Last year hubby and I had lessons in classic XC ski. This year we’re contemplating buying our own skis. We’ve read/watched the guide under training but still have some questions. We’ll probably ski 30-50 days/season (Dec - Mar) and it’s not meant to be competitive, more a “something to get us out of the basement pain cave”.
Will fish-scale skis be fine or should we be looking at skins/waxed? We don’t want to outgrow them too quickly.
Bindings - there’s all different types; does it matter which we go with?
If you will be skiing that much your technique will improve quickly. Go straight to Skin skis - they still don’t perform as well as a waxable classic skis, but you also don’t need to worry about the fine art of kick waxing. Assuming you will mostly ski groomed areas, go toward a mid to higher end race ski. The skins are replaceable if you wear them out.
As for boots/ bindings, the industry has finally solidified on the NNN/Prolink setup so finding boots you like is very easy now without needing to worry too much about boot/binding combination. The major manufacturers (Salomon, Atomic, Fischer, Madshus, Rossignol) all make great product with most nuances unnoticeable except at the highest levels of competition.
just like the bike buying advice you see on here - “don’t buy a bike that doesnt fit you”, there is a ski version as well. A decent ski shop should be able to pick a pair, based on your weight. Poles are chosen based on your height. You will enjoy the experience more on skis that are neither too soft (too much drag) nor too stiff (not enough grip).
For just casual skiing, fish scale bases are probably fine. You will still need to do some glide wax application, but there are some low effort solutions there. If temperatures are typically near freezing / 32 F., then fish scale bases usually make kick / grip way easier than having to deal with klister.
Where are you skiing?
What is the typical temperature range over the course of your ski season?
If you are skiing 30-50 sessions a year it’s probably worth learning how to apply kick wax properly. Having said that if your typical temperatures are in the -1 to 4C (31 to 40F) then waxing becomes very tricky. For those temperatures skin skis are the way to go. Every major ski company has a good skin ski now, so as long as you are fit correctly ( ski flex based on your weight) they will serve you well. They are a massive improvement over fish scales.
As a previous poster mentioned the binding standard is now NNN/Prolink so make sure your bindings andboots work with that standard.
Nordic skiing is similar to swimming: you can thrash yourself and get nowhere if your technique is poor. Focus on technique and the fitness gains will come. If you focus on fitness first you will have a frustrating time becoming technically proficient.
Definitely go with some type of wax-less ski. It makes it super easy to get out there and just go ski. I have a weird schedule, so I didn’t want to take time to kick wax, etc. Plus, depending on where you live, your temp and snow temp could be super variable throughout the day, let alone the week or season. Like me, if you are doing it for fitness and to learn the technique, wax-less is the way to go.
Don’t forget to glide-wax your ski! It’s only the kick-area that’s truly wax-less. Last winter was my first season on Nordic Skis, and I completed the Korteloppet (30km hilly race) in just under 3 hours. My technique is much better this year already (as is my nordic fitness), and I’d expect to go 2:30 this year in the Korte.
You’re probably going to get a bunch of different opinions on this, but here’s my 2 cents:
Go with skin skis. They’ve come a long way in the last 5 years or so, and there is a lot to be said about just getting your skis out of the car and going skiing.
Start with super simple glide wax, like a Swix F4 paste. You’ll have to hot wax them eventually (they bases will turn sorta white as the glide wax wears off) but as you get started keep it simple. Eventually you can glide wax your skis on a regular basis, and eventually you can learn about kick wax which works in a wider range of conditions. But to get started, just go out and ski. You won’t outgrow skin skis too quickly, a lot of people I know who are on the very pointy end still use them for training since they’re just that much easier.
There’s also skate skiing, but that’s another ball of wax.
Salomon RC skins with the pink skin FTW. They are my grab and go skis. If I want speed I use my waxed skis but in tough wax conditions the skins can shine.
Fish scales are garbage compared to skins.
Also, you should buy a basic glide waxing setup. Clamps, iron, brushes, scrapers and some mid temperature wax.
