Help needed for ski choice for solo pulka trip West-Greenland

[wabene]

The Åsnes Combat NATO was the first ski that came to mind. For a fishscale ski the Fischer Traverse 78 which also has a kicker skin attachment.

[Inspiredcapers]

This is kinda thought provoking. I also admire your fortitude for a journey like this. It would be pretty cool if you shared your gear list with us and an honest appraisal as to what works/what doesn’t work.

I’ve never skied the Nosi you suggested (hopefully some day) but I’ve skied on sled tracks with various dimension of skis. I’m gonna say that with absence of fresh snow skiing packed down/wind and sun glazed sled tracks sucks regardless of ski used. Narrower skis seem to have the advantage (I’m talking Gamme and MR48 skin experience here) over wider skis (USGI, Alpina Discovery 80, and Rossi BC120).

I found scales didn’t help worth a damn (those were the Alpinas). The MR48 skin seemed the most stable to me.

Skiing those sled tracks that have several cm of fresh snow on Gamme is delightful.

There’s others here with more experience that hopefully chime in.

Let us know how this goes.

[tkarhu]

@Inspiredcapers Good points, my earlier suggestion of going waxless was not good for the super hard vehicle tracks. Yet I would still think of going short and skinny because wider skis will just bring extra bulk, unless you have deep snow at times. The Åsnes Mountain Race could be a good option, too.

[mca80]

Fishscale skis sound risky to me in these conditions. Windswept and snowmobile pack is not pattern traction's forte. Although I don't know March Greenland weather. If you have time to learn basics of waxing and basics of kick and glide (won't need much, towing a pulk), you would be better suited with a waxable model. Amundsen obviously the first that came to mind. NATO ok given the recessed area for the ski-specific skin to reduce hindrance of glide by the attachment point. But too much sidecut. If travelling straight 95% of the time you want a straighter ski. Amundsen is the ski imo. Your prior instability may have been due to boots? Were you in Alfa Free before? I would be hesitant to do such a trip on any XP, very new system. But they seem to promote it. I just wouldnt want anything I couldn't remedy in the field, like 3pin binding.

[fisheater]

I don’t understand XC training required for skiing a ski like the Amundsen or NATO. I got on similar skis, and skied. Not much to it at all. I was a chair rider for many years.
I love wax, but not knowing about wax, go X-Skin, with back up X-Skins. I would also think Amundsen would be the ski, it should better than my Gamme. I also find the suggestion of a short XC ski to be ridiculous, the OP is a skilled alpine skier, he can handle a properly sized XC ski basically going straight, and an ability to do some wedge and step turns when necessary.
As for that Rossi being unstable, you probably had no grip. You were sliding backward and forward. As @spopepro mentioned, skis do not track well on snowmobile tracks. You will be surprised by how well a ski like Amundsen will track in those difficult conditions. You will appreciate the quality Asnes edges. The X-skin will provide reliable grip. Nosi is not a cross country ski. I own a Tindan 86, the next width up, but no longer made. The Tindan tracks brutally if I need to spend time on a snowmobile track. I can’t believe Nosi would be much better.
Well those are my opinions, I think it’s pretty black and white, I don’t see a lot of gray.
PS I would definitely carry a couple Voile straps in case of a binding failure. Two Voile straps could make a binding. If you had any depth of snow from an unexpected snowfall you are definitely going to appreciate skis!

[tkarhu]

@mca80 Good points! Fischer easy-skin skis could also be nicer than Åsnes x-skins out there because the Fischer attachment mechanism does not have that Åsnes plastic part at ski bottom. I do not mind the Åsnes plastic part, but I have skied BC for touring-for-turns mainly on my Åsnes Gammes. A friend has an issue with the x-skins on hard snow in BC-XC, even with his stiff and high camber Gammes.

