Losing Popularity?

[ianjt]

I have been looking for a second set of backcountry cross-country skis (wider, single camber, 75mm) to compliment my Excursion 88s that I got last year. I had quite a few choices of ski last year when making a purchase, but I have found very little this year. I live in the United States.

REI has only 4 options, with no Fischer skis at all (was looking for 112s). Backcountry has only 3. My local shops might have some Rossignol 60-somethings (blech). The small online shops are generally sold out or don't list many options either.

I was skiing the other day on some low angle terrain in the Sawtooth mountains. I passed a guy skinning his way up the same terrain on a full AT setup. He might as well have been using snowshoes. I saw several other people doing the same thing. Complete overkill given the terrain.

I guess my question is, for those who have been doing nordic backcountry for a long time, do you feel like it's a dying sport? Is AT taking over and making a strict division between groomed XC and AT?

[ᚠᚨᚱ ᚾᛟᚱᚦ ᛊᚲᛁᛖᚱ]

I haven't been doing it long, but I had the same experience. Local shop only had BC 80s and BC 100s. This store out of Germay sells to the US and has some good options.
https://m.sportalbert.de/Hitlist.aspx?c ... 7cA0301017
The prices seem high, but once you go to check out they subtract VAT for people outside the EU.

[fisheater]

The reason why you aren’t seeing skis is because they are sold out. You can still find most of that class of ski doing some searching online.
As for the question about AT being more popular, I would say most likely yes. If you are an intermediate skier, you can buy a fat set of intermediate AT skis and bindings and survive backcountry intermediate terrain. Without going into any dissertation about the strengths and weaknesses of Telemark vs AT. There is an easy button factor, and a marketing campaign to sell expensive gear that is a huge driving factor. There is also the fact, from a truly downhill perspective, locked heels are generally an advantage.
As for why Telemark? I am attaching a link to a blog. I do not think I could do any better, an most likely would fall for short of the perspective offered by the author.
https://hemiborealskiing.blogspot.com/p ... n.html?m=0

[bgregoire]

The reason why you aren’t seeing skis is because they are sold out. You can still find most of that class of ski doing some searching online.

Fish is right. The magic word is COVID.

[ᚠᚨᚱ ᚾᛟᚱᚦ ᛊᚲᛁᛖᚱ]

The reason why you aren’t seeing skis is because they are sold out. You can still find most of that class of ski doing some searching online.
As for the question about AT being more popular, I would say most likely yes. If you are an intermediate skier, you can buy a fat set of intermediate AT skis and bindings and survive backcountry intermediate terrain. Without going into any dissertation about the strengths and weaknesses of Telemark vs AT. There is an easy button factor, and a marketing campaign to sell expensive gear that is a huge driving factor. There is also the fact, from a truly downhill perspective, locked heels are generally an advantage.
As for why Telemark? I am attaching a link to a blog. I do not think I could do any better, an most likely would fall for short of the perspective offered by the author.
https://hemiborealskiing.blogspot.com/p ... n.html?m=0

I would probably have an AT setup, but poverty has forced me to expand my horizons.

[Smitty]

Definitely agree with Fish and bgregoire here. Big picture and over a longer period of time, there is likely less shops carrying this type of gear than in some previous hay-day(s). But depending on your geography, and with the increase in online shopping, there's still a healthy amount of shops carrying a pretty wide selection of this type of gear.

This year we're definitely seeing the COVID factor causing a larger demand / supply shortage of BC XC skis and equipment. Watching selection and browsing a lot of the online stores from October to now, one thing to note is that most online stores seem to pull the ski from the online store completely when they run out of stock for the year, rather than still displaying it on the online store with an "out of stock" banner. This is pretty common for all seasonal outdoor items I think. The types of skis you mention were readily available in the fall from various North American or international online stores (REI, GearX, Varuste, Skatepro, etc) but the stock has been depleted.

[CwmRaider]

What the others said... Perhaps it's also good for the used market a year or so from now when people can revert to their lifestyle of gym, beers and a movie after work. If they ever do.
_____

I hope you guys are luckier than us here in coastal Norway. It's been consistently amazing crisp cold weather (-10 near sea level today) since Christmas but it's been dry and there is almost no snow! I've been trail running on my spike shoes where I would usually hope to ski! The good thing is that all the bogs are frozen solid so I can explore new trails at least...

[RabbitEars]

I was feeling that way when I started to get more serious with the cross-country skiing in 2019. And this was before I knew the activity I was trying to do had a name XCD. I had a really hard time finding boots that fit me in 75mm everything seemed like it was out of stock and it was never coming back. But I have noticed over the last couple years some new boot options surface and a even places like REI start offering more options like Asnes skis. But like others have said before this year due to Covid and the unknown of this years resort ski season after last years season ended early everywhere at least here in Colorado has people looking at other options. Here in Steamboat Springs basically all the AT gear flew off the shelf as soon as it was available before we even had our first snow. Shortly after that it was all the XCD skis that were gone. Also I am seeing much larger numbers out at the trailheads probably triple the amount of cars as in the previous two years. Just like Bicycles in the summer 2020 had a surge so is off piste skiing from my observations. I had to scour the internet a couple months ago to try and find my girlfriend some sbound98's. Although AT gear is probably more popular I think because it translates to alpine skiiers easier. But what I have noticed is a lot of these people are on these low angle trails that I am on probably because they are not so ready for Avalanche terrain. It's been a lot of fun for me seeing them moving so robotically around and getting to pass them K&G style even on the gradual up hills and I am not the picture of athleticism. Perhaps people will see this and convert to XCD which I think it's having a little revival that I hope continues.

[lowangle al]

Fat tire bikes are killing xcd and sometimes the trails too.

[lilcliffy]

I do not think that Nordic Backcountry skiing is losing poplularity- not in the immediate sense.

In the long-term- it has already lost popularity- and it has happened in a single generation in rural Canada.

My Grandparents generation* (I say this with an "*" because my parents are immigrants that did not grow up skiing) XC skied all the time- everywhere. My parents generation (boomers)- and those that have come after them- have been separated into two groups:
1) those that cannot afford to run a snowmobile on a groomed track (which is the majority of rural Canadians)
2) and those that can (who form clubs and get politicans to subsidize the construction and maintenance of modern snowmobile trails and then bitch about not being able to drink and drive like they used to because of the snowmobile police- which we need because of public health-care costs related to snowmobile accidents)

Nordic ski touring used to be part of the cultural fabric of rural Canada- it is not anymore- not for Anglo Canada anyway (cannot speak pour les Canadiens(es)).

That being said, there is currently XC skiing purchasing mania occurring in Canada- online-dominated purchasing that began as early as August. (If I were a spin-doctor I wolds suggest that it has something to do with chicken-fever- every hatchery in North America has been sold out since the spring- I could have sold 500% of the chicks I would normally sell in a season!)

It remains to be seen how much of this online shopping results in actual skiing.

Nordic ski touring is alive and well. I really mean it. Give me 20 minutes with anyone- I can get them hooked.