However, new for this year, they are mounted with Telemark bindings, and they seem to behave very well on the groomers and small amounts of powder that my developing tele skills can manage. I got bored of skiing alpine style and converted this year.
Along with the conversion to telemark skis, "The Better Rockets" have been modified to perform as touring XC skis. Most of my touring is in fresh snow where standard skis are just too narrow to stay on top, so, I simply made a bunch of knife cuts at a 45 degree angle right under and in front of the binding's toe piece. For general cruising around on the flat and small inclines, this method works surprisingly well and affords just enough traction. I just got back from a 2 day 40 kilometer tour around the sea and lakes, and they performed quite well through the whole trip.
The only strange thing with the cutting method of turning a pair of skis into "waxless" touring skis is that the performance of the cuts varies greatly depending on the snow temperature. When I began the trip yesterday, the temperature was about 10 F or - 12 C, and the cuts worked well for flat land, but weren't too helpful going uphill. However, this morning, the temperature rose to about 28 F or -3, and the cuts grabbed well for everything... In some cases, they even held snow that had to be kicked off in the next step.
In conclusion, The Better Rockets are a, in my opinion, perfect example of the good durability possible from a pair of skis built in a garage. And, while I am very tempted to retire this pair, they just keep going, and the bases are still in good shape (aside from the cuts), so I think I will keep using them until they really blow up, which I have a feeling will be sometime during Season 4.
I was going to include pictures of the tour, but the camera battery froze and I couldn't get any love from it
