Cross country skiing

[ridebikeme]

Snowshoeing is definitely a great sport! Although I think that nordic skiing would benefit someone who rides a mtn bike more... it's more aerobic AND works both your upper and lower part of your body.... just like mtn bikes. Although any activity over the winter will help come spring.

I agree with Crankin, I think we definitely need more than one pair of ski's! Salomon has a great ski with edges(X Adventure 59) and of course the new Fischer Silent Spider, both ski's are about the same weight and both will fit into tracks. Although I just bought a ski; I'd love to have one of the above ski's as well... maybe next year!

Another great place to look for ski's is Akers-ski.com... have been around for more than 50 years and have a great deal of knowledge to go with that experience! Great deals on closeouts etc....

One last tidbit, waiting until after Xmas may find you with some great deals, but you'll also not as much to choose from as well.... which can mean that you won't be able to find what you are looking for. A "true" ski shop/company will have more selection AND have inventory that you can choose from anytime of the year.


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[Crankin]

The new Fischers are the ones I want, but I am not sure how different they are from the Spiders I already have... mine have metal edges in the front and the back of the ski. I've had these for 2 years. They are much shorter than my previous skis, which took some getting used to. The old ones had the metal edges along the whole side.
I second the opinion to get snow shoes, but I find that unless I am doing some serious climbing, on big hiking trails, I just don't get the same kind of "sweat" going when i snow shoe. I can x country ski on flat trails and be really working hard, but snow shoeing on flat trails, tends to be like a fast walk for me. There's nothing wrong with that, but for me, the energy expenditure is quite different. I like snow shoeing, because I have trails in my neighborhood and I can do it out the door, or in the many conservation land trails around here. I also like the fact that in some of the x country ski areas we go to, we ski in the morning and then snow shoe in the afternoon, which seems to be a good combination for me. If I stop for lunch when I ski and then go back out, I am toast and my skills degrade quickly. Often, I end up skiing until 1-2, with snacks and have a late lunch, because I have learned the hard way! If I stop and eat lunch at noon and then snow shoe, I am fine (though tired).