Cross country ski gear recon

Discussion about winter adventure sports in the Sierra Nevada mountains including but not limited to; winter backpacking and camping, mountaineering, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, etc.
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overheadx2
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Cross country ski gear recon

Post by overheadx2 »

The wife and I went up to Lone Pine to poke around and try and find some relatively easy areas to do some touring. On the way to look at some trail heads we stopped in at the Gear exchange in Bishop to see if my old track binding skis had sold. While there, I decided to take a look at the XC skis they had available. I am not very knowledgeable regarding prices and brands, but there appeared to be some descent sets available. Most skis were around $450 to $550 and included skis, bindings and skins. Some were pretty beat, but most looked pretty good. Knowing that Davela has been looking and I assume there are some other lurkers as well I took some photos of the skis available to give dave an idea what was available. Sorry about the horizontal Photos, no Idea how I did it and no idea how to fix it.
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Harlen
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by Harlen »

Hey there Ox2,

Nice community service job there, Thanks. Looks like some quality gear in the store, per usual. Over the years we've bought a lot of great gear there.
For myself, since I saved about $350 on the price of my AT boots and bindings, I've decided to follow Paul's lead yet again, and purchase the very skis he covets. Mav helped get the price down from $... plus tax, to $... plus shipping. Still, as a inveterate Craigslist/used gear store guy, the grand total of $1450 for AT gear is a big bite out of the boys college fund! As you know Ox2, surfers make a ton of money, and with luck (and perhaps no other options?) our son Ryan will make it big without college. Here are the skis and boots I chose (again-- via Paul):

https://skimo.co/voile-objective-bc *I had the wrong ski here before. These "Objective BC skis are lighter and narrower than the Voile Vector V6s.

https://www.rei.com/product/140580/scar ... boots-mens

and the bindings are: https://skimo.co/atomic-backland-binding

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I sure hope this AT gear is worth its weight in gold. I am pretty excited about getting onto a big hill with all this shiny new gear; according to C9, once you buy brand new gear for a lot of money, you automatically become great! (I think that's what he said.) :nod:


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Remember those couloirs? Now that limpingcrab has nothing over me!

And if it doesn't work out, I can blame Paul. ;)
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Last edited by Harlen on Thu Jan 30, 2020 10:36 am, edited 2 times in total.
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c9h13no3
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by c9h13no3 »

Yeah, the more you spend on ski gear the better you ski... :paranoid: Anyone believe that?

I'm currently skiing the following setup. It's pretty heavy, but I did just put in a 10 mile/+3300 foot day. It gets me out there.

Black Diamond Justice 2013: 185 cm, 111 mm underfoot.
Dynafit TLT Speed Radical bindings (the old white ones)

I got these used off Craigslist for $200, the bases had been repaired but still had plenty of life in them. I generally think skis don't matter much. They are all different, but the difference is subtle. Demo days at ski resorts are fun too, go ski a bunch of sticks.

Bindings on the other hand I think matter more. I originally thought I wanted some Shifts or something more burly for the down. But I rented tech bindings twice and didn't miss the more firm hold of the heavier bindings. These are super fiddly with my boots, which is weird because the two pairs I rented stepped in fine. I may have to glue a shim on the binding or something so they step in easier. I think more important than how they ski (because most bindings ski well) is the other stuff: Are they easy to get in & out of? Are the heel risers easy to use? Do they ice up? Do they release when you fall?

Nordica STRiders
Eh... not a fan of these. But finding Goldilocks ski boots (not too tight, not too loose) is like the search for the Holy Grail. In hindsight, I think buying a downhill boot for $300 and a touring boot for $400ish would make me happier. I've already torn up the wimpy soles of these hiking over scree, and they're not stiff enough for really skiing hard at a ski resort.
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overheadx2
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by overheadx2 »

Harlen, I really like my voile supercharger BC skis although I would have gotten yours given the chance. The wax less BC part is really nice for rolling open spaces. Bought them half price at the Mammoth mountaineering rental sale 2 years ago. At half price it was still a chunk of change but doable for a set each for my wife and I. No kids so its a lot easier to spend the college fund on myself. At this point Im trying to stay out of the retirement fund.
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Harlen
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by Harlen »

Ox2:
The wax less BC part is really nice for rolling open spaces.
I hope so, I've tried both, and never really noticed the slowdown due to fish scales, but I find others, more experienced than I, stating that their friends without patterned bases skied away from them on the downhills. What do you think? I'm usually in no big hurry.

p.s. It's Overheadx3 at the Lane, and up the coast.
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overheadx2
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by overheadx2 »

I have taken mine on the local hills to see if there was a difference. I didn't notice any difference, but Im just an easy black diamond skier. What I liked is that those scales work really well up to 15 /20 degree slopes so if you are touring and come across a short area with an easy hill or slope you dont have to stop for skins. In the time it takes for your friends to put their skins on and then off again, you should be long gone.
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Harlen
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by Harlen »

ox2 writes:
Harlen, I really like my voile supercharger BC skis although I would have gotten yours given the chance.
Were you talking about the Voile V6 Vectors, which I had erroneously written down as my new ski before, or the Voile Objectives in the link below, which are the skis I have ordered-- same skis Paul likes the look of? There's a big difference in dimensions and weight between the two, with the V6's weighing nearly 2 lbs. more, and having a 98" waist compared to the 82" of the Objectives. I have read that heavier skis ski better in ice and crud, and most anything challenging, but also that the Objectives ski great too. I just know I want the lightest things I can get away with for the sake of the long miles I put in, and I'm sure the Objectives will ski downhill twice as well as the array of longer, thinner skis I've free-heel skied over the years. Thanks for the advice Ox2.

https://skimo.co/voile-objective-bc
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overheadx2
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by overheadx2 »

I saw the Objective BCs at mammoth mountaineering last weekend and if I had some money, thats what Id buy. I really liked them, super light and thinish waist (looks like they still have plenty of float) with a much more parabolic look for turns. If I had a ton of money I would have bought them. I don't have a lot of experience, but after renting both waxless and regular skis for 2 days each, I would never buy anything but waxless for touring.
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bobby49
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by bobby49 »

After a few decades of X-C skiing, I concluded that the debate about waxable versus waxless boiled down to weather. If the weather was steady overcast with constant snow conditions, then a well-waxed ski gives great performance, because you only wax once and you are good for the day. OTOH, if you have variable weather causing variable snow conditions, then you sure as hell do not want to stop and change waxes every thirty minutes, so the waxless ski does best on the average.
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Re: Cross country ski gear recon

Post by overheadx2 »

The wife and I are in Utah doing some skiing. Due to two large snow storms recently and the avalanche danger we have been skiing the hill on our BC skis. Haven’t noticed any difference in skiing ability, but I have noticed being slower on some of the cat trails compared to other skiers. I was still able to hike the up hill from the car to the runs with the scales alone so in the balance of things, I’d still go BC.
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