On Friday our friend Mike Wynn drove over from Glens Falls to ski with us. Mike is one of the best ski testers we’ve worked with, so we decided to take the opportunity to put together a test. The snowpack has been mostly insensitive to grinds since our return from Europe, but different ski constructions have made a big difference, so that’s what we focused on.
The test was pretty simple. We selected twelve pairs of skis from four different companies, and Amy prepared them all with the same HF paraffin. We each did our own individual subjective testing to narrow the range down to five pairs (each) that we wanted to test in a final trial of timed laps on a 2.1km loop. We only ran skis with NNN bindings, so that we wouldn’t have to change boots. But this meant that we didn’t run any of our Salomon skis. We ran flat bindings (no wedges or ramps) on all the skis.
A rundown of the skis we put into the test, and our subjective response to them looks like this:
Fischer
Carbonlite 610 187 – This is a ski that I selected for myself as a universal cold ski. As we got into the early season demos we found that it was really good on the manmade and semi-transformed snow we were on a bunch during that time. Later, in the mid-winter cold powder it wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but both Amy and I had overall very positive impressions of this one in our transformed and below freezing “violet” conditions.
Amy chose this pair over the speedmax to put into the lap test based on its fast feel underfoot. Both Mike and I felt that it didn’t hold up well enough under load.
Speedmax 610 187 – This is another ski from our demo fleet that I had selected for its strong bridge, low finishing camber and long edge pressure distribution. It served us very well in the early season demos and was an easy pick to take for our expected cold transformed snow.
Mike and I both chose this ski for the lap test based on its good response to loading and active skiing. Amy felt that it wasn’t free enough in the glide.
Madshus
008 Redline Cold 190 (blue) – This is a soft cold ski that Amy and I fought over for much of the cold and snowy part of the season. This ski was Amy’s favorite in her previous mid-winter test in cold and dry snow, and it’s very much like the Madshus skis that we’ve really depended on in the past several seasons. However, it was in the test based on its proven excellence – not based on my expectation that it would be fast in transformed snow. I sort of set this one up to fail.
Maybe based only on expectation, Amy and I both felt this ski was pretty bad. Just not fast. However, Mike identified it as his favorite. Incidentally, Mike spent most of the season skiing on a pair from the same series, and there may be something to say for familiarity!
008 Redline Cold 190 (red) – This ski is one that I had brought into our demo fleet mid-season after selling the warmer HU ski that I had originally picked. It was a reasonably good bet from my point of view, with a bit stronger bridge integrity and more focused pressure distribution than the blue-range ski.
This was my favorite pair in subjective testing. Amy didn’t like the feeling, but Mike also chose this for his five-pair lap-test.
008 Redline Cold 190 (high camber) – This ski is one of a couple of pairs that we took from a production series with particularly high resting camber. We took this ski as a test of the high camber concept, but when we selected the ski, we didn’t expect it to be much good outside of hardpacked cold conditions (based on experience from previous years). However, at World Championships we saw a pair of Noah’s skis from this same series do really well in transformed breaking sugary snow. It was his second pick as a race ski in Ostersund (and a favorite in the softest parts of the course there), and also a clear favorite on one or two training days in Falun. So I grabbed this one as a good option to have if the snow was breaking and sugary.
None of us chose to bring this ski into the lap testing phase. I felt that it was good in the softest sugary snow, but not good enough on average. Just not fast enough.
009 Redline Plus 190 (007) – This ski came from the same series as the pair that Noah used in the Olympic 50K last year (last three digits of the series are 007, so of course we’re going to use that as a designation). This series has been outstanding in a wide range of wet snow.
This ski had a really fast initial acceleration for me, but something was missing during active pushing. Amy chose this as her favorite pair from subjective testing, but neither Mike or I took it into the lap phase.
009 Redline Plus 190 (new) – This is a really interesting new ski that we brought home from Norway earlier this month. It’s from an experimental new production idea that Madshus made very shortly prior to the races in Falun. This ski has quickly become a favorite for both Amy and me based on its really fast acceleration under foot, and elastic response on release.
This pair didn’t feel super fast in free glide, but it accelerated like crazy under foot, and supported a really good and consistent push from any position. Amy and I have both spent a lot of time on this ski since we picked it up in Norway, and we both chose to run it in the lap testing. Mike was less impressed, and didn’t pick this one. However, based on our tested, we made him run it in a final sixth lap.
