XC Skiing Rocks...With Good Skis...

So I have always had a love/hate relationship with cross country skiing. In theory, I love it. What could be better than exploring the backcountry in the winterm, cruising up hills and blasting down beautiful glades, without any crowds or lift tickets. However, in practice, it has never been very pleasant for me. Lots of falling, crazy crashes, and aches and pains where no one should have aches and pains.

That all changed yesterday. In the past, I have always skiied on long, thin skis (my old skis were from the 80s, and were like 215s or 225s), which are fine for skiing in tracks, but take them off trail into the woods or try to go down a steep hill with them, and it was a nightmare. No control! Even last winter when I rented a more modern setup to pre-run the ski leg of the 2008 Frigid Infliction, I had a terrible time. So this year, I decided that either I was done skiing, or I would buy some new gear. After months of research, I finally cobbled together my EMS GMARA discount, a great coupon from the Bitter Pill, and about 5 gift cards I had recieved for Xmas and my birthday to buy a new cross country setup. I took it out for a test run yesterday, and it is AWESOME!!

The setup I went with is XCD (cross country downhill), which has been described as mountain biking in the winter. Since mtn biking is my favorite summer activity, it was a no brainer. The skis I wound up getting are the Karhu 10th Mtn Division XCDs, in a 185 length. These are a nice, shaped ski with full metal edges, and nice fat tips and tails. I married them to the Voile 3 Pin Cable binding, which provides quite a bit more control than just the 3 pin alone, especially on the downhills. For boots, I had some major issues that I don't want to get in to, but I wound up buying a new pair of Karhu XCD Traverse boots, which are a very lightweight but sturdy boot, with a decent "powerstrap" to help keep your heel locked down.

Yesterday I took the skis out for my first run, at Little River State Park in Waterbury (a great place to XC ski and snowshoe, by the way). I only had an hour or so of light, which was perfect. The first 3/4 of the ski was up hill and flat, skiing up to the top of the reservoir and then further on up to the state park. I had to stop 4 or 5 times to adjust my bindings (cables were not quite the right length, but they are very, very easy to adjust), but overall the skis climbed great. Then it was time to go back down. There are basically 3 hills which I had to ski down. In the past, I would get going, and then loose my balance and crash. Every time. On these skis, the combination of the width, the metal edges, and the better binding and boots kept me upright the entire time!!! Wow, XC skis that I can actually turn! And do a snowplow with! And have fun with!!

Overall, a great first day out on the new skis. I'm planning to get out this afternoon and also Sunday, for some longer skis, and we'll see how that goes. However, my early review of these skis/boots/bindings is a very strong WOO HOO!!!

Grambo