The Åsnes Thread (News for 2020-2021!)

[Woodserson]

I am surprised at what happened to The Green Man...

IDK Woods, All I can see is a wood core fulllength metal edge BC ski that weighs only 825grams at 200cm. Man oh man, I have to chat with Børge Ousland.

I was so nervous that my favorites were going to disappear I didn't even see that! Holy wow! Asnes is just smashing it out of the park. Tindan 86 and possibly Rabb 68 big time on my radar... Tindan 86 in a 187cm for everyday crushing and Rabb 68 for serious BUMPS.

[Nick BC]

It’s great to get next year’s catalogue and see what’s coming. However, I was intrigued to read their binding recommendations as you go up in waist width. Up to the Rabb 68 it’s 75mm/bc Magnum/tech, from there on it’s only tech. Perhaps by “tech” they also include TTS and Meidjo/Lynx. Tho’ folks are skiing skis in excess of 68 mm underfoot with 75mm cable bindings with no problems.

[Nick BC]

I should also have mentioned that certain tele “gods” are skiing NNN BC on ridiculously wide skis.

[bgregoire]

It’s great to get next year’s catalogue and see what’s coming. However, I was intrigued to read their binding recommendations as you go up in waist width. Up to the Rabb 68 it’s 75mm/bc Magnum/tech, from there on it’s only tech. Perhaps by “tech” they also include TTS and Meidjo/Lynx. Tho’ folks are skiing skis in excess of 68 mm underfoot with 75mm cable bindings with no problems.

I think that is because those wider skis were primarily designed for AT skiing, as that is what is now most popular in Norway. You could read Crister's answer about the state of norwegian mountain skiing i few posts back. quite enlightening.

I should also have mentioned that certain tele “gods” are skiing NNN BC on ridiculously wide skis.

Should they really be adapting their bindings recommendations for 2-3 excentics?

[Åsnes1922]

It’s great to get next year’s catalogue and see what’s coming. However, I was intrigued to read their binding recommendations as you go up in waist width. Up to the Rabb 68 it’s 75mm/bc Magnum/tech, from there on it’s only tech. Perhaps by “tech” they also include TTS and Meidjo/Lynx. Tho’ folks are skiing skis in excess of 68 mm underfoot with 75mm cable bindings with no problems.

I think that is because those wider skis were primarily designed for AT skiing, as that is what is now most popular in Norway. You could read Crister's answer about the state of norwegian mountain skiing i few posts back. quite enlightening.

I should also have mentioned that certain tele “gods” are skiing NNN BC on ridiculously wide skis.

Should they really be adapting their bindings recommendations for 2-3 excentics?

Hi!

You are right.

We have adapted our binding recommendations to the combinations sold on each model in most cases. It does not mean that you can not mount a Voilé Switchback, Medjo, Lynx or any other tele-binding on the skis recommended with Tech. As already written, you can read a bit about the development in Norway in my former post, and based on that I believe you can understand where we're coming from.

All skis with "tech" recommendation can easily be mounted with whatever binding you would like. On the narrower models, we recommend sticking to BC, BC Magnum, Super (75mm) or Voilé 3-pin.

I do a decent amount of skiing with BC Magnum bindings on the Rabb 68 ski for example. And my Falketind 62's are mounted with Voilé Traverse bindings and is my "go-to-ski" for most days.

As for some of the other comments, Gamme 54 is the same ski - just without the Titanal in the tip. This has been replaced with other reinforcement materials to give a more forgiving tip that will lift even better in softer and deeper snow. Other than that, it is all the same. We feel that it handles way better now, and as a bonus, it is lighter than before. Aleksander just skied it for a week at Hardangervidda. filming for the Norwegian TV-show called "all for Norway", and is really happy about it.


With mountainous regards,
Crister @ Åsnes

[Nitram Tocrut]

I do a decent amount of skiing with BC Magnum bindings on the Rabb 68 ski for example. And my Falketind 62's are mounted with Voilé Traverse bindings and is my "go-to-ski" for most days.