Rossignol S2 187 – We’re not a Rossignol dealer, but a customer had a really good looking pair of S2s in my size that they wanted to trade for something out of our inventory, and I know that Rossi makes outstanding skate skis, so I took it for testing and skiing on.
All three of us put this ski into the lap testing. We would have put it in regardless in order to have good brand-distribution in the lap testing, but we were also all impressed with the ski. It had good speed under foot, and that very familiar and extremely active Rossignol feeling.
Ski Trab Gara Aero 186 – We had four pairs of these on the snow. Ski Trab is a very interesting family company that has been making skis in Bormio since the ‘40s. They are world-leaders in the alpine touring and ski mountaineering categories. They’ve been making cross country skis for years, and have consistently produced skis with really great material design and construction. They have recently created some buzz in the cross country world with a really aggressive Norwegian distributor who has priced the ski at the very top of the Norwegian market and focused on the handmade quality. We’ve been testing a few pairs of these all season, and recently we received some additional skate skis to put on the snow from Mario Roncador, an Italian racer at UAA. Steve Soistman at Chain Reaction Sports in Homer AK helped connect us.
Of the four pairs of Trabs on the snow, we all selected one of Mario’s as the best pair to put into the lap test. The Trabs are notable for a high resting camber, and really secure edge feeling. Considering the resting camber height, they’re a neutral feeling ski without a lot of sensitivity to specific positioning or timing. Everybody found them easy to ski on.
Lap Testing
When you think about it, there is no truly scientifically objective way to evaluate skis independent of skiers. It’s a bit like evaluating technique – the most successful technique is the one that makes you fastest. Ski testing and selection is, by nature, an individual process, and while it’s easy to get sucked into the idea that some skis are just super good for everybody, it’s usually not that simple.
As you will see from our results, ski testing is subjective, even when every attempt is made to be objective. When we do these tests the best thing we can do is be open-minded and willing to be surprised by results. But we can never claim to be truly objective. I asked Amy and Mike to ski hard enough to produce good skiing motions and pace, but also to try to be consistent in the effort. They both did a good job of that. Then I went out and didn’t do that at all. I let the skis draw the effort out of me, and just tried to find the best input I could for each pair. Different skiers have different styles, and different ski constructions demand different styles. Some skiers (think Liz Stephen) put the energy and impulse at the end of the push, and ski with a lot of action and motion. Others (like Lowell Bailey) ski with a more contained and compact geometry – driving the force and motion forward without as much lateral action. During the test each of us recognized how differently the various skis were behaving. I made an active effort to look for the most effective skiing style for each pair, and that resulted in some wild differences in both lap times and efforts. Mike and Amy were much more consistent in their efforts, so their results may be a bit more reliable!
The lap was 2.1km of mostly rolling (overall pretty flat terrain) with one sustained climb. Conditions were tilled granular snow with a mostly firm surface, prone to breaking down in places. Temperatures came up to near freezing, but the snow never got particularly wet. It was pretty fast, sugary snow.
We did a random draw to generate the running order of the skis for each skier. The tests were run independently (we didn’t ski “against” each other, although I did kick both their ***es).
Zach’s Test
Lap 1
Fischer Speedmax
6:01 Avg Hr 151
This was my first lap, and it was my slowest. The average HR is not terribly representative because I started from rest, and it took a while to come up. In subsequent laps I took relatively short recovery and HR elevated quickly. But I’m quick to acknowledge that I was pretty relaxed on this lap. The skis behaved well enough, though on the one long climb I had to “soft pedal” a bit to ensure that I didn’t break through the tilled surface.
Lap 2
Madshus 008 (red)
5:52 Avg Hr 161
This might have been my “favorite” lap of the day. These skis really rewarded an active finish and extended end-point to the skate push, and they definitely drew a bit more effort out of me. But it was not an effort I had to reach for, and it incurred very little cost – I could have skied like this all day and enjoyed it. I was producing very active and motion-based skiing with light muscular load. It felt playful.
Lap 3
Rossignol S2
5:56 Avg Hr 163
The Rossis had felt good to me in easy subjective testing – my only complain had been at higher speeds where I felt that there was a bit too much interface with the snow. I could feel and hear the ski on the snow. That didn’t trouble me at all at speed, but I struggled to find traction on the power in this lap. The higher camber and active feeling of the skis made me want to ski similarly to that previous lap, but when I did that I was either washing-out the tails and breaking the surface of the snowpack, or ending up uncomfortably loaded forward. I paid a higher price on this lap than on previous, and would require more time on these skis to find a comfort zone.
