Skis and Gear Discussion > Current Reviews (this and last season)

Fischer Ski Rant!

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jbotti:
I own 3 pairs of Fischer skis and I ski on none of them. All 3 pairs are overly grabby and they can be painful to ski on with variable snow conditions. It is especially rough when you go from soft snow and then hit hardpack because they pretty much just rail on hardpack. One of the skis, my Progressor 9+ have had a base grind so we have to at least say it was a bad base grind that caused it. On the other two (a watea 94 and a Watea 84) I have 10 and 35 days repectively and no base grinds. My friend whose tuning knowledge base is much greater than mine was out this past weekend. I told him my issue with the skis and he took out a true bar and we looked at all three pairs of skis. All three are concave, the middle of the base is lower than the base at the edges. This is essentially the opposite of what you want on a ski base.

This may be a downside to buying skis online (I bouight two pairs of these online and one from an authorized dealer). I have no idea if they are covered by the warranty and I don't really care at this point. I have said it before but I am done buying Fischer skis.

My friend Willi Wiltz who prepped skis for the the US Ski team for years, tod me that Fischer is notorious for not letting the skis dry properly after they mold and texture the bases. Instead they throw them in boxes quickly and the skis warp as they dry causing the concave effect. Maybe this is why they were so cheap on the internet and were possibly seconds? Don't know but it seems possible.

It also seems that most people who buy Fischer skis don't have this issue, but I have 3 pairs that this has occurred with. I am having two get a new base grind and that may fix the problem, but there is no way this should be occurring.

You can all put it in the FWIW category.

LivingProof:
JB,

I understand that the base can continue to cure and shrink following final factory finishing of the ski, and, your results do not say much for Fisher QC. A friend skied the 9+ in a Nastar event I participated in this weekend. He loves them for that format for the grip on hard snow you described plus the turn radius fits pretty well. I find it hard to believe Fisher would keep and sell "seconds" of a top of the line ski ( I have been know to be naive ). Helluva sends a whole bunch of helluva-dollars to Fisher, I await him weighing in on this issue.

If the 9+ went through a base grind and still remains concave, I would think that both Fisher and the base grind shop did not do their QC work. I don't see how a base grind would introduce concave. I've read various posts stating that if the ski is flat for 1/2" to 1" from each side, and then concave only in the middle, it should not be detrimental.

And, for the record, I'm jealous that you can ski from soft onto real hard. A luxury not often seen east of the Mississippi.

HeluvaSkier:
I only ski on Fischer race product, so I don't know how their pedestrian skis perform... I've never had this problem with my race skis though. They all arrive in amazing condition.

If you want, I can send you my address, you can box the skis up and send them to me for evaluation.

LivingProof:
Max,
Funny how definitions remain inconsistent. John stated "they rail on hardpack". My mind translated that as "just leaving RR tracks" or that they just get up on the edges very well.

@ Helluva

You pull no punches.......and know how to turn a phrase

"PEDESTRIAN SKIS"  :o :o

Svend:
Hey John, not sure what's going on with your Fischers.  We have three pairs in the family -- P9, P8, and a Maunga twin tip -- and they are all fine.  You'd mentioned this problem before, and since then I check them regularly with a straight edge -- all good so far. 

The P8 had a base grind last year on a Wintersteiger machine, and came out perfectly.  Still flat after a year and about 20 days skiing.

BTW, the first pair of Progressors that I had -- the '08 RC4 -- also needed a base grind when I got them because they were edge high, just like yours are (if you recall, I bought them used).  Once that same Wintersteiger machine had at them, they were perfect and stayed that way until I sold them a few months later.  You remember the provenance of those skis -- perhaps that's more than a coincidence?

The P9s do have very aggressive edge grip -- the most of any ski I've been on.  I have to detune the tips and tails to get them to stop grabbing in soft bumps.  I like the hard edge grip, as they hold exceedingly well on a steep icy slope.  But they certainly don't rail in the way you mean it.  I've been on demo and rental skis with that kind of tune, and it is awful....unskiable almost.

FWIW, there are a lot of Fischer skis sold in this area, esp. their race models, and they have an excellent reputation for quality amongst the locals.  I have never heard anyone say anything but good things, and this even from people who don't sell them.  They are generally regarded as superior to the other major ski makers in terms of quality and performance.

From personal experience, the steel edges on all our Fischers seem harder and hold a tune longer than other skis, and their PTEX bases seem much harder and less prone to scratching and gouging.  I am impressed, as it makes my tuning and repair work much lighter.  Head skis seem to be not nearly as good in that regard.

Good luck with sorting this out, and keep us posted if you find out anything more.

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