I appreciate the kind words and thank you for tuning in and for subscribing.

I've been very happy with my wide ski / Xplore setups for skiing soft snow. I have not skied the Rossignol BC 120 (120-90-105), but I suspect that you will have a similar experience to mine if you have good snow conditions and use a supportive boot. I have posted several videos of me skiing this combination this season, this one being my favorite kzfaq.info/get/bejne/e7eUrc6Ukt7GfGg.html

@@tomm9850 Looks amazing! Really nice video. Yes, going to use the Alfa Free boot and see how things work out! Can't wait.

It has been a fun journey and a great season. Thanks for the feedback and I hope you are having a great week.

Glad you liked it! Thanks for tuning in and for posting feedback.

Thanks for tuning in Jason. Only time will tell if the Xplore system has staying power. I think it is a great alternative to 3 pin and NNNBC and soft leathers. It skis pretty well for XCD (cross country downhill), especially on a narrower ski like the Objective. I don't think it ever was their intention to be the free heel equivalent of an AT setup. I'll gladly pop the Xplore bindings off these skis and replace them with a lightweight NTN or tech binding if Scarpa would release a lightweight updated plastic boot for the tele crowd.

@@tomm9850 re: "I'll gladly pop the Xplore bindings off these skis and replace them with a lightweight NTN or tech binding if Scarpa would release a lightweight updated plastic boot for the tele crowd." I'm waiting on pins and needles for that day Tom! Yeah, I just don't see the need for Xplore IF lightweight, slipper-like R.O.M. NTN-Tech boots existed. I would have liked to see Rottefella's R&D efforts go into a lighter weight NTN-Tech binding for this imaginary boot, instead of coming up with yet another standard. Sigh.... P.S. I really like the Objective. Skis very sweet, like all of Voile's skis.

Thanks for posting your experience Scott. I'm looking forward to putting these to use. I'm hoping that someone will develop an Xplore boot with the power of a T3 or T4, but in the meantime the Free's will work fine with this ski when the conditions are good.

I'm looking forward to skiing mine in deep powder. Your setup sounds perfect. Thanks for posting and have a great week.

You voided your warrantee! Lol.

I agree and I'm very confident that the screws will not pull out of mine using the Xplore and soft boots.

I was a bit nervous about mounting these based on Voile's warning, but I was able to apply lots of torque (using a ratchet t handle screwdriver) to the screws and they felt very secure. This is the 3rd set of paulownia core skis from Voile I have mounted up and so far (knock on wood) I have not had any issues. That seems like a great price for the threaded inserts and would be an option if I have a pull out.

I will only use this setup when we get a huge dump of soft powder. If Scarpa ever produces a lightweight NTN backcountry boot, then I'll probably remount these skis with a lightweight NTN binding in hopes that I can cut a couple of pounds off of my current V6 / Switchback X2 / Scarpa T2 setup. As each year goes by, I think that option is less likely. Hopefully someone will offer a stiffer more downhill capable Xplore boot in the future and then maybe this setup might make more sense.

The Endeavor looks like an interesting ski, sort of a beefed-up version of the Objective. They have the same dimensions and similar profiles. The Endeavor is probably better suited for hard charging 4 buckle plastic boot skiers than it is for the soft leather boot and non-active binding setups, but that is just my initial thoughts without really knowing the details on how the two skis differ in peformance. The Endeavor is about 1 1/2 lbs (681 grams) heavier than the Objectives in the 178 cm length. The Objectives ski very well in soft snow, and I really enjoy them in combo with the Xplore binding and the Alfa Free's on moderate terrain under good snow conditions. I added the HyperVector to my quiver last year for those bottomless powder days, as it is a much wider ski than the Objectives. It is the widest ski in my quiver, and I may eventually remount it with a tech binding in the future if Scarpa ever releases a lightweight plastic telemark boot. In the meantime, I pick either the Objective or HyperVector for XCD skiing, depending on the snow conditions. There has been alot of discussion regarding the Xplore binding and its lack of an active heel spring. JohnSKeppler over on Telemarktalk is putting together a home made Xplore binding with a heel spring. www.telemarktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6252 It will be interesting to see how well it works out for him. I don't know if Rottefella will ever make a version 2 of the Xplore binding that would incorporate a hardwire. I think it would be a great addition providing the hardware could easily be removed from the ski. As far as I know, Rottefella makes or licenses all the soles that the boot manufactures use, so it would be easy for them to add a shelf to the sole design for the hardwire. I'm betting that they won't as they probably envision the Xplore binding as a replacement and same use case as NNNBC, not as a replacement for the existing active telemark bindings being sold today. At any rate, thanks for the suggestion and for tuning in.

@@tomm9850 Thanks for taking the time to provide all that insight there Tom! Expecially the link to John Keppler's post. Maybe with enough community attempts at people trying to take Xplore places Rottefella didn't initially intend, someplace might cook up a commercial solution. Almost makes me want to crack open Autodesk and sketch some things up lol. I'm always looking for the "Do most of it" solution, similar to the "gravel" bike. Right now it still seems that a hardwire 3-pin binding is filling that role. Even if the options for soft 75mm boots seems to be getting edged out by Xplore by the manufactuers.

This was filmed in Northwest Wyoming in the Bridger National Forest in mid February.

The textbook technique is to keep the arms out in front and give a slight tap into the snow as you begin to come up from the knee bend and transition into the next turn. My pole use is directly tied to my XC background, and I slip back into that mode by muscle memory if I'm not thinking about proper form. The mantra from Free-Heel Skiing by Paul Parker is "tap, turn, tap, turn". Check out this youtube video for proper pole plants kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bKhyoZZyqMzFoqs.html

There's the textbook answer to this, which is that really good telemarkers skiing with good equipment use poles much like downhill skiers do (the plant is a pneumonic for weight transfer and the pole drag is a sort of antenna like position sensor), and the complicated engineering control theory answer, which is that it depends on your equipment and how fast you are skiing with it. Skiing control laws are sort of like those of a bicycle. You turn outwards to angle yourself on a bike (left or right), have a specific turn radius to maintain a certain angle, and turn tighter than that specific radius to recover from the turn (right yourself). If you are going too slow and can't have a narrow enough turn radius for the angle of your lean, you will fall over. If you have short turn radius skis that you ski very fast on, it makes sense to plant to initiate the turn because you don't need the pole to right yourself. If you ski slowly on higher turn radius skis with long cross country-like poles, maybe the plant to recover method is acceptable. I personally wouldn't use that boot and those bindings in a situation where the plant to recover method would be a problem.

Is there a reason to pole plant with the inside pole instead of outside pole? It seems to me like a lot of compensation by upper body to enter the new turn is made there, instead of getting help by outside pole plant and inertia to start new turn :)

@@joakimmutschlechner8622 I think Tom is right, he comes from a XC background and get away with moving poles like if he was skiing flats down hill, there are simply to many pole plants. The pole plant should be before the turn, not halfway and not at the end, to try to keep balance, and not with your inside pole at all. Actually Toms down hill skiing has improved a lot since he began filming himself a long time ago, balance is fine, hands are forward, fine, but don,t tap that much, you could also just punch your new outside hand forward before each turn to initiate the turn, no need to actual plant the pole.

@@martinfuente838 ok i agree, the skiing looks great throughout the turn but making turn initiation and switch between turns will be harder using inside poleplant at the end of each turn, there are ofcourse many different ways to poleplant without disturbing balance and moving in upper/lower body but I feel it's not the case here. It's no criticism but just an reflection.