Cross Country Skiing

[roadie gal]

I think the type of skis you get makes a big difference in how well you'll do out there. If you're going to be mostly at a groomed area then get skinny skis that will fit in the tracks. There's more to track skis than just the width, though. Do you want waxless or waxable? Are the conditions where you are mostly soft or icy? Depending on that you'd want a softer or stiffer ski.

If you're going to be out in the backcountry are you going to be cruising through easier terrain or going up and down the steeper hills? If you're going to be cruising than a medium width, medium stiffness, waxless ski is fine. If you're going to be pushing it more, step up to a metal edge for more control when you're traversing or turning. If you're going to challenge the steeps, you want a wide ski with a metal edge and probably skins for ascending. You'll want beefy boots and bindings for those skis, too. The conditions: powder vs ice, will also determine how stiff a ski you want.

IMHO it's better, when you're starting out to spend some time in a store with knowledgeable sales people so you end up with the best gear for what you want to do. It may end up costing a bit more than Craigslist, but you'll be happier in the long run.

[Kathi]

BeccaB, Unlike alpine boots that work with any bindings your boots must match with you binding. If your boots are NNN then your bindings must be NNN. A NNN Back country boot will not work with NNN bindings meant for classic skis. Salomon SNS boots will not work with NNN bindings. Also some skis have tracks that are already mounted to the skis and only certain bindings will fit on them. I didn't study skate ski boots and bindings.

Then you have to find a boot that fits well!

Unless you know what boots and bindings work together it's better to buy from a store such as REI or the numerous online nordic stores.

The boots that fit me well required an NNN binding. I bought my original skis flat (no binding) so I had options with my boots meaning whatever boots I bought the binding were matched to them. My new skis came with the binding and I made sure they were NNN so I could use my old boots.

I hope this makes sense, it was all very confusing to me and I spent a lot of time searching on the internet trying to sort all of this out.

You could buy you boots from a retailer, my boots have the type of binding marked on the bottom and then get your skis from Craiglist. Be sure to do research on the skis and bindings and make sure the skis are appropriate for you weight and intended use.

Also, find out how many times used skis have been used. With use all skis lose their camber, or flex. My downhill skis with 200 days of skiing don't ski the same as a new ski of the same model. I don't know how much use a nordic ski will take but I'm sure they have some type of life span.

[beccaB]

They didn't have much is stock at the REI store, but MC sporting goods is having a sale and I was told that they always have at least one person working in the store who can answer ski questions at any time. Hopefully they'll have enough in stock that there's something to work with.

[Cataboo]

The REI's near me don't have any cross country gear in store... you can order. And the guys in the ski shop don't seem very knowledgable... One of them was swearing to me that all BC boots were compatible, and you could use SNS bc boots with NNN bc ones. They didn't have boots or bindings around for me to point out he was wrong.

[Kathi]

The guy at REI needs this article!

http://www.nordicskisource.com/XC_Sk...gs_s/64217.htm.

or REI's "expert" article

http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/arti...ring+gear.html

[Crankin]

Wow, the REI I got my skis at had very knowledgeable sales people who ski all of the time. He even didn't try to convince me to get new boots with my new skis. Most people get the back country boots with the shorter, wider, edged skis I bought, but my last experience trying these boots left me with bloody feet. So, I am keeping my soft classic ski boots as the bindings were the same. I might eventually try again, but since I am not really skiing in deep snow, it's fine. I do think that the bc boot might give me more stability on steep downhills, but it will wait until next year, at least.
And, the store still had lots of skis left, although you could tell the season is winding down.
What I like about REI is that you can return the stuff you buy, no questions asked. When I bought the above bloody boots, I returned them, and the skis, for something different.

[Cataboo]

5 REI stores in the greater Washington DC area. Only 1 of them has a ski shop, which has been a "pilot" program for the last few years.

Actual cross country skiing is really not available for at least a 4 hour drive from the place normally - drive to western md, west va, and some parts of Pennsylvania.

Closest down hill skiing or snowboarding is probably a 2 hour drive.

So in their defense, the average ski shop employee here ... Possibly hasn't done too much skiing or cross country. And given that they don't carry any of the cross country gear in store, hasn't really had the opportunity to look at too much of it.