New ski revisit

[Joel]

Last season I asked about a new touring BC ski. My contenders were between the Ultravector BC, V6 BC, and Findr 94 XCD. My top pick was the Ultravector BC but I missed getting it for a good price so I ended up not buying a new ski last season.

My requirements are still the same, easy to ski for a novice, mostly touring, I do climb and come back down still mostly shallow ( bunny hill ).

One of the requirements was fish scales, it still is but I have been reading some stuff on cutting your own. This opens up the field if I'm willing to do this, which I think I am. I figure I can either make a jig or put the ski on my mill.

So with the new parameter, any thoughts ( besides maybe being nutty to cut a new ski )? I want to stay <$500, I have been seeing some good prices now on last years skis. One that I noticed is the Armada Tracer 98.

Any thoughts, pre scaled or not?

Thanks

 

[cantunamunch]

Do you have some way to cut positive structure, or are you just going inset?

If you feel like opening up the field even more, I will point out that XC kick-zone skins are getting cheaper and better every season.

https://news.madshus.com/2017/11/21/making-the-most-of-your-skin-skis-is-easy/


Buying 2 pairs and arranging them side-by-side in only slightly routed channels on whatever ski you want seems rather an accessible alternative to cutting your own structure - especially positive structure.

 

[Joel]

My plan was to cut a negative impression which seems to work well. Another thought I had was o 3d print a pattern and put it on the ski.

 

[cantunamunch]

Ah, 'k. I'm only lukewarm on negatives; skis that are long enough and stiff enough to glide well enough for negatives to be a noticeable improvement in the down glide are also stiff enough for the negative to backslide on steeper terrain, especially on crusty mornings.

Right now I have 2 positives, 2 skin skis and 1 pair of negatives in the rotation.

 

[davjr96]

I picked up a pair of G3 Findr 94s (NOT scaled) in the middle of last season for super cheap. As far as I'm aware they are the same ski as the XCD just without scales so they should ski roughly similar. I used them in North East Hardpack, Squaw spring slush, some horribly sun-cupped summer sierra backcountry snow, and a couple inches of heavier east coast powder. Loved them on the downs in all conditions. They are a light weight touring ski but carve surprisingly well. I even took them in a GS race course with tech bindings... Obviously I was slow but I am still alive. If you can get them somewhere around $300-400 I think they are a very good ski especially for the price.

On the subject of Scales/No Scales, I think it is personal preference really. I haven't found terrain where I think scales would benefit me. I am either going up or going down for such a short distance that I will leave skins on. However I do know people who have scales and swear by them. I think it all depends on where you are going and personal preference.

 

[Joel]

The Findr 94 was on my radar last season ( XCD version ), I missed a great boxing day sale. If I find a ski I want that already has scales, that's the direction. It's just the notion of DIY scales opens things up a bit.

Right now I'm thinking 98 - 105ish mm ski is what I want to not overlap what I have. The G3s are in the pool.

 

[Joel]

I ended up with a pair of Armanda Tracer 98s. I'll put some scales on the bottom and give the a try this season. I'll post some pics when I get around to modifying them.