WHAT’S NEWbr /br /R D in the ski business is necessary these days. From a strictly business point of view, the competition is not sitting still, so neither can any other company. In the 80’s it was the adoption of synthetic materials and P-Tex bases. This year it seems to be reducing swing weight and improving handling. Here is a short piece on my impressions about new products at WebSkis this year. br /br /At the end of last season and the beginning of this, there was a lot of talk about the Fischer Hole ski. Fischer decided to take their lightest ski, the RCS Carbonlite, and remove material from the tip by cutting a whole in it. This idea certainly is noticeable and the ski is noticeably lighter. I got a chance to ski on these in May and spent nearly 4 hours on them. While they are not intended as a ski for all conditions, on hard, transformed snow they are quick, light and have a nice familiar Fischer stability and glide. I liked the ski and so did a lot of World Cup skiers who tried and accepted it right away. WebSkis, now an official Fischer Race Center, has a good supply of 192cm Fischer RCS Carbonlite Hole skis. They are only made in stiff flexes. br /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/fischer-hole-ski-784610.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;” src=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/fischer-hole-ski-784608.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” //abr /br /The other new product from Fischer is actually a new version of an old friend. Skiers have long recognized the superior glide and feel of the good old RCS in soft and cold snow conditions. This year Fischer has introduced a Carbonlite version of the RCS they are calling the RCS Carbonlite Soft Track. It is a ski with Carbonlite construction (lighter than the old RCS) and the camber profile and flex characteristics of the 610 RCS. It excels in all the soft snow conditions that I skied in at MT Bachelor in May and June this year. No hole, but a light, stable, fast glider that is a stand out on steep uphills using V1. br /br /Not to be left behind, Madshus has a new ski that I had talked to the reps about for a couple years. This is a stiff version of the ski they used to call the Nanosonic SC (soft condition). A couple of things make this a ski a winner. It has a super stable platform from which to push to the next skate stride. That is the result of the stiff flex and the nearly straight sidecut of 44-43-44mm. It is solid, predictable and light. To decrease the swing weight of this ski Madshus has removed a significant amount of material from the tip. The new look is a lower profile and blunter tip giving the ski the nickname the 186 “Stubbie”. The 186 is the stiff version of the SC and the 196 is the more familiar soft flex variant. WebSkis is one of the few shops that has any of these new skis. (so new we don’t have a good photo)br /br /Maybe the biggest change made in any of the skis we have is in the new Salomon Equipe 10 skate skis. Even though Salomon has stopped its support of the “Factory Team” I think that you might see more of these skis on the feet of winners this season. In appearance the ski has a wider tip than the 08/09 version. It also has a layer of carbon fiber that goes farther forward in the ski that produces a more even pressure distribution. To me they felt more stable and had better glide per stride than the Equipe 10 last year. I liked the ski. The grinds on both the warm base and the cold base skis look better to me than before. br /br /br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/salomon-equipe-10-727520.jpeg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;” src=”http://www.webskis.com/uploaded_images/salomon-equipe-10-727517.jpeg” border=”0″ alt=”” //abr /br /br /Something else should be noted about these products. Supplies are EXTREMELY LIMITED. Preseason orders were conservative and the companies chose not to over-produce their lines. If this is your year for new skis don’t think there could be a big liquidation sale at the end of the winter. I suppose that could happen, but based on the way people have been responding to these boards, I wouldn’t count on it. br /br /Have a good one,br /br /Bertdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6589659500745667109-1235145072710587761?l=www.webskis.com%2Fwebskisblog.html’ alt=” //div
