For years Fischer was the gold standard - the best skis, the fastest skis. I think that has changed somewhat as other brands have caught up. I see a much wider range of brands out there now - Peltonen, Madchus, Atomic, Rossignol, Fischer and so on.

Like bike fitting, the "best" skis are the ones that fit you and are right for your weight.

FYI - I classic ski on Fischers and skate on Peltonens.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I agree with Fleck that you gotta go with one that is matched to your weight. If the shop just does the paper test, this is insufficient, as you can't totally tell how much weight is required to close the final camber of the ski. You need one of those compression guages too. I've stood on two sets of skis, both with the same initial and secondary camber and the final camber appeared to be identical until we actually measured the flex in the guage. Ski A "closed" with 64 Kg (approximately my weight), Ski B "closed" at 85 Kg !

As for brand, I keep trying all brands over time, but I keep coming back to Fischer RCS (I have four pairs of em). My training partners love Madhus, and Rossi and I know they fly. If you go with Rossi, you better be a pretty darn good technician to get the max performance out of the Xium skis.

Dev

hey-

thanks fleck. one more question if i still have your attn.

how was your fitness...bike and run...after spending a bunch of time on ski's?

thanks,

j

****Note**** I ski race for the Alpina/Madshus team so I am biased towards Madshus skis! BUT! If your shop has only Fischer and Atomic, I would go Fischer in a heartbeat. Here is why, if they have Fischers in your flex range (110-130% of body weight), the bases on the Fischers are much more "race ready" then the Atomics. Atomics are pretty much known for needing a stonegrind before you even ski on them as the factory grind is not usually spot on. They tend to have many "peaks and valleys". Fischer has led the charge on "race ready" factory grinds, the bases are true and flat, and the factory structure is very usable. The new RCS (or SCS too I think) features Short Cut technology, this is were they remove material from the tip and tail to reduce swing weight. All in all a superior ski...almost as good as Madshus:}! Hope this helps.

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http://www.pbmcoaching.com
USA Triathlon Level 3 Elite Coach
USA Cycling Level 1 Elite Coach

hey devashish-

thanks for the reply. i think i'll probably end up on the fishers but the scs just because of price. i did the paper test but they also had tested all the skis with a compression gauge. so hopefully these skis will work for me.

care to comment on your bike/run fitness after a winter of skiing?

thanks,

j

I'll leave this to Dev as I know he loves this topic, but I found that a solid winter of skiing from Mid Dec to Mid March( 3 times a week with a few marathon races, and a one week ski camp) left me in outstanding shape. I would keep up a solid run training program and put the bike away. However, with the skiing I was able to jump back on the bike in March and head out for good paced 2 - 3 hour rides almost right away. It really does give you a head start.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I will comment on the fitness issue too. I ski 6 days a week from late Dec to mid March, I don't ride once from about mid Nov though. I continue to run a bit, more as a "loosen up in the AM" type jog. I have no problem with fitness come April. One thing, if you are a new skier, and you live in CO, watch the intensity, as skate skiing with poor or marginal form can be VERY intense.



Hope this helps. Be well.

Kurt

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http://www.pbmcoaching.com
USA Triathlon Level 3 Elite Coach
USA Cycling Level 1 Elite Coach

I agree with Fleck and Kurt. Personally, I prefer to keep up the running 3-4 days a week and XC ski 3-5 days per week. The Skate skiiing replaces swimming and biking. Although XC skiing (especially classic) helps running, I find there is no substitute for running. The great thing about running is that I can do it anywhere at any time. It supplements XC ski training when I don't have to time to get on skis. Come spring, I can go from zero biking to a 4 hour ride within a week. For swimmming, I can go from zero to 60 min on the first day in the pool. (the disclaimer here is that I usually ski 2000-2500K per winter).

Hope this helps.

Dev

3 year old Rossi Deltas. Very happy.

In addition to all the great comments so far, don't forget about the type of skiing you're doing. Be honest with yourself, and realize that no one ski will be perfect for all conditions.

Are you skiiing on well (professionally) groomed wide trails? Narrow, throught the woods poorly groomed? Lots of fresh, light snow? Mostly old, hard packed, dirty snow? Want to use it for citizens mass start racing?

Each of these will weight into your decision for a ski. Granted, you can get carried away, but most people with experience will have a quiver of ski's to choose from depending on conditions and circumstances.

All that being said, make sure you get fit by a reputable shop (sound familiar). Just like with bikes, the mail order price may be attractive now, but if the ski's you get are not a good match for you, you'll be hating them for a long time!

Good luck! XC sking is awesome aerobic conditioning. Wear a HR monitor to a race sometime and prepare to be amazed at the numbers that come up - I'm regularly about 10 bpm higher than running in both Max and AT on skis.

Ron

I replaced my madshus with fischer RCS's last year. REI was selling off RCS's at 1/2 price because they said they were eliminating their high-end gear. The 197-stiff fischers are nice and fast for me I weigh 200 and am 6'7".

Josh,

I would try to demo a few different brands and stiffnesses before commiting. Most ski areas will have the occasional "demo day" set up by the ski manufacturers for you to try their product. Remember if you are fairly new to the sport the ski you need will likely change as your technique improves. If you haven't taken any lessons yet I would do that first and then decide on a ski. Also make sure you get the right boot/binding combo for skate skiing.

I classic on Fischer RCS and skate on Madshus but what do I know.

enjoy the snow

robert