I'm not going to be a ton of help since I just started myself.

But...advice I was given when looking for gear.

I was told not to pay for skis that were more than a ~5 years old as technology has changed so quickly.
Ski length is determined mostly by weight.
Poles CAN be cut down to fit your height-they should touch somewhere around upper lip height if held straight in front of you.
Boots should be a little more snug than run shoes.
Nice pole straps make a difference.
Watch out for binding compatibility. You have NNN (Rossi and Fisher, one bar on bottom of boot) and SNS (Salomon, two bars on bottom of boot)
Look for all-condition, beginner skis. They will be more forgiving and decent in all snow conditions.

I ended up with hand-me-down Swix carbon poles and Salomon Equipe 10 skis (from my understanding Ultegra-ish), and S-Lab skate boots (S-Works equiv, but they were $35). Go check with the local nordic center/team to see if someone is selling their used gear. If getting used, make sure there are no big scratches on the bottom of the ski, and the edges haven't taken a hit.

Go to a reputable ski shop and get fit for skis. Camber is important and that ties heavily to your body weight. Fortunately there's more room for error with skate equipment than classic, because botched camber on classic skis can make them miserable to ski with...

Don't get suckered into top of the line racing skis, one or two models down you will still get most of the innovation that goes into those models at a serious cost discount, but at a slight weight penalty, but those skis will serve you well for recreation/fitness skiing, or even some entry level racing (not to mention if ever you break anything they are cheaper to replace)... Make sure that if you live in cold climes, bring thicker socks when you try on boots, otherwise you might end up with something too tight to fit thicker layers that may be needed for the really cold days. As was mentioned, poles typically ship as one length from most brands, and then get cut down to size, get a shop to do it, because otherwise poor cutting technique can lead to carbon splitting and FUBAR a pole...

Most important is taking care of your skis, either learning to wax yourself or getting them waxed regularly by a shop. First of all, condition appropriate wax will make it easier/faster to ski, secondly, by having them waxed regularly you are protecting the base of the skis which will help them last longer... Also, it's worth getting them properly prepped for storage over the winter (storage waxing), the alternative is dealing with base oxidation which can necessitate more involved jobs at the start of the next season or expensive stone grinding to revive bases...

Everyone will have their brand preferences, but really focus on a ski that fits you rather than buying a brand that your buddy likes. If there's something that fits and the price is right, that's what you want..

And buy windbriefs... nothing for s dude is more painful then thawing out windburned testicles... $20 for a pair of windbriefs is well worth it to prevent this (if you're really... frugal, take an old pair of running or tri-shorts and put duct tape on the front over the junk area... this will do a decent job of saving you this discomfort...

Skiing is relatively cheap compared to say... cycling.
So don't buy the cheapest gear.
Get mid-range, or if you look around you can usually get high end gear used for cheap.
I picked up an old pair of World Cup quality skis for $200 last year, and some top end classics for $300.

You are roughly:
165cm poles. I like Swix. Carbon is better (duh!).
186cm skis (depends on flex though).
For forward compatibility get NNN binding boots and bindings.
As with running shoes, some brands fit narrower/wider, so test a few.
High end race boots tend to narrower even in the same brand cuz the racers demand a tighter boot (the Salomon rep told me this).

If you are in the states - call Jan at Gear West. She is a fellow tri competitor and has helped me several times over the past few winter seasons. I initially called her and asked the same bike level questions translated to skate ski equipment.


https://gearwest.com/gear-west-staff/