With mountainous regards,
Crister @ Åsnes

Hi Crister,

I wonder what is new with the FT 62 aside the different graphic?

There was a discussion https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2453 about the differences between the FT62 and the Raab 68 and since you use both it would be great to read a comparaison from an Asnes God

Thank you!

[Åsnes1922]

I do a decent amount of skiing with BC Magnum bindings on the Rabb 68 ski for example. And my Falketind 62's are mounted with Voilé Traverse bindings and is my "go-to-ski" for most days.

With mountainous regards,
Crister @ Åsnes

Hi Crister,

I wonder what is new with the FT 62 aside the different graphic?

There was a discussion https://telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2453 about the differences between the FT62 and the Raab 68 and since you use both it would be great to read a comparaison from an Asnes God

Thank you!

Hi.

I just wrote a really long answer to this, but for some reason, it did not post. I will try to rewrite it later. Sorry.

In the meantime, here are a few tips, as the season is a bit on hold:

https://www.en.asnes.com/how-to-store-y ... he-summer/

With best regards, Crister @ Åsnes

[lowangle al]

That's some good information there Christer thanks for sharing it with us.

[Åsnes1922]

Hi again guys, I hope everything is good with you and that you've had some time to check out our new Catalogue. We will post a lot of good stuff to Instagram @asnes1922 and to Facebook this coming year, so if you like you can follow us there too.

I noticed that some have asked about the FT62 and the Rabb 68, so I will try to explain some of the differences, their intended use, and the construction. It may be easier to understand where we are coming from and what we have thought after that, I guess.

Falketind 62:

The new FT62 is really similar to the old one. Basically, the use of materials and general construction is the same. We saw the need to update the design, so that is the major change in this model. Other than that, we did some extensive testing of the ski this season and picked up on few small details we wanted to change to perfect the ski. As I have already mentioned, I use FT62 quite a lot.

Initially, when the Falketind 62 was drawn up and constructed, we based it off the former Vetletind ski. Vetletind was a full on fiber and carbon ski, designed to merge together all the knowledge we had from telemarking, alpine touring and our most playful Nordic BC skis. We took everything we liked from alpine touring skis and basically put it into a robust lightweight construction not very unlike the Ingstad ski. After that, we "beefed" it up with a more responsive wood core, more sidecut, a more aggressive rocker and some seriously overkill tails. The Falketind 62 was always supposed to be a really playful, robust and fun ski. It was supposed to be stable in speed and be easy to handle, but at the same time, we wanted to keep intact the personality a Nordic BC ski has. Meaning we wanted it to have a more classic XC camber combined with rocker and the properties needed so that the ski could be really good to walk on flats with. I believe we succeeded pretty well.

I noticed that the use of "marked camber" was not really good so that the concept of words is changed a bit. "Marked Camber" was a bad translation for a prominent/higher wax pocket. Basically, it means that the ski has a stiffer waist that allows for a higher wax pocket and softer tips - in many ways like an overly tensioned traditional alpine camber with rockered tips. It has a higher and stiffer camber than alpine touring skis, not very unlike the Ingstad ski so that it glides well on flats. The FT62 actually has a small-moderate wax pocket, but it is not that big and high, so the wax will not stay on of long - but it is possible to use grip-wax on that model.

I short words, the Falketind 62 is made to be a really playful and easy to handle Nordic BC ski. At the same time, it has a lot of the same technical details as an Alpine Touring ski, without sacrificing the Classic Nordic XC Camber with Nordic Rocker, the glide properties and the directional benefits of skis like Ingstad and Nansen. That is why we have the groove in the sole as well. As that actually has a lot of effect on how directional the ski is.

