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OT: Cross country ski question

4K views 34 replies 11 participants last post by  dwt 
#1 ·
#3 ·
Shows how much I know! I just figured it was as simple as the two techniques. :)

I've never done it before so I really don't know what I really am looking for. I'd like to go to the sno parks up by Bachelor and even the nordic trails at Bachelor. I think that the skate technique looks a little more fun.

Does that help?
 
#4 ·
That ski looks to be a groomed trail touring ski and would be great if you want to stay on the groomed. It's narrow enough for in or out of the track. You can certainly skate with it, or any ski for that matter, but nothing works as well as a true skate ski to skate.

Skate skis have no sidecut (Straight edges from tip to tail) to allow you to set the edge and control when skating. For ease of skating they are slightly shorter than touring skis for your given height. They have very little camber (arch built into the ski from tip to tail) which allows you to push off the edge much easier than a touring ski with more camber. Most skate skis also have waxable bases and no grip pattern cut into the base like touring skis.

Touring skis have more camber so the grip section (Center area with textured pattern or Grip Wax) remains above the snow for ease of glide when standing evenly on both skis. When you stand on one ski the ski flattens out to allow traction to kick forward.

And if you want to explore off trail, I'd look into touring skis with a metal edge, the metal edges help in firmer to icy conditions. These are shorter and with more side cut to allow better maneuverability and are wider for more stability. Skis with more side cut, metal edges and wider width don't track as well on groomed snow. Also look into a ski with a grip pattern cut into the base.

Hope this helps.
 
#22 · (Edited)
And IMO, there is nothing more aerobically challenging that skate skiing.
Agreed! Skating uphill (especially at altitude) has humbled many an athlete. Proper ski flex and good glide wax must haves. Not to say that classic done properly is not a tough workout, but skating is the giant killer.

Classic is easier to learn, as the movements mimic walking and running, so poling, kick and glide are more or less intuitive. Skating alternate poling technique (known as V1) OTOH takes a while to get, especially as you start to change sides. Having said that, classic is harder to master, taking years of practice to do properly with any hint of Scandinavian elegance. Once you get the hang of poling techniques, skating is a tad easier to master. Both classic and skating require good balance. Done properly, you ski and glide on one leg at a time. Beginners tend to shuffle without fully transferring weight ski to ski.
 
#8 ·
I have a classic xc setup that I use about once every five years or so. I got booking down a hill pretty good up at Meissner and had no idea how to check my speed. I was within the tracks so my plan to snowplow wasn't going to work. I'm amazed I didn't tear both ACLs!
 
#11 ·
No way in hell is that ski for skating!!!!!!!

The key to skating is a really, really fast ski. That ski has waxless fish scales, which give you some classic kick, but just kill the glide.

A really good skater, in the right fast snow, could skate with that on the flats or down a slight hill. No beginner will ever learn to successfully skate uphill on a ski like that.
 
#25 ·
Also make sure you get a ski properly flexed for your weight. Too soft you can't glide, too stiff you can't use all of the ski. I gained a ton of weight after a serious illness, and was I discouraged trying to skate on skis flexed for my previous weight! Ouch. Rented a pair of Rossi Xium flexed and waxed correctly, and frickin flew!
 
#21 ·
My friends do anyway. My next door neighbor has two Olympic medals. A current world champion in the sprint relay stayed at our house for a training camp. If you want to learn to skate,(or any other type of XC skiing) Bend is probably the best town in the country. There are trails, lessons, all sorts of used gear available. We have a really long season---take advantage of it!
 
#23 ·
^^^ Exactly. I tell newcomers to skating to 1) take a few lessons, and 2) don't try and skate up any really long hills until you've got at least 10 hours under your belt. It will just demoralize you.

Another point is that it snows a lot in the PNW. I love to skate, but it isn't much fun in 5 inches of new snow. For that reason, if I could only own one pair of xc skis, they would be classic skis.
 
#24 ·
Another point is that it snows a lot in the PNW. I love to skate, but it isn't much fun in 5 inches of new snow. For that reason, if I could only own one pair of xc skis, they would be classic skis.
Have you ever made the trip to Ketchum ID? The Blaine County recreation and Galena trails are groomed daily for tracks and skate. IFRC, 100 km. Simply awesome and quite challenging terrain at Galena. Never had to plough through inches of freshies. Only tough skating snow conditions are when it gets too cold to wax. sandpaper
 
#34 ·
I went to school at Tech. Actually, saved my last 6 humanities credits so I could have one last winter term up there with easy course load so I could ski and snowboard a ton. All the guys I lived with were on Tech's nordic team, so had plenty of good access to good advice and pointers on nordic skiing, and also got a job that last term grooming the ski trails.

Found my way over towards Marquette a few times. Did some snowmobiling up that way when I was in high school. Well...Munising area actually.
 
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