 Poster: A snowHead
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Have just got into cross country having been an alpine skiier for years.
With the demise of Penrose in Truro Cornwall (which had a great alpine fitter), and the usual lack of interest / knowledge at S & R Exeter, I am wondering if anyone can make any suggestions for an experienced cross country boot fitter that has a good range incl. Scarpa, Salomon and Tecnica
Obviously I'm gonna have to travel elsewhere in the UK so I need to ensure I'm getting good options and someone that knows their stuff as I only want to make the journey once.
In Alpine I ski Salomon Xmax 130's.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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That doesn't sound much like Cross Country to me.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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That doesn't sound much like Cross Country to me.
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Errrr? What?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| ChrisKernow wrote: |
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That doesn't sound much like Cross Country to me.
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Errrr? What? |
What you are into.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@davidof, Sorry, don't understand what you are going on about tbh.
Have been an alpine skiier. Now getting into cross country - I think that was clear from my OP.
Maybe you just skim read.
Have you got any suggestions or do you just pick holes in posts from newbies?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Timg60, Thanks for that. Sadly the closest they have to any ski touring or cross country kit are Salomon QST boots, which don't have dynafit built in.
And they were really honest with me about how they weren't best placed to help.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Timg60, Thanks for that. Sadly the closest they have to any ski touring or cross country kit are Salomon QST boots, which don't have dynafit built in.
And they were really honest with me about how they weren't best placed to help.
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Are you meaning cross country lightweight track skis for skating or classic or ski touring, Alpine skiing off piste and hut to hut? 2 very different sports.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@ChrisKernow, As per the comment from @Teletart, Cross Country skiing is normally referring to Langlauf, which is generally performed on flattish prepared tracks.
Your comment about Salomon QST boots not having Dynafit Tech fittings, suggests that you mean Ski Touring, where you skin up mountains before removing the skins and skiing back down again. You will also need to decide whether you want a pure touring set up (light weight, efficient/easier going up, poorer coming down), or a Hike to Ride setup (slightly heavier and less efficient going up, better coming down).
Either way the boots are the most important thing, so you are probably going to need a specialist boot fitter such as Solutions4Feet or ProFeet.
http://profeet.co.uk/plus/product-category/mens-ski-boots/mens-hike-n-ride-20162017/
http://profeet.co.uk/plus/product-category/mens-ski-boots/mens-alpine-touring-20162017/
https://www.solutions4feet.com/catalogue/skiing/performance---recreational-ski-boots
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Just about the only place for Cross Country skis in the UK is http://www.braemarmountainsports.com/index.php
XC skis come in a wide range of widths and weights, from very light and thin racing set up's to wider metal edged Nordic touring skis to Telemark mountaineering skis. You can also get Alpine touring skis, like downhill skis but with special bindings which release the heel so you can walk up hill on them. Braemar do all types of skis and boots, but not very convent for the south-west.
Only Germans call it Langlauf.
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Thanks all - yes, wrong words from me and as @PowderAdict writes, I mean ski touring.
Thanks for suggestions of who yo go to. Looks like some travelling is involved, which is what I expected.
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You know it makes sense.
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I wouldn't class tele skis as XC.
Alpine skis with free heels are normally referred to as "touring" or "rando(nee)".
XC has to be subdivided into "classic", "skating" and "Nordic touring" all of which are very different kit and skaiting is very different technique.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@ChrisKernow,
My advice would be to hire until you have decided which of the several variants of cross-country skiing most interest you.
Skis for use on machine-prepared tracks are either classics or skates. The latter all use glide wax only, whereas the former have a kick zone, achieved by the use of grip wax, which is especially favoured in Scandinavia, or fishscales, or short lengths of inbuilt mohair skins. Skin classic skis are finding increasing favour over fishscale classic skis.
If your preference is for offtrack skiing, you would use wider, shorter, heavier, full- or part-metal-edged nordic backcountry skis, which are either crown (i.e fishscale) or waxing. They use more robust bindings than tracks skis, with NNN-BC increasingly favoured over the older 75mm three-pin binding.
In the UK, I have found Braemar Mountain Sports a good source of nordic backcountry gear but they do not offer anything like a full range of track skis. In fact, there are very few places, even on the contintent, which offer a good choice of cross-country gear in all its variety. I was recently impressed by what I saw of the stock of Alewalds in Uppsala. I believe their main branch is in Stockholm.
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