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Individual Review Fischer Ranger Jr

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,303
A quality ski for Tween sized skiers is hard to find. Constructions and shapes can be all over the map. My 10 year-old prefers skiing in our ski school program instead of racing, so she needs a true one ski quiver as there is no telling what she will get from one day to the next and one coach to another. Her ski needs to be good enough regardless of conditions and terrain. The last few skis have been Faction Agent 90s in a 149, Volkl Gotama Juniors and Nordica Ace of Spades twin tips. They all had their pluses and minuses. The Gotama was nice in the woods, but the continuous reverse camber did make her ski worse IMHO, the AOS wasn't great quality, and while it was better on groomers, not so great in the woods. Faction was a good ski, though build quality may have been a bit iffy and bases didn't take wax very well.

This year I discovered the Fischer Ranger Jr in the catalog and it seemed like it should tick all the boxes. Moderate reasonable rocker and a pretty traditional shape, sandwich construction, enough kick in the rounded tail for her to not think it was a racing ski. 88mm waist to give enough float for a hundred pounder. We went ahead and special ordered a pair in 152. Here are some pictures to save me some typing -
Dimensions. I like that you can see the wood core through the topsheet. Yes, it's a real ski!

Yes, it is sidewall construction from tip to tail.

They're not too bad on the eyes.

In our challenging winter they have been presented with most every condition. Yes even a bit of powder. These are built as well as you would expect for an adult's ski. The bases are flat and take wax. Sidewalls are shaped nicely. Rocker profile is enough to make it easy in the woods, but doesn't turn it into a floppy slider on firm groomers. Flex is soft. These are her favorite skis so far.

This whole genre of skis can be hard because you are usually looking at a child's ski that has been scaled up too far and shares the same traits as it's 100cm sibling. Either that, or a stiff plank that is scaled down from it's 180cm older sibling. That is sort of like buying Marker Comp 20s and running them at a DIN of 10. This ski is sized right in the middle and it shows.
 

MarkEss

Booting up
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
47
Location
Palmer Lake
Thanks for the timely review @epic as I've been looking to get my daughter a different pair of skis. She will be 11 this summer and currently comes in at 59" and 90lbs. She is a level 7 skier and gets about 25 days in each season. I was looking at the Mantra Jr in a 148, the 4FRNT Gromette in a 147 and the AOS, but the Ranger Jr. looks very interesting.

With your experience as an instructor (and with your daughter) do you think the Ranger Jr. 152 would be too much for her? I realize there are lots of variables, like how much she is going to grow in the next year, etc., but I'm thinking she would probably outgrow the 142 pretty quickly.
 
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TS
Erik Timmerman

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,303
Hard sayin' not knowin', but you might take your chances. My daughter is probably more of a low level-6 so your daughter's skills may make up for less mass.
 

Slim

Making fresh tracks
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Oct 2, 2017
Posts
2,973
Location
Duluth, MN
A quality ski for Tween sized skiers is hard to find. Constructions and shapes can be all over the map. My 10 year-old prefers skiing in our ski school program instead of racing, so she needs a true one ski quiver as there is no telling what she will get from one day to the next and one coach to another. Her ski needs to be good enough regardless of conditions and terrain. The last few skis have been Faction Agent 90s in a 149, Volkl Gotama Juniors and Nordica Ace of Spades twin tips. They all had their pluses and minuses. The Gotama was nice in the woods, but the continuous reverse camber did make her ski worse IMHO, the AOS wasn't great quality, and while it was better on groomers, not so great in the woods. Faction was a good ski, though build quality may have been a bit iffy and bases didn't take wax very well.

This year I discovered the Fischer Ranger Jr in the catalog and it seemed like it should tick all the boxes. Moderate reasonable rocker and a pretty traditional shape, sandwich construction, enough kick in the rounded tail for her to not think it was a racing ski. 88mm waist to give enough float for a hundred pounder. We went ahead and special ordered a pair in 152. Here are some pictures to save me some typing -
Dimensions. I like that you can see the wood core through the topsheet. Yes, it's a real ski!

Yes, it is sidewall construction from tip to tail.

They're not too bad on the eyes.

In our challenging winter they have been presented with most every condition. Yes even a bit of powder. These are built as well as you would expect for an adult's ski. The bases are flat and take wax. Sidewalls are shaped nicely. Rocker profile is enough to make it easy in the woods, but doesn't turn it into a floppy slider on firm groomers. Flex is soft. These are her favorite skis so far.

This whole genre of skis can be hard because you are usually looking at a child's ski that has been scaled up too far and shares the same traits as it's 100cm sibling. Either that, or a stiff plank that is scaled down from it's 180cm older sibling. That is sort of like buying Marker Comp 20s and running them at a DIN of 10. This ski is sized right in the middle and it shows.


If you still have them, can you post a picture of the side view (rocker profile)?

Thanks, it’s so hard to find that info for kids skis.
 

LewyM

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Dec 9, 2015
Posts
126
Location
PNW
Good recommendation. One of my kids skied on the Fischer Renegade for a couple of years. I think the Renegade was the predecessor to the Ranger Jr., close in dimension, similar construction and mission. Great tweenager ski. Very versatile. Both of my kids loved it and thought that it skied great.
 
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TS
Erik Timmerman

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,303
Does this help?
IMG_1502.JPG
 

Slim

Making fresh tracks
Skier
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Oct 2, 2017
Posts
2,973
Location
Duluth, MN
Thanks.

Here is my daughters 149cm K2 Pinnacle Jr. 85, Similar ski, but a bit longer turning radius, lower camber and deeper rocker lines. (110-84-98mm) The bright green part is sidewall, the black is cap construction, hence the name hybrid sidewall.

D21C145A-418B-4F6D-930C-B5013BF70152.jpeg
D0C3C03B-1DE4-40C4-846A-63752A6D61BD.jpeg
 

udailey

Browsing Garage sale and eBay
Skier
Joined
Jun 17, 2017
Posts
252
Brilliant kids ski. Both daughters skied these for the last three years. We were very pleased. Shipping then to a buddy for his kiddo.
 

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