Mountaineer's Take: The new name for the Karhu
XCD Guide. We love this ski for
moderate backcountry skiing, ice and mountaineering approaches,
or just kicking around in the woods. It's not the fastest
touring ski out there but it has great grip and can turn nearly
as well as the more downhill oriented offerings. The price
is hard to beat, too.
The Madshus Annum is
a waxless mid-fat: they are 78mm
in the waist but have a no-wax kick pattern built in to
the base. Now you can tame those long approaches with real
glide (unlike what you get with skins), and still ski
difficult terrain and snow because of the mid-fat dimensions
of the ski. We think the Annum has become an
Adirondack classic, and should work just as well in any other
area where the ski tours often involve multiple miles of
flat approach before you start climbing. The Annum is
definitely skewed toward the downhill end of the spectrum,
so if you want real kick-and-glide performance the
Madshus Epoch is a better choice. The Annum is best
paired with a low plastic boot like the Garmont
Excursion or a mid-height boot like the Scarpa T2 or
a lightweight AT boot, but
we've skied it with beef boots like the T1 and enjoyed that, too.
We prefer it with a free-pivot binding like the Voile
Switchback for a pleasant skinning experience, but it's
great with a plain old 3-Pin binding as well. Another
popular application of the Annum is as an
approach ski for climbing. Mount it with the Silvretta
500 binding to take your climbing boots and start enjoying
backcountry ice climbing with skis instead of "slowshoes."
Finally, more and more customers have been mounting it
with Dynafits for a lightweight AT setup.
Madshus Says: The new Annum blends a nordic
heritage with a wider, turn-oriented platform to create
a completely unique, light backcountry touring ski. Its
deeper progressive sidecut and carbon reinforcement
initiate smooth turns and hold a strong edge, while the
78mm waist and wide tip handle soft snow with ease. The
Annum lets you kick, glide and climb confidently with
the Omnitrak® NoWax base, whether you're touring for
turns or just out exploring winter's wonder.
Length: 165-195/10cm
Sidecut: 109-78-95mm
Weight: 2622g/185cm
Core: Multicore
Base: Omnitrak® NoWax Base
