Zach, Nathan, Eli, et al:

Over the past two years, I've fallen back in love with classic
technique, and made pretty serious improvements in my technique. I
bought a new pair of Fischer 812s last year hoping that they would
become my 'A' skis (supplementing my 8 yo ARCs). Both pair were flexed
by Tom Novak and Ahvo to make sure they did fit.
So... The 812s seem to work very well, most of the time, on manmade and
firm natural tracks. They do require pretty significant kick to get
them to bite - I found I was often one wax warmer than others to get
reliable kick. The kick zone was very well defined, removing any
kickwax outside the pocket in about 5K. But they are rockets on glide,
so I felt pretty good about getting them.
The Atomics have been Buicks -no flash, not extremely fast, but pretty
reliable (but getting to where I doubt Tom can grind them more than once
more). When it came time to pick skis for the Birkie, Ahvo suggested
them instead of the 'faster' 812s, suggesting that the softer kick would
get me to the finish line better. He was right. I had kick all the
way, getting out of the tracks only a couple of very short segments -
and mostly for traffic. And skied a PR, in spite of having my skis
disappear at the start and missing my wave by 10+ min.

So the question of the day is: In general, what would you add to a
classic quiver for next season? A pair of 'wet' skis, or a pair of
hardpack skis with a little softer pocket that the 812s' WC one?

TIA,

Marsh Jones