Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Woodenskis.com has their skis for sale posted today. If you haven't skied wood, you better get on board. These aren't telemark skis, but for off trail kick and glide they are fantastic. Most come with 3pin bindings compatible for 12mm. duckbills, of which only alpina and whitewoods are commonly available, but you can install bindings of your choice. Greg gives an honest appraisal of ski condition and sells them at a very fair price. My mouth is watering at a couple of these, but I already have 3 sets of woodies, and I think my wife would frown on a 4th pair. Get you some!

Intrigued!

question: if you buy a vintage wood ski, what is the likelihood that the originally-designed camber is shot?

do wood skiis loose their camber over time?

I noticed at the link you provided that many (most) of the salvaged skiis for sale have “soft” as the camber description. Were these skiis designed this way? or is “soft” because they are well-used and old.

Just curious.

As many here, I started on wooden (alpine) skis in 1964. We stored them with a block of wood underfoot and tips and tails together to try to maintain camber. I expect a wooden XC style ski would lose its camber more rapidly than those old alpine versions.

A good question. I have 2 pairs of trysil knut woodies bought in 1976 on the same day. One set of 210's that have seen many winters of heavy use,and one set of 185's that have seen very little use. Today, camber is about equal,with the 210s being slightly stiffer. My ems woodies have less camber than my bonnas, though I am sure the bonnas have seen more use.
I would imagine camber is sometimes lessened over the years. I have an old pair of foam cored karhu xcd's that have noticably less camber than when new.
Greg at woodenskis.com has been very helpful in the past and is a wealth of knowledge on wooden skis. He would be able to offer expert insight on this. And,yes it is advisable to store the woodies with ends strapped together and a block between the middle to help retain the camber.

Wooden XC skis lose camber fairly quickly if not stored per the previous comments, i.e., wood block in the middle of base, with the tips together snugly, and tails, too. Old wood skis are frequently warped/twisted in addition to that if not stored properly. I've seen them twisted tip to tail...Worst storage ever is standing on tails in a hot attic for years.
It is possible to restore dry brittle skis somewhat by placing them in a warm humid environment for a few days, or submerging in a snow bank for a week, but it is close to impossible to restore flattened wax pockets or longitudinal twisting and warping...
Always pays to check in person before buying unless the skis are destined to be wall hangers only.
One more "tip" to wood ski users, esp. nowadays on skis that might be 40-50 years old--be sure to have a repair kit, esp. a replacement tip in case of breakage. Ask me how I know this.
Also be sure and pine tar the bases!

Buying 50 year old used wooden skis is an issue of passion, not practicality. As long as you approach it with that perspective, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Chisana wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 14, 2021 3:27 pm

A good question. I have 2 pairs of trysil knut woodies bought in 1976 on the same day.

Love the trip down memory lane. My wife's favorite skis were a set of Trysil knuts that we bought in 1975 from you guessed it, Eastern Mountain Sports. I convinced her to part with them the last time we moved, and I still haven't heard the end of that. Hopefully she won't see this thread.

Looks like the old tried and true troll binings on your wife's skis. Still using some on my bonnas , had ABC victory cable bindings originally on my trysil knuts,swapped them out with 3pin Choinards.

Montana St Alum wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:24 am

We stored them with a block of wood underfoot and tips and tails together to try to maintain camber.

That's precisely how you store wood x-c skis in the off season to maintain the camber. The camber on my wood skis are still good, each season, so far. An old timer told me, a few years back, that if I'd lost the camber in my skis, and it didn't come back after hanging blocked for the off-season, I should strip and sand the bases and stick them in a sauna for a day, wipe them down, then tie, block them and hang them. I haven't had to do that, yet. Gonna have to find a sauna one day, though!

Greg is absolutely fantastic and you can trust that he has verified the skis and described them correctly. He knows his shit and doesn't screw around. He also knows how to pack and ship skis. You can trust this guy to not sell you a ski with cracked tails. Purchase with confidence.

I block mine with a combination of Swix wax cans, or corks, or some combination of that.

I have retrained some camber and tip-flattening with moderate success. Time helps. The tip thing was pretty rugged, the skis were quite flat, I dumped them in a bucket of water for three days and then used a tip spreader. It OK. Not as good as new, but should be quite serviceable.

Fun fact:
Asnes
Trysil Knut
Holmenkollen

All the same skis from the same factory, all Asnes. Rebranded for the North American market.