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Buying Cross Country Skis
Buying Cross Country Skis
This article is about purchasing Nordic ski equipment. We are concerned with skis, bindings, boots and poles. You can find information on clothing and waxing from other High Park Ski Club literature, or from seminars or clinic by our instructors.
This is intended for beginning skiers. Technically, Nordic skiing is any form of skiing where your heel is not attached to the ski. This includes ski jumping. It will be assumed for the purposes of this article, that you intend to ski at resorts with groomed trails, where you will take advantage of the ski club's lessons. You may want to take up racing. You may want to do some of the club's touring trips, where the trails have at least been skied over by experienced skiers. Telemarking and serious back country skiing are outside the scope of this article if for no other reason than that I haven't done any of it.
Most sources recommend that you rent a few times before buying. This allows you to determine if cross country skiing is your chosen sport, and to decide what kind of skiing you want to do. At the very least, you must decide whether your first pair of skis will be classical or skate type.
The key to all cross country skiing is to glide whenever possible, and to be able to propel yourself forward on the level and up hills. The various classical techniques like diagonal stride, or one step double pole, require you to have a grip region on the bottom of your ski. This lets you push forward when you load the ski.
Waxless skis have scales moulded into the grip region of the ski. You do not need to apply kick wax. This saves you time. Waxless skis usually work better in weird ski conditions.
A lot of ski enthusiasts hate waxless skis. Waxless skis are more forgiving of bad technique.
The term waxless applies only to kick wax (or the lack thereof). Both regular and waxless skis work better when you apply glide wax to the tips and tails.
The standard classical ski gets its grip with kick wax. You must select the wax appropriate for the temperature, and apply it to your ski. The High Park Ski Club provides lessons on this.
Skate technique is similar to skating or rollerblading. There is no grip region on the skis.
![[Bottom of classic ski, PNG 335x201]](SkiBottom.png)
Most skis today are composite structures. They consist of a strong, rigid top and bottom layer sandwiching a lightweight core, called a ``matrix''. Usually, the top and bottom layers are made up of some fibre reinforced plastic. Quite a few materials are used for the matrix. At least one ski shop I visited had a display of sawn up skis, showing a variety of these structures.
Don't worry about any of this. Either the ski is the right cost, weight, length and stiffness, or it isn't.
The centre portion of a ski bottom, called the grip region, is not normally in contact with the snow. This is due to the curvature of the ski, called the camber. This, and the stiffness of the ski are critical. They determine how much force is required to make the ski's grip region contact the snow. If your ski is too stiff, you won't be able to push off -- too soft, and you won't be able to glide.
Ski manufacturers have worked out an arbitrary relationship between ski length and skier's height, and they make most of their skis conform to this. Usually, this is documented on charts they provide to the ski shops.
You can select these skis, even without the length/height charts. Stand upright, and hold your arm straight up over your head. Classical skis should just come up to your wrist. If you are of average build, you will probably have selected the correct ski. If you are not of average build, or the ski is of poor quality, or it was manufactured to some other standard, it will not be correct. You must verify your selection by testing for stiffness.
Good Nordic ski shops are set up to do this. If necessary, you can do it yourself with a flat surface and a piece of paper. Sit the skis down on a flat surface, preferably something that won't damage the bottoms.
At least one HPSC instructor uses classical skis that are oversized for his weight. His assumption is that his technique is good enough to load and kick with this stiffer ski, and he benefits from the improved glide. I got a similar impression from talking to a salesman at Hardwood Hills, about classical skis. He quoted the actual compression forces of his skis. Presumably, an advanced skier would manipulate this characteristic to suit their ability.
Most ski experts claim that skating skis should be stiffer than classic skis in both bending and torsion. This stiffness allows the ski to distribute your weight all along the bottom of the ski. Selecting the stiffness precisely is less important than with classic skis, since you are not relying on a grip region.
Standard skating skis are sized 10 to 15cm (4 to 6in) shorter than equivalent classic skis. The tips have less of an upward curve then classic skis. You can now buy short skating skis. These provide more control at the expense of gliding speed. This may be attractive to beginners.
You can buy combination classic/skate skis. The problem with these is that when you change from classic to skate skiing, you must remove kick wax. This is not convenient, and generally not recommended.
The Fischer LS Skating Crown apparently has scales arranged such that you can switch the left and right skis, to alternate between skating and classic. Presumably the scales are only one one side of the base. All I know about this is a message in a Nordic skiing newsgroup asking if these are any good. I described these skis to some experienced instructors, and they laughed. You have been warned!
You can test the stiffness of skate skis with the paper test used for classic skis. Since you want to be a little stiffer, you should not be clamping on the paper when you load the ski.
![[The correct grip on a cross country ski pole, PNG 284x320]](CorrectGrip.png)
Ski poles can cost anywhere from twenty to several hundred dollars. Anything will work, as long as they can handle your weight. If you are fairly heavy, you might want to buy something sturdier. I broke one of my first poles, fortunately just as I was heading out of the chalet at Hardwood. This would have been a nasty problem out in the middle of a touring trip.
