A touring ski at LCN? Yup.
Why would Left Coast Nordic sell a touring ski when our focus is on race and athletic cross country skiing?
Because there are days…
Having fun by moving fast over varying snowy terrain isn’t always limited to perfectly groomed trails. We can thank people such as Jason Lemiuex at Teacup for spoiling the local skiers with what is often world class level grooming. What about going to other community-based groomed trails, which might not have been prepared for a few days, or the snow conditions only allow rough grooming. And there are the places and times when friends have invited you to a ski tour on an easy trail that has been prepared only by other skier’s tracks.
How about a ski that is close in weight to a race ski, has a grip pattern that is reliable in almost any snow condition, the glide performance is pleasing, and that combination of grip and glide can accommodate a full racing stride or a walking type shuffle.
The Fischer Superlite Crown EF.
The Superlite Crown ski has been around for decades, but being a Fischer, skiing a 20 year old version (and at the time, very pleasing) and comparing it to the current design will show that Fischer hasn’t been sitting smugly with a successful ski model. Fischer will continue to tweak and modify a basic design to make improvements. No mistaking the difference in the generations, the current Superlite is super fun!
And with all that, it has become a favorite of several local ski instructors as their teaching ski.
Here’s an anecdote to illustrate the fun on a Fischer Superlite. Teacup Nordic has been offering more improvement classes to non-race skiers, and the Superlite Crown was the ski I used when teaching a Classic Ski Improvement course (a three-session event). One student who was the most novice of the group was really excited learning to ski more effectively, but it was obvious that his rental skis were holding him back from experiencing the full potential of gliding well. His skis were supposed to be oriented to skiing in groomed trails but just didn’t seem all that…fun! I had him jump on my Superlite Crowns and the look on his face after using them was convincing – skiing is more fun than he expected! “Are they hard to ski”, “No, I can walk up anything if I wanted to”, “Are they fun”?, “Wow, they glide so much farther!”. Yeah, skiing is supposed to be fun.
Why not the Superlite TwinSkin?
The Superlite is available with either the Crown grip pattern or the TwinSkin with skin inserts. While skin skis in racing type skis have taken over from grip pattern race skis, there are performance weaknesses of skin skis. Skin material doesn’t glide well compared to a slippery plastic base material. Skin skis that glide well do so in well-groomed tracks; anytime the snow surface can contact the skin surface during gliding the resulting friction can be at best a slow glide and at worst a sudden face plant. In deep loose snow, or wet spring slush, skin skis can be very slow. And in old and lumpy tracks an uneven bump in the track will grab the skin suddenly. It is our opinion that the Fischer Superlite TwinSkin is a ski best used by the skier only skiing well prepared groomed tracks. The breadth of conditions where the Superlite Crown can outperform makes it our favorite for a ski instructor, or a racer who want a versatile and fun touring ski.
Specs.
Sidecut: 48-44-46mm
Weight: 1260g (194cm)
Sizes: 179, 184, 189, 194, 199, 204cm. The 204cm is available in an Extra Stiff flex.