Experience with "short" skating skis?

Hi there,

Has anyone had any experience with, and can comment on, some of the
shorter, wider "fitness" type skating skis on the market at the moment?
Overall impressions and particularly performance in soft snow would be
good to know.

e.g. Atomic FX-10, Madshus Z2, etc...


Regards,
Chris

my experience with short skis was with the Fischer Revolutions; I had
the backcountry model with steel edges which I tried to use as a combi
ski for Nordic. they were rather disappointing as far as speed, glide,
and flotation in deep snow. they were "neither fish nor fowl" narrow
enough for track skiing but not really long enough to have any real
kick zone; when I waxed them for skating they were too short to give
enough edge for power. perhaps the fatter short skis will give better
performance at least for the flotation aspects. that being said the
shortness make "learning to skate" somewhat easier.

my wife rented the Pacers once and they were OK on a hard groomed
trail. she is a decent skater. don't know about soft snow. probably not
good.