Length is important. Classic ski poles should come up to halfway between your armpits and the top of your shoulder. A lot of experts claim that they should just come up to your armpits. If you decide that these experts are right, you can get the poles shortened.
There is little difference in design between skating and classic poles, however, skating poles must be somewhat longer. Your skating poles should extend up to between your chin and the bottom of your nose. Again, if the pole is a little too long, you can shorten it.
The figure shows a fairly cheap ski pole grip, along with the correct way to attach the strap. The strap should be adjustable. Some fancier handles have an additional velcro strap that fixes the strap to your hand. These are nice.
Cross country ski boots are each made for a specific binding. If you are buying new boots for existing skis, or new skis for existing boots, you must know your binding system.
If you buy a popular binding for your first pair of skis, you can buy additional boots and skis piece by piece, using the same type of bindings.
You can categorize Nordic ski bindings into four generations. First, there was the Nordic Norm or three pin bindings, which provided all the ski attachment at the toe. Then, the Salomon SNS and the Rottefella New Nordic Norm, which provided control ridges on the ski, to keep the heel from sliding off sideways. The current generation Salomon SNS Profil and NNN II feature thicker, more effective ridges for improved control. The fourth generation bindings are the Salomon SNS Pilot and the NNN III, which at the present, are for high performance skiers.
![[Salomon Boot and Binding, PNG 359x244]](SalomonBinding.png)
This is a series of compatible bindings consisting of a latch, a flexor and a ridge. The flexor is a stiff piece of rubber which sits above the latch, and provides a controlled force to keep the foot from rotating upwards. SNS stands for Salomon Nordic System.
The mating boot has a horizontal metal bar at the toe, and a groove underneath. The metal bar is inserted into the latch. The groove mates with the ridge on top of your binding. This keeps your heel from sliding off the side of the ski.
The drawing is of the author's Salomon Skate binding, with the 911 combination boot. Newer Salomon ski boots have a zip up flap covering the laces.
These are very popular in the Toronto area for some reason. All of my skiing has been done on Salomon bindings. Most of the sources I have read claim that Salomon and Rottefella NNN boots and bindings are about equal in quality.
Here is Salomon's Nordic web page, http://www.salomonsports.com/northamerica/nordic/index.htm .
This is a new binding system for skate skiing. In addition to the latch at the front of the ski, there is a control arm underneath to increase the torsional stiffness of the ski. The Salomon Pilot owner I talked to won his at a ski event. He likes them, but he said that he would not have paid retail for them. It all depends on how serious you are about having top quality equipment.
The Salomon SNS ;Pilot boots only work with the SNS Pilot bindings.
This is an earlier style of Salomon binding. The boot is easily recognized because a metal loop extends out the front. The ridge on the binding is less pronounced than on the SNS Profil. This may still be available in some stores. It is not compatible with the Profil. You really want the newer bindings.
NNN stands for New Nordic Norm. Boots are made by all sorts of people including Rossinol, Alpina and Artex. Check out http://www.weblab.com:80/xcski/rossignol.html . Functionally and performance wise, they are similar to the Salomon bindings.
You usually see these on older skis, and on back country and telemark skis. I think these are also called Nordic Norm. Avoid them. They wear out quickly. Both the Salomon and NNN bindings have ridges that keep your foot from rotating off the side of the ski. These ridges can be replaced if they break off.
Skating boots have stiffer soles than classic boots, and they have ankle support. You can buy combination boots with removable ankle supports. Even if you already have a complete classic ski kit, this saves you transporting two pairs of ski boots to the resort. Few people actually remove these supports. It is difficult, it requires more force than I am willing to exert on something I paid a hundred and eighty bucks for, and there is a danger you will knock off the attaching knobs as you ski. For classical skiing, you just don't tighten the top strap the way you would for skating.
Your ski boots should fit snugly, like running shoes. Consider getting combination boots the first time around, even for classical skiing. If you take up skating, you won't have to buy new boots. My newer Salomon 911 combi boots are not as well insulated as my old Salomon 311 classic boots. If you plan to be a relaxed skier, you should consider this.
Buy your skis from a store that supports Nordic skiing. The best way to get the right pair of skis is to buy from knowlegable enthusiasts. Even if you know what you are doing, it is still wise to support stores that support the sport.
A good ski store is equipped to test your skis for stiffness. Some of them test every ski they get, and they can tell you the compression force of each one. Stores not so equipped are bad ski stores. Period.
I make no claims to being an expert on this subject. I interviewed some HPSC instructors and I attended the Fall '97 High Park Ski Club equipment seminar. The following web pages were useful.
Thank you Keith Hendy and Barry Dupuis. Thank you also to Greg G. Grundberg from the Calgary Ski Club.
This document will never be complete. As new equipment comes out, current stuff will become obsolete, and these notes will have to be updated. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with corrections, or any other useful information and opinions. The following areas need work.
Howard Gibson —
Email
hgibson@eol.ca
—
Last updated:
2020 12 05