Cross Country Ski Gear

John Withrow

I'm moving to MN. I will be living on a lake and very near some rail trails that run for 50+ miles. Jess and I plan to Cross Country Ski on the lake and on the trails. I know exactly ZERO about cross country skiing or the gear it takes. If you know about x-country skiing gear, please help!

We plan to live there indefinitely, so I don't want to cheap out on gear. If you had my credit card and wanted to fully equip me (starting from scratch), what would you get and please be as specific as possible. Should I walk into a ski shop blindly, or do you buy some of this stuff online somewhere?

Appreciate any help you could give.

Al Truscott

John - Hit up Bill McKinney - I think he's still with EN, if not, he's on FB. He lives in your new neck of the woods, and does a fair amount of XC ski racing, like the Birkbeiner. 

Steve West

Lots of smart peeps out there that likely have good reco's for you but I thought I'd start with some basic stuff.

There are back country skis - shorter, wider, may have metal edge, designed for flotation and breaking your own trail.
Touring skis - narrower and longer for in track and some out of track skiing
Racing skis - very narrow for going fast on groomed trails
Skate skis - super fast but need groomed trails and a lot of technique and fitness!!
I have touring and race skis, no skate skis.

Then there is technique. Either classic (diagonal stride) or skate. You can do both on most any ski but skate skis are designed specifically for that. If your good, skate is the fastest way to go but you need a groomed trail, not a set track.
I am a classic skier and only on rare occasions will do short bursts of skating.

Then there is the base either waxable or waxless. Waxless have scales or steps to grip the snow so no need to take the time to apply wax or reapply if conditions change. Waxless skis also function better at or above freezing than waxable. However, I like waxable and you may too being an engineer and all. Depending on snow temp and age (new vs old) you need different wax, so it becomes a science project every time you go out.

Here is a link to Bills adventure at the Birkebeiner:

http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/11236/Default.aspx#11236

Gordon Cherwoniak

As mentioned Bill's the man and yes he's still around as he sent me a PM a few weeks ago.  Send him a PM. 

 

 

david ware

Hi John: I have been ski racing for almost 30 years. There are some great resources in the cities. Gear West, Finn Sisu would be at the top of my list. You will Ned to decide if you are going to "stride" or "skate." I primarily skate which is more like cycling and striding is more like running. Totally different gear. You will want boots, bindings and skis and poles for gear plus waxes, depending on the type of ski and conditions. (Yes, it can be pretty expensive if you go all in.) If you have not skied I would strongly recommend lessons to shorten the learning curve. There are also several clubs in the cities. There are a bunch of races from 5-50k. The Birkie is closed 10,000 skiers it is the largest XC ski race in North America. Mora is an hour north of the cities and is a great race, I think it is still open... Weekend of 2/7. There are a number of good online resources once you get an idea of your direction.

You have been so good in sharing with us in EN, if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. Dbearware@msn.com.

JeremyBehler

John....let me know what you find if its not posted here. I just moved to Wisconsin and I'm looking for the same type of gear.