Guess I'm another golden oldie - I was told that the tip of your skis should go to the palm of your hand when you hold your arm up straight in the air - which then would be about 2-3 inches longer than Knott's method.

Groomed trails, what's that? Snow, Forest Service roads, go!

All this said, my skis have been the the garage attic for 5 years now. Sigh. Little chance to go XC skiing in south Louisiana. Mention "skiing" around here and everyone will assume you're talking about WATER skiing. At first I couldn't figure out why you needed a life jacket to go skiing, and they couldn't figure out why I was talking about my lovely wool knickers. The great cultural divide.