When ski companies produce a model and support it with marketing material they provide a very general outline of what the ski actually is. They focus on specifically marketable factors, like new materials or construction methods (e.g. cold base-bonding with the Fischer Speedmax), or camber profile features (like variable tip splay with Madshus REDline). These selling-points aren’t lies – they’re not even exaggerations – but they don’t come close to telling the whole story. Telling the whole story is impossible because it’s always unfolding – series by series, the skis evolve. When we select skis we may be choosing from a number of different production series, but we’re still limited by what we have access to. It’s a question of what’s available when we go pick skis, and there’s never a guarantee that what we see is the same as what might have been produced before or after.
It’s also worth considering that we have a tendency to carry certain ideas and prejudices into the ski selection process. Anytime we’re picking skis, we’re deciding to take some and leave some others, and that process has to be based on some criteria. We pay close attention over the course of the ski season to which skis we like, and which series yield the best feedback. Before we go ski picking we spend some time reviewing our experience from the prior season, and looking over the skis we have around to provide us some context for the upcoming picking trip.
The temptation is always to write about a certain model in broadly general terms; “the 2014 Speedmax Classic is …”. The reality is that we’re in a position to talk about what qualities we’re looking for in skis, and about what qualities we find in the skis we have access to. But that’s not quite the same thing as a general review of the whole product line. For this mid-summer report I’ll discuss the some of the specifics of the skis we’ve seen this so far year, and give a preview of what our inventory looks like for the coming season. We’re only about half way done with our ski selection process for the coming season, so, like the skis, you can think of this as an ongoing process in-progress…
For context on our experiences last year it’s worth reviewing our Report Card on New Models from the spring.
Fischer
Last year’s introduction of the Speedmax models from Fischer received quite a lot of hype, and we found ourselves explaining the differences and similarities to the regular Carbonlite models, which remained in our line-up of skis for sale. Our explanation sugared-down to something along the lines of “different execution of a similar concept”, and we didn’t offer a strong endorsement any which way. Upon review, I think that we may have sold the differences a bit short, and while we’re not ready to ditch the Carbonlite, we can make some stronger endorsements of the Speedmax after a year on the ground.
Now is the time to clarify that the Speedmax models are much more than just a rebranding. These skis are substantively different in both material configuration and thickness profile from the Carbonlite. The Speedmax skis utilize the venerable RCS core, with more substantial structural sidewall thickness, and a higher modulus of elasticity than the Carbonlite core. OK – that last bit about modulus of elasticity was sheer conjecture, but it sounded good, didn’t it? My feeling about the Speedmax materials is that they derive more strength from their core and thickness, while the Carbonlites derive more strength from their laminations and camber profile.
The difference between the Carbonlite and Speedmax materials are notable in classic skis in the pocket feeling and kicking action. Where Speedmax skis have an outstanding balance of strength and elasticity in the finishing action of the pocket, the Carbonlite skis have a comparatively “whippy” feeling, and a less reliable and consistent kicking action. The Fischer racing guys have confirmed my own feeling that the Speedmax skis have very accessible kick – even in strong flex values.
It’s worth noting that many of the skis in use on the World Cup are RCS core models – even when they’ve got Carbonlite cosmetics (just like all the newer ones say Speedmax, even when they’re not HM skis). The currently available Speedmax classic skis have characteristics much more similar to the favorite skis on the World Cup than we’ve found in production Carbonlites.
The classic skis we’ve seen for the coming season are exciting. In particular, we’ve seen some Speedmax 9Q2 (that’s the 902 camber profile, but they often replace the “0” with a “Q”) skis that rank among my favorite classic skis ever. I will make a straight-up endorsement of these as the best-looking classic skis I’ve seen from Fischer, and that’s saying a great deal considering their history and reputation! In comes down to that pocket action – well defined carrying capacity, easy access to kick, and great elastic response. These skis should have a tolerant pocket that is easy to adjust with added layers of wax, and excellent running speed. In the production we’ve seen so far we’ve found sweet drywax skis in the soft construction, and a bit stronger finish and more klister-specific pocket from the medium construction.
At the Olympics we worked with some 8Q2 skis – HM construction Speedmax model 812 shape skis for colder conditions. We didn’t have much cold weather at the Olympics, but the pair of 8Q2 skis that I took for Kris Freeman was outstanding in testing during the days that we saw. During our visit to Fischer in May we saw some of the early prototype production 8Q2 skis in very small numbers. They had produced only about ten pairs in each length. Some of these were a bit high in the camber for my taste, but the quality of production and material response were exactly what we would expect. We’re excited to see more of this production as we continue with our ski picking process, and based on our testing experience at the Olympics, we expect that these will be an outstanding option.
So which Fischer classic skis are the ones for you? As always, it comes down to specific production series. But our general preference is for the Speedmax 9Q2 for warm conditions and for all-around use, down into the blue hardwax range. We’re excited about the 8Q2 as an option for colder drywax condjtions, and have seen good performance in testing up into the violet and red hardwax range. The 8Q2 will run quite fast into the red range, but will present more challenges on the kick side of the equation as moisture comes into play. Finding kick at the front end shouldn’t be a problem – but maintaining secure grip to the end of the kicking motion is our bigger concern.