Lap 4
Madshus 009 (new construction)
5:24 Avg HR 169
I’ll admit to being predisposed toward liking these skis ever since we picked them up in the factory. I ended up going harder than I intended on this lap, as the HR reflects. But the physical cost wasn’t terribly high – I could have kept going that pace easily enough. I got drawn into the effort because there was no skiing style or loading phase that the skis didn’t reward – they accelerated rapidly under foot with just a suggestion of pressure, and the release at the end-point was really good. It was very easy to find traction on these. I expected the lap to be fast based on the feelings, but I was frankly amazed by the time, and the average HR (I certainly didn’t feel like I had gone hard). I wouldn’t necessarily have selected this pair for a race based on feel-testing from the first phase of our test, but there’s absolutely no question that this would have been my pick for a race ski at the end of the day.
Lap 5
Ski Trab Gara Aero
5:39 Avg HR 167
This lap was another surprise. I think I sort of primed the pump a bit on the previous lap, and was feeling good. Again, I didn’t try to go super hard. The Trabs didn’t seem to pull the effort out of me in quite the same way as the previous lap had. But there were no hitches in their ability to produce. I can’t say they felt amazing, but by the same token, there was nowhere on the lap where I felt that they fell short. The length of the push phase was quite long on these skis, and they really drew me into a smooth and long power application. I would have liked a little more snap in the acceleration at the end of the push. But all things told they were good – better under pressure and speed than I would have credited them with at low output.
Lap 6
Fischer Speedmax
5:50 Avg HR 165
I added one lap to the test in order to give the Fischers another chance. By the time I had finished a couple of laps with much higher output that what I started the test with, I felt that I might have shortchanged them on lap one. I took these back out with the intent to ski the way I did in my fastest lap. I have to say, I just couldn’t find a place to put the effort with good effect. It was a surprise to me, but these weren’t the right skis for the day. I wish, in hindsight, that I had put more Fischer options on the snow because this pair didn’t give me the feelings I wanted.
Amy’s Test
My results ended up being a little surprising for a few reasons. The fastest ski that I tested ended up being the new 009 ski from Madshus. This was a new construction that Madshus made over the winter. It doesn’t feel like a normal Madshus ski. It is very strong and has a very low resting camber. We have found it to be surprisingly good in a lot of different conditions. Yesterday, it didn’t feel as fast as it has in other conditions, but it nonetheless produced my fastest time during my last interval.
I had a second place tie between the Rossignol S2 and the best Ski Trab ski we had yesterday. I liked the Rossignol ski right away yesterday so this was not a surprise for me. It felt lively and fast right from the get go. Zach and Mike felt that it might have been a little on the soft side for them. The Ski Trab also produced a fast time. The interesting thing about the Ski Trab is that it felt a lot better climbing at a race pace than it did when we were testing them out at lower speeds.
My fourth fastest ski in the test was a Madshus 009 (007). By feel, I expected this ski to win the test and I still don’t understand why it didn’t. It felt lively and slippery fast. My effort also felt good on this ski with heart rate data that looked solid. Interesting.
The fifth fastest ski in the test was a Fischer Carbonlite that had performed well in early season testing on transformed manmade conditions. Yesterday, it felt slippery fast, but lacked the stability and elasticity it had had in early season testing. I am guessing that it was just not the best Fischer ski for the day.
Amy’s Data
Rossi S2 6:47 Avg HR 136 (low because of first lap)
Fischer Carbonlite 6:53 Avg HR 157
Ski Trab 6:47 Avg HR 162
Madshus 009 (007) 6:53 Avg HR 164
Madshus 009 (new) 6:42 Avg HR 162
Mike’s Test
Lap 1 – Ski Trab – 5:59 HR 152
First time ever standing on Trabs for me. I started the feel testing on these and found them smooth and neutral feeling in the sugar. Pressure distribution felt even tip to tail, making them easy for me to push off of and glide at full weight. I wouldn’t say any of the Trab’\s felt overly “fast” or even overly anything…but the winning pair were certainly fine to ski on, just kind of uninspiring. They ended up being fastest in the intervals for me and at lowest heart rate, but it should be noted I went on them first and fresh. Surprised? Yes, very. What’s more, I believe both Z and Amy went quite well on them, too!
