Skiing 2010 - 2011

[so haaad]

Has anyone been out skiing this winter? I waxed the cross-country skate skis last night, so I'm hoping to get out on Thursday night.

[Spearing Machine]

Still waiting for lots more snow out here in Central Wisconsin. We don't even have enough to have the grass covered up yet. My skis are dug out, waxed and the boots are dusted off now to wait for the flakes to start flying. Last winter I skated about 200K in about 5 weekends when we had enough snow hopefully this winter cooperates more. Happy Trails to you!

[sunglow2]

I'll be hitting the trails this Saturday at Willow River; may bring the auger, too!

[Redlantern]

Went out snowboarding with the kid two weeks ago but not cross country. I'm thinking about getting a set of skate skis. I rented a set twenty years ago but not sure what to look for with current models. Any suggestions? I'd be using them on state park trails groomed for skate skiing. Not looking to buy the most expensive but I'm not opposed to dropping four to five hundred on a set up that will last.

[so haaad]

Hi Redlantern,

Skate skiing is a lot of fun and a very good workout. I think buying skate skies is very similar to selecting alpine skis. Two important things to consider are flex and length. In general, if you are taller then you want a longer ski. And if you are heavier then you need a stiffer flex. A medium or stiffer flex is preferred for most skiers. Definitely go into a specialty store like Joe's or Finsisu so they can meaure you and determine your flex. As for brand names, the big names in the cross country ski business are Fischer, Atomic and Salomon. All three are decent. I have a pair of Salomon at the moment but have also skied on Fischer. And I know people who love their Atomics, so it probably comes down to price and personal choice.

[sunglow2]

We went to one of the sports store places & were able to pickup a used XC ski package for a pretty good price. Like so many other things, there is so much stuff out there that it gets a little overwhelming. But I would agree w/ So Haad that you should definetly get measured. From my personal experiece: don't try save a nickel on a cheap pair of boots.

[sunglow2]

It looks like good weather for this weekend. Anyone hitting the trails?

[IndyEFI500]

Spending the week at Breezy Point with the family. I hadn't XC ski'd in about 5 years. My son who is on a nordic ski team and I have put on about 8 miles so far this week(forgot the GPS in the van so guessing). We just took my daughter out for her first time ever. She loved it but the snow is just mush with this wet weather. I imagine it will be ice tomorrow but oh well. It sure beats work.

[caseymcq]

I don't know much about skate skiing so I am going to wear my ignorance on my sleeve here with a question. Why do you wax skate skiis? I understand waxing classics, on the skiis that need wax it acts as "tread" to push against the snow. I thought skate skiing was pushing off with the edge of the ski. Is the wax serving the same or a similar purpose on a skate ski as on a classic? Or is it something totally different? Like the skiis are nice an shiny when you fly by my slow self .

Like I said, I know diddly about skate skiing so you tweaked my interest / curiosity.

[so haaad]

Casey,

Good question. Keeping it very simple, there are two types of wax. Kick wax is used for classic skiing and glide wax is used for skate skiing. With skate skiing, the purpose of the glide wax is to allow the ski to slide across the snow as quickly as possible. You push off the edge of a ski, glide on the base of the other, then repeat. Glide wax for skate skis essentially does the same thing that it does for downhill skis.

[so haaad]

I've been skate skiing the trails on the Chominix Golf Course in Lino Lakes lately. Got out again last night. The recent snow made things a little slower, but a great workout.