The Speedmax skate skis also have a distinctly different feeling from the Carbonlites, and I’ve written about it in the past. The core material and thickness profile seem to provide stronger bridge integrity in the transition zones from glide surface to bridge. I prefer Speedmax skis with some strength and snap to them – the pair that we grabbed for Kikkan in the summer of 2010, which she continues to use to win races, was notably stiff compared with most 187cm skis. Last year we struggled to find Speedmax skis on the stiff end of the spectrum, and some of the stronger ones tended to collaps a little too far up under the heel, and had a deader response than we’d like to see.
The skate production we’ve seen so far this season is considerably stronger and more active under the foot than last year’s skis. And we’ve seen no shortage of strong flex values and active cambers. In the past two years we’ve consistently sold-out of 192cm skis with FA values in the 100s, and camber heights in the mid 2s. We’ve also sold out of 187cm skis for men in the 150-165lb range (those have generated really positive feedback). This year we should have plenty of these skis on-hand. It’s a good year to look for strong skate skis! The Carbonlite skate skis remain a viable and important part of the line-up for us – particularly at the cold end of the spectrum, where we’ve seen lots of good production. So far the challenge appears to be finding awesome skis for warm or wet conditions in either Carbonlite or Speedmax, but we’ve got some more opportunities.
Madshus
A year into the release of the new REDline models, Madshus has certainly received an uptick in attention. We have more customers enquiring about Madshus skis, and more pre-season orders for Madshus than ever before, and we keep hearing “REDline” in what people say when they talk about the brand. It’s clear that the marketing and branding effort behind the REDline concept is working, but it’s worth noting that these kinds of things only work when they’re backed up by good product.
When we headed to Norway this spring we had a pretty good idea what we were looking for based on a bunch of testing over the winter, and our experience with Noah Hoffman and Brian Gregg at the Olympics, where Zach was involved with selecting new skis, and a whole bunch of testing. It was exciting and encouraging, upon arriving in Norway, to find available inventory in exactly the same series’ that we’d tested during the winter on World Cups and at the Olympics.
In classic skis we had already decided that we were interested in lower-camber skis. I brought one of my own pairs of demo skis over with me because we had one series of outstanding very soft and low camber REDline skis last season. Finding a really soft classic ski with low camber and predictable kick, but also with outstanding speed, is like finding a pot of gold. Once we arrived in Sochi, we found that Madshus had produced a series of low camber ski with a modified shape behind the foot that provided a great balance of easy access to kick, and good carrying capacity. I grabbed a pair for Brian Gregg a couple of days before the 15K – here’s what he’s got to say about them:
The low-camber classic skis are a game changer for me in classic skiing. Zach and Madshus set me up with a pair right before the 15km Classic race at the Olympics. I had one of my best classic races of my life because I had the kind of skis you dream about with bomber grip and great glide. My focus all year had been on skating races and yet I think that 15km Classic was my best race at the Olympics. I went on to have my best US Nationals 50k Classic ski on the same pair. – Brian Gregg
When we got to Norway in May we were excited to find skis built with this same camber characteristic in both cold and plus models, and in a variety of lengths. We took a whole bunch of these skis because this is one of the more exciting “finds” in recent ski picking memory. I’m really confident that these skis can provide a great combination of kick and glide performance in a much softer than normal ski. I believe that we’ll see the same concept show up throughout the Madshus REDline production down the road, and we’re excited to have been able to grab some early production (like I said, it’s all about opportunity!)
In skate skis, we started to see interesting things happen with mid-winter production last season. Mike Sinnott carried home a new pair of skis for Noah from the Madshus guys after period 1 – they came with a note from Per Wiik telling me to make a perfect grind for Sochi on them. We couldn’t resist putting them on the snow at US Nationals right after getting them from Mikey – and this was just with a factory blank base – no finished grind on them at all. They were amazing! Great feeling skis to move on, with all the elasticity of the normal 008 construction but with a quicker build to speed under-foot than we had seen in anything else to date. I did put a special Sochi grind on them (something I made up based on feedback from testing by a couple of different ski companies) and Noah raced on them in the Pursuit.
Again, we had the opportunity to use our World Cup and Olympic testing experience directly in Norway, as we had access to the same production series, both in cold and wet skis. It was especially satisfying to grab some skis from the same series as the pair that Noah used in the first 30K of the 50K in Sochi, where he felt that he had some of the fastest skis in the field.
Our access to the same production series as the World Cup skis that we test all winter is something unique about Madshus for us. I believe that the direct experience we’re able to draw with allows us to do really good work with the brand, and that’s one reason we have such positive feedback on the skis.
Salomon
Last year we went to Salomon early, during our first trip to Europe. This year we’re doing it during the later trip, and so we haven’t seen the skis yet. Our plan, after last year’s feedback, has been to focus on the 569 model skate skis that we’ve mentioned in the past. The 569 is an incredibly stable, fast running “hard snow” ski that seems to excel in all but bitter cold conditions, and has become a clear favorite on the World Cup. It doesn’t have quite the active feeling of the normal 562 construction – it’s more of a surf-board than a spring-board. But it’s clearly a real sweet-spot in the Salomon line-up in terms of harmony between design and materials, and it generated some of the most positive feedback of any model from any brand last season.
We’ll provide a complete run-down of current Salomon stuff once we’ve visited the factory in Altenmarkt.