Atomic Tacora - Any opinions?

[j***@yahoo.com]

I'm seriously considering buying a new pair of Atomic Tacora skis for
BC telemark skiing for use mostly in the Oregon and Washington
Cascades. I'm mating them to a new pair of Scarpa T2X boots.

Does anyone have any opinions on the suitability of these skis for that
purpose and combo?

How about length recommendations? I'm 5'4" tall at 135 pounds. I have
two Tacora length choices: 163 or 172 cm. I've never used shaped tele
skis before. Which one should I get?

Thanks, John.

[Jon]

I can give you some feedback on the Tacora's in general. I really
liked them for the 2 days of skiing experience I have on them. They
are amazingly versatile--holding an edge really well in hardpack and
floating nicely through heavyish powder. They are really light too.

Only thing is, for Western conditions, I think the next Atomic up in
width (used to be "tm:ex") is considered the "industry standard" as a
good all-around Western Ski (while the Tacora is now considered the
best all-around Eastern Ski). I rented some TM:EX's in BC 2 years ago
and that model felt much heavier than the Tacora's, but I assume
they've also gotten lighter. They didn't seem as lively as the
Tacora's, but of course the extra width was great...

Jon

Post by j***@yahoo.com
I'm seriously considering buying a new pair of Atomic Tacora skis for
BC telemark skiing for use mostly in the Oregon and Washington
Cascades. I'm mating them to a new pair of Scarpa T2X boots.
Does anyone have any opinions on the suitability of these skis for that
purpose and combo?
How about length recommendations? I'm 5'4" tall at 135 pounds. I have
two Tacora length choices: 163 or 172 cm. I've never used shaped tele
skis before. Which one should I get?
Thanks, John.

[Booker C. Bense]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Post by j***@yahoo.com
I'm seriously considering buying a new pair of Atomic Tacora skis for
BC telemark skiing for use mostly in the Oregon and Washington
Cascades. I'm mating them to a new pair of Scarpa T2X boots.
Does anyone have any opinions on the suitability of these skis for that
purpose and combo?

_ It all sounds reasonable to me. The vogue these days is for
wider skis, but wider skis are always heavier. 80mm is plenty
wide enough to be a good crud buster and still deal with harder
conditions...

Post by j***@yahoo.com
How about length recommendations? I'm 5'4" tall at 135 pounds. I have
two Tacora length choices: 163 or 172 cm. I've never used shaped tele
skis before. Which one should I get?

_ Shorter skis are lighter... At your weight, 170 are going to be
a lot to handle, but will give you more float in the crud if you
can get them going fast enough. The 160's will be generally
easier to manage and my preference for a backcountry only ski is
to get it shorter rather than longer. Here's a sizing chart

http://www.telemarkski.com/html/sizing_atomic_ski_telemark.html

Lot's of good info and reviews on that site as well.

_ Booker C. Bense