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Using XC Rollerskis
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

I've just taken the plunge and bought some combi rollerskis for classic and skating during the summer months in the local park.

Can anyone offer some advice for a complete beginner on how to best get started?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

Even though I made 1000s of kilometers on them, I have no idea what to tell you as a tip. It's almost exactly same as xc skiing, just that falling is much more unpleasant then on xc skis, so try to avoid that Smile Otherwise there's really nothing to say. Step on them, and start. And for beginning do it on flat road, not on downhills, since turning and slowing down with rollerskis is harder then with skis. So leave that part for times, when you know more about it Smile
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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?

Well I've had a bit of a hunt around the net and picked up a few drills for beginners so I'll try those out. I have bought some protective gear to guard against any falls on tarmac and I'm waiting for that to turn up before going out for the first time, having said that I might have a little go over the weekend even if they don't show by then. There is a good park near me with a nice smooth tarmac perimeter road right around it. It has plenty of flat areas as well as a few minor hills, but I'll be sticking to the flats to start with.

The kit turned up today and I tried the boots and skis on for the first time just in the house (what a saddo ) Laughing I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to stand up on, moving around could possibly be quite different of course!

I was also amazed at how light my poles are, they are 160's but weigh less than my 125 carbon alpine poles by a fair bit.

I've been searching online for any comprehensive tuition videos that I can download but have had no luck on that front other than watching a few short vids which talk about one small aspect of technique.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.

Yes xc skiing poles are a whole lot lighter then alpine. But that also mean they are a lot more fragile. Hitting it somewhere, falling over them, or just being a bit clumsy with car doors lead to broken pole(s). That goes especially for full carbon poles (race poles), while it's a bit better with lower end poles where you have 30-50% of carbon fibers, and rest is fiberglass.
Technique for rollerskiing is exactly same as for xc skiing. Afterall, rollerskis are ski substitute for summer and are in first place meant for xc skiing training during summer. So search for xc skiing "tutorials", because I have feeling there's more of them around, then there are those for roller skiing in particular.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I'll try and search for stuff on xc snow skiing then.

I went out for the first time on them this evening. My elbow and knee pads haven't shown up yet, but I was too impatient to try them out!

I've got Marwe 590a combi skis, salomon pilot boots and bindings and some kv+ viking poles, which are about 60% carbon I think. I found that trying to do 'classic' was easier for me than 'skate' (which quickly ended in a fall), this surprised me as I thought I'd find skating easier owing to my alpine background.

I was doing some double poling with no ski action, diagonal stride (?) - which I found a little difficult to keep the arms and skis coordinated properly and some classic ski action with no poles. I can't yet get the ratchet on the front wheel to lock to give me something to push away from, but I was only out for an hour so its very early days.

I thought I'd get a lot of derision from people in the park but actually 3 seperate groups of teenagers stopped me and asked what it was I was doing and actually seemed quite interested. My couple of falls did keep some footballing lads amused though! rolling eyes Laughing I now have a rather large bump on my right elbow for my efforts, but I think I'll go out again tomorrow and just take it easy and hopefully the pads will be with me by saturday.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.

No matter what people think, classic is easier then skating. Most of people actually think it's opposite, but they think so only until they see themselves "skiing" on video Wink Classic is way more natural movement, afterall it's basically walking/running, just that you have poles in your hands (yes, for some people this gets extremely difficult to keep "walking" normally once they get poles in their hands). On other side, skating is completely different thing. I'm not saying it's hard, but it's hilarious to look at people who think they "skate" perfectly, while in reality they have no technique at all. So, yes keep with classic for beginning. You are more stable, and for beginning it's not bad Wink
Bump on elbow is nothing bad, bad things come, when you fall at 70km/h and half of your ski is left on tarmac Wink
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I think maybe skating would be easier on some skate specific skis, either way I'm not trying it again until I'm properly padded up! Laughing

I went out again this morning and I definitely managed to cover more distance than at my first attempt. But I am having difficulty coordinating my arm action with my ski movement so I spent a fair bit of time holding the poles a third of the way down and not planting them at all just to get used to the ski movements without having to worry about the poles.

I managed not to fall over at all this time, which was a good thing as I don't think my right elbow could take another pounding.

But I think I really need some instruction, which seems to be difficult to come by unless you are learning in the autumn as clubs programmes seem to be setup to coincide with the winter season for normal XC skiing and not centred on off season roller skiing training.

There's an ex-instructor in my area who has said he'll show me a few things but that won't be for probably a month yet. So I'll just have to keep perservering, but I think I may buy an instructional DVD for some help.
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