Either skins or fish scales will work. Avoid kick waxing if you are a total noob, it gets tricky in certain conditions. The biggest thing is go to a good Nordic shop, don’t go to some mostly alpine shop that has a few nordic skis to choose from. If you go to a good shop they will get you skis with the right flex for your weight.
Either skins or fish scales will work. Avoid kick waxing if you are a total noob, it gets tricky in certain conditions. The biggest thing is go to a good Nordic shop, don’t go to some mostly alpine shop that has a few nordic skis to choose from. If you go to a good shop they will get you skis with the right flex for your weight.
There is a reply button to every post. Use the reply button for the post you want to reply to, not the last one in thread. Don’t be a lazy poster. Thanks.
Either skins or fish scales will work. Avoid kick waxing if you are a total noob, it gets tricky in certain conditions. The biggest thing is go to a good Nordic shop, don’t go to some mostly alpine shop that has a few nordic skis to choose from. If you go to a good shop they will get you skis with the right flex for your weight.
There is a reply button to every post. Use the reply button for the post you want to reply to, not the last one in thread. Don’t be a lazy poster. Thanks.
Seth, we are in Alberta so most of our skiing will be around Edmonton with the occasional trip to the mountains (Banff/Lake Louise). We don’t get many days in the -1 to 4C range (or at least, it doesn’t feel like we do).
Technique is definitely my limiter and I’ll probably be having a couple of follow up lessons.
X3 on the skin skis… they are the way forward vs. fish scales (although waxable classic will always be fastest and most performance if you want the hassle/ be competitive)… or go skate style
I say waxable over fish scales, personally I would like take waxable over skins too but I have never used skin skis. I’m in Calgary and I find waxing if you aren’t racing and have time very straight forward. I would look at the skiing you are going to do most, days out at elk island or Blackfoot cooking lake then learning to wax is likely worth while, if it is mostly an hour or 2 at gold bar I would listen to the people who have skied skins.
Last piece of advice would be don’t consider MEC a high end ski shop, it has been a while since I lived in Edmonton but track and trail was much more knowledgable then MEC is currently in Calgary.
If you hit Peter lougheed perhaps I’ll see you on the trails.
X3 on the skin skis… they are the way forward vs. fish scales (although waxable classic will always be fastest and most performance if you want the hassle/ be competitive)… or go skate style
Totally not true. You MUST understand how to correctly choose AND apply kick wax, or you could possibly have skis as fast as a couple of cinder blocks strapped to your feet. This can mean up to & included different brands for different regional locations REX vs Toko vs Start vs Hommenkollen vs Swix, etc…, some brands do better than others depending on dryness of snow/humidity, snow type–you really have to do a lot of experimenting to get a feel/experience for what works when & where. It’s a science. Moving your wax pocket even an inch too far or not far enough can screw the pooch the rest of your day.
My point was waxable skis are not always the fastest, it is the reason many competitive skiers have waxless (and now skins) in their quiver. If it is a day waxables are typically the fastest, if you don’t wax right it doesn’t matter, they may as well be snow shoes–you won’t get glide or you may just slip the entire way. In which case, waxless may have been the better choice in hindsight. But yes, in general, aside from the hassle, waxless are more often than not faster if you know what you’re doing with regard to wax (even then the World Cup folks mess that up too!)
I agree that if you get it wrong it can be slower- but your not going to find a single skier on the World Cup with skins or scales
If they could they would just double pole with skate skis and be done with kick wax entirely!
I remember the year there was fresh sticky snow falling at the start of the Canadian Birkie and Brian McKeever pulled out his skate skis and won the race.
The conditions were so variable from the start to the finish line that any wax was going to be bad at some point.
Skin skis were pretty rare then, but now I would have used mine without hesitation.
I’m not strong enough to double pole for 55km of rolling hills.
Just wanted to say thank you to everybody that chipped in. We landed up getting skin skis (Salomon for him, Atomic for me) just before the new year. We’ve been out on them a few times so far and they seem a good fit for where we are and what we want to do. Next stop will be one of the waxing clinics they run at our local MEC.
In which case, waxless may have been the better choice in hindsight. But yes, in general, aside from the hassle, waxless are more often than not faster if you know what you’re doing with regard to wax (even then the World Cup folks mess that up too!)