Fischer Hannibal 94 - first impressions
I just got a pair of Fischer Hannibal 94 skis (with the Profoil skins, reviewed last week). I've skied them 3 times in-area, and did a bunch of skinning on the skins. Haven't gotten on a true backcountry tour yet, but did seek out some "off-piste" snow, ranging from soft to chunky to frozen crud, and found quite a bit of ice yesterday at Stevens Pass ski area in the Cascades.
A couple caveats:
- I grew up alpine skiing in New England and Colorado, but I have been 95% telemarking for the last 25 years in the Cascades and this is my first experience with AT skis. I've never even rented them before. I am having to re-learn how to ski with a locked heel.
- The telemark skis I replaced were mid-fats maybe 10 years ago, 76mm at the waist, so probably just about anything would feel amazing. It also means that the ski feels really different than anything I've ever been on, and I'm having to modify my technique.
What all this means is that this is a really new way to ski, so some of my impressions may be related more to the skier than the ski. 
The rig: Hannibal 94 w/ Vipec 12 bindings and Scott Cosmos II boot.
Impressions: I have been pleasantly surprised at how well such a light ski handles the sub-optimal conditions I have been in. The ice was not great and they did chatter – or what I would characterize as stutter – when trying to bite hard (hockey stop), but they held well enough to be fairly predictable and manageable by staying strong. With the speed dialed way back (lots of shot turns) they did better.
Where they have been a vast improvement is the softer side, including the soft, but heavy, partially tracked out slopes with a lot of consolidated chunks, soft moguls, etc. I would even characterize it as fun, and I could definitely ski it better with less effort and more predictability than my teles. Speed seemed to be an advantage here, maybe to make up for the lack of mass.
The worst was the re-frozen junk that looked just like the soft stuff, but wasn't. It was not fun, but it was manageable, again, aided by keeping the speed dialed back. (Of course, if I had skied fast I probably would have jarred my teeth loose anyway.)
As far as turns, this is where my ski style comes in. I have always had kind of a dynamic style where I like to throw my skis around more than carve. On this ski this wasn't the best strategy. But when I forced myself to just ride the edges around longer turns on the softer snow they felt really good. They were quite capable at short radius turns at lower speeds. In tight spaces I can't wait to jump turn with so little weight to swing around.
As far as the uptrack, what can I say? They are light and the skins performed very well.
Bottom Line: I was impressed with how well they handled the cruddier snow for such a light ski, as long as it was on the soft side. Under harder conditions they were manageable as long as I kept my speed in check and skied strong. (My Northeastern ice-skiing upbringing defintely helps!) Not a good full-time resort ski as they are not built for the higher speeds, so I may just mount up my old teles with another AT binding. Ultimately they are a vast improvement, they seem capable of handling anything, if not always gracefully, and I can't wait to get out on some real BC snow!