Fischer BCX Europa 109 Tour

[greatgt]

What "C" said.....They cruise well and can totally rip on the downhill side....Very good find.....I have a set and that led to a newer set of very lite and wider 109....Both set the forest ablaze with their speed.....Wax them up and go....Pins....leathers....and fly....TM

[Bohemian]

What "C" said.....They cruise well and can totally rip on the downhill side....Very good find.....I have a set and that led to a newer set of very lite and wider 109....Both set the forest ablaze with their speed.....Wax them up and go....Pins....leathers....and fly....TM

Thanks, TM and C.
So, in order to avoid creating another Swiss cheese I think I'll take these E109s out for a spin as they are now with the overkill Black Diamond bindings, try both with the Alico Ski March and the Scarpa T2 boots and see from there. Meanwhile I'll keep my eyes open for a set of simple 3-pin bindings.

What about the 3-pin cable traverse or 3-pin cable for these E109?
Or are any form of risers & cables overkill for these E109 skis?
With my limited tele skills I may benefit from some form of cable around the heel for downhill?
On the other hand simple 3-pin with the Alico Ski March boots would force me to improve & apply proper old school telemark technique

Now for the Rossi Bandits for resort downhill: I have a set of Rottefella release plates. Bindings available: R'fella 412, the mentioned 3-pin Hardwire set and a set of older Hardwire bindings (so without the 3-pin rat trap). The latter are still at friends waiting for pickup, the 412s and the 3-pin HW are ready to mount where I am now.
The Bandits are like Swiss cheese already anyway so not much I can do wrong there I guess: they are to become the next rock skis.
The 412s are now on my current rock skis (very knackered but nice Stoeckli Stormider XL, almost no edge left) but they are not mounted straight, so I need to redrill anyway on those too, more cheese market!
Anyway, luxury problem: enough toys to play with for now

[fisheater]

Hello Bohemian,
I have a Ski March boot, and a T-4 as well. The Ski March is plenty boot for an aspiring telemarker on that ski. You will have the flex of leather for kicking and gliding, while having a very stiff sole to muscle that ski to supplement good technique.
I would not put a riser on a ski of that width. A cable can help. I just bought a new binding with a cable. I really don’t plan a using the cable often, but when I want that cable I sure will be happy to have it. Since I usually have at least a small pack, it’s no problem to carry cables in the pack.
I would like to offer some advice on 3-pin bindings. I bought my first Voile 3-pin cable many years ago. I like Voile as a company. I like how you can order parts from Voile. I really like supporting an American company. However while the Voile 3-pin is great with the Ski March boot and the T-4, it is not a good fit for thermomolded soles like many readily available boots such as the Alpina Alaska. I recently purchased a Rottefella Super Telemark binding. I purchased the model with the cable. I’m not yet certain how the cable will work with a soft boot like the Alaska, the 3 pin fits the thermomolded sole significantly better. The Voile just doesn’t compare. Since I don’t have any time on the binding I can’t be 100% sure, but I’m pretty sure from now on any 3-pin binding I purchase will be Rottefella Super Telemark. If you are purchasing a 3- pin binding you should consider the Rotte ST. Because eventually you will want a lighter boot than the Ski March for touring with a light ski. The Rotte ST will work better with that lighter boot, even if you find a light Norwegian welted soled boot.

[John Dee]

I wouldn't go ski them over rocks right away. Just because you didn't pay much for them doesn't mean they aren't valuable. There probably isn't a comparable ski on the market today except for the Nansen, and people don't give those away.

I have a pair of 188's, which I believe is the more average man-size. I'm having issues with my boots for them, though.

[Bohemian]

I wouldn't go ski them over rocks right away. Just because you didn't pay much for them doesn't mean they aren't valuable. There probably isn't a comparable ski on the market today except for the Nansen, and people don't give those away.

I have a pair of 188's, which I believe is the more average man-size. I'm having issues with my boots for them, though.

The E109s won't be the rock skis, no way!
My rock skis are the old knackered Stoeckli Stormrider XL (allmountain downhill skis) and next the Rossignol Bandits with plenty binding holes, both very fat downhill skis compared to the E109s.
The E109s are to be well taken care of.

[Bohemian]

Mr Fisheater, thanks for the advice!

[Bohemian]

Thanks everybody for the advise so far!

So, finally had the chance to take the E109s out for a spin.
Last week we were with friends in the Alps for a week of resort skiing and in between I went out for a ski hike together with a mate who was on AT powder planks, me on the E109s still with the existing overkill Black Diamond bindings, full length skins and because of the terrain the Scarpa plastic boots (thy fit! ). Everything off piste was extremely wind blown (read all blown away), so we just took a summer hiking path (with snow! ) up and a red ski slope down. Uphill went of course easy ; downhill on semi hard wind pressed skislope was interesting. I ended up doing most of the descent in alpine style and was surprised how easy that went. (probably I can still learn a hell of a lot in telemark technique )
Except this short spin I spent the week on my AT (allmountain with AT frame bindings) set and later when it got a little bit warmer some trenching on the good old carving snowboard

Intention is to go for a fairly short tour in rolling hills in the Bohemian Forest on Thursday (fresh snow finally!), still with the same bindings, possibly with the leather Alico ski march boots and see how that goes.

When I get to it I want to take off the current bindings (+ sell them) and mount the front plates of the 3-pin hardwire bidings + an old R'fella heel piece (the flat grip thingy), so without the HW riser plates = finally the setup that fits the skis, with the option of putting the hardwires on for descents.

[freedom glider]

i am far from an expert. but my impression is that, at least with europa 99/e99, the europa designation is usually older than the e.

congrats on the great find!

[greatgt]

Got mine at a ski swap and have skied them to almost total destruction. Duct taped on the tips.....glued the top sheet back on several times....Gotta say......those skis turn, wicked.....They leave a single narrow track.....Liked them so much I was able to order a new set of E 109's.....ROCKER=bummer......great on the down and general cruising.....but going up the tails sometimes rock causing trouble for this oldie.....Of the two the set you got is in my opinion the better ski.... If i see another set of those I will get them, no doubt......Arc on! TM

[Bohemian]

Got mine at a ski swap and have skied them to almost total destruction. Duct taped on the tips.....glued the top sheet back on several times....Gotta say......those skis turn, wicked.....They leave a single narrow track.....Liked them so much I was able to order a new set of E 109's.....ROCKER=bummer......great on the down and general cruising.....but going up the tails sometimes rock causing trouble for this oldie.....Of the two the set you got is in my opinion the better ski.... If i see another set of those I will get them, no doubt......Arc on! TM

Cheers TM !
That gives me good motivation! Let's see how it goes with the leathers. Considering to take the Scarpa plastic boots along in the backpack just in case... I don't think my ski march boots are already properly broken in... will they ever?
Decision @ lunchtime UTC
Your description of totally using up your skis leads me to think that my other much older (once bought 2nd hand) Stoeckli Stormrider Light AT skis are not all the way used up... but one has an extreme rocker and the other one is still original... no idea how the first ski got damaged or how to straighten it and also no idea how to modify the other to get the same rocker
Stuff for a separate rock ski topic? Or really ready to be retired to the status of decoration material and keep the good memories of those nice titanal AT skis ?