischer in 199. Good to see that Fischer is using their tree-to-ski factory in Mukachevo, Ukraine again (the world's largest ski factory). They had manpower problems at the beginning of the war as all the young and middle aged men went to defend their country. I assume they are now using labor from Hungary and Slovakia he back-fill the void as both countries are close by. This is in western Ukraine a safe area (it is a huge country in area). Last year Fischer was forced to make these skis in China where they apparently could not figure out the Easyskin attachment. It is back now. Super light!

Fischer Ski Factory Ukraine

$369 Retail
About $312, delivered from TP in France (and that includes shipping!).
No idea how that works.
Do we need higher profit margins in the US, do EU distributors get better pricing that US do, …?

In tangentially related news:
I have wondered how it is that most shipments from Europe arrive without customs delay, or duty being charged. It appears to be because of a less that $800 "de minimis" threshold established in the 1930’s, so people could bring back from Europe things of de minimis (trivial) value without having to import them (I think that’s the simplified version).
So, now Temu, etc., are flooding the US with cheap sh!t by shipping individual items direct from China (including drugs hidden in shipments), and completely bypassing import inspection, duties, and restrictions.
Hopefully fixing this will not cause problems with shipments from Europe.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36n6g164l6o

Fantastic. The quality of the chinese made Fischer skis did not impress by hand feel. Great that the production in Ukraine has resumed!

I was just about wanting to buy the Transnordic 59, with the new sick looking top-sheet (possibly also manufactured in Ukraine?). But then I saw that they removed the Easy skin from this model and integrated skins to the base yet again... I wanted narrow, light, full edge skis with a waxable base and ez skins! Gah! Not sure if it is worth getting those past season skis

Stephen wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 29, 2024 3:35 pm

$369 Retail
About $312, delivered from TP in France (and that includes shipping!).
No idea how that works.
Do we need higher profit margins in the US, do EU distributors get better pricing that US do, …?

In tangentially related news:
I have wondered how it is that most shipments from Europe arrive without customs delay, or duty being charged. It appears to be because of a less that $800 "de minimis" threshold established in the 1930’s, so people could bring back from Europe things of de minimis (trivial) value without having to import them (I think that’s the simplified version).
So, now Temu, etc., are flooding the US with cheap sh!t by shipping individual items direct from China (including drugs hidden in shipments), and completely bypassing import inspection, duties, and restrictions.
Hopefully fixing this will not cause problems with shipments from Europe.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36n6g164l6o

Hi Stephen. I think that Traverse 78 at TP is the 2024 model, a left-over, the one made in China. It does not have the Easyskin attachment on it which is a big drawback to a lot of Fischer fans- and the reason I did not buy this ski last year. I actually bought my newbies in the US at Ski Essentials in Stowe. It was $370 including bindings- they advertised it with NNN BC Auto but I switched that out to NNN BC manual no extra charge. I have access to a military APO box so for shipping I just pay USPS domestic rate and no customs fees. Actually I just checked it was free shipping, they paid the postage. They also mounted the bindings free of charge. Ski Essentials people were nice to deal with.

I will tell you who has rip-off pricing- OutNorth.com Out North have different prices for different countries, even within the EU- (this has nothing to do with shipping costs)- their site outnorth.de will only sell to people with a bill-to address in Germany or Austria- their price for the Lundhags Guide on that site is 227 EUR ($246), it is cheap on their Swedish site too, but on Outnorth.com it is inexplicably 350 EUR (380 bucks). I live about 50 miles from the Austrian border, I wrote them and they said- you pay $350 EUR, nice EU spirit greed -mongers! I say F---them! Rip off artists. Unfortunately Varuste who is a great, reliable retailer who have a good price for this boot does not have my size.

Theme wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 30, 2024 12:29 pm

Fantastic. The quality of the chinese made Fischer skis did not impress by hand feel. Great that the production in Ukraine has resumed!

I was just about wanting to buy the Transnordic 59, with the new sick looking top-sheet (possibly also manufactured in Ukraine?). But then I saw that they removed the Easy skin from this model and integrated skins to the base yet again... I wanted narrow, light, full edge skis with a waxable base and ez skins! Gah! Not sure if it is worth getting those past season skis

I'm currently selling a TN 66 waxable ez-skin on the TeleTurnAround. I also have the ez-skins.