My Ski History by anemic

[lowangle al]

Anemic, those XCD-GTs aren't old, I think there from the 90s

[anemic]

I'd add some bindings to the XCD GTs and Eons too!

But yeah, I like your style!

My wife especially likes Mrs. Anemics skis (because she has the same ones with the same bindings - she told me to say so).

Thank you Mrs. K! And Mike.

I have a second pair of those nice Voile HD bindings which were purchased for the XCD GTs. Subsequently, when the $125 195 cm Eons fell into my lap, I had them jig-drilled for the Voiles. Soon, bindings they will have. I think I will slap some budget saver bindings (vintage form of the ST or HD etc) on the XCD GTs.

My teleski introduction has yet to happen. We are planning a ski weekend up north on good snow in two weeks. We are looking forward to early dawn patrol raids on the ski hill and will get the feel of the tele turn on corduroy before we get into the hardwoods.

Next up I have an opportunity to go to CO on the cheap. My old college & post-college roommate is still out there and he does dawn patrols and afterwork trips on tele! (He also does mad amounts of standard Alpine skiing.) He has gone to plastic boots and NTN of course, being the right gear for the regional job. He admired my leather fetish & told me it's way easier to turn tele on the new stuff.

I'm thinking of how the Eon might perform. Buddy says we ascend the skin track and descend fresh soft corduroy groomers. Slowly. Probably in the dark. Sounds like a blast. For me, this is the point of XCD gear - to make a blue run into a wild adventure! I am a little afraid of myself if I bring my AT gear out west with me - the trouble I may find myself in, because the gear is so capable. On the other hand, I can bring leathers and say to myself, I'm not skiing that! I'm on lightweight gear! It's a survival thing for me. Unless the hazard level goes to green, I am leaning towards leaving the AT stuff at home.

Maybe I want a little more ski than the Eon? Your thoughts for this please?

I'm combing the classifieds. I've got about a month to gear up and get some level of competence at the tele turn.

I'm about 155#. I think I want a soft ski with some float but still on the light side for low top leathers & no cables.

How about a vintage / new tua hydrogen 178 cm 100 73 90 $115. I can't find much beta on them.

[anemic]

Anemic, those XCD-GTs aren't old, I think there from the 90s

That's funny Al! I think I will have a great time on these skis.

[MikeK]

Geez, I'm not a tele expert. Just XCD skier, if you could call it that

Eons are awesome skis. You might be a little on the light end for the 195, but I think it'll cooperate with you.

They're like all XCD skis though, not quite a DH ski, not quite a true XC ski. They do nothing well, and everything kind of OK.

I'm relatively new to the Telemark turn, and I found it was pretty easy to pick up on the more shaped skis like your wife's Epoch. I still make all sorts of mistakes, a lot balance related... you get that with a non-rigid connection to the ski.

Once I kind of had the feel how a ski wanted to behave with leather boots, I focused more on using skis with less shape and less boot control. It's different. They don't initiate nearly as easy. They want to skid more on harder surfaces.

IMO these skis don't really want you to try too hard. I feel I do my best when I ride the ski and ski as smoothly as I can. I could say that for any ski, but from my recollection of skiing plastic boots and fixed heels I could get really aggressive and sloppy and overski my skis and pull out of it. When I get wild on these it's hard to come back.

Also, just my humble opinion, but in the same sense, I feel like you can't pussy foot them either. They don't really want you to hesitate.

My analogy at this point would be like driving a truck vs driving a sports car. The truck likes to go straight and is good for hauling stuff around. Sports cars like turn quick and pull high G's. The truck can make the corners, just you have to go slow and smooth or you'll be in the weeds. You also can't decide last minute to make changes to your course, because it's just not as responsive as the sports car is.

XCD skis are kind of like trucks, or jeeps. They ain't really good at going fast or rippin' corners, but they get you around in the woods.

[lilcliffy]

Next up I have an opportunity to go to CO on the cheap. My old college & post-college roommate is still out there and he does dawn patrols and afterwork trips on tele! (He also does mad amounts of standard Alpine skiing.) He has gone to plastic boots and NTN of course, being the right gear for the regional job. He admired my leather fetish & told me it's way easier to turn tele on the new stuff.

I'm thinking of how the Eon might perform. Buddy says we ascend the skin track and descend fresh soft corduroy groomers. Slowly. Probably in the dark. Sounds like a blast. For me, this is the point of XCD gear - to make a blue run into a wild adventure! I am a little afraid of myself if I bring my AT gear out west with me - the trouble I may find myself in, because the gear is so capable. On the other hand, I can bring leathers and say to myself, I'm not skiing that! I'm on lightweight gear! It's a survival thing for me. Unless the hazard level goes to green, I am leaning towards leaving the AT stuff at home.

Maybe I want a little more ski than the Eon? Your thoughts for this please?

I'm combing the classifieds. I've got about a month to gear up and get some level of competence at the tele turn.

I'm about 155#. I think I want a soft ski with some float but still on the light side for low top leathers & no cables.

How about a vintage / new tua hydrogen 178 cm 100 73 90 $115. I can't find much beta on them.

Without completely understanding the context of the terrain and the skiing you might end up doing in CO...

My first thoughts are this- if you have a chance to ski in the CO mtns with your old buddy- and he is going to be skiing terrain with powerful, big-mtn equipment- then my advice is to fully take advantage of the opportunity and fully immerse yourself in that context.

I would try and rent/borrow some alpine "Telemark" equipment and go ski with your buddy- ask him for advice of what to get and where to get it. Go ski with him- take advantage of an incredible opportunity.

If your friend is using Alpine and Telemark equipment to it's full advantage- he is skiing in a context that is beyond the Eon and xcountry boots-bindings- at least for mere mortals (i.e. me).