While skiing a lot on it this last two seasons, we noticed that the tails (which is really overkill) could be a bit of an annoyance. We re-discovered the versatility of the FT62, so some of us started skating with them on flats. They are really playful and easy to handle, so we played around with them a lot. While doing all kinds of fun stuff on these skis, we noticed that the high tail sometimes was in the way, especially while skating and doing really short jump-turns. An because of this we decided to make the tail a bit lower.
The tails of the FT62 is actually more aggressive than on all our Alpine Touring skis, and that is a bit overkill. It is the same with the Rabb 68, so we have lowered the tail on that ski too. It will not affect the skis in any other way than that it ends up being a bit more directional on flats, and even more stable in high-speed turns. All in all, we believe it will be even more playful and become a better ski with the small changes we have done.
I think the visual design and profile of the FT62 is much better too, so hopefully, the changes will be welcomed by the market as well.

Rabb 68:

The Rabb 68 is a further development from the FT62 and the old Storetind ski. As some of you may know, the Storetind was a really stiff carbon ski with a lot of the same properties that the new FT62 now has. The Storetind was really popular among telemark skiers, old school mountaineers and used a lot like a regular Alpine Touring ski. We first tried to make the Falketind 68, basically a Falketind 62 with more volume, more sidecut, and thicker waist. But that didn't work as well as we wanted - don't misunderstand me, it was a really good ski, but we wanted something else.

As the demand for Alpine Touring skis has grown, the demand for Nordic BC skis that can handle groomers and powder has evolved as well. That is is the basis for the Rabb 68.

The Rabb 68 does not have the same camber as the Falketind 62. It is way stiffer on the waist, the ski has more torsional stiffness and is reinforced with carbon in the tip and tail. We also added a bigger wood core, inspired by Alpine Touring and Skimo skis. There is a similar Nordic Rocker in the Rabb 68 as in the FT62, but it has more lift and is a bit more aggressive. The shape and lift of both the tails and the tips on the Rabb is more aggressive than on the Falketind. You can also notice that we have a lot more sidecut and front tips shaped quite similar as in Alpine Downhill skis and as in the skis Skimo racers use to compete.

A big difference between the Rabb 68 and the FT62 is the lack of a groove in the sole and the fact that the Rabb 68 has a lower camber profile. The wax pocket on the Rabb68 is almost gone, and it has a really similar camber profile as we have in the Fjøro 92 ski, just slightly higher.

Because of the reinforcement carbon materials, the more responsive wood core, and the overall stiffer construction. The Rabb 68 can really be skied like a proper downhill ski. It has better edge control than the FT62 and can be carved like a regular downhill ski- or alpine touring ski. It does indeed require a bit more power to ski, but the response in the wood core "springs" and "pops" equally more - resulting in a much more responsive ski. The big difference will be most notable on hard crust, groomers and while skiing steeper slopes.

In general, one may say that the Rabb68 is a true "hybrid" ski. You still have some of the XC properties in the ski, but we have adapted the ski to meet modern demands of alpine touring skis. So all in all, the Rabb 68 is a really lightweight alpine touring ski, with downhill capabilities and just a little bit of the XC DNA still left. The Rabb68 is really not that different from my old Skimo competition skis.

A fun fact at the end: The Rabb68 has been used by a few steep-skiers, and I have myself skied some really steep chutes and couloirs with it. I believe it to be the perfect ski for mountaineering and alpine scrambling, as a tool for mountaineers. Actually, one of our ambassadors and some other people we know plan on bringing it to some serious mountains in Nepal and Caucasus.


I hope this could be of help, and that I did not overly-complicate everything. Let me know if I need to clarify anything.

With mountainous regards, Crister @ Åsnes

[fisheater]

Crister,
I have been attempting to explain how the wax pocket works on the FT 62 for quite some time. I think you did a good job explaining how it works. I enjoy my FT 62 very much, I have been skiing it for two seasons. I mounted mine 3-pin cable and enjoy the combination. I am another member that appreciates that Asnes has had you engage directly with us. Enjoy the warm season, and know we would also enjoy hearing about summer in Norway.