XC Skiing with Mitch Mode
Getting snowed at the Vegas ski show People invariably want to know two things upon hearing you've visited Las Vegas. First, how was the weather, and second, how much did you win. So here's my report: I have no idea how the weather was because we spent our days inside a massive convention center at the annual ski show.
And second, in the interest of truthful reporting, I did not win. In fact I lost everything I wagered. Everything! Busted! Yep, I
lost both quarters I plugged in the slot machine at the airport. 50 cents. Gone! But it beat taking the two coins through security where they often set off alarms and leave you looking like a total dweeb.
I spend enough time during show hours looking like a dweeb as the honchos from various companies try to snow me with a blizzard of verbiage as they extol the virtues of their latest, greatest products. Your role is to nod sagely, flex skis as if doing so had some value, heft boots as
if that somehow gave you a clue as to how they fit, and lean on poles to judge their stiffness. To the uninitiated it would appear that you are making solid, objective judgments. What you are really doing is trying to figure out if the product is legitimate or simply old wine in new bottles. There's a lot of both going on.
The simple reality of a ski show is this: You cannot assess the value of a ski or ski pole without actually skiing with them, which is impossible in Las Vegas, and
you can rarely tell if a boot fits because they seldom have your size to try. So you do the best you can, judge cosmetics and sort through the claims and come up with some impressions that, good or bad, may be true. Or not. But you gotta give it a try.
The show started with a prelude, in this case in the form of a press release. The short release stated that Fischer would change their boot/binding system from Salomon to New Nordic Norm (NNN), staring in fall 2007. Fischer and Salomon
have been long-time partners so until now all Fischer boots have used Salomon soles. That will change as Fischer joins the ranks of NNN suppliers.
What does this all mean? Right now, very little. The battle for worldwide market share in boots and bindings has little immediate impact on skiers in the Midwest. Still it serves to point out a very basic fact that we as cross-country skiing enthusiasts often overlook: It's all about business. Consider that for the entire show, in
conversations with players on both sides of the issue, virtually nothing was said about the relative merits of either system. It was all about strategic business alignments and about decisions made not by skiers but by accountants and business execs in Europe.
New Salomon bindings, boots
If the show started with talk of boots and bindings, what better place for us to start a review. There's a lot to talk about. Start off with Salomon. They showed a new classic binding system, the
SNS Pilot Classic. The boot sole has two cross pins ala the Skate Pilot. The new binding does away with the flexor system, called the "bumper," with resistance during the kick phase supplied by a clip that engages the rearward pin and extends during the kick. The amount of resistance during the kick is adjustable so that a 110-pound whippet of a skier can have a softer flex than a 200-pound bulldog.
Salomon has also completely revamped their race boot line, topping it off
with the all-new S-LAB Carbon Skate and S-LAB Carbon Classic boots. The skate boot offers major changes and both the skate and classic boots have a significantly improved fit. Salomon's former top boot, the Carbon Pro, was described as having a "performance fit" which, in real world language, translated into "way too tight for most people and also a real pain to put on." The new fit is better. (Full disclosure: I was able to ski the boot at a Salomon-sponsored preshow
event and thus assess the fit. Sample boots from other manufacturers at the show did not offer my size for comparisons.)
Salomon's new RC Carbon and RS Carbon replace the RS9 and RC9 and use features found previously in the Carbon Pro series (but at a lower price), and the new Pro Combi Pilot is a strong entry into the combi boot market.
Alpina takes the "lightest boot" title with their upgraded TCS skate boot featuring a carbon/titanium cuff for lightweight and firm
control. Madshus brings to the U.S. a complete boot line that has been in Europe before but not in the states. Their women's-specific boots, the Athena and Metis, match cosmetically (colorwise and with a floral pattern accent) with their skis and offer a true women's last.
The last is shaped like a human foot, specific by shoe size, and provides a form that the boot is build around. A men's last would be built to mimic the shape of a man's foot, generally wider in the heel and more
square in the toe box area. A true woman's-specific last is often narrower in the heel and a bit boxier in the toe area. Thus a boot built using a true woman's last will offera better fit for most women.
Atomic switches to SNS
Atomic has dropped the NNN system it has used in favor of the SNS. This comes as no surprise since the parent company of Atomic bought Salomon from Adidas last year. That purchase certainly contributed to Fischer, a long-time rival of Atomic, deciding not to
renew its contract with Salomon and making the aforementioned changeover to NNN.
The all-new Atomic line looks dialed-in cosmetically and promises improved fit. Atomic is working with the same firm that designs specialized bicycle shoes to improve the fit of their boots. Race classic boots will use the new SNS Pilot Classic sole. The women's market gets a full intro of the Balanze women-specific fitness boots.