Even if I was not a mere mortal- there is lots of terrain out there that I don't even dream of skiing with a ski like the Eon and a xcountry boot-binding. Even if you really want to use the Eon- you are going to need a powerful boot and binding (i.e. at least the heel cable and a rigid powerful boot).

I have a deep passion for long-distance backcountry-xcountry Nordic touring in mountainous terrain. But- I do have a past of "alpine touring" (on both AT and Telemark equipment) in the western mountains- it was the experience of a lifetime.

[anemic]

Thanks Cliff. It's great to have your perspective as a former Bow Valley ski bum!

I plan to bring my Alpine skis for lift riding. The idea here is to bring gear lightweight enough that I will not be tempted into something that is bigger and more hazardous than my backcountry knowledge skillset, so, light, noodly, etc is the goal.

I like my AT skis, BD Drift 176 cm 136 100 122. I like how they feel easy to turn and ready for anything outside the gates. I think I would like the superlightweight version of these for leather tele. There is a BD Stigma on the market from the same vintage and Efficient Series which is 174 cm 123 70 108 which could be the ticket (a full pound lighter than the Drifts!). A used pair is the same cost as a walkup lift ticket! I think I will give these a go. They have enough shape that they could be really fun to tele turn and enough softness that they will provide the forgiveness that I will need.

These Stigmas may tour well enough that I'll just hang onto them. They will be like my "waxable Annums" if you will. Close to it dimensionally.

Demoing, great suggestion, normally into it - I am thinking I will have a tough time finding 3 pin no cable demo skis appropriate to the leathers. I want to draw the line there because I want to have no overlap with my AT gear. I want light easily driven skis that will not be well suited for overly sporty terrain.

[bgregoire]

Thanks Cliff. It's great to have your perspective as a former Bow Valley ski bum!

I plan to bring my Alpine skis for lift riding. The idea here is to bring gear lightweight enough that I will not be tempted into something that is bigger and more hazardous than my backcountry knowledge skillset, so, light, noodly, etc is the goal.

I like my AT skis, BD Drift 176 cm 136 100 122. I like how they feel easy to turn and ready for anything outside the gates. I think I would like the superlightweight version of these for leather tele. There is a BD Stigma on the market from the same vintage and Efficient Series which is 174 cm 123 70 108 which could be the ticket (a full pound lighter than the Drifts!). A used pair is the same cost as a walkup lift ticket! I think I will give these a go. They have enough shape that they could be really fun to tele turn and enough softness that they will provide the forgiveness that I will need.

These Stigmas may tour well enough that I'll just hang onto them. They will be like my "waxable Annums" if you will. Close to it dimensionally.

Demoing, great suggestion, normally into it - I am thinking I will have a tough time finding 3 pin no cable demo skis appropriate to the leathers. I want to draw the line there because I want to have no overlap with my AT gear. I want light easily driven skis that will not be well suited for overly sporty terrain.

I might be wrong here, but I sense a flaw in your reasoning. If your are trying to avoid injury, I would stay away from attempting to drive wide tele skis with buckle-less leathers. In other words, tele-ing on flimsy gear that you have not mastered is a great way of getting hurt. I think limiting your downhill choices to runs you are comfortable in on gear that is appropriate and that you can drive easily is a better way of avoiding injury. Now then of course, you will have to use your jugement as you go to keep yourself our of trouble and you will no longer be able to blame you gear when your pals want you to go harder.

[anemic]

Thanks for the comment BG!

No sir, the goal is to avoid burial!

I am a fully capable skier and I can ski anything...on my Alpine & AT gear. And I race Nordic skate & classic as well.

I am not concerned about injury. I will ski within myself as I am learning tele. I have fallen many many many times on my Nordic race gear. I really appreciate having a free heel for the purposes of falling.

I am looking for a "fuse" in my system which prevents me from getting myself into backcountry trouble in avalanche terrain...whilst on vacation. I am looking to turn a blue run (or Backcountry meadow) into a wild adventure. I am looking to join the morning dawn patrol with the locals at whatever resort I am near. I am looking to skin up at dusk and enjoy the alpenglow. If I find the right conditions, I may just fool around on the light gear all day instead of buy and lift ticket and rage about the resort while liftriding (some of which I will do to fulfill social obligations)

Meanwhile, back at home, XCD will probably be the best way for me to have fun in the woods on skis, which I love! Those Eons will be the ticket here. Once we get snow. grrr.

[MikeK]

Probably true. I gave you a long-winded reply about limitations of XCD skis, but it isn't just the skis... it's the whole system - boots, bindings, skis.

When I think about it, and I think about that truck analogy, this is why those other guys poke fun at us. We're like a bunch of hicks riding around in jeeps in the backwoods while the Tele/AT crowd are flaunting their stadium trucks on the Baja or formula cars on elite circuits.

[anemic]

To a degree I enjoy the discussion. The best analogy I have read was about the MTBs. Slack angles & big travel for the mountains, hardtails for the singletrack; the gear is informed by the intended use - and user. I have added some weight recently, but still am generally on the lighter side. My equipment choices, even kickwax often differs from my normal sized, larger friends.

I think for sure the lightest XCD gear could be a bad choice for mountain terrain just as the best XCD for such terrain would be silly on groomed trails at a Nordic center.

I just sprung for those Stigmas. A low risk and high chances of big fun!! Sometimes we even have enough snow at home that my Drifts have been fun. Again, look at it like the Annum which is fully acceptable as XCD. But it's waxable which I prefer.

I don't think there are incorrect choices in general but I like that we can choose different gear for different purposes.

Here is a cool video showing these old orange Stigmas in recent use on plastic tele gear inbounds: