2021 Madshus M55 and Latest Glittertind Comparison

[Natirondack]

I threw together a quick comparison video between the new M55 Panorama and the last version of the Glittertind. These skis are remarkably similar with the only differences being their camber, some flex, sizing, and new transition skin ability.

After breaking the tip off one of my Glittertinds last winter (skiing the Wright Mountain ski trail in the Adirondacks, not for XC skis) I needed a new ski that is just as long, skinny, and turn-able. I hope this will be that ski! I'm glad I can throw on the skin and ride the same ski above freezing now. No more Klister for me!

Enjoy the video. The background photo is from the top of Wright Peak, just before descending in the dark and breaking my lovely ski.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVdWMsjnFBI

[Woodserson]

This is a great video- thanks for doing this and thanks for joining up here. Please keep posting through this winter, I'd love ADK snow reports and see some ski touring. Not a lot of folks here with ADK experience-- @phoenix lived and worked inside the Blue Line (I think working at Cascade XC) and I lived in Morrisonville just outside on the Line by Plattsburgh and I miss that place terribly.

The tail popping up isn't due to the camber, it's part of the design and how it was pressed in the mold, high camber does not automatically mean a ski will have the tips raise, it's a deliberate design choice-- looks like they added some rocker into the tail-- help make it a bit more turn friendly, but it could be a pain in deep snow or hard consolidated snow.

How do they flex through-- You said it's stiffer, but is it stiffer underfoot if flexed through flat? (standing the ski up and flexing with hand at binding, sighting down the edge.)

I purchased a pair of M62's for fun and it has rocker now up front-- different from the Eon it's based off, and according to @Rodbelan it's heavier also. When flexing the ski it has a real round flex, no hard flat wax pocket underfoot.

Which ski-- the Glitt or the M55 is heavier?

I'm sure you know this, but be careful with the skin, push the pin through the ski, don't pull it out by pulling the skin. Many skiers have detached their skins from the posts by doing this-- one reason why I think this system has largely gone away after only a year, though I'm not sure.

[Woodserson]

Man it would be fun to get a M55, E99, Gamme all together at once and do some comparing. Maybe the Glitt for old time's sake.

[lilcliffy]

Hello and welcome Natirondack!

Great video- thank you for sharing it with us.

I have not been to the Adirondacks in a couple of years- and I have note skied them since I was a kid-
beautiful terrain and forest.

Please stay in touch and let us know how you make out with this ski!

Did you buy the integrated kicker skin?
Gareth

[fisheater]

I am going to drift your thread for a minute. I want to thank you for confirming for me I was not incorrect in my assumptions regarding gear selection for the Wright Peak ski trail. I have seen a few videos with skiers on AT gear. I thought that gear looked ridiculous in that terrain, but then the skiers looked pretty intermediate. I guess if fresh and deep was available maybe wider would be better, but I am thinking a narrow Telemark ski with leather boots would be great. I’m not as skilled as @Natirondack so I’m not thinking Gamme or E-99, I’m thinking FT 62.
From what I’ve seen and read, the Wright Peak Ski Trail is wider and more turn friendly than the Van Hoevenberg Trail going up to the peak of Mt. Marcy

[phoenix]

"@phoenix lived and worked inside the Blue Line (I think working at Cascade XC) and I lived in Morrisonville just outside on the Line by Plattsburgh and I miss that place terribly."

Woods, you were in Morrisonville? I was just a ways down the road, my place was in Peasleeville! Moved away in '2000, and also miss it deeply. One of my big regrets, at this point.

[Natirondack]

Time for an post ski update!

I've skied these every day for a week (then it rained in the ADK's, figures). I am happy to report that the M55 does seem to release the tails and slash turns easier than the old Gilt. Keep in mind I am comparing these skis in a 205cm each which is a higher labeled weight range on the new M55 (no weight range on the madshus website but our store always contacts the reps and gets one).

I have had to apply a larger wax pocket to the M55 to acheive the same kick and climb I took for granted on the old Glit. The days of me chatting with the skier next to me and laxidasically climbing straight up steep hills with some half-assed wax are gone. The M55 feels more akin to a fischer superlight wax in its kick. By that I mean I have to keep my toe and timing in mind far more than I had to on the Glit.

After looking more at the flex underfoot I would say the M55 has a smooth transition from a soft tip to a stiff and lively underfoot section before coming to a medium stiff rockered tail. As you might be able to guess these things are faster than the old Glit, but only if you can time your kicks well. Otherwise it can be a frustrating ski for sure and I'm left wondering why I sized up to the 205cm (away from my 160 weight range).

Stay tuned for some updates of using the transition skins, haven't had to throw them on quite yet.

I'll continue to post some updated and some crazy thru-skis from the ADK. Last year was my first full winter doing XC Backcountry and I managed to rack up at least 700 miles or so out here. I also ski tele at Whiteface quite a bit but only on gear as old as me (23).

Side note: it you ever want to compare the E99, Glit, and M55 at once just walk into the shop at Cascade ski center. We have them all in stock (all shorter than 205 because I buy all the long skis).

[Natirondack]

Please keep posting through this winter, I'd love ADK snow reports and see some ski touring. Not a lot of folks here with ADK experience-- @phoenix lived and worked inside the Blue Line (I think working at Cascade XC) and I lived in Morrisonville just outside on the Line by Plattsburgh and I miss that place terribly.

Which ski-- the Glitt or the M55 is heavier?

They are very similar in weight but I do find the M55 feels lighter on my feet. For its size it offers an amazingly east step turn. But keep in mind I ski with an Alaska size 46 boot so im always moving a decent amount of weight on my foot.

The ADK snow report as of now is bad! Freezing rain and ice has coated the 4 inches we have left. Need some good storms so I can get back to some bushwhack sking.

[Woodserson]

I have had to apply a larger wax pocket to the M55 to acheive the same kick and climb I took for granted on the old Glit. The days of me chatting with the skier next to me and laxidasically climbing straight up steep hills with some half-assed wax are gone. The M55 feels more akin to a fischer superlight wax in its kick. By that I mean I have to keep my toe and timing in mind far more than I had to on the Glit.

After looking more at the flex underfoot I would say the M55 has a smooth transition from a soft tip to a stiff and lively underfoot section before coming to a medium stiff rockered tail. As you might be able to guess these things are faster than the old Glit, but only if you can time your kicks well. Otherwise it can be a frustrating ski for sure and I'm left wondering why I sized up to the 205cm (away from my 160 weight range).

Cool! Thanks for this. So more tuned towards kick & glide, more camber, stiffer. I hear you with the lengths, I usually go for the longer lengths and then I lost some weight last year and now I'm rueing it a bit, and I had to get some 200cm things to hold me over until the weight returns. That being said being on skis that I can kick without frustration is really nice, and they turn easier too.

Beware the skin removable technique as mentioned above-- don't break them apart!

Things are pretty in cranky in NH too. Good freezing rain event yesterday some fluff on top. Maybe we have turned the corner. What traverses/thru-skis are you thinking in particular? I always wondered why I don't hear much about looping back to The Loj via Indian Pass when doing the Marcy Dam-Avalanche-Flowed Lands ski-- granted I've never hiked Indian pass so I don't have 1st hand experience, maybe hard on skis, too many river crossings? On the chart appears it could have potential for a nice loop and avoid the out-and-back or the key swap.

Thanks for posting, super helpful.

[Natirondack]

Beware the skin removable technique as mentioned above-- don't break them apart!

What traverses/thru-skis are you thinking in particular? I always wondered why I don't hear much about looping back to The Loj via Indian Pass when doing the Marcy Dam-Avalanche-Flowed Lands ski-- granted I've never hiked Indian pass so I don't have 1st hand experience, maybe hard on skis, too many river crossings? On the chart appears it could have potential for a nice loop and avoid the out-and-back or the key swap.

I sanded down the pegs for the skins a tad and they pop out nicely, I actually like this system more than the Fischer Easy skin. We have had multiple easy skin ports come in to the shop with the plastic upper broken off. The Madshus transition port sits more securely on the ski and I don't expect to see the same problem.

We are checking the skins to the skis when we sell them at the shop and offering to sand down the tighter ones. Some I can't get out of the ski without a hammer and a punch off the shelf, but sanding fixes the peg size easily.


Last year I did some major thru-skis in the Northern park. My last big trip was the 45 mile jackrabbit trail in just over 11 hours. Glitts and blue extra wax with my Alaska's. I also skied into Boreas Ponds, brook-whacked up the marshes into Marcy Swamp, then turned East and traversed the Pinnacle Range before skiing out Elk Lake. That was a hard 30+ miles of breaking trail. I already mentioned the ski of Algonquin and Wright in my Glitts, which leaves the trip you described.

I started at south meadows and took the Loj trails to the trailhead for Indian Pass. The approach was nice but at the last lean-to I started breaking trail in 2 ft of fresh snow. The pass started well but quickly became a bit of a nightmare. Tip to tail violet wax couldn't get me up the boulders in the soft snow as it sluffed off every boulder face on the trail. sidestepping was also useless. The trail was hard to follow. I ended up half skiing half pulling myself up the surrounding trees to get up the pass, going back and fourth trying to find trail markers. Booting up the boulders proved useless as there was roughly 6ft of soft unconsolidated snow that I sunk through as soon as I removed my skis... The sun does not melt anything in that pass. I ended up loosing the trail (probably because of the ladders that were buried under the snow) and skiing across the cliff face under summit rock. I barely got across it when all the snow under me sluffed off and mini-avalanched 30ft into the ravine. Bless my metal edges on the rock and ice face for holding my up. I guessed my way down the south side of the pass skiing boulder to boulder towards the brook, passing trial markers here and there but not being able to ski down them due to large drops and turns. The caves were also a pain. Now and then a ski would collapse a snow bridge over a large talus cave and take my ski with it into the hole, causing lots of splits and ski removal situations. Finally I found snowshoe tracks away from the pass to Henderson Lake and reached my halfway point as the sun began to set. The rest of the trip, to Flowed Lands, Colden, Avalanche pass and out was amazing skiing in pitch black. This helped me forget about the pass a bit. When I got home the Forest Ranger I was living with was livid I even tried the loop, he knew how bad the pass can get and now I do too.

This all said I met a mid 60's couple in the ski shop yesterday who did the same loop in Spring with Fischer twin-skins and touring boots, they could boot the ladders, follow the trail, and glissade the boulders because of the consolidated snow conditions and had a good time of it. Hard enough they won't do it again, but good overall. I sold them both a set of Panorama 55's so they can have an edged ski from here on out.