Cross Country Skiing

[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.

[roadie gal]

I've been living in this area so long that I forget that most people don't have easy access to knowledgeable cross country shops. In my town of 14,000 people we have 2 dedicated cross country shops and a backcountry shop.

My experience with REI lately has been fairly disappointing. They seem to have focused on fashion and less on having good, serviceable equipment with sales people who actually do the sports. *sigh*

[Crankin]

Went for what might be my last x country ski today up at Windblown. We got there early and started skiing around 9:30 AM and skied until 11:30. It was pretty good and they have an amazing amount of snow. The temperature was about 40 when we got finished, and somehow, the snow is just not as much fun when it's that warm, although the grooming was excellent. Still getting used to turning and descending on the new skis. For some reason, I feel less confident. It just feels different and I know my form looks awful.
We skied almost all of the blue trails and went up one ungroomed trail to the view spot (I think it was for snow shoes and didn't see the sign), which was like back country.
We're supposed to get a couple of "near miss" storms this week, but overall, it looks like it will be in the forties next weekend. The bike is calling...

[DebW]

I was at Windblown yesterday, and it was snowing most of the day, rather hard for an hour or so. The snow was excellent, but getting skied out and glazed by the end of the day, so I didn't expect it to be so good today. I was there 9-5 and skied up the zigzags to the top of the open slope, and probably all the blue and green trails. Just did an hour on the bike today.

[Kathi]

Wow, you gals are amazing. We went to our local area today and skied about 3 miles. That was enough.

We're still looking for a good dump of snow. March is Colorado's snowiest month. There still is 7 weeks left of skiing (downhill) and I hope, XC.

Sounds like Windblown is very crowded. We saw 5 skiers today and 4 women starting out when we were leaving. Wed. there were 4 or 5 other skiers besides my friend and myself.

However, we do have 5 nordic ski areas within a half hour drive of us.