Lap 2 – Rossi – 6:10 HR 155
I also have very little experience with modern Rosssis and know nothing about various constructions and where they’re best suited. In recent years when I’ve had opportunity to sample them, I’ve found them very serviceable, both in handling and run speed. They’re nice skis. The pair in today’s test were of the latest edition by looking at the graphics, but that’s all I know about them. That said, I found them to be well suited for me in today’s heavily tilled granular. Like the Trabs, they were easy skiing and felt even more slippery. Another very neutral handler, though with a bit more lively camber action than the Trabs. Of note, I found this pair to have a “buzzy” feeling on the snow along with an audible whir to the ear. This used to wig me out when testing but I’ve come to realize it doesn’t necessarily equate to drag. Skis that generate feel from the snow and/or auditory feedback can still be fast. Except when they aren’t.
Lap 3 – Madshus 008 (Red) – 6:09 HR 154
Disclaimer: This is my 4th year as a Madshus skier and I’m VERY partial to the HU construction…
An 008 Redline made for a happy loop around Grafton for me. And this ski seemed to levitate above the snow, with a silky, glassy feeling glide. After a loop on this pair at level-3, I’d have picked them to race over the TB1’s (interval 5) based on the frictionless feel. Oddly enough though, the TB1’s felt faster to me in feel testing – which, of course, is the type of testing I (and most?) do before a race.
Lap 4 – Speedmax – 6:12 HR 154
I spent several years a die-hard Fischer guy, including a few in the regional ambassador program during Eli Brown’s race service director tenure. I know and well-like the 610 mold skate skis. They have a “set and run” feel, meaning you set them on the snow and they run. Usually quickly, with a snappy, low feeling camber action. We were feel testing this Speedmax against a pair of CarbonLites and I liked the Speedmax better on all fronts. I didn’t ski completely comfortably on these during the interval. A few times they washed out on release and felt a bit skittish at full-weight. At either 98 or 99kg (forget which Zach said they were), they should be a pretty ideal flex for me in the sugar. I’d guess a little time getting reaquainted with the 610’s would clear up any issue my own distribution of weight over the ski may have been causing. I know these skis well enough to know any problem is likely pilot error. Run speed felt good. I’d tend to put the soft time down to the tester’s floundering.
Lap 5 Madshus 008 (Blue) – 6:03 HR 156
This ski is an outlier in that both Amy and Zach felt it was one of the slowest to hit the snow today and I thought it was among the best. This despite the rest of our feel testing being very similar in results/comments. Like the Rossi, it had the buzzy, feedbacky thing going on but it felt fast. Great control, great camber action, felt fast – loved it. Honestly, I don’t know if this should buoy my self-confidence as a competent tester or destroy it!
Lap 6 Madshus 009 (new) – 6:10 HR 156
I was partially through feel testing the several pairs of Madshus when it occurred to me I was feeling some *NOT* HU (008)construction. No one had bothered to tell me and it threw me for a bit of a loop, as I’d assumed HU would be the deal on this mid-winter, violet snow day. There was at least 1 pair of U++ (009 – typically used for wet) skis and this extremely low-cambered prototype. Zach was very amped about this ski in all regards. Amy casually noted that they’ve been on it a lot since returning from Oslo, and that it’s had some VERY cartoon-style days with regard to run speed. I did think it was an awesome ski, with great action despite the low camber. My adaptation to it took only a few strides (it did feel weird for a few) and it “engages” the skier in the way I feel the HU construction does, despite being a drastically different ski. My opinion today was that it was among the fastest feeling underfoot, but not a cartoon-style winner. It will be very interesting to see where Madshus goes with this ski.
Summary
There are different ways of testing skis, and different qualities equate to success on different days. Among high-level racers I think the emphasis is very often on running speed at the expense of produced speed and skiability. When we run demos we’re often surprised that people come back from trying skis and talk about handling characteristics and their comfort moving on the skis, and not often about the speed. I think that on-balance this focus is well placed, and we’ve seen a lot of circumstances where the skis that support good motions and aggressive skiing produce the best results. Among our customers and clients, the people who are most invested in “slippery” feeling skis and fast running speed at all costs are usually the least satisfied in time.
The opportunity to ski on some different skis and experience them at different levels of output and in different conditions is a really valuable thing. Anytime you’ve got the chance to ski some timed laps, I would recommend it. You may be surprised by the results, or you may not, but you’ll always learn something!