Unapologetic love note to the Fischer E99 (now Transnordic 66)

[wabene]

L hartley I still don't know what generation these e99s are, and was disappointed to find out when I removed the system bindings to find they are only 195 cm. That being said, took them out just yesterday for a short 3 mile ski on a snowshoe trail with lots of ups and downs and manky snow conditions,snow that was crusty and had been through a freeze/thaw cycle.
I couldn't have picked a better ski for these conditions!. Lots of downed trees( we have a bark beetle situation and some recent high winds), bushwacking and of course the narrow snowshoe trail limited my ability to shed speed with turns or snowplowing.
I am a confirmed kickwaxer, but I wanted some fishscales for conditions like this as a "grab and go" ski.
Was really impressed with the climbing ability. I was able to head straight up moderate inclines if I stomped my foot to set the scales, hills that I would normally have to herringbone.
Very pleased with the ski. Have wanted an e99 for decades. Hope yours work out well for your needs

Your getting me stoked to get on my new 66es, cheers!

[greatgt]

Say it again, bestselling ski of all time. Wicked exciting and you the skier must be in partnership with the ski, ski conditions and where you're doing the deed. TM

[cshemeta]

Thank you for the love note!
We also have a quiver of e99s. Just picked up a pair from a free pile @ our local used sporting equipment place, gave them some tuning love & they skied great! We have maybe 6 pairs - only use the wax base. Where can we find a history, with pics of the graphic pattern?

[Jurassien]

I also am an E99 aficionado. I have three very different ones, but the following post is of purely historical interest.

The Fischer E99, in various incarnations, has been on the market since round about the mid-70’s, although I don’t know exactly which year it was introduced. Recently I was rummaging around in the cellar and found a tattered old Fischer Catalogue from the season 1984/85, and specific to the Swiss market. This was at the tail-end of the cross country boom when sports shops here would have had shelves full of all kinds of glider waxes, grip waxes and klisters as well as a whole range of tools and accessories specific to XC skiing. They also had those rostrum boards for doing the paper test – something I haven’t seen any more for a long time, except in Norway.

So here, for the history buffs, are some pictures from the catalogue showing the Europa 99 Crown (Crown = fishscale version) with a grey top-sheet, described here as “Test Winner 1983”(although they don’t state which test). Interesting is that already in 1984 Fischer had adopted the construction method of using longitudinal voids, which they refer to here as “Air Composite Core”.

Anyone else care to contribute some historical notes?

Note: You'll have to move the scroll-bar at the bottom of the picture series, otherwise the right of the pictures will be chopped off.

[Krummholz]

If those are 84/85, how old are these Europa 99’s? I thought they were from the early to mid ‘80s. They always get used throughout winter when I’m not planning on making any tight turns. They still have a stiff pocket.

[Jurassien]

If those are 84/85, how old are these Europa 99’s? I thought they were from the early to mid ‘80s.

These were found on a Finnish website – so your graphics were not just for the American market. If the mounted bindings give a clue to the age of the skis (which, of course, cannot be assumed), then the skis must be positively ancient! The binding on the left appears to have been mounted askew.

Does your model have side walls or cap construction? From the side view, with serial number, of the Finnish model it’s difficult to say for sure, but they do look like sidewalls.

[wabene]

You too can have those stylin skis that @Krummholz has!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325484113828

I almost grabbed this pair but I already have Gammes and TN66 Crown so it would be completely crazy

[Krummholz]

Mine are the same with sidewalls. I can’t believe the are asking $195 on EBay, I only paid $100 There is something about gliding along on wax skis and not hearing zzzzzzsszzszzzz from the scales

[Capercaillie]

So here, for the history buffs, are some pictures from the catalogue showing the Europa 99 Crown (Crown = fishscale version) with a grey top-sheet, described here as “Test Winner 1983”(although they don’t state which test). Interesting is that already in 1984 Fischer had adopted the construction method of using longitudinal voids, which they refer to here as “Air Composite Core”.

Anyone else care to contribute some historical notes?

There is a photograph in Morten Lund's 1972 book The Pleasures of Cross-Country Skiing that shows several Fischer Europa model cross-sections with voids:

The 84/85 catalog you posted appears to show a cardboard core with fairly elaborate corrugations. That quoted weight of 1450g is per pair: https://books.google.ca/books?id=T-ADAA ... wn&f=false

[Stephen]

I’ll take the Fisher’s for $27 bucks, and the hat.