Fischer My Ranger 96 TI- suitable for touring??

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 John Alcock 19 Aug 2020

My wife is considering buying a pair of Fischer My Ranger 96 TI skis for a combination of piste, off piste and small amounts of touring. They have good reviews but we're not sure if they are strong enough for taking pin bindings and touring as they seem to have a mainly wood core. Does anyone have any advice please?

 daWalt 19 Aug 2020
In reply to John Alcock:

all touring skis have a wood core. often paulowina wood if they're decent - which is a light weight wood

nowt wrong with this ski for your purposes

 DaveHK 19 Aug 2020
In reply to daWalt:

> all touring skis have a wood core. 

Many but not all. Pretty sure my Trabs don't have any wood.

 wbo2 19 Aug 2020
In reply to John Alcock: Wood core is normal so no issue there.

DaveHK : Aramid and wood mix on their top end, wood on the others 

Post edited at 21:52
 DaveHK 19 Aug 2020
In reply to wbo2:

> DaveHK : Aramid and wood mix on their top end, wood on the others 

​​​​​​I thought I'd read there was no wood but looks like you're right! 

 French Erick 20 Aug 2020
In reply to John Alcock:

Bindings are almost always fixed with inserts. Thus, structurally any ski can take any bindings really. You could put pins in cross-country skis with those inserts. It would look ludicrous and using them would be an interesting lark but...

Your main concern must be about the compromises between  weight/ length/ performance/ durability/ price/ use you ready to make.

I rarely ski nowadays but I am of the opinion that very few people can outski modern skis BUT many people choose the wrong ski for the usage they will reasonably make of them. This in turn will diminish their returns on fun. Equally unless your technique is perfect trying to land a double backflip on pins is asking for trouble although it has been done.

So with all this in mind: 1) Unless you’re minted and can have a full quiver of guns- ie. you can afford NOT to compromise. Who needs the ‘fats’ in Scotland for example?
2)Basically don’t be sucked in in all the fads and latest salesman babble- it’s snake oil IMO. 
 

Good luck with choosing and have fun! I hope your wife will still do a few turns thinking of this unwanted advice.

edit :BTW, I am always impressed by all the stuff you have done!

Post edited at 07:53
 John Cuthbert 21 Aug 2020
In reply to John Alcock:

There are a few reviews online John, this one provides a short summary of the 2020 ski's strengths and weaknesses...

https://www.skimag.com/gear/fischer-my-ranger-96-ti-2020

John C

 HeMa 22 Aug 2020
In reply to John Alcock:

As has been said, there should be no problems with tech binders and those skis.

In the early days of beefier tele gear (and beefier tech boots), there were some ripouts and some skis even had stickers that mounting of tele or tech bindings not supported. note really the case anymore.

 FATBOYFAT 25 Aug 2020
In reply to John Alcock:

The ski is a good match to the use you've described: on/off piste and a little bit of touring.

At 1870 grams per ski it's far too heavy to be considered a dedicated touring ski. For comparison, my (not particularly light) touring rig is about 1960 grams per ski including pin binding.

The Ranger 96 TI is, however, reckoned to be an excellent all-mountain ski, so perfect for 50:50 on/off piste use. My favourite resort skis are 98 underfoot and cope pretty well in most conditions.

Contrary to what French Erick said, ski bindings are not usually mounted into inserts, but you should have no problem with any binding mounting on this ski - it's construction includes titanal (a tough aluminium alloy) as well as wood (hence the weight) so it's plenty strong.

Whether a pin binding is right for your planned use is debatable. Paying far more for a pin binding with worse durability and safety than an alpine binding when you only plan to tour occasionally might not make sense. A Fritschi Freeride or similar frame binding might be a better match to your needs.

This makes a thought provoking read: https://www.powder.com/gear-locker/how-a-close-call-in-la-grave-changed-my-...

Good luck in choosing!

OP John Alcock 26 Aug 2020
In reply to FATBOYFAT:

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Personally I ski on Salomon QST 106s with Atomic Shift bindings which I adore for off-piste and find much better than I expected on-piste. I think they are fine for an hour or two of skinning, but if I was skinning all day or having to carry skis up a climbing route then I would switch back to thinner, lighter skis. 

The article about the big fall is certainly though provoking and downhill safety is one of the major reasons I went for the shift bindings.


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