Learning some grip waxing for the West Greenland March frosts may be a killer idea. Fischer easy-skins may break at the skin attachment hole, and generally mohair skins may not last even 100 km on such hard snow. On the other hand, nylon or mix skins may create excess drag for the mostly flat landscapes of the photos IMO. When going uphill, I would put some sturdies skins on with a pulk, though.

Blue wax works actually alright also at colder frost temps. Yes blue is not optimal at -10’ C or colder, but that you can spread without heating out there. Maybe you need a slightly longer grip waxed area then. And if one has spread butter on a bread earlier, same skillls apply to blue wax. Just with the wax, use a cork instead of a knife

EDIT.: Oh but icy snow may actually require klister, which makes waxing kindof challenging… Going all the way to Greenland, a few pairs of skins in a pulk could make sense. The following is a good article on skins for BC-XC. Especially the Crister Næss info box.

https://asnes-academy.com/en/tips-and-t ... ort-skins/

[Krummholz]

@Ernst R

Just getting to this thread. Check out Arron Lindsau on YouTube, https://youtube.com/@ALinsdau?feature=shared he recently did a crossing of Greenland with a friend. Wrote a book about it. Soloed to the South Pole, he has lots of videos about gear etc.

It sound sounds like your new to Nordic, I would recommend starting out at a Nordic center, get many Miles / K’s in, work on balance, form, endurance. If your going to be going mostly straight then get skis that track straight, not shaped that get squirrely on you and slow you down. You’re not going to be skiing to make turns. I believe he used the Asnes Otto.
Another about ski selection

[tkarhu]

I love wax, but not knowing about wax, go X-Skin, with back up X-Skins. I would also think Amundsen would be the ski, it should better than my Gamme. I also find the suggestion of a short XC ski to be ridiculous, the OP is a skilled alpine skier, he can handle a properly sized XC ski basically going straight, and an ability to do some wedge and step turns when necessary.
As for that Rossi being unstable, you probably had no grip. You were sliding backward and forward. As @spopepro mentioned, skis do not track well on snowmobile tracks. You will be surprised by how well a ski like Amundsen will track in those difficult conditions. You will appreciate the quality Asnes edges. The X-skin will provide reliable grip.
[…]

Well, this sounds like a solid plan, except calling my short ski suggestion "ridiculous"

Åsnes recommends 180 cm Amundsens for 165-170 cm and 60-70 kg people. For someone of 177 cm and 70 kg without XC background, a pair of 180 cm Amundsens would probably be an easy going and functional setup.

By short, I referred to body length +0-10 cm earlier. The Åsnes recommended 180 cm for OP’s weight would actually fall into the short range.

A 187 is recommended for 170-175 cm / 70-80 kg. That is how I have sized my Gammes weightwise, and my Gammes are track XC stiff. Yet my Gammes are body length +20 cm, and Gammes and Amundsens should be of same stiffness.. Even the 187 cm’s should be relatively short and maneuverable.

With 187 cm Amundsens and a pulk, a XC novice may still want to make use of a Fall-on-Your-Butt downhill technique at times. For downhill skiers, that is an expedition downhill approach to braking.

May it be a good idea to use nylon x-skins for any downhill that feels uncomfortable? That might sound overkill, but better safe than sorry, when you are alone on an expedition. X-skins are quick to put on and to take off. Nylon gives a snow-shoe like feel.

Full length skins are a default with a pulk. I find those might be overkill, if there are lots of flats like in the photos. Yet I would be slightly conservative, if going against the default as a XC novice. Skiing with a pulk, there are risks that are not present in more casual XC-BC settings.

I owned Ragos, which are Amundsen before an "explorer rebranding", same as oldest Amundsens. Those were body height +20 cm. They had a train like feel, and wanted to go straight downhill, like XC skis. New Amundsens may be easier to control, if Åsnes has followed a nordic rocker trend there, and based on what lilcliffy has written.

I would not size skis based on body length because that is irrelevant for the mechanics of double cambers. Yet that way Åsnes would recommend 194 cm Amundsens for 177 cm. Many experienced XC-BC skiers would probably like that sizing, though. As a lightweight XC novice, I would at least not go longer than Åsnes recommends.

