Cross country skiing

I am thinking about buying back country skis that can be used in the wood or on trails that have either deep snow or no tracks and minimal grooming. I've had 2 experiences that lead me to believe that my Spyders are exactly the best for these conditions. Last year we went to Franconia and skied on some very, very difficult trails. It was the climbing that bothered me, even though that was extremely strenuous. It was the descents. I can't descend without snowplowing and being able to turn my skis for the turns. The issue was the area next to the tracks (if there were any tracks) was barely groomed and very narrow. I wanted to ski here, but my skis kept catching in the piles of ungroomed snow, causing me to fall. Then there was my descent last week, where it was essentially an unplowed road that I had descended once when it was groomed. This was about a mile or maybe a little less of fast turns and very fun when groomed.
I like being in the woods, and would like to try more of this. I need shorter skis, no matter what. The Spyders are a huge improvement over the skis I had before, and if I get a second pair for back country, they need to be shorter, too. I know nothing about back country skis. Guess it's time to research.

Crankin, it does indeed sound as though your current Spiders might do the job. I'm not certain what the differnence is between the newer models and yours.

In the current models, the Spiders are a non tradional length of ski... so that should help in the areas where the trails are a bit narrow. We had issues with the trails not being wide enough to 'snowplow' and the differences in height on the trail...somehow a portion was groomed several days before and a smaller portion was not.(perhaps they only made one pass) Personally I'd rather have them not groom at all than the above situation... but I guess that's part of the challenge.:rolleyes: Your description of the hills with lots of turns sounds a bit like a portion of my trip this weekend, and it's something that I'd definitely like to do again and again etc...

Not knowing what the difference is between your ski's and the newer Spiders, I can tell you that the newer ski's have a 'Rocker Construction", which essestially means that the tips can splay out to make turning the ski's easier. It's something that the alpine industry used many years ago.

The other option in the newer backcountry ski's is whether you want to have No-wax ski's or ski's that you want to wax.

I've put some thought into the ski's that Akers had over the past season, and will wait until the newer models come out.. and then will make some sort of decision. I'm not sure whether I will go with a full 'backcountry'setup with boots and bindings as well. Fischer has a model of boot that might just fit that nordic/backcountry experience.( it's called the Offtrack BC Boot)

At any rate, it appears that we have time to think about all of this, I'd definietly be interested in your thoughts if you're willing to share.;)

Oy, I just re-read my post and there were a couple of grammar/typos that made me sound the opposite of what I meant. The climbing didn't bother me. Anyway, my Spyders don't have the full metal edges, compared to the new ones, but they do have some other supposed edge gripping material in the middle, with metal on the ends and front. Not sure about the rocker construction. They do have a lot of camber. The Fischer rep honestly told me there's not that much difference between what I have and the new ones.
Perhaps I just need to learn to ski better and deal with the narrow downhills, with no room to snowplow? I am not sure what to do in these situations! My friend told me to ski with one foot in the track and one out, but when I tried that, the turns killed me, and I fell.
As far as boots go, right now I have the soft, old fashioned kind because I tried the harder ones a few years ago, and they cut up my feet horribly. I know there's been a lot of changes in the past 6 years, so I am very willing to try something different. It would be great something I could wear with 2 different kinds of skis, but I know that means new bindings on the Spyders. That wold be fine.
And definitely no wax.

It's interesting to hear you say that the trails are sometimes not wide enough to 'snowplow'. That comment is exactly how I felt about the trails this weekend, and as I was sking reminded myself that I would more than likely want non tradional length ski's. Of course, the rest of that equation is something I'll figure out over the summer.

AS for boots, the Fischer boot that I mentioned earlier is not quite as stiff or bulky as some of the other backcountry boots. It might be just the boot to give more support, and stability on the trails that lend themselves that way.

It's great that the Fischer rep gave you honest/accurate information! Perhaps with a different boot and binding, it would give you a bigger 'footprint' on the ski's and solve some of the issues that we have talked about.

Well, I'm off to hop on my road bike and get outside. It's always a great day when you can ski and then go and hop on the bike.:D

Have a great rest of the week and I'd love to hear your ideas on ski's if something should pop up.