Cross Country Skiing

[Cataboo]

You could go in the trails other people blaze and wouldn't have to worry too much about ski type - but it you're going to be trail breaking, back country type skis help a lot.

If you're doing steep downhills or so... you probably want a backcountry binding or something a bit more robust, but otherwise normal bindings aren't too bad.

I've just been collecting pieces over the years when I've found them on sale cheap, and finally got around to mounting the skis thsi winter... And while I did have nnn bc, nnn, and sns bc bindings & boots to go with most, which are all the newer styles... I went ahead and just put the old style 3 pin bindings on the skis because of the reviews I was reading of many that had switched to the new styles of bindings and then just went back to the old 3 pins. Mostly it was because I don't really expect to be in tracks (I just go to the closest mountain to me) and I do want a solid connection if I downhill something steep with them. I can add a cable to my bindings to hold my skis to it. If I ever see longer narrower skis cheap, I'll mount some of the new style bindings to them and those can be my groomed trail skis. But we rarely have winters this snowy around here, so it maybe a few years before I get to really use these skis again.

So I don't think getting the skis used on craigslist makes a huge difference or not with response to binding styles.. just depends on what you want the skis for...

REI does have some salomon cross country ski boots at a good price now.. but it might be limited sizes.

[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.

[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.

[Crankin]

Wow, I am in awe of anyone who can go to the top of the open slope, Deb. The black trails at Windblown are really like downhill slopes and I am not good enough for that! I did do the blue part of the open slope today for the first time, though.
Yes, it does get crowded at Windblown, especially on Sundays, because they have snow even when there's nothing in the greater Boston area. But, once you get away from the green trails and the teaching area, you only see a few people, even when the parking lot is full. It's only an hour away, which is nice in that it's possible for me to go there for the morning, as I did today, and still be able to have part of the day to do other stuff. Our original intention was to go there Saturday, like Deb, because I knew the conditions would be great, but I was feeling really lazy and lounged around in bed and had a nice breakfast instead. So, I ended up doing a workout on the trainer plus yoga.
I am feeling like I would like to do another weekend up in Craftsbury, Vt., but I just had the first person sign up for a ride we are leading on 4/10, so I have to get my butt out on the bike.

[Kathi]

I'm not even thinking cycling at this point. Our downhill pass allows free xc skiing at the nordic center. Biking won't be on my radar until late April or early May, after the ski areas close. Bikes need tuneups but I'm not home enough to get them in to the LBS. Last year the weather here in May was pretty cold and rainy so my cycling was slowed down.

However, I have 50 days of downhill skiing and 8 days of XC. Hopefully, the xtraining will transfer to the bike.

[roadie gal]

We went out for a 2 1/2 hour classic ski yesterday at the Tahoe Donner Cross Country ski area. We chose the track skis over the skaters because it was going to get warm and the skating was going to be a drag.

My SO was feeling ambitious, so we went out to the far hut at the XC center. The total was about 1400 feet of climbing. Whew.

We took our time and stopped to check out the view at the warming hut before we headed back down to the lodge. Overall it was a great ski on a beautiful day (and our 10th anniversary).