Rossignol BC 70 Positrack Backcountry Skis

Within certain constraints these are decent skis at a decent price. I paired them with NNN-BC bindings which seems to be a pretty good match. As other reviewers have noted they don't climb exceedingly well. My 25-year old Rossignol cross-country skis climb better than these. I was considering taking a Dremel to the fishscale pattern but that'd be a lot of work. Instead I purchased a set of cheap skins. These will work well on flat to gently rolling terrain. As a rough guide in the backwoods of Colorado they are fine on snow covered paved roads....however, snow covered dirt roads get a little too steep (hence the skins). Without skins you're gonna be doing a lot of herringbone and even that's not great with these. If they made the fishscale a little more aggressive these would be really decent skis for easy backcountry (at the expense of glide). If your goal is true backcountry off of the roads then look to something a little more heavy duty using skins. On the other hand if you're mostly skiing roads or very easy trails these would be a good choice and if you wish to extend their capability purchase a cheap set of climbing skins. As far as turning is concerned to make decent turns you need a little more sidecut...these are okay and if you have rea

For one full cross country ski season, I patiently tried to determine ideal conditions for these skis.On ascents, on both groomed and ungroomed logging roads, I often needed to use climbing skins to prevent them from backsliding. This was the case even while ascending relatively gentle grades.While descending groomed and ungroomed terrain, their relative shortness (compared with standard length cross country skis) made them difficult to control. In icy conditions, while descending, a great deal of (wedging) force is required to slow one's speed.While these skis may be used in groomed tracks, the fit is very tight making for slow progress -- especially in freshly groomed tracks.After giving up on these skis, I sold them and purchased a pair of Madshus Voss MGV+. For me, the Madshus are far more suitable for logging road touring in the Pacific NW.