I would try to find a sizing that still gives you comfort with half length skins. Ski length is a personal preference.

If you had any depth of snow from an unexpected snowfall you are definitely going to appreciate skis!

There should be very little snowfall in Kangerlussuaq in March. Yet weather can always surprise you. Good point, too.

[Ernst R]

Wow, what a fantastic forum! I'm overwhelmed and very grateful for all your help and insights!

The Amundsen BC is the classic ski for this kind of trip. That's the ski I think most of us would want to bring. However, if that feels too skinny and unstable, I would bet the Combat NATO would be an excellent ski. It has a reputation as a sort of "crud buster" with a very stable and firm tip. Others can probably help more--this isn't my area of expertise, but it is for others.

I can see this, and the "crudbuster" analogy resonates. It now becomes clear for me that a straighter, narrower, firm ski is probably the way to go. That a broad surface on those clumps of icy snowmobile track do no necessarily equate stability! And I have looked so often at that combat nato, yet only its' relative narrowness made me hesitant.

This is kinda thought provoking. I also admire your fortitude for a journey like this. It would be pretty cool if you shared your gear list with us and an honest appraisal as to what works/what doesn’t work.

Thanks, it is not such a difficult hike I think, the beauty is that in the middle of wild nature on many days you will meet a local Inuit out hunting, and they always stop to check if you're OK or have a talk!

I will do that, actually in the process of doing that after last year's hike.

[Ernst R]

Fishscale skis sound risky to me in these conditions. Windswept and snowmobile pack is not pattern traction's forte. Although I don't know March Greenland weather. If you have time to learn basics of waxing and basics of kick and glide (won't need much, towing a pulk), you would be better suited with a waxable model. Amundsen obviously the first that came to mind. NATO ok given the recessed area for the ski-specific skin to reduce hindrance of glide by the attachment point. But too much sidecut. If travelling straight 95% of the time you want a straighter ski. Amundsen is the ski imo. Your prior instability may have been due to boots? Were you in Alfa Free before? I would be hesitant to do such a trip on any XP, very new system. But they seem to promote it. I just wouldnt want anything I couldn't remedy in the field, like 3pin binding.

Thanks for this ! The boots were rental boots and just a very light NNN-BC boot (I was only going to test drive for 2-3 days). The boots were certainly not stiff and the ski was waxless and felt floppy (or at least the boot did not give me control)... Thanks for confirming for me that waxless is probably not the best way to go in this scenario.

I don’t understand XC training required for skiing a ski like the Amundsen or NATO. I got on similar skis, and skied. Not much to it at all. I was a chair rider for many years.
I love wax, but not knowing about wax, go X-Skin, with back up X-Skins. I would also think Amundsen would be the ski, it should better than my Gamme. I also find the suggestion of a short XC ski to be ridiculous, the OP is a skilled alpine skier, he can handle a properly sized XC ski basically going straight, and an ability to do some wedge and step turns when necessary.
As for that Rossi being unstable, you probably had no grip. You were sliding backward and forward. As @spopepro mentioned, skis do not track well on snowmobile tracks. You will be surprised by how well a ski like Amundsen will track in those difficult conditions. You will appreciate the quality Asnes edges. The X-skin will provide reliable grip. Nosi is not a cross country ski. I own a Tindan 86, the next width up, but no longer made. The Tindan tracks brutally if I need to spend time on a snowmobile track. I can’t believe Nosi would be much better.
Well those are my opinions, I think it’s pretty black and white, I don’t see a lot of gray.
PS I would definitely carry a couple Voile straps in case of a binding failure. Two Voile straps could make a binding. If you had any depth of snow from an unexpected snowfall you are definitely going to appreciate skis!

I usually try to have at least one backup (e.g. I carry 2 stoves and spares to mitigate stove failure due to dirty fuel). Never heard of VOILE straps, but I will certainly look into them, much appreciated!