Rossignol keeps their World Cup boots unchanged but consolidates and
revamps several models to come up with the X9 and X7 series for mid-priced men's and women's performance boots. Fischer mostly stays the course with their boot line for fall but makes some major moves with their skis.
New tricked-out Fischer skis
With skis, start at the top with Fischer's tricked-out race room skis, the RCS Skate Carbonlite and the RCS Classic Carbonlite. Ultralight and prewaxed by the best techs they've got, the skis are the best Fischer has offered to the general
public. All previous production has been for international-level racers only. Expect no more than a few hundred to be available in this territory. They should be hot.
Fischer then tacks in a completely different direction with a new initiative for women, a variant in the hugely popular Nordic cruising recreational ski category. These skis, the Vision series, offer a specific camber profile for women skiers and are part of an industrywide move into women's-specific skis. Fischer also
introduced compatible boots for these skis.
And if two moves in two different directions were not enough, Fischer's third major intro is in the funky Jibskate category. Or, more correctly, Fischer makes an attempt to jump-start an entirely new category of cross-country twin-tip skis.
Twin-tip skis, a growing category in alpine, have a turned up tip and tail, hence twin tips, the better for trick skiing. The skis are designed to be used from backyards to terrain parks to
who-knows-where. Fischer hopes the new skis will reach a market of urban-based, Gen-X types (or whatever they call kids these days).
Atomic skis look good
Atomic revamped their entire ski line with a cosmetically striking collection considered by more than one veteran observer to be the best-looking skis at the show. Race skis are now named rather than coded (think World Cup Skate rather than RS-11) and high-end skis are redesigned. Gone is the extreme Beta design on race skis,
replaced with a flatter top. Recreational skis get a cosmetic makeover and internal tweaking.
But key to the new Atomic lineup is a group of, no surprise, women's-specific rec skis that turned a lot of heads. The Balanze series are compact-sized skis with no wax bases designed to go head to head with skis such as Fischer's Vision and Salomon's Snowscape Siam series.
Rossignol keeps keeping on
Rossignol stays the course on race skis and tweaks their rec line. And Rossignol
moves the NIS system deep into their lineup. The NIS was available on race skis only last year and allows for easy and accurate binding installation and the ability to change binding position fore and aft on the ski.
Worth noting: The NIS plate works easiest with NNN bindings. It can be drilled to take a conventional screw-on binding, either an older NNN or a SNS from Salomon.
Madshus news
Madshus also used NIS on race skis a year ago and will carry the system throughout
their line next year with every nonmetal-edged ski decked out with the NIS plate. Madshus also introduces a race ski, the Hypersonic Classic Zero with a "hairy" type no wax base for problematic wax conditions.
Salomon adds a new toned-down skate ski, the Active 8 Skate, and tweaks their women's-specific no wax skis.
Black Feather birthday
Exel celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Black Feather pole with a new Black Feather. The Black Feather was the first
ultralight, carbon-influenced Nordic pole and its introduction still stands as a milestone in the XC world.
Exel also introduces a new grip, the X-Force, that is guaranteed to shave milliseconds off each pole stroke. A new Finnish pole line, One Way, will be distributed by Alpina/Madshus and shows promise. Leki showed an innovative quick-detach strap system, the Shark grip, proving that to be effective the grip system does not have to be complicated.
But the real show stopper
in poles was the Swix Force 10, an eye-catching pole that features an elliptical cross section and a one-piece integrated shaft/handle. If there's a pole that better combines ultralight weight and stiff flex, I did not see it. And if there's a pole that matches the retail price of $399, I did not see that either.
Waxes, packs, watches & wool
Waxes took a turn for the easier with Toko and Swix spray waxes. The Toko GripSpray series and the Swix Liquid Kick Line both offer
spray-on convenience.
CamelBak continues a strong hydration offering and showed their new-for-spring-delivery water bottle that features very easy one-hand operation.
And Silva, better known for its basic "always points north" compasses, offers up a high-tech new ski speedometer with an optional heart monitor.
Wool continued to make steady inroads in the ski market, specifically in lightweight base layers that are warm, easy to care for and don't stink to high
heaven. Smartwool, Ice Breaker and Dale are major players. In synthetics, Polarmax introduced a new line inspired by their military/special forces long underwear. Say what you will, but the military tests the heck out of anything they approve for production.
After all the dust settled, the word was that this year was a good year, that the changes are legitimate and in some cases exceptional. At the major European show two weeks later, three new products received special awards: The
Salomon Pilot Classic binding system, the Swix Force 10 pole, and the Fischer Jibskate. We'll see how they all play out on the snow in the Midwest next winter.
Mitch Mode started cross-country skiing with "proper" gear (wood skis, leather 3-pin boots) probably 35 years ago. He has skied every Birkie since 1978 but no longer races. He is the co-owner of Mel's Trading Post, a sporting goods store in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, named after his late father who started the business in
1946. |
