2021 Fischer Sbound Crown 112

The Fischer S-Bound 112 is a backcountry touring ski that’s designed for skiers who are looking to head out into the backcountry and want a ski with good downhill performance. The 112 mm wide tip provides excellent float and the ski’s wood core gives it a supportive, stable flex pattern. Full length metal edges provide grip and confidence in tricky terrain and firm snow conditions, which is really valuable when you’re heading out into the backcountry.

If you’re looking for a ski that’s fast and efficient for gliding around touring centers, keep looking. These skis aren’t designed for your local touring center. They won’t even come close to fitting in groomed classic tracks, which should give you a sense of their intended use. In fact, these skis kind of blur the line between XC skis and alpine touring skis, as you get much more downhill performance than most XC skis.

Jeff Neagle got a chance to try the S-Bound 112 and thought it was “a lot of fun for exploring in the sidecountry/backcountry terrain up at Trapps.” He mentioned that he would’ve liked a chance to take them into more demanding terrain too. “These were a lot of fun in the trees at Trapps, but I kept wondering what they’d be like in steeper, more technical, and more exposed terrain. I’d love to take these out west and see what they could go in terrain that most people would be using AT skis on. I feel like you get a lot of the benefits of an AT ski, but it’s lighter and more efficient for the uphills. If you’re not super concerned with alpine-like downhill performance, these could be a really good alternative to heavier AT gear.” Fischer even sells an optional add-on skin system for skiers who might be using them for that application. If you’re faced with a really steep, demanding ascent, just add the skin 65 cm long skin system and you get drastically increased grip for the uphill, which is really cool.

Fischer sells these skis as flat skis without a system binding, which is a nod to the idea you can kind of customize them for what you’re looking to do. You can pick and choose your boot and binding combination to match the style of skiing you’ll be doing, which makes a lot of sense for an XC ski this wide. Whatever you choose, you’ll be having a blast exploring new terrain on your